Top 20 Films of 2025

When it all comes together and you make a good movie, it's good forever; Patty Leigh

She's not wrong, movie producer Patty Leigh, as played by Katherine O'Hara in Apple TV's scabrously funny Hollywood satire The Studio. Even in this era of death-flogged franchises, film-creation by committee, and generic streaming service slop, good movies still get made. A lot of them - in Tinseltown itself, and far beyond it. For anyone who claims, "They don't make them like that anymore," when The Great Escape has its annual Christmas airing on terrestrial TV, my answer is, "No, but they make them like this, and this, and - look - this!" There are more quality filmmakers out there making more quality films than ever before - pushing boundaries, taking risks, developing the medium with amazing work. You just have to be alert to it. 

True, all the cinema sins catalogued in The Studio were exhibited in a theatre near you during the past twelve months, but so was the good stuff, or some of it. The rest you might have to track down on one of innumerable streaming platforms. Still - while cinemas themselves may continue staggering through one battle after another, films are being crafted with love world over, wherever we get to view them. Their creators are drawing on 125 years of accumulated artistry to tell stories that relate to today and that can speak to or just plain entertain us, if only we give them the time.

So here are my favourite films of the year, crammed messily into a top twenty ranking that even I can't take too seriously - except to say the one in the top spot really is my number one. All list entries were released in the UK during 2025, which explains why certain 2024 productions have made the list while films such as Hamnet and Nouvelle Vague aren't even up for consideration. (Not least because I haven't seen them.)

Enough preamble. Let's get listing.

20. The Lost Bus

How this film almost sneaked under my radar I'm not sure. Recounting the true story of a bus driver's attempts to rescue a class of elementary school kids from the wildfire that ravaged Paradise, California in November 2018, The Lost Bus is reminiscent of the peril and everyday heroism of 2010's runaway train drama Unstoppable. While character elements are fictionalised, the depiction of the relentless blaze is authentic - terrifyingly so. Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera are both good as the driver and teacher thrown together by dire circumstance, but key to the movie's success is director Paul Greengrass, who brings nerve-shredding verisimilitude to every shot of the fire on its rampage. Not a horror film, but a very real kind of scary.

19. Nosferatu

Nosferatu IS a horror film, and who better to remake F. W. Murnau's silent era Dracula classic than Robert Eggers, whose films explore the most grotesque aspects of history and folklore. Eggers' grand period settings are steeped in shadow and saturated with dread, and he draws satisfyingly ripe performances from a cast including Willem Dafoe, Nicholas Hoult, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. It's Bill Skarsgard and Lily-Rose Depp who you'll remember though, the former imbuing Count Orlok (Dracula in all but name) with charismatic menace, while the latter delivers a shattering physical performance as the object of his obsession. Top marks to the make-up department also, for its properly freakish vampire design.

18. The Girl with the Needle

There's a definite Robert Eggers feel to this Gothic drama from Denmark, not least in its grimly gorgeous black and white visuals. The Girl with the Needle explores a deeply disturbing incident from Danish history, the most hair-raising details of which a quick Google search will confirm. Set in post-WW1 Copenhagen, the story centres on Karoline, a factory worker with a ruthlessly pragmatic approach to survival, who ultimately accepts an offer of help from shopkeeper Dagmar. Her new friend's altruism, however, belies a shockingly dark secret. More than simply share a macabre anecdote from history with its audience, this film portrays an environment of grinding poverty and despair that pushes desperate people to measures that match. It's fascinating, immersive, and as bleak in every shot as it's beautiful.

17. Superman

From black and white despair to primary coloured hope. Superman is the first film in the new DCU and carries considerable DNA from Richard Donner's 1978 classic version of the story. While not as bumbling as Christopher Reeve in the Clark Kent part of the role, David Corenswet has much of the same boy-scout charm, and the movie as a whole replaces the forbidding air of the Henry Cavill/Man of Steel era with comic-book exuberance and heart. With Superman and other such 'metahumans' already established on Earth, director and DCU overseer James Gunn plunges us unapologetically into this world of gods and monsters, letting a scrappy, ill-behaved dog named Krypto steal half the scenes. Happily the other half are shared out between a talented cast, not least of which is Nicholas Hoult as an almost relatable Lex Luthor. DC studios are embracing a Gunn kind of fun, and the results - so far - are irresistible. 

16. A House of Dynamite

Ever seen Sidney Lumet's Fail Safe? Released in 1964, the same year as Dr Strangelove and dealing with the same apocalyptic possibilities, it struck the fear of God and nuclear weaponry into anyone who saw it. While 2023's Oppenheimer reminded us of the militaristic plight into which the human race has got itself, it's been a while since the terror of an imminent nuclear strike has been portrayed on screen. A House of Dynamite summons up the same sweaty, hand-wringing tension as Fail Safe, as it depicts the same twenty minutes between the launch of an unattributed missile and its feared impact on a US city from multiple viewpoints. The story of this seismic event is told through a host of characters, political or military, trying to sublimate all personal emotion and operate professionally under insane pressure. It's an intense, deeply unsettling watch, directed with characteristic control by Katheryn Bigelow. And its ending, while divisive, might just be perfect. 

15. F1

From the writers and director who brought you Top Gun: Maverick, here are high-speed thrills at ground-level. F1 revamps old-school storytelling with state-of-the-art filming techniques to bring the most exhilarating blockbuster of last summer. Brad Pitt supplies star power this time as the veteran rule-breaker lured back into the racing game, becoming rival-cum-mentor to Damson Idris's cocky young pretender. Heads will butt, egos will bruise, setbacks will abound - but determination and team spirit will win through. It's corniness on wheels but so sleek and stylish and adrenalised with its practical stunt-driving and pov camerawork that you'll sit back and enjoy the 230mph ride. Meanwhile, Javier Bardem wears the sharpest suits ever tailored, while Kerry Condon reins in the boys' egos and gets it on with Brad. Nice going for a girl from Tipperary!

14. Bring Her Back

In 2022, one-time YouTube pranksters Danny and Michael Philippou revamped the possession horror with their memorably gnarly film Talk to Me. Three years on, and they've continued the subversion of occult tropes with the even darker Bring Her Back. Kicking off with the arrival of orphaned siblings at the home of new foster mother Laura (Sally Hawkins), it veers steadily into ever more troubling territory as Laura's true intentions and the identity of her other foster - the mutely creepy Oliver - become clear. The film's young newcomers are all excellent, and Hawkins is a multi-faceted revelation. (She wasn't this scary when she took in Paddington!) As for the Aussie director-brothers, they learned a thing or two when they worked on The Babadook over a decade ago, and it shows. Prepare to be disturbed.

13. Bugonia

Likewise disturbing, albeit quite a bit funnier, is Bugonia, the latest mind-melter from Yorgos 'Poor Things' Lanthimos. Collaborating with Emma Stone for the fourth time, he adapts the existing story of a steely CEO (Stone) kidnapped by two conspiracy theorists (or one conspiracy theorist and his hapless disciple) who believe her to be an alien intent on wiping out the human race. What ensues is an intense psychological battle and clash of world-views - hilarious at points and butt-clenchingly uncomfortable at others. The setting is real-world as opposed to Poor Things' theatricality, but the camerawork and soundtrack never let you forget that something really bloody weird is going on. As for the ending, it's another divisive one - but if you love it, you'll really love it.  

12. Frankenstein

If your preference is for a more classic form of science fiction, or horror for that matter, then look no further than Guillermo del Toro's passion project (another of them - this director always commits 100%) Frankenstein. The Mexican auteur embraces the spirit of Mary Shelley's iconic tale if allowing himself some licence with the plot, zeroing in on Victor Frankenstein's hubris and the tragedy of his creation's abandonment. Del Toro also lavishes the entire project with his signature design, achieving the most spectacularly Gothic version of the story since Boris Karloff strapped his platform boots on to play the Monster. Every shot - including the horrific ones - is a work of art, and the Creature design is weirdly beautiful. Or maybe it's just impossible to make Jacob Elordi look hideous. While maybe not my favourite GdT title, this is still a stunning and endlessly rewatchable piece of cinema.

11. I Swear

Some films are a different kind of special. Aside from the craft involved - or indeed because of it - they feel like they might just change lives. Such a film is I Swear - written and directed by Kirk Jones (of, surprisingly, Waking Ned and Nanny McPhee fame) and telling the real-life story of Tourette's sufferer/survivor/educator John Davidson. Wrestling with the condition's onset during the 1980s when few knew what Tourette's syndrome was, he ran a gauntlet of misunderstanding, ridicule, and physical abuse before meeting people empathetic enough to see past the tics and the swearing to the intelligent and funny individual beneath. Swiftly ascending star Robert Aramayo smashes the lead role, while Maxine Peake and Peter Mullan bring heart-warming support in a story that's hilarious and poignant by turns, but too tough to be sentimental. The result is one of the year's most life-affirming theatrical outings.

10. Black Bag

Don't be fooled by the presence of Pierce Brosnan in this film. Black Bag is espionage with all the shoot-outs and car chases stripped away. It's much more akin to the Cold War stories of John Le Carré. Directed by the prolific and genre-hopping Steven Soderburgh, however, it's sleek and sexy and streamlined, driven by wittily dangerous dialogue and coming in at a compact 90 minutes. At its centre are glamorous spy-couple Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett, the former of whom is tasked with identifying the traitor within a small group of associates, one of whom is his beloved wife. What follows is a devilish and tightly plotted game of truth and lies, including one exquisite sequence of friends at dinner with a truth drug in the chana masala. Contender for classiest film of the year.

9. Thunderbolts*

2025 was a year in which the Marvel Cinematic Universe course-corrected. February saw the hotchpotch by committee that was Captain America: Brave New World, but subsequent months gave us two properly conceived, tightly constructed offerings that set things on a much stronger footing. While I enjoyed The Fantastic Four: First Steps' retro-futurist production design and breezy tone, Thunderbolts* (if you don't know what the asterisk in the title signifies by now, you probably don't care) was my favourite Marvel movie of the year. Its tale of antiheroic misfits bonding in time to save New York from an existential terror turned out to be all about issues of mental health and overcoming trauma. Yet it still managed to be genuinely funny and properly thrilling. Add to that, it opted for practical effects over CGI at every turn and told a satisfyingly cohesive story. A more grounded version of the MCU's Guardians of the Galaxy, I'd like to hang out with this bunch again.

8. The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Here's a different kind of cinematic marvel  - apologies for the pun. The story behind this film serves to heighten respect for the storytelling on screen, making it all the more compelling. Secretly filmed on location in Iran, The Seed of the Sacred Fig caused an uproar in its native land when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, dealing as it does with the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests of 2022. The crew were reportedly taken into custody and questioned for hours, while director Mohammad Rasoulof fled the country, taking refuge in Europe, to avoid incarceration. His offending film centres on the daughters of a newly appointed judge in Tehran's Revolutionary Court who find themselves at odds with their father over the growing protests. Incorporating social media footage of the protesters and their often brutal suppression, this film shouldn't just be watched because it's worthy - it's one of the most gripping and painfully authentic family dramas from last year. (Likewise my no. 6.)

7. One Battle After Another

Here it is - everyone's front-runner for Best Picture at Oscars '26 and the latest from Paul Thomas Anderson, creator of awesome films like Magnolia and There Will Be Blood. And while I don't love One Battle After Another as much as some (at least not after a first watch), it's still formidably good, worthy of its predicted Academy Awards. Its subject of left-wing American revolutionaries pitted against an authoritarian regime has come at a politically fraught time, sparking much culture-war controversy. Maybe it's best, however, to set all that aside and focus on the central plot of Leonardo DiCaprio's pot-frazzled ex-resistance fighter trying to rescue his daughter (a revelatory first-time film performance by Chase Infinity) from Sean Penn's vengeful military colonel. That and the dazzling VistaVision cinematography, Johnny Greenwood's consistently inventive score, and some bravura action sequences the like of which you've never seen before. As ever with PTA, it's for those who admire true cinematic ambition.

6. I'm Still Here

While I loved Mikey Madison's Best Actress win for Anora at last year's Oscars, there was a strong case for Fernanda Torres as the indomitable matriarch in biographical family drama I'm Still Here. Based on a 2015 memoir, the film charts the journey of Eunice Paiva from mother to activist when, in 1971 her husband was taken by Brazil's then military dictatorship never to be seen again. What begins as a terrifying story of life under an unforgiving and unpredictable regime transforms over two hours into a moving story of familial bonds and mutual support. Torres is at the heart of the movie's success, convincingly ageing decades while conveying love, grief, and strength of will with understatement and complete authenticity. It's a story of heartbreak and beauty that despite the grimness of its subject-matter is ultimately uplifting.

5. Train Dreams

With Netflix currently negotiating purchase of the Warner Bros studio, it's reassuring to know that despite the frequent blandness of their original film output, they can also get behind quality. A House of Dynamite and Frankenstein I've already mentioned, but Train Dreams is arguably the most visually ravishing film of 2025, with a moving story of love and loss to match. Joel Edgerton is a railroad worker and logger, toughing out life in the early 20th century Pacific Northwest of America. It's an unremarkable life in a time of remarkable change, but the camera captures the man's stoicism through hardship, sorrow, and joy with a frame by frame sense of screen poetry. It searches, in fact, for meaning within the limits of this man's existence, along with a tender narration by actor Will Patton. All that this movie lacked was a widespread theatrical release to properly showcase its rapturous beauty. If Netflix does win the battle for Warner Bros, let's hope they seriously rethink their strategy and allow the likes of Train Dreams proper cinema time.

4. A Complete Unknown

Okay - as a Bob Dylan fan, I'd probably have put this film in my list had it been half as good. But since Walk the Line director James Mangold did such a fine job of recreating the enigmatic troubadour's early career, it's vying for a top spot. Don't listen to anyone who tells you this is a by-the-numbers biopic, because - (1) it's an immersion in the New York music scene of the 1960s, (2) it limits itself to Dylan's early folksinging era and his controversial transition into rock, (3) it therefore centres on themes of artistic licence and perceived betrayal, rather than presenting a beat-by-beat life story. The same critics may well tell you that the film doesn't help you understand Bob any better, to which I say, "Ehhh - clue's in the title." All that aside, this is a music film for music lovers, with Timothée Chalamet inhabiting the lead role and his acting cohorts similarly nailing their turns as Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, and Johnny Cash. We can't travel back to that time and place, but for those of us who'd like to, A Complete Unknown is quite the consolation prize.

3. Weapons

Zach Cregger's 2022 film Barbarian was perhaps the most suspenseful and narratively inventive horror flick of the year. It was also the director's debut horror feature, and he's followed it up quite masterfully with Weapons. The basic premise is there on the poster - a class-ful of inexplicably vanished schoolchildren. Suspicion falls on the teacher, the town flips out with paranoia, so far so freaky. But then the film's structure becomes apparent - multiple overlapping chapters, each with a unique character viewpoint, so that we piece together the awful truth a little at a time until finally everything locks into place. And by that time, the movie has gone truly batshit insane. It's unsettling, nightmarish, and - at points - darkly hilarious. It also showcases great work from Josh Brolin, Ozark's Julia Garner, and a clutch of others, including one turn that vies with Sally Hawkins for Horror Performance of the Year. If you like genre cinema that subverts all the clichés, this one's for you.

2. The Ballad of Wallis Island

Here's an exquisitely wrought little gem of a film - as funny as it is melancholy, as heart-warming as it is cringe-inducing. Expanded by writers (and lead actors) Tim Key and Tom Basden from their 2007 short, it centres on a reclusive, accidental millionaire who makes the questionable decision to invite his favourite folk duo to his island home to play a private concert. This despite the fact that they have broken up professionally and romantically, and neither knows that the other will be there. Key is priceless as benign borderline-stalker Charles, an unstinting torrent of apologies and puns. Meanwhile, both Basden and Carey Mulligan impress as the one-time folk partners, feeling and sounding like the real deal, even as they cope with Charles' eccentricities and the awkwardness of the situation into which they've unwittingly landed. The Ballad of Wallis Island is a deliciously happy-sad treat of a film and almost my favourite of last year...

1. Sinners

How to describe Sinners? It's a captivating drama of entrepreneurial brothers in racist, Depression-era Mississippi. A musical odyssey through Delta blues, gospel, bluegrass, and Irish folk. An erotically charged double romance. A retelling of the Robert Johnson Devil-at-the-crossroads myth. And yes - a blood-soaked vampire horror film. There are scores of reasons to love writer/director Ryan Coogler's most recent film. Here's a few. The genre-blending originality of the screenplay. Autumn Durald Arkapaw's brooding cinematography. An evocative, rootsy score by Ludwig Goransson. Michael B. Jordan's expertly calibrated dual-performance as the Smokestack Brothers. The depth of the supporting cast, not least Delroy Lindo's ageing bluesman and Jack O'Connell's creepily charismatic chief villain. Newcomer Miles Caton's otherworldly vocals. The single most audacious movie sequence of the year. Style. Sexiness. Suspense. Hoodoo. Gore. Dancing. TUNES. Sinners is a thematically rich and constantly surprising tour de force that looks as good as it sounds as good as it feels. And that's why it has the top spot on my films of 2025.  

What's left to say? Simply the fact that there are multiple films making me second-guess the above list. How Warfare or A Real Pain, or Stephen King double-bill The Long Walk and The Life of Chuck didn't make it on all seems wrong. What about Wicked: For Good and Ballerina? Companion and Predator: Badlands? September 5 and Flow? Point is, the impossibility of creating a definitive list is a good sign. Modern cinema, for all the valid criticisms levelled at it, is still thriving and innovating and evolving. As with any entertainment form, there's be a lot that's throwaway and forgettable. And among it, there'll be gold. Maybe even a rush of the stuff.

Happy New Year, and Happy Watching. 🍻🎦

(Addendum - shortly after finalising this list, I saw Marty Supreme, which had a limited UK release on Boxing Day but only opened nationwide on New Year. It would have stormed the upper half of this list. Guess I'll just have to review it separately.)