Usually to preface a list of my favorite movies of the year, I would set the stage by positively highlighting the entire year in film. Unfortunately, that won’t be possible this year, since outside of the 10 excellent movies listed below, I have few positive things to say.
Now that we’ve passed the halfway point for the fledgling decade of cinema, I have little doubt that 2025 will be remembered as one of its worst members. Established directorial credit was wasted by either middling or career-worst offerings from the likes of Guillermo del Toro, Paul Thomas Anderson and Yorgos Lanthimos, and most tentatively exciting blockbusters and low-budget endeavors thudded into theaters with even less fanfare or meaning than even low expectations would suffer.
Conversely, that means this list is packed almost entirely with some pleasant surprises that serve as a great reminder of the possibilities that can come from just sitting down for a movie and allowing it to surprise you.
Still, if you’re looking for something a little more assured to help you fill out your film repertoire before awards season, find a new filmmaker to obsess over or, heaven forbid, watch a good movie, I happen to think that these are a pretty great place to start.
10. ‘Presence’
From last year’s “In a Violent Nature” set from the perspective of a Jason Vorhees-esque slasher villain to the more recent horror story of “Good Boy” seen through the eyes of a dog, gimmicky horror movies have recently occupied a much-discussed — and even more-criticized — place in the market. “Presence,” by contrast, provides more than its one-note marketing lets on, delivering a thrilling and cathartic story of a haunted house shot from the point of view of its ghost — a murdered adolescent girl who happens to be at the very beating heart of the new occupants’ troubles.
Director, cinematographer and, by extension, de facto ghost Steven Soderbergh captures the intimacy and detached horror of the central premise with engrossing gravitas, but it’s David Koepp’s godsend script that hammers out realistic emotional notes for minute after minute of its tight runtime.
The film stretches its simple yet sincere suburban melodrama into supernatural, heightened realism; as the soul of our silent narrator skims around the well-defined corridors of the single-location set, it manages to reveal a deeper soulfulness to ordinary conflicts and experiences, as well. It’s not the most expansive cinematic outing of the year, but in a horror landscape where everyone is trying to turn in their own version of overwritten Mike Flanagan muck or too-cool-for-school Ari Aster weirdness, Soderbergh’s simple, spooky sincerity is about as invigorating as it gets.
9. ‘Sinners’
I can posterize for paragraphs on end about what movies you should have seen this year, but in reality, nothing motivates moviegoing crowds the way an organic pop phenomenon like “Sinners” did so thoroughly earlier this year.
With “Sinners,” writer and director Ryan Coogler once again subverts convention for a typical blockbuster; he retains the suspense, catharsis and grand emotion that makes his work such fun to watch, but he does so in service of a thoughtful, convicted portrayal of Black music and cyclical patterns of cultural dominance, with some show-stopping cinematography and fantastically creepy effects by his side.
Really, “Sinners” is a film that does it all. In one unique, brilliantly-staged Southern vampire story, Coogler successfully makes the case for why he is still one of the most exciting voices in the industry, why Michael B. Jordan is a bona fide movie star in not one but two roles and, perhaps most importantly, why there are some movies you’ve just gotta see in an IMAX theater.
8. ‘Black Bag’
Because the most eye-grabbing and anticipated films typically release in the later months of the year — and because of a healthy amount of recency bias — it’s rare to see a film released in January or March atop a narrow list such as this. It’s even rarer for two films to do it, and it’s rarer still that they be made by the same two lead creatives.
But Koepp and Soderbergh, not content with outdoing themselves in the horror genre, swung back around scarcely a month after “Presence” with “Black Bag,” a whip-fast spy thriller that takes the concept of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” grills off all the fat and serves it flawlessly in a daring display of dense yet straightforward intrigue and intensity.
The pair of married spy protagonists played by Michael Fassbinder and Cate Blanchett may promise a bigger-ticket action story, but the result is instead a tight whodunnit that tests marital loyalty in the confines of a delightfully shadowy espionage story. Koepp pulls off the exceptional feat of writing a typically globe-spanning plot with the petty, small-scale character drama and interwoven catharsis of a mystery, featuring an ending that made me wish its lightning quick 90-minute runtime lasted doubly as long.
Soderbergh’s early-year duology may not be the flashiest outings of 2025, but they’re satisfying, razor-sharp proof that technical confidence and streamlined intentions are often all you need for a memorable trip to the theater.
7. ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’
Everyone knows the power of “show, don’t tell,” most of all in an action film built on the suspense and catharsis of seeing each tense shootout or death-defying escape for the first time. So, naturally, only the unhinged trio of Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen would be confident enough to tell, explain or heavily foreshadow every minute of “The Final Reckoning”’s 3-hour runtime within minutes of the opening, only to make the “showing” part ten times as absurd, jaw-dropping and spectacular than conceivably thought possible.
McQuarrie’s fourth and seemingly final “M:I” is a testament not only to the legacy of action filmmaking and stuntwork as a whole, from Charlie Chaplin to Alfred Hitchcock, but to the foundational element of belief required to pull it off.
Ethan Hunt’s metatextual mission is parallel to Cruise’s; not only must he survive each death-defying endeavor, but he must inspire belief in something greater in the process. In the film itself, that’s staying the hand of the U.S. president and trigger-itchy generals to give the world a fighting chance against nuclear armageddon, and in the theater, that’s causing an entire audience to lean forward and hold their breath for a sequence that we’ve already been told Cruise will survive. “The Final Reckoning” is an over-stuffed, proudly ridiculous ode to the great ideal of the action film — of one person determined enough to charge through knife fights, airplanes and nuclear submarines to take on the world — and you don’t need me to either show or tell you that just like every “M:I” film before it, it does so smashingly.
6. ‘The Phoenician Scheme’
Whether or not you agree with criticisms of Wes Anderson descending into self-parodic territory with his last several projects — in reality, they’re among his strongest work to date — “The Phoenecian Scheme” quietly positioned itself to be a more character-focused drama akin to the writer and director’s early-2000s output with a focus on an enigmatic yet self-distructive business tycoon played by Benecio del Toro.
In practice, the film’s brusque tour of wonky, surprisingly personal international business creates a best-of-both-worlds combination of Anderson’s past and present that rivals his best work from both periods. “The Phoenecian Scheme” moves with casual perfection, with brief jabs of reflection that feel akin to existential acupuncture amidst its hilarious, unashamedly meaningful globe-trotting romp.
The end result feels like the most classical, true-to-form piece from Anderson to date, and even after his work has been over-analyzed and over-aestheticized to death online, it’s nice to be reminded that even “just another Wes Anderson movie” is essentially “just another masterpiece.”
5. ‘Eddington’
The only two words this year to raise more moviegoer’s eyebrows than “pandemic Western” were probably the words “Ari Aster’s” preceding them. “Eddington” is a big swing, even for the contemporary horror wunderkind, but the severity and insanity of Aster’s script is far more than a pithy critique of “the way things are.”
The swirling story follows Joaquin Phoenix as a hilariously inept yet frighteningly unprincipled sheriff as he tries to enforce his concept of law and order on a small New Mexico town that is bubbling with disassociated chaos in mid-2020. Strong supporting turns from Deidre O’Connell, Emma Stone and the entire cast further flesh out a world that is sinking in a hole dug by the big-tech interests and online hatemongers that act as the subconscious villains in ever-darkening daily melodrama.
As each scene unfolds the concentrated hatred and confusion hidden behind Facebook feeds and antifa conspiracies, Aster deftly maneuvers to an ending that delivers both bonkers thrills and a manifestation of that ever-present itch of a question: How did we get here? It’s never answered, but as for the skepticism raised by the film’s premise, the off-beat, unsettlingly prescient act of asking certainly makes for an emphatic reply.
4. ‘28 Years Later’
It may have only been 23 years since Danny Boyle reinvented the zombie film with “28 Days Later” in 2002, but the series’ latest entry evolves upon its story so dramatically that it feels more like 2,300.
Boyle’s return to his virus-ravaged Britain after skipping out on 2007’s passable-but-pulpy “28 Weeks Later” is brilliant not just because of how it makes the familiar threat of rageful zombies fresh and new; his work, alongside what turned out to be a miraculously strong script from the ever-less-consistent Alex Garland, shines most in how it depicts the humanity of this bizarre, bitter world where the apocalypse has an “ordinary” all of its own.
One part survivalist thriller, one part coming-of-age epic and 28 parts visceral zombie action, “28 Years Later” is a triumph of cinematic extremes. Standout performances from the entire cast, particularly Alfie Williams in a breakout role, shine amidst a breathtakingly shot and edited landscape captured via gripping iPhone camera rigs as an update to the original film’s camcorder aesthetic.
The only thing more invigorating than a masterful, soon-to-be-classic horror sequel? The fact that Part 2 — “The Bone Temple” — will give director Nia DaCosta the chance to do it over again this January.
3. ‘Caught Stealing’
Early this year, I reviewed “Novocaine,” a deathly generic, testosterone-addled action “comedy” that delighted in letting Jack Quaid’s everyman character turn the tables on some cartoonish criminals in the most selfish, dumb-headed excuse for grisly violence I’ve ever seen. Suffice to say, you won’t be seeing it on this list.
Enter “Caught Stealing,” the story of an alcoholic, washed-up baseball player that came out of left field (pun intended) with a masterclass in wall-to-wall momentum and exceptional tonal control that refutes everything wrong with “Novocaine” and action cinema as a whole in a post-“John Wick” world. Suffice to say, it’s the best Hollywood film of the year.
Austin Butler gives yet another homer of a performance as Hank, an unlikely action hero who writer Charlie Huston makes the rare yet gratifying choice to hold accountable for his irresponsible, rough-and-tumble actions. When Hank gets black-out drunk and loses an item various parties are willing to kill for, the consequences aren’t cute or humorous; they’re gut-wrenching. There is no easy moment of clarity here, as Hank repeats the same mistakes and those around him continually suffer — just like a real person would. Just like any of us would.
Director Darren Aaronofsky translates Huston’s original novel to the screen with the same restrained punchiness as the script. When the film needs to be miserable and brutal, it sinks you to the lowest lows you’ll feel all year, but when Hank truly redeems himself and earns the catharsis of a happy ending, well, let’s just say that a particular shot of Butler slamming a car’s accelerator has been stuck in my mind since August. It’s a must-watch for anyone who’s a fan of Butler, cats and, I don’t know, action movies actually worth a damn.
2. ‘Caught by the Tides’
There were many movies this year I would choose never to watch again — and some I wanted to quit halfway through. Only writer and director Jia Zhangke’s “Caught by the Tides” delivered that one magical ideal: a movie that I wanted to watch again, even before I was finished with it the first time.
The film functions as a kind of archival time capsule by way of charting one woman’s life as she loses, searches for and reconnects with her distant boyfriend over the course of decades. Zhao Tao delivers an unthinkably powerful performance in an entirely wordless role; she silently communicates volumes about modern Chinese history and the people who lived through it as she drifts through scenes, some of which are intercut with unused footage from Zhangke’s past features.
The film’s narrative is loose and undefined, but the effectiveness of its social appraisal is undeniable, and its storytelling is mesmeric. You won’t see a more inventive, one-of-kind film this decade, and if I had it my way, I’d simply be seeing it again over and over right now instead of wasting my time talking about it.
1. ‘No Other Choice’
There was simply No Other… option for this list’s No. 1 spot after I saw “No Other Choice.” Writer and director Park Chan-Wook cements himself as a modern master, this time with a desperate and tragic — yet often absurd and hilarious — story of a middle-aged paper mill manager whose firing pushes him to violent lengths to preserve both his dignity and his family’s love.
As always, Park’s talent for intertwining tension and thematic reality is splashed across every frame. The interior tragedy of the main character, Lee Man-Sou, is revealed in small touches that are just as engaging and dramatic as they are beautifully captured and dripping with capitalist irony; the way that Man-Sou applies his bonsai-trimming skills to murder or faces his demons with alcoholism in his single-minded quest reveals a wealth of insight into the manufactured struggle of the working man, not to mention the ever-deepening ditch he drags his family into.
“No Other Choice” is the kind of film that uses its fictitious medium to its ultimate capacity. It lets us observe from Park’s stagey, highly-cinematic perch and wrings laughter, shock and tears — there was one repeated sound effect in the second half that singlehandedly sent me over the edge — from these tortured characters, but in doing so it confronts a great ugliness deep within ourselves, as well.
If there’s anything my favorites of 2025 share in common, it is a capacity for self-criticism; “No Other Choice” is Park’s proof that this criticism can be as lively and multifaceted as the very people it involves. It is deeply meaningful, made all the more so by the fact that it is deeply entertaining. It’s as fine a film you’ll see all year, from as fine a filmmaker we’ll see all century.
Kevin Lynch can be reached at lync1832@stthomas.edu.
