Kenny’s Picks For The Best Movies of 2025

And there we have it. 2025 was another excellent year for movies. Put it in the books. Even with a lot of turbulence in the industry, some movies not working for me, and pending mergers that could alter the industry as we know it, there’s still hope. I am happy that the art medium can still shine as a way to reflect on life or escape it. Here is a recap of what I feel were the year’s best movies:

Yes, a tie. Both film festival hits became acquisitions that deserved a higher profile, given that 2025 explored masculinity amid the 2024 election fallout and how cultural critics like Scott Galloway diagnosed male issues. These two movies highlight the urgency and provide a snapshot of this era, and helped me process my own issues during therapy, so thanks. Though at first not likely to be compared, both Friendship and Twinless are truly about male isolation and emotional disconnect, using uncomfortable relationships to focus on a lack of connection in a darkly comic, almost dramatic, way. Friendship leans into social awkwardness from a tremendous comedic performance of Tim Robinson and the discomfort of forced relationships. Writer/director/actor James Sweeney pours so much into Twinless, exploring the emotional fallout of an identity crisis for someone who just wants to be loved for who they are. Ultimately, both Friendship and Twinless are about unsettled grief, insecurity, and wanting to be seen.

“I’m here to see Mr Meacham.” Sleek in execution and dripping with sophistication, Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag was one of the most fun I had at the movies all year, from the kinetic opening scene to the satisfying dinner table climax. The David Koepp dialogue is dense and John le Carré-caliber, building on a complicated plot and rapid-fire dialogue. Both Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett have insanely terrific chemistry together. Sodenbergh regular David Holmes reminds us why they are such a good pair to work with; his synergy and rhythms complement the pacing. A brisk 93 minutes that avoids cliches, I still remember my public audience reacting to a few third-act twists. Please make more medium-budget adult drama like this outside of awards season!

Bi Gan’s masterpiece Resurrection was an experience I will take with me beyond 2025, almost an Avatar: Fire and Ash for the high-minded, art-those crowd. An unpredictable, foreign language epic about the intricate mind and sensitive spirit, it feels like a state of consciousness you enter as the movie begins and snap out of when the closing credits roll. These are feelings that can translate across the globe. Truly a captivating, immersive work of art, and one of the only movies I felt like I could touch the screen during its run time, it transports viewers to its own world. Bi Gan’s hypnotic drifting camera movements and shadow-heavy compositions, as characters and viewers lose all sense of time. I struggle to interpret the meanings and even process what I watched. Resurrection is a deeply felt viewing experience that carries you away. It profoundly moved me long after it ended and was a perfect conclusion to this year’s Denver Film Festival.

After a re-watch over The Holidays with my family, I was floored by Joachim Trier’s resonant family drama about Sisters (Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) coming to terms with their distant father, actor Gustav (a terrific Stellan Skarsgård). The thoughtful, beautifully constructed film balances raw emotions with tenderness and an unpredictable story, and it is ultimately how art helps people process those emotions. Like The Worst Person In The World, Trier gracefully grasps the complexities of people and their broken relationships, fueled by passion and burdened by regret, and the connections that linger.  It’s a profound film, filled with empathy for the characters and rather intelligent – one that trusts its audience to find meaning in its subtle moments. The ending was perfect.

As someone who has struggled in the job market over the last few years with the dehumanizing job-hunting and interviewing process, I was locked in throughout the entire runtime of Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, a biting South Korean corporate satire. Park Chan-wook’s brutal takedown of late-stage capitalism that screws the workers in the conquest of profits. You can feel the humanity slipping away from everyone involved, from the executives who had “no other choice” but to automate and lay off their staff to  Lee Byung-hun, as Yoo Man-su, who had “no other choice” but to kill the competition for the job he desperately wanted. Every frame is precisely composed, weaponizing Park’s seamless visual control. The film’s slick surfaces and controlled yet out-of-control brutality reflect how modern work is both transactional and soul-sucking, a feeling that hits too close to home as I navigate turbulent employment where the Darwinian survival of the fittest is the only option.

Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme is a cinematic miracle, weaving so much chaos into a controlled rhythm anchored by Timothee Chalamet’s triumphant performance. Confession: I didn’t care for Uncut Gems, but the chaotic stress, frenetic editing, and multifaceted storyline did so much for me. At two-and-a-half hours, the stakes drama is more about table tennis, but where Chalamet dazzles and hussles during the game and off the court. Daniel Lopatin’s playful score Marty Supreme is another example of a 2020s filmmaking style that has been defined as Dopamine filmmaking, quick cuts, and short scenes stitched together, as seen in two Best Picture Oscar winners like Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and The Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All At Once. Why do I think this movie connects with audiences? The sensory overload is harnessed with Safdie’s confidence and clarity, transforming chaos into exhilaration rather than the exhaustion of Uncut Gems. It’s a bold feat of control that establishes Safdie’s ability to turn anxiety into adrenaline. You can’t get enough of this movie!

Clint Bentley’s historical drama has lingered in my mind since its Sundance debut in January, from the stunning shots of the woods to a soaring ending. A fantastic Joel Edgerton performance anchors the somber, serene, low-key, arty epic, Train Dreams, an early-20th-century Pacific Northwest railroad logger drama. Filmmaker Clint Bentley (Jockey) directs a genuinely entrancing, gorgeous movie, and the use of lighting from (no spoilers) the campfire glow on Edgerton’s face, and a few different shots of him sawing a tree and blocking a beam of sunlight, will be etched in my mind. A lot of wood-chopping here in a deliberately paced film held my attention. (“World needs a hermit in the woods as much as a preacher in the pulpit,” one man observes of Edgerton’s character, who spends much time alone.) William H. Macy was in a lovely, very supportive role, and it was wonderful to see him on screen. Bryce Dessner’s musical score is very soothing and sets a melancholy tone.

Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet is astonishing filmmaking and an arthouse epic. Both Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal gave it their all, but Buckley, in a grand performance of the year, stunning and devastating over the loss of a child, balancing different emotions. A fictional historical drama account of William Shakespeare’s family life, Hamnet’s rhythm is so natural and controlled, like an iambic pentameter of grief and loss. Hamnet unfolds with quiet, meditative intensity, both intimate in detail and monumental in scope. Its raw vulnerability has lingered in my mind since I watched it, with many moments that feel both timeless and human. For some viewers, the viewing experience is so empathetic that Chloé Zhao leads the audience in breathing exercises to center themselves before the movie. It is a memory that I still remember after Telluride.

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is probably the most impressive accomplishment on the entire list, from a finished movie to box-office success, with the vision it demonstrates for an original film. Ranking it third feels almost cruel. So much was right, from the assured direction at the top of his game to the striking cinematography to the seductive music and uniformly excellent performances. What truly sets Sinners apart is its confidence as an original work that blends genres: The film feels both mythic and reflective of the contemporary, balancing horror and thrilling elements with social commentary in a way that’s both entertaining and unsettling. It’s rare to see a filmmaker operating at this scale take such creative risks, and even rarer still for this payoff. Sinners stands as a statement about what ambitious, adult-oriented studio filmmaking can still be. Both Coogler and the audience have a strong relationship since (I believe) Coogler is the only director whose movies have earned all A’s from CinemaScore audiences.

Shocker, I know! Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is a masterpiece of spectacular, raw filmmaking that embodies the current moment we live in, with distinct humor and jarring stakes. A cinematic powerhouse, it is a biting critique of America now, set into a story that feels both personal and universally urgent. The movie is a perfect blend of thrilling and comical, where you will laugh and be on the edge of your seat. One Battle After Another will be discussed, and possibly the decade, for its breathtaking direction, outstanding performances, and relevant narrative. Something about this movie feels like it represents its polarizing era, like the best of 70s cinema. And it is worth watching an everlasting film that will be remembered long after 2025.

Yorgos Lanthimos’s demented ride features Jesse Plemons’s best performance, probably the best of his generation. The crazy conspiracist holds a mirror up to the chaos of our present moment.

Carson Lund’s remarkable directorial debut, where guys hang out and have fun, reminds me how small towns lose communal spaces like this, whether community halls or even movie theaters.

Director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) just knows how to make a blockbuster movie for adults, and this one fires on all cylinders.

Rose Byrne is exceptional in Mary Bronstein’s anxiety-inducing indie drama, an exhausted mother on the edge of her sanity, alongside a low-key Conan O’Brien.

The real star here is the rooster. The 1990s-set Iraq movie is a really engaging journey; you can’t help but root for her, and the thought-provoking conclusion left me contemplative.

Kleber Mendonça Filho’s is all a political thriller, noir, and a dialogue-heavy, character-driven drama, all in one, set against the sweltering backdrop of late-1970s Recife during Carnival, anchored by a terrific performance from Wagner Moura.

Eva Victor’s witty, unpredictable, fierce, and tender indie drama captures the complex awkwardness of life. The subtle moments, like a shot of a house going from day to night, have haunted me all year.

Alireza Khatami’s criminally underrated, engaging, dramatic thriller never let me go, and unfortunately, never found an audience. I am convinced his next movie will be admired. Remember who told you that.

Written and directed by Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, the incredible ensemble and jarring sound immerse viewers in the hellish combat zone.

7. Cover Up
8. My Mom Jayne
9. Come See Me In The Good Light
10. The Tale of Silyan