So we have come to the end of another year of cinema. Whilst America feasts on Oscar hopefuls in November & December, the UK is left with crumbs until all the good films come out in January. In the first half of the year I was getting a little worried that this would not be a fantastic year for cinema; whilst there were a lot of fun films, I didn’t see many I would expect to become modern masterpieces. But the second half of the year delivered and turned 2025 into a great year after all. Who knows what 2026 will bring, but first, let’s look back over the year with my top 10 films of 2025.
10. Superman
For the past 5 years, the superhero genre has been in something of a crisis. Besides standalone moments of brilliance – The Batman, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – the post-Endgame world has brought us little to be excited about. Enter James Gunn’s DCU, and his flagship film Superman. This film achieves something I never expected: it actually makes me care about the Man of Steel. What can I say? He’s usually boring! But with a perfectly earnest performance by David Corenswet, star supporting turns from Rachel Brosnahan and a fantastic Nicholas Hoult as a mercifully bald Lex Luthor, and filled to the brim with inventive imagery, humour and heart, Gunn has breathed new life into the OG superhero. Don’t pretend you don’t want to be gently held in David Corenswet’s huge arms.
Best Moment: Superman takes the time to save a squirrel’s life, which was nearly cut after test audience’s “didn’t get it”. I really wonder where they find these imbeciles.
9. Black Bag
A March release that likely passed many by, Black Bag followed hot on the heels of Steven Soderbergh’s other 2025 film, the innovative Presence. Starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett as intelligence agent power couple George and Kathryn Woodhouse, this supremely slick film follows George as he begins to suspect Kathryn is hiding a dangerous secret. Rounding out the supporting cast is a menagerie of established and fresh British talent: Naomie Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Regé-Jean Page, Tom Burke, and scene-stealer Marisa Abela. This is much more Le Carré than Bond, and all the better for it: a dialogue-heavy mystery wrapped in a tight 90 minute runtime. And perhaps most surprising: if any 2025 film will make you believe in love again, it’s Black Bag.
Best Moment: The entire dinner party sequence at the film’s climax is a masterclass in building tension.
8. Wake Up Dead Man
Knives Out is one of my favourite films, probably of all time, and I am a staunch Glass Onion defender (a 3.4 on Letterboxd? Really?) Rian Johnson’s new whodunnit is a very different vibe to its predecessors, soaked in a gothic tribute to 70s thrillers in its lighting, cinematography and story. But make no mistake: it is just as whip-smart and blackly comedic as ever. Daniel Craig returns with his nonsensical Southern accent as supersleuth Benoit Blanc, but this instalment belongs entirely to Josh O’Connor’s Father Jud, a young priest who escaped a violent life on the street and wants nothing more than to help people. Examining both the evil possibilities of organised religion and the beauty of personal faith, Johnson proves that his series is adaptable, changeable, and has the legs to last for many years to come.
Best Moment: Every time Josh O’Connor is on screen. As a priest. In a dog collar. This film might have been extracted from my dreams.
7. Eddington
Perhaps the most divisive film of the year, and unsurprisingly so – I’m sure there are many people who would say it is still far too early to be making art about Covid. But Ari Aster storms in with an epic, blood-soaked neo-Western about the craziest year in recent memory, with a magnificent Joaquin Phoenix as impotent conservative sheriff Joe Cross, who just wants to maintain the status quo. Of course, this attitude will never be compatible with reality, and watching Cross’ subsequent descent into madness is both depressing and deliciously funny. Aster takes shots at the performative left and delusional right, but the looming threat of amoral capitalism is a reminder that these petty squabbles are nothing in the face of true evil. The rest of us are just ants fighting over the scraps.
Best Moment: Joe Cross & Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal)’s confrontation scored by Katy Perry’s Firework.
6. Bugonia
Yorgos Lanthimos is reliably weird and unique, and though Bugonia is adapted from the Korean film Save the Green Planet!, there is no doubt that his fingerprint is all over this black comedy. The film stars Jesse Plemons as a young man who kidnaps CEO Michelle Fuller (a bald, brilliant Emma Stone) to prove that she is an alien sent to Earth to divide and conquer humanity. What ensues is a near-chamber piece in which Fuller always feels like she has the upper hand, even when tied up and tortured. Is it bleak? Is it funny? Is it a film for the moment? Lanthimos explores modern society & capitalism with gleeful vigour. At any point, you might think Fuller is or isn’t an alien – but does that really matter, when the ruling classes are so far removed from us that they might as well be from another planet?
Best Moment: The ending. No spoilers, but it’s beautiful and surely divisive.
5. Bring Her Back
2022’s Talk to Me was an enjoyably macabre fairy tale from Australian YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou, announcing a fresh new voice in horror. Their follow-up Bring Her Back, starring the eternally effervescent Sally Hawkins as Laura, a grieving foster mother with a terrible secret, cements them as modern horror maestros. A great horror contains not just fear but also pathos, and whilst Laura is undoubtedly evil, there is also a deep, relatable sadness to her character that required an actor of Hawkins’ calibre to convey. But make no mistake: this is an all-out horror, with gut-churning visuals, creepy children and a killer story. The Philippou’s revive the psycho-biddy genre for a modern audience, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.
Best Moment: A scene I literally had to look away from, that still haunts me when I think about it. Don’t leave knives around children!
4. 28 Years Later
The weight of expectation crushed down on Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later: would it live up to the iconic original? Could he create something unique but still in the spirit of his 20-year-old film? Upon release, this was another incredibly divisive film, with some calling it a modern masterpiece and others slating its tonal irregularity. Personally, I found it to be absolutely fantastic. The trailers suggested a more generic zombie film, but Boyle’s direction and Alex Garland’s script ensure this film is anything but ordinary. Bullet-time zombie kills, dream-like causeway chases, biting (haha) social commentary, and a star child performance from Alfie Williams make this one of 2025’s most memorable movies, whether you liked it or not. But it is Ralph Fiennes’ tender turn as Dr. Kelson that steals the show. That’s right: 28 Years Later made me cry! Anyone who thinks horror can’t be an emotional genre is a fool.
Best Moment: The Memento Mori sequence is one of the year’s saddest, most poignant offerings.
3. Weapons
2025 has been a fantastic year for horror, and Zach Cregger’s follow-up to his intelligent debut Barbarian is one of the best. Engrossing, unpredictable and wildly entertaining, Cregger builds a Stephen King-esque smalltown mystery around the disappearance of a class of children under the care of teacher Justine Gandy (Julia Garner). Scary, funny and with an instantly iconic villain, Weapons will surely enter the history books. And having seen it twice, I can say it’s even better on a rewatch – I appreciated the tone and humour much more. Cregger is another immensely exciting new voice in horror, and I trust he has many more interesting projects up his sleeve.
Best Moment: The opening when the children run out to George Harrison’s Beware of Darkness, but also the introduction of a certain character halfway through is extremely memorable.
2. Sinners
Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther films have definitely been on the stronger and more unique end of the MCU, but it’s great to see him let loose here and have full creative control. What results feels like a tribute to an older age of Hollywood: it feels rare in 2025 for a film to have a full hour of buildup before we get to the meat of the story. Coogler’s virtuoso vampire musical horror action thriller has been rightfully lauded and tipped for Oscar glory, owing to its spellbinding story and star turns from Michael B. Jordan in a dual role, Jack O’Connell and newcomer Miles Caton (amongst a stellar supporting cast). And whilst this is a vampire film, its commentary on Black culture, oppression and the communal importance of music is by far the most interesting thing about it. It’s the sort of film that makes you want to jump out of your seat and cheer.
Best Moment: The music through the ages sequence is perhaps the best of the year – a true revelation.
1. One Battle After Another
I may have a bias as a huge Paul Thomas Anderson fan, but the man continues to knock it out of the park. I would go as far as saying One Battle After Another is not just the best film of the year, but the best of the decade so far. There is nothing more timely, more thrilling, more funny and exciting than this film in the last year. And by the time you’ve unclenched your buttocks and the credits are rolling, you can hardly believe three hours have passed. Leonardo DiCaprio proves he still absolutely has it, and Teyana Taylor, Benecio del Toro and Regina Hall are fantastic, but this film belongs to two actors: newcomer Chase Infiniti in a surely star-making debut, and Sean Penn as the year’s most reprehensible villain, Col. Steven J. Lockjaw. Laced with bombastic political commentary and laugh-out-loud moments, but never forgetting to be a fantastic action-thriller first and foremost, PTA might just be the best in the business. I truly cannot praise this film enough. The soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission.
Best Moment: The final car chase is the most pulse-pounding scene of the year.
Image Credits
Superman: DC Studios, Troll Court Entertainment, The Safran Company, Warner Bros. Pictures
Black Bag: Casey Silver Productions, Focus Features
Wake Up Dead Man: T-Street Productions, Ram Bergman Productions, Netflix
Eddington: A24, Square Peg, 828 Productions
Bugonia: Element Pictures, Square Peg, CJ ENM, Pith, Fruit Tree Enterprises, Focus Features
Bring Her Back: Causeway Films, Stage 6 Films
28 Years Later: Columbia Pictures, Decibel Films, DNA Films, Sony Pictures Releasing
Weapons: New Line Cinema, Subconcious, Vertigo Entertainment, BoulderLight Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures
Sinners: Proximity Media, Warner Bros. Pictures
One Battle After Another: Warner Bros. Pictures, Ghoulardi Film Company