2024 was a cinematic year that had a solid mean, but few movies that genuinely blew me away. 2025 was far above that, with movies that repeatedly made me shake up my top ten list. This was a great year for great films, and arguably one of the best this side of the pandemic. Still, the fate of movie theaters is still greatly in question. As much as I loved the movies this year had to offer, I also found myself the most annoyed by having to share the theater. The back half of 2025 I felt like theater etiquette was out the window with people talking, on their phones, or doing a mix of both. A lot of this has to do with the particular AMC in Disney Springs, but it made me question if we had forgotten how to be respectful of other peoples’ space and experience when it came to movie going. Movies are one of the last shared media experiences left, and despite the frustrations of the PM and weekend crowds at the AMC, the silver screen was still worth it.

Honorable Mentions

Mission: Impossible- The Final Reckoning

Mission: Impossible is my franchise, and The Final Reckoning was my most anticipated film of the year. It wasn’t my favorite of the bunch, but it was absolutely the high octane thrill it needed to be to send Ethan Hunt and co off in style.

Friendship

As my fiancée would say, “guys are so weird”, and Tim Robinson’s Friendship is a whacky exploration of how adult men make and maintain friendships.

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Stop doubting the Avatar movies. James Cameron knows what he’s doing and its so nice to watch something you know is the highest quality of visual effects, and one that comes with 0 homework. I wish Disney would learn to prioritize direction and design across board.

Predator: Badlands

If Avatar and Mad Max: Fury Road had a baby it would be Predator: Badlands. Its a fun, stunning, and thrilling killfest nestled within the Predator universe.

Good Fortune

Aziz Ansari makes a heartfelt and hilarious return to the silver screen in a film where Keanu Reeves plays a budget guardian angel.

10. 28 Years Later

This film wasn’t much on my radar at all until a few weeks before its release. This film offers a unique perspective on death, and one of the most meaningful discussions I’ve ever had because of a film started off as a reflection on this one. There’s beauty even in the most vile and painful things, and 28 Years Later manages to capture that idea poetically within the confines of its bone temple. This one held my number one spot for quite some time, and I expect my estimation of it only to rise as its sequels release next year.

9. Zootopia 2

Disney’s animation departments have remained locked in to a degree that its live action and Disney Plus originals departments have not. Yes, I would love to see more originals like Elio and Hoppers, but I am a-ok with sequels being made to foot those bills if those sequels have a good story to tell. Zootopia 2 is a worthy successor to the original, it expands the zootopia ecosystem in creative new ways, introduces us not just to new characters but new animals and classes, and never loses the heart that made it so endearing in the first place. Plus its always a joy to see Ke Huy Quan cast in anything.

8. One Battle After Another

What do you actually believe in? What do you actually fight for? These are two pressing questions at the forefront of Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. The film follows Leonardo DiCaprio as a retired militiaman, on the run with his daughter as they’re drawn back into the world of freedom fighting. It has a lot to see about what it means to be an activist, to carry the banner, and how unbelievably stupid these movements can become when bogged down in tribalism and red tape. On the flip side, it utilizes Sean Penn and Jim Downey (albeit in a minor role) to satirize the fundamental beliefs of a master race and the status quo they insist on creating.

A couple guys in the row behind me walked out of this movie after 20min because it was “too woke” and I can think of no better reason to endorse this movie. It is telling just how strict the lines of conservatism have become in what we should or shouldn’t see, do, think, or feel.

7. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

I’ve never had a child, so I can’t claim to know what postpartum depression really feels like, but I’d imagine it feels like this movie. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is the story of a mom driven to insanity by responsibility, and feeling her life choked out of her by an absent spouse and incessantly needy child. This was my favorite directorial effort this year, and the way that Director Mary Bronstein creates claustrophobia by almost never letting the camera leave Rose Byrne’s face is astounding. This is a great movie to study if you want to learn technique and the importance of blocking and framing around a camera move.

At the same time, this movie finds itself creating some of my favorite comedic bits all year. And the cherry on top of that whipped cream is a performance by Conan O’Brien, acting in a rare roll that is neither a bit nor a fictionalized version of himself. This is truly an incredible film and as I write this mini-review I find myself wondering why this film isn’t higher up.

6. Rental Family

This is a very awards-bait-y type of movie, and I understand why others won’t place it on their lists because of that. But even if the strings this movie intends to pull are obvious, it still deserves my kudos for pulling them so effectively. Rental Family is story of an actor who fills roles in people’s lives, to help them prepare for hard conversations, death, or truths they are unwilling to face. It’s a story about interacting with people and the difficulty of presence versus performance. Are we there for another person merely to hit our marks and shoot the scene, or are we there to react and sit with them in that moment? It’s a beautifully moving work anchored by a reserved yet heartfelt performance from Brendan Fraser.

5. Marty Supreme

Timothée Chalamet has gone ballistic in the promotion of this movie, and I think it is impossible to watch this film without catching a contact high. Marty Supreme is a movie I’ve been keeping an eye out for since the moment I first heard whisper of it. It is Josh Safdie’s first directorial debut since splitting with his brother Benny and since one of my personal favorite films, Uncut Gems. This film follows along similar themes and with similar intensity to that Adam Sandler led film, taking us along with Marty as he takes on the whole city of New York in order to scrape together enough cash to play another round of table tennis.

It’s a story about what kind of person you have to be in order to risk it all and how to define what winning actually looks like. It has some fantastically unexpected performances in its periphery from Gwyneth Paltrow, Mr. Wonderful/Kevin O’Leary, and Penn Gilette. This is a unique experience and I hope Josh Safdie makes a dozen more like it.

4. Weapons

Zach Cregger’s Barbarian is one of my favorite films of the 2020’s. I have been greatly looking forward to his sophomore debut, Weapons for some time. This film follows in Barbarian‘s footsteps by being something the marketing could never truly prepare you for. It’s scary, it’s funny, it’s twisted, and it makes you squirm in your seat. Weapons is an allegory for the threat of school shootings that hang over every classroom in America, and a somber reflection of how violence changes children and adults alike.

The film balances an ensemble cast and a vignette framework to slowly unravel the twisted mystery of what happened to Ms. Gandy’s class at 2:17am. It was one of a very small few films I saw twice in theaters this year, and I eagerly anticipate the next time I pop it in on 4K (because physical media will die only when they pry it from my cold dead hands).

3. Wake Up Dead Man

2025’s best feature was that almost all of my favorite filmmakers were putting new movies out (except Damien Chazelle who is currently working on escaping Director Jail). I was lukewarm on Glass Onion, the previous film in the Knives Out trilogy, but was floored by Wake Up Dead Man. I drove an extra thirty minutes out of the way to go to an independent theater and buy a ticket for this movie. And oh man did it blow me away. Not only is this a fantastic new addition to the Benoit Blanc mystery series, but it is one of the most profound explorations of the Christian faith.

It is telling how far politics has driven Christianity that its best cinematic examples are coming from a-religious sources. There’s a beautiful scene about 2/3 of the way through this movie where Josh O’Connor’s Father Jud starts pastoring a woman he just met on the phone that I’d recommend to anyone who’s ever been in any sort of pastoral role. It is a sincere example of what it means to shepherd a flock and to pursue the lost sheep. More than anything, Wake Up Dead Man was a beautiful movie about working for the kingdom rather than a kingdom, even if Benoit Blanc still decides that kingdom isn’t for him.

2. The Naked Gun

Frank Drebin’s shoes are not easy to fill. The comedic chops of Leslie Nielson cannot be immitated, but if there ever were to be a worthy successor it would be Liam Neeson. His deadpan delivery as Frank Drebin Jr is augmented by the fact that this film is more interested in the spirit of the original Police Squad! show and Naked Gun films than it is being a literal recreation. This film is more of a spoof of recent action/spy thrillers than it is the cop shows that inspired its predecessors, and that tonal shift helps it stand out and stand on something uniquely its own.

I double featured this with Weapons twice, and even viewing it again at home last week it sent me into endless belly laughs and tear filled eyes with its Snowman montage. At the same time, it manages to be funny without being overly swear filled or raunchy. Yes, it’s definitely a comedy that isn’t for children, but there are few jokes that wouldn’t have felt at home in Nielson’s original films.

1. Sinners

The last time a film captured me like this was Oppenheimer in 2023. Sinners was my most watched film of the year, both the score and the soundtrack made my Top 5 albums in Spotify Wrapped, Rocky Road to Dublin was my most played song of the year, and I dressed up as Remick for Halloween. For me, Sinners, takes Ryan Coogler to a height that only people like Steven Spielberg or Christopher Nolan occupy. He’s in a class of directors who put out crowd pleasing blockbusters that are also masterclasses of original storytelling and filmmaking.

This film is a spectacle, its an event film, and it is so distinctly its own thing that there aren’t many films to compare it to. It was a huge win for movie theaters, and a strong vehicle for Coogler and other directors to stress the need for the big screen and sound systems. Sinners is bold, scary, and alive in every frame. When this decade is done, I fully expect this film to sit near the top of my decade top ten.

2025 Films Ranked

For a rundown of all the 2025 movies I saw, check out my Letterboxd List.