MLWBD: The Ten Best Films of 2025
It’s tempting to label 2025 as a chaotic year for cinema, a period in which Hollywood seemed to teeter between safe bets and bold experiments. On one hand, established franchises struggled to evolve: “Superman” entertained but failed to redefine the superhero template, while “Fantastic Four” shimmered with retro charm yet stumbled in its attempt to rejuvenate the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On the other, audacious original films like Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” captured attention with daring narratives and genre-bending sensibilities. And looming over the industry, the blockbuster news that Netflix acquired Warner Bros. has left many questioning the future of theatrical releases altogether.
Yet, as often happens in years of uncertainty, the art itself tells a more compelling story than the business. The crop of films released in 2025 reflects both daring ambition and intimate humanism. Legendary auteurs returned to form or continued impressive streaks, while bold new voices injected vitality into the medium. From genre-defying horror musicals to meditative period pieces, films this year were unafraid to grapple with personal trauma, political urgency, or the very nature of storytelling itself. Animation and international cinema also thrived, with anime adaptations like Chainsaw Man and Demon Slayer dominating box offices, while Netflix’s cultural gamble KPop Demon Hunters highlighted the streaming platform’s ability to shape contemporary discourse.
Here, we highlight the ten best films of 2025—a diverse, rigorous selection celebrating cinematic craft, narrative innovation, and cultural resonance. These are the movies that compelled critics to think, cry, laugh, and marvel.
10. Nouvelle Vague – Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague is, at its core, a love letter to cinema itself. Revisiting the Paris of 1959, the film chronicles the early days of the French New Wave, focusing on Jean-Luc Godard’s making of Breathless and the generation of filmmakers—François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, and others—who redefined the rules of film.
Yet this is no mere period recreation. Linklater immerses viewers in an era through textured black-and-white cinematography, dynamic soundscapes, and meticulously chosen casting. Zoey Deutch embodies Jean Seberg with luminous charm, while Guillaume Marbeck’s uncanny resemblance to Godard imbues the film with an authenticity rare in biographical cinema. The film is structured as a hangout movie—a Linklater hallmark—allowing audiences to linger in cafés, streets, and studios, witnessing creativity in motion. Nouvelle Vague celebrates film as both craft and obsession, a reminder that cinema’s magic resides in the individuals who dare to reinvent it.
Available on Netflix.
9. Train Dreams – Clint Bentley
Clint Bentley’s adaptation of Denis Johnson’s novella, Train Dreams, is a meditation on the transient nature of life. Joel Edgerton stars as Robert Grainier, a logger navigating the early 20th-century American landscape, whose quiet yearning for meaning drives the narrative.
The film’s strength lies in its intimacy. Cinematographer Adolpho Veloso captures vast, sweeping natural landscapes while also lingering on Edgerton’s subtle expressions—small moments that reveal the inner life of an otherwise ordinary man. The story is one of presence over legacy, emphasizing human connection over monumental achievements. Bentley reminds viewers that life’s significance is often found in ephemeral experiences: a child’s laughter, a song under the stars, the warmth of sunlight on bare skin. Train Dreams is a testament to cinema’s ability to celebrate the poetry of the everyday.
Available on Netflix.
8. Eephus – Carson Lund
Baseball is often considered America’s pastime, but Carson Lund’s Eephus elevates it into cinematic poetry. The film unfolds on the final day of a Massachusetts ballfield, capturing the lives of aging, aspiring, and almost-never-was players as they face the end of a cherished era.
Lund’s attention to detail—from accurate gameplay and field positioning to region-specific radio ads—immerses viewers in a particular place and time. But beyond technical accuracy, the film thrives on human observation. Characters’ struggles, triumphs, and quiet moments are recorded with tenderness, and the soundtrack and sound design emphasize baseball’s rhythms: the crack of a bat, the shouts from the bleachers, the sighs of a closing field. Eephus is elegiac, celebrating impermanence and memory. In this way, it is less about the game than about life itself, fleeting yet profoundly meaningful.
Available on VOD and MUBI.
7. The Secret Agent – Kleber Mendonça Filho
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent blends history, politics, and surrealism into a gripping thriller. Wagner Moura stars as Armando, a teacher navigating Recife in 1977 during Brazil’s military dictatorship. The narrative is structured as a puzzle, with twists and tangents—including a murderous sentient leg—underscoring the film’s experimental approach.
Yet Mendonça’s surreal flourishes never feel gratuitous; they illuminate the absurdities of political oppression and human response. The film’s production design evokes the 1970s without becoming fetishistic, while Moura’s performance grounds the story with emotional depth. In the vein of Bacurau and Aquarius, The Secret Agent confirms Mendonça Filho as one of the most audacious directors working today, a filmmaker capable of interrogating history while experimenting with cinematic form.
In limited theatrical release.
6. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You – Mary Bronstein
Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is a visceral, uncompromising examination of modern motherhood. Rose Byrne stars as Linda, a woman whose mental and emotional strain mirrors the overwhelming responsibilities many mothers endure.
Bronstein’s script deftly balances humor with tragedy. Linda’s home literally collapses while she attempts to juggle her child’s medical needs, professional obligations, and personal life, emphasizing the constant pressure and isolation women face. Byrne delivers a powerhouse performance, navigating chaos with vulnerability and humor. The film resonates because it refuses to sugarcoat its subject matter, offering an unflinching look at parenthood’s psychological toll.
Available on PVOD.
5. The Shrouds – David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds explores obsession, grief, and the grotesque through a semi-science-fiction lens. Vincent Cassel stars as Karsh, a tech mogul enmeshed in a complex, morally ambiguous relationship with his deceased wife Becca’s sister, Terry (Diane Kruger).
Cronenberg’s narrative thrives on the absurd and the perverse. Characters pursue intricate chains of thought, obsession, and desire, blurring the line between reality and fantasy. The film interrogates grief and eroticism, the human fascination with death, and the slippery nature of memory. With meticulous attention to psychological nuance and Cronenberg’s signature visual style, The Shrouds is an unsettling yet profoundly compelling meditation on human desire and mortality.
Available on PVOD and The Criterion Channel.
4. Sorry, Baby – Eva Victor
Eva Victor’s debut feature, Sorry, Baby, is a comedy about trauma, unspooling with meticulous tonal control. Victor stars as Agnes, a creative writing professor navigating the cutthroat dynamics of academia while confronting personal crises.
The film’s brilliance lies in its understated confrontations. Victor employs dry humor, sharp timing, and clever narrative structure—splitting the story into five chapters—to explore difficult themes. Interactions with Lydie (Naomi Ackie) and small narrative details, including a heart-wrenching cat subplot, enrich the film’s texture. Sorry, Baby establishes Victor as a filmmaker with both empathy and wit, capable of navigating complex emotional landscapes with intelligence and subtlety.
Available on HBO Max and VOD.
3. Sinners – Ryan Coogler
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is audacious in its conception: a genre-bending horror-musical set in 1930s Mississippi, blending pulp storytelling, folk horror, and electrifying musical sequences. Michael B. Jordan stars as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, whose return home sparks a maelstrom of violence, passion, and supernatural mayhem.
Coogler fuses influences ranging from Salem’s Lot to the Coen brothers, creating a film that is both innovative and viscerally entertaining. Musical set pieces, particularly the haunting “I Lied to You” performed by young Sammie (Miles Canton), elevate the movie beyond spectacle into pure cinematic artistry. With a strong supporting cast including Hailee Steinfeld and Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners balances audacity and heart, cementing itself as one of 2025’s most unforgettable cinematic experiences.
Available on VOD and HBO Max.
2. It Was Just an Accident – Jafar Panahi
Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or-winning It Was Just an Accident examines justice, vengeance, and morality under oppressive conditions. A darkly comic thriller, it follows a group of political prisoners in Iran wrestling with the fate of a man they believe to be their tormentor.
Panahi’s direction is patient, precise, and humane. Every character—the patient family man, the desperate mechanic, the young couple—is fully realized, with personal and political stakes intertwined. Cinematographer Amin Jafari’s expansive visuals highlight the characters’ emotional landscapes and the confined space of their moral dilemma. The film is a testament to Panahi’s artistry, demonstrating courage and nuance in a nation where filmmaking itself is an act of resistance.
In limited theatrical release.
1. One Battle After Another – Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is a monumental achievement, blending historical period detail, intense action, and sharp political awareness. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Bob Ferguson, a former revolutionary navigating a perilous, racially and politically charged landscape with his young daughter Willa.
The film is both sprawling and meticulously detailed, portraying underground activism, institutional oppression, and personal stakes with equal care. Anderson’s direction is precise, his signature dry humor permeating even the most harrowing sequences. Beyond the spectacle lies a meditation on community, resistance, and generational responsibility. The film’s inclusion of powerful Black female characters—Perfidia, Willa, and Deandra—underscores the film’s awareness of systemic inequities and celebrates the often overlooked labor and courage of marginalized groups.
In 2025, when political frustration often mirrors contemporary struggles for justice and equity, One Battle After Another resonates as timely, urgent, and deeply human. Anderson reminds us that revolutions—personal, political, or societal—are long-fought, incremental, and ultimately worth pursuing, one battle at a time.
Closing Thoughts
2025 proved, once again, that cinema is capable of simultaneously reflecting, interrogating, and celebrating the human condition. From Richard Linklater’s romanticized nostalgia in Nouvelle Vague to Paul Thomas Anderson’s politically charged epic One Battle After Another, the films of this year spanned continents, genres, and emotional registers. Directors tackled personal trauma, political upheaval, and cultural history with confidence and innovation, reminding audiences that cinema remains a crucial site of imagination and empathy.
Whether streaming at home or on the big screen, these ten films embody the best of 2025: audacious, elegant, and unforgettable. They are, collectively, a testament to the enduring power of storytelling, and to the resilience of art in times of uncertainty.
Runner-ups: 28 Years Later, April, Black Bag, Blue Moon, Frankenstein, Highest 2 Lowest, Marty Supreme, My Undesirable Friends, Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow, No Other Choice, Sentimental Value