Top Ten Favorite Films of 2025

I haven't seen everything, but I’ve seen enough.

This list is subject to change, as always, and will evolve as I catch up on more films. This year, I wanted to get this out in the world before the end of the year, instead of waiting until right before the Oscars.

I hope there are some films on this list that you haven’t seen or even heard of. I also hope you’ll feel curious enough to watch them, and that they turn out to be pleasant discoveries.

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10. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Uncut Gems for Mothers. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (in the running for title of the year) is written and directed by Mary Bronstein, co-written by Ronald Bronstein (husband and close collaborator of the Safdie Brothers), and produced by Josh Safdie. This feels very much of the Safdie Universe, and also somehow dials the anxiety up even further, probably because being a parent can be stressful enough. I’ve always been big on Rose Byrne, and this finally feels like her year. A$AP Rocky is also fantastic. It’s a difficult watch, and one I’m not eager to revisit just yet, but it’s undeniably great work.

9. Lurker

I’m always on the lookout for surprises, and every year, I’m hopeful I’ll stumble upon a film that wasn’t on my radar that will floor me. In previous years, it’s been films like Athena, All Hands on Deck!, and The Vast of Night. This year, it’s Lurker. This one came out of nowhere for me, and I was enthralled from start to finish. Directed by Alex Russell in his feature debut and anchored by Théodore Pellerin’s deeply unsettling performance, it’s an unnerving exploration of obsession and our fixation on fame.

8. Nouvelle Vague

Richard Linklater is the most underrated director of all time. In 2025, he delivered two of the year’s best films, and what’s most striking isn’t just how great they are, but how radically different they are from one another. Nouvelle Vague looks as though it was shot in 1959 on the set of Breathless. The casting is the best of the year, no question. Guillaume Marbeck as Jean-Luc Godard is astonishing. Ultimately, it’s more an exercise than a film, but as a companion piece, it’s the perfect supplement to one of the greatest films ever made.

7. Sirāt

I was immediately sold on the world of Sirāt through its use of music, minimal dialogue, and sense of space, but what begins as a quietly immersive journey, following a man and his son in search of their daughter and sister, quickly spirals into a literal descent into Hell. I’m not entirely convinced the film works on a strict script-logic level, but taken as an experience, it’s captivating. Kangding Ray, whom I had never even heard of before, delivers a score that is out of this world.

6. It Was Just an Accident

Jafar Panahi takes the audience on a literal ride. This is so well cast, with a seamless blend of humor and thriller elements, and capped by an all-timer of an ending. The fact that this was made in secret makes everything feel so impossible.

5. Train Dreams

Train Dreams captures the idea of family as the true centerpiece of a life, and how everything before (and God forbid, after) can feel meaningless. This is heartbreaking on every level, with some of the beautiful cinematography of the year, with a real The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford vibe running through every frame. It’s the kind of devastation that lingers.

4. Roofman

I’m a longtime fan of Derek Cianfrance (who made one of my favorite films of all time), so I was always going to see this, but this film was so mismarketed, it’d actually make for a great case study. Roofman is not (merely) a comedy. It’s a deeply human portrait of a man who keeps making bad decisions despite having good intentions. This is a mature step up for the director. If there’s one film this year I’d shout from the rooftops for people to watch, it’s this one.

3. Marty Supreme

I’ve been a proud Safdie Brothers fan since 2015, when I first saw Heaven Knows What upon its release. I’ve simply always loved the lived-in worlds they’re able to build. I was disappointed when they went their separate ways, and Benny Safdie’s sensibility is notably absent in Marty Supreme. The film, however, is still outlandish, fun, and exhilarating— and perhaps incriminatingly, relatable. This is a film only a father could make, and so far, it’s the only film that’s managed to capture that indescribable feeling of what it’s like to see your child for the first time.

2. One Battle After Another

This is Paul Thomas Anderson coming back from being down by 40 by those who wrote this film off, financially and creatively, months before its release. PTA delivered the goods, simply because, well, he’s PTA. One Battle After Another is exciting and invigorating, with a seamless blend of comedy, drama, and action, into one propulsive whole. It’s a pure rollercoaster.

1. Sinners

Sinners is quite simply the film that defines 2025. It’s daring, bold, bursting at the seams with creativity and ideas, and it’s everything cinema is, and should be. I know I’m biased, but I can also be honest.

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1. Sinners
2. One Battle After Another
3. Marty Supreme
4. Roofman
5. Train Dreams
6. It Was Just an Accident
7. Sirāt
8. Nouvelle Vague
9. Lurker
10. If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

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