Movies of 2025
I am a big movies guy. So trust me when I say that 2025 was a banner year for the big screen. It is hard for me to remember another 12-month period with so many classics and near-classics that I envision rewatching years on end. I watched many of them in the theater as they’re supposed to be watched, but some were inevitably and regrettably relegated to streaming at home. These movies made me feel many emotions - some good and some bad, some expected and some entirely surprising, some new and some I hadn’t felt in years. “The movies are so back”, I found myself muttering more than once, the same as “I can’t wait to watch this again”. So here are my top 5 movies of the year:
5. Weapons: I don’t know what I was expecting, but this was one of the weirdest horror movies I’ve seen in a while- in a good way. With the caveat that I am not necessarily big into horror to begin with, Weapons certainly struck a chord. It’s hard to imagine anything more terrifying than a bunch of children running away in the dead of night, hitting the same ludicrous pose, leaving their parents a shocked and distraught mess. The explanation behind the mysterious disappearances turns out to be equally terrifying, and the brutal killings we encounter along the way to the truth are truly hard to watch. The movie is worthy of its lofty rotten tomatoes score though, and the star-studded cast of Ruth from Ozark, Thanos, and young Han Solo was an unexpected delight.
4. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery: This is the most recent addition to this list, but I was so relieved and happy that the latest Knives Out movie ended up being one of my favorites of the year. Benoit Blanc is donning a new haircut and is as effortlessly cool and smart as ever, but Josh O’Connor’s Father Jud really steals the show. I am a sucker for a religious figure debating the merits of god and religion with a sceptic or non-believer; a prominent example that comes to mind is Midnight Mass. Every moment with Jud and Blanc together on screen is cinematic gold. Once again, the cast was exceptional even if some of the higher profile actors were under-utilized, but Glen Close in particular put in a masterclass. Benoit Blanc showed that he is a man after my own heart - an atheist who admires the beauty in church architecture and is intrigued by the priest’s sermons, but would sooner let a good murder mystery go than make himself attend mass. I really enjoyed reading this very long piece about the nuances of faith and religion in the movie, and this shorter read on Blanc’s sense of justice. Here is to many more Knives Out movies in the next few years!
3. 28 Years Later: Zombie horror simply does not get any better than this- a worthy successor to the 2002 classic which essentially redefined the genre. I watched this in the theater and then again at home a few months later, and I have to say it was even better the second time. The movie was tense and unsettling throughout, and ultimately very sad. The concept of a “rage virus” is as terrifying as ever. All the action sequences are fantastic and Ralph Fiennes’ recluse doctor is one of the most memorable characters of the year. Shaun of the Dead being maybe my all-time favorite movie, I will always be a fan of a well-done zombie flick. What is most thrilling about 28 Years Later is the scene that comes out of nowhere right at the end, showing the cult known as the “Jimmies” which sets up the sequel, The Bone Temple. I cannot wait.
2. Sinners: Wow, what a ride. Yet another horror movie in the mix, this time about vampires. In the list of things that I am a sucker for, vampires are right up there with murder mysteries, accuracy-bending historical thrillers, and whatever genre of comedy The Nice Guys is. Sinners is an absolute tour de force from Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, Jack O’Connell, and the rest of the supremely talented cast. The slow burn in the opening hour setting up the Jim Crowe south is just as good as the bloody violence and gore that follows in the second half. This movie is an ode to the magical musical genius of America’s blues artists of the 20th century. The whole “music through time” sequence is hauntingly beautiful and not only one of the best scenes of the year, but maybe of the last several years. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t bopping to the Rocky Road to Dublin scene despite its very ominous connotations. Ultimately, and perhaps somewhat predictably, we learn that the real horror comes not from mindless zombies but from the Klan and the very American institutions of white supremacy and segregation. The hype about Sinners is very real- it is one of the best movies of the year and one of my favorite movies of all time.
1. One Battle After Another: I have seen critics and fans call OBAA a “cinematic masterpiece”, “a movie that defines a generation”, “Paul Thomas Anderson’s magnum opus”, and “simply a stone-cold classic”. How could I possibly have anything more to add to that? What’s funny is that nobody else I know watched it or even really heard about it. The strangely underwhelming advertising campaign for the movie is primarily to blame, but I believe it will have a second life, a third life, and many lives thereafter in streaming. OBAA is a movie that is propelled by Black women and made memorable by the performances of the cartoonishly evil Sean Penn, the impossibly heroic Benicio Del Toro, and Leonardo Di Caprio playing pot-addled burnout dad desperately trying to save his daughter from the clutches of that most American of villains - white supremacy. Del Toro’s Sensei Sergio is a character for the ages; I will never stop saying “a few small beers’ until the day I die. Having been one of the handful of Americans who actually watched the movie in a theater, I purchased it on Digital soon after to begin the first of my countless rewatches. Movies do not get better than this. And of course, One Battle gave us what promises to be one of the most iconic Halloween costumes of all time. Below is my tribute to Bob Ferguson: all he wanted to do was smoke pot and protect his daughter, and he did one of those things very admirably.
I should mention a major caveat: I am going to watch Marty Supreme on Monday and by all accounts, expect it to barge into my top 5 or at least get very close.
Here are some other movies I watched and enjoyed this year: Eddington, Caught Stealing, Thunderbolts, Honey Don’t, Predator Badlands, Thursday Murder Club, Naked Gun, Nobody 2, Novocaine, Mickey 17, Fantastic 4, Black Bag, Superman. Also, a most honorable mention should be given to “Flashback Cinema”, a fantastic theatrical initiative which enabled me to watch the entire LOTR (extended!) trilogy as well as Blues Brother in my local theater. A fun, fun experience.
And here are some popular movies I should have watched and expect to watch in the near future: F1, Frankenstein, Running Man, Bugonia, The Long Walk, Highest 2 Lowest, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.