The Top 10 Films of 2025

PHOTO COURTESY BBP TRAIN DREAMS LLC / NETFLIX

In an everchanging landscape for movies, the best films of 2025 represent the full breadth of ways we engage with motion pictures.

There are movies on this list that became traditional blockbusters — widely seen in movie theaters from coast to coast. There are movies that cineastes had to seek out at film festivals and in small arthouses. There are movies that only (or almost only) appeared on streaming services.

To be sure, the film landscape in 2025 has no resemblance to that of 1999 — just as that storied year had little in common with the way we watched movies in 1975 or 1960. Throughout the 125 years or so of American moviegoing, the methods and means of finding great movies have changed; the appetite for them, however, hasn’t decreased.

A number of very good movies just barely missed my 10 favorites this year, including “28 Years Later,” “It Was Just an Accident,” “KPop Demon Hunters,” “Mickey 17,” “The Plague,” “Sentimental Value,” “Superman” and “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.” These 10, however, lingered in my mind — and I suspect they’ll do so for some time.

10) “Eephus”
The quiet baseball movie “Eephus” is about everything and says almost nothing. A hardscrabble small-town team gathers to play its final game before their home (and only) field is demolished; the game is ultimately pointless, and none of the aging players are particularly inclined to make a symbol out of it. Yet “Eephus” manages to cover a century of American change with nary a discussion of any issues. Plus, it’s funny as often as it’s heartbreaking.
How to See It: Now streaming on MUBI and available via digital on-demand services.

PHOTO COURTESY WARNER BROS. PICTURES

9) “One Battle After Another”
Is it a sideways social parable? Many of this year’s weighty message movies didn’t speak so eloquently. A madcap comedy? Most of the other funny pictures this year didn’t produce half as many laughs. A gritty action flick? The average thriller wishes it had anything as gripping as that climactic car chase. But why try to define it? “One Battle After Another” is simply a great cinematic experience. Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s best film since “There Will Be Blood” is magnificently realized and packs a cast so loaded that you’ll wish every single character could have their own spinoff film. (Especially Regina Hall’s.)
How to See It: Now streaming on HBO Max.

8) “Blue Moon”
If it were a play — and “Blue Moon” could easily be a play — you could do it in a bare black box with no loss of intrigue. The film follows fading Broadway scribe Lorenz Hart on the night his former partner, Richard Rodgers, is debuting a lavish production without Hart’s assistance. The name of that show? “Oklahoma!,” exclamation point and all, co-written by Oscar Hammerstein II, thus sealing Hart’s fate as a relic. Beautifully portrayed by Ethan Hawke, Hart stalks around Sardi’s with wit and desperation in equal measure. The script, by Robert Kaplow, is perfect; Linklater’s direction turns it into immersive reality. It could be a play; I’m very glad it’s a film.
How to See It: Available via digital on-demand services.

7) “Sorry, Baby”
Several of this year’s most acclaimed movies hurl characters, plot developments and scenes at the viewer with reckless abandon. In some cases — see the entries I’ve ranked sixth and ninth, for example — that approach works; in others, it muddies the waters. The opposite of this very frenetic filmmaking is the careful “Sorry, Baby,” an awesome debut from director/writer/star Eva Victor. A steady tale of endurance, uncertainty and emotion after a sexual assault, “Sorry, Baby” manages a remarkable feat, taking its painful subject matter and finding a path toward something inspirational.
How to See It: Now streaming on HBO Max.

PHOTO COURTESY A24

6) “Marty Supreme”
Don’t watch “Sorry, Baby” and “Marty Supreme” back-to-back — you’ll suffer unfathomable whiplash going from a careful walk of a story to a plot more like a runaway train. As table-tennis expert Marty Mauser — very loosely based on real-life athlete Marty Reisman — Timothee Chalamet deals with a slate of obstacles ranging from a mafioso’s lost dog to a movie star’s amorous intentions in the single-minded pursuit of ping-pong supremacy. Does the viewer ever think any of this is going to work out? Not for a moment. Can you look away? Not for a moment. Josh Safdie captures the tension of his instant classic “Uncut Gems” but adds significantly more humor and a dash of something stirring.
How to See It: Now in theaters.

5) “Sirāt”
The sound of vibrating, almost amelodic electronic music pounding in the desert sand sets the tone for “Sirāt,” a sparse tragedy from director Oliver Laxe. A man and his young son search for a missing family member among outlaw raves and remote deserts in southern Morocco; it’s a task that seems hopeless from the onset and will only grow more desperate as the path winds farther into an inhospitable climate. Bleak though the subject matter is, Laxe makes it hypnotizing; in that endless stress of heat and oblivion, there’s something irresistible for characters and viewers alike.
How to See It: “Sirāt” appeared at the Three Rivers Film Festival but is yet to receive a longer release in Pittsburgh or arrive on streaming. Keep an eye out for showtimes in the months leading up to the Oscars; “Sirāt” is a hopeful for Best International Feature and Best Sound nominations.

4) “Hamnet”
Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao adapts Maggie O’Farrell’s novel into a collision between the lush landscape of an artist’s mind and the brutal realities of a cold era in human history. Loosely inspired, with some speculation, from the life of William Shakespeare, “Hamnet” focuses on the Bard’s wife, Agnes, and the loss of the couple’s son, Hamnet. The literary angle explores the degree to which his son’s death inspired Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedy; the heart of the film, though, is simply about the illogical demands of loss. Jessie Buckley could and should win Best Actress for her portrayal of Agnes; no performance this year shows more mastery of the craft.
How to See It: Now in theaters.

3) “The Perfect Neighbor”
The most eloquent cinematic argument of the year didn’t need to comment — verbally, at least — on the real-life tragedy it presented. A found-footage chronicle of a killing in suburban Florida, “The Perfect Neighbor” presents stark reality via the most contemporary sources (police body cameras, Ring doorbells) to deliver a jolting dose of truth in our excessively debatable world. It’s a tough documentary to get through, with some devastating moments; its urgency and importance, though, make a viewing more than worth it. Director Geeta Gandbhir and editor Viridiana Lieberman possess almost supernatural skill; I can’t wait to see what they do next.
How to See It: Now streaming on Netflix.

2) “Train Dreams”
Unfathomable beauty and unbearable sadness collide in “Train Dreams,” a quiet western (of sorts) set in the Pacific Northwest. Joel Edgerton plays Robert Grainier, a laborer who can’t escape intimate encounters with death. Loss is as constant as the towering, gorgeous trees that surround him. Based on a gorgeous novel by Denis Johnson, “Train Dreams” challenges the viewer to find and focus on its splendor without ever letting go of sadness. “Beautiful, ain’t it,” says William H. Macy, giving the film’s thesis — and something of a eulogy. “All of it. Every bit of it.”
How to See It: Now streaming on Netflix.

PHOTO COURTESY WARNER BROS. PICTURES

1) “Sinners”
Oscar rules prevent Michael B. Jordan from receiving two Best Actor nominations, but he deserves them for giving a pair of unforgettable performances as ambitious twins Smoke and Stack. Powerful as Jordan’s performances are, they’re but one element in a truly remarkable — and instantly unforgettable — film. The story of an ill-fated juke joint set upon by ancient evil, “Sinners” is about the binding power of music to uplift and embolden communities. It’s also a gripping thriller, a haunting horror film and a searing drama. Every year has great films. It’s rare to encounter a movie that feels destined to become an endlessly rewatched classic. “Sinners” is just such a film; in the way that touchstone films such as “Jaws” and “The Godfather” seem to have always been immediate and relevant, “Sinners” has an eternal quality. It was the best movie of the year from the first reel.
How to See It: Now streaming on Prime Video and HBO Max.