Favorite Movies of 2025

1. Diciannove

dir. Giovanni Tortorici
109 min
Cast: Manfredi Marini, Vittoria Planeta, Dana Giuliano, Zackari Delmas, Luca Lazzareschi, Sergio Benvenuto, Maria Pia Ferlazzo, Samuel Wilberding, Defne Yilmaz
Cinematographer: Massimiliano Kuveiller
Writer: Giovanni Tortorici
2. Who By Fire

dir. Philippe Lesage
155 min
Cast: Noah Parker, Arieh Worthalter, Paul Ahmarani, Aurélia Arandi-Longpré, Antoine Marchand-Gagnon, Sophie Desmarais, Guillaume Laurin, Carlo Harrietha, Irène Jacob, Laurent Lucas
Cinematographer: Balthazar Lab
Writer: Philippe Lesage
3. The Phoenician Scheme

dir. Wes Anderson
102 min
Cast: Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, F. Murray Abraham
Cinematographer: Bruno Delbonnel
Writer: Wes Anderson
4. Việt and Nam

dir. Trương Minh Quý
124 min
Cast: Phąm Thanh Hài, Đào Duy Bảo Định, Nguyên Thį Nga, Lê Viêt Tųng, Ngân Khánh
Cinematographer: Son Doan
Writer: Trương Minh Quý
5. Dreams

dir. Michel Franco
95 min
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Isaac Hernández, Rupert Friend, Marshall Bell, Eligio Meléndez, Mercedes Hernández
Cinematographer: Yves Cape
Writer: Michel Franco
6. Resurrection

dir. Bi Gan
160 min
Cast: Jackson Yee, Shu Qi, Mark Chao, Li Gengxi, Huang Jue, Chen Yongzhong, Zhang Zhijian, Chloe Maayan, Nan Yan, Guo Mucheng
Cinematographer: Dong Jinsong
Writer: Bi Gan
7. Marty Supreme

dir. Josh Safdie
150 min
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A'zion, Kevin O'Leary, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher, Tyler Okonma, Emory Cohen, Pico Iyer
Cinematographer: Darius Khondji
Writers: Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
8. One Battle After Another

dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
162 min
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor
Cinematographer: Michael Bauman
Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson
9. Hard Truths

dir. Mike Leigh
97 min
Cast: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber, Tuwaine Barrett, Ani Nelson, Sophia Brown, Jonathan Livingstone
Cinematographer: Dick Pope
Writer: Mike Leigh
10. The Room Next Door

dir. Pedro Almodóvar
106 min
Cast: Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton, John Turturro, Alessandro Nivola
Cinematographer: Eduard Grau
Writer: Pedro Almodóvar
11. Peter Hujar's Day

dir. Ira Sachs
76 min
Cast: Ben Whishaw, Rebecca Hall
Cinematographer: Alex Ashe
Writer: Ira Sachs
12. Dracula

dir. Radu Jude
170 min
Cast: Adonis Tanța, Gabriel Spahiu, Oana Maria Zaharia, Alexandru Dabija, Lukas Miko, Andrada Balea, Ilinca Manolache, Șerban Pavlu, Doru Talos
Cinematographer: Marius Panduru
Writer: Radu Jude
13. Woman and Child

dir. Saeed Roustaee
131 min
Cast: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi, Soha Niasti, Maziar Seyedi, Fereshteh Sadr Orafaee, Hassan Pourshirazi, Sinan Mohebi
Cinematographer: Adib Sobhani
Writer: Saeed Roustaee
14. The Shrouds

dir. David Cronenberg
120 min
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, Sandrine Holt, Elizabeth Saunders, Jennifer Dale, Eric Weinthal, Jeff Yung
Cinematographer: Douglas Koch
Writer: David Cronenberg
15. After the Hunt

dir. Luca Guadagnino
139 min
Cast: Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg, Chloë Sevigny
Cinematographer: Malik Hassan Sayeed
Writer: Nora Garrett
16. Happyend

dir. Neo Sora
113 min
Cast: Hayato Kurihara, Yukito Hidaka, Yuta Hayashi, Shina Peng, ARAZI, Kilala Inori, Ayumu Nakajima, Masaru Yahagi
Cinematographer: Bill Kirstein
Writer: Neo Sora
17. The History of Sound

dir. Oliver Hermanus
127 min
Cast: Paul Mescal, Josh O'Connor, Molly Price, Alison Bartlett, Michael Schantz, Chris Cooper, Raphael Sbarge, Hadley Robinson, Peter Mark Kendall, Emma Canning
Cinematographer: Alexander Dynan
Writer: Ben Shattuck
18. Sirāt

dir. Oliver Laxe
114 min
Cast: Sergi López, Bruno Núñez, Stefania Gadda, Joshua Liam Henderson, Richard Bellamy, Tonin Janvier, Jade Oukid
Cinematographer: Mauro Herce
Writers: Oliver Laxe, Santiago Fillol
19. The Astronaut Lovers

dir. Marco Berger
116 min
Cast: Javier Orán, Lautaro Bettoni, Mora Arenillas, Agustín Frías, Ailín Salas, Melina Furgiuela, Camila del Campo, Iván Masliah, Violeta Cárcova, Fernando Malfitano
Cinematographer: Mariano De Rosa
Writer: Marco Berger
20. Highest 2 Lowest

dir. Spike Lee
133 min
Cast: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, Elijah Wright, Aubrey Joseph, A$AP Rocky
Cinematographer: Matthew Libatique
Writer: Alan Fox
21. Sound of Falling

dir. Mascha Schilinski
149 min
Cast: Luise Heyer, Lena Urzendowsky, Claudia Geisler-Bading, Lea Drinda, Hanna Heck,t Laeni Geiseler, Florian Geißelmann, Andreas Anke, Susanne Wuest, Gode Benedix, Bärbel Schwarz, Lucas Prisor, Konstantin Lindhorst, Luzia Oppermann, Martin Rother, Filip Schnack
Cinematographer: Fabian Gamper
Writers: Louise Peter, Mascha Schilinski
22. The Mastermind

dir. Kelly Reichardt
110 min
Cast: Josh O'Connor, Alana Haim, Hope Davis, John Magaro, Gaby Hoffmann, Bill Camp, Sterling Thompson, Jasper Thompson, Amanda Plummer, Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, Javion Allen, Matthew Maher
Cinematographer: Christopher Blauvelt
Writer: Kelly Reichardt
23. Nouvelle Vague

dir. Richard Linklater
106 min
Cast: Guillaume Marbeck, Zoey Deutch, Aubry Dullin, Adrien Rouyard, Antoine Besson, Jodie Ruth-Forest, Bruno Dreyfürst, Benjamin Cléry, Matthieu Penchinat
Cinematographer: David Chambille
Writers: Holly Gent, Laetitia Masson, Vincent Palmo Jr., Michèle Pétin
24. No Dogs Allowed

dir. Steve Bache
106 min
Cast: Carlo Krammling Robin Sondermann Katharina M. Schubert Sean Douglas Bineta Hansen Sithembile Menck Finlay Deavin
Cinematographer: Manuel Meinhardt
Writer: Stephan Kämpf
25. Demons at Dawn

dir. Julián Hernández
136 min
Cast: Luis Vegas, Axel Shuarma, Angélica Baños Hernández, Tony Corrales, Luis Miguel Mata, Jere Caelum, Mauricio Rico
Cinematographer: Alejandro Cantú
Writers: Julián Hernández, Gustavo Hernández de Anda
26. Pet Shop Days

dir. Olmo Schnabel
100 min
Cast: Jack Irv, Dario Yazbek Bernal, Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard, Emmanuelle Seigner, Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Grace Brennan
Cinematographer: Hunter Zimny
Writers: Olmo Schnabel, Jack Irv, Galen Core
27. Bugonia

dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
118 min
Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, Alicia Silverstone
Cinematographer: Robbie Ryan
Writer: Will Tracy
28. Hamnet

dir. Chloé Zhao
126 min
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, Jacobi Jupe, Joe Alwyn, David Wilmot, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Olivia Lynes, Noah Jupe
Cinematographer: Łukasz Żal
Writers: Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell
29. Young Hearts

dir. Anthony Schatteman
99 min
Cast: Lou Goossens, Marius De Saeger, Geert Van Rampelberg, Emilie De Roo, Dirk van Dijck, Jul Goossens, Ezra van Dongen
Cinematographer: Pieter Van Campe
Writer: Anthony Schatteman
30. 28 Years Later

dir. Danny Boyle
115 min
Cast: Jodie Comer, Alfie Williams, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, Edvin Ryding, Jack O'Connell
Cinematographer: Anthony Dod Mantle
Writer: Alex Garland
31. Enzo

dir. Robin Campillo
102 min
Cast: Eloy Pohu, Pierfrancesco Favino, Élodie Bouchez, Maksym Slivinskyi, Nathan Japy, Vladislav Holyk
Cinematographer: Jeanne Lapoirie
Writers: Laurent Cantet Robin Campillo
32. After This Death

dir. Lucio Castro
96 min
Cast: Mía Maestro, Lee Pace, Rupert Friend, Philip Ettinger, Gwendoline Christie, Vivi Tellas, Jack Haven
Cinematographer: Barton Cortright
Writer: Lucio Castro
33. When Fall Is Coming

dir. François Ozon
104 min
Cast: Hélène Vincent, Josiane Balasko, Ludivine Sagnier, Pierre Lottin, Vincent Colombe, Sophie Guillemin, Garlan Erlos, Malik Zidi, Marie-Laurence Tartas, Paul Beaurepaire
Cinematographer: Jérôme Alméras
Writer: François Ozon
34. Seven Veils

dir. Atom Egoyan
107 min
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Mark O'Brien, Vinessa Antoine, Ambur Braid, Michael Kupfer-Radecky
Cinematographer: Paul Sarossy
Writer: Atom Egoyan
35. Presence

dir. Steven Soderbergh
84 min
Cast: Callina Liang Lucy Liu Chris Sullivan Eddy Maday West Mulholland Julia Fox
Cinematographer: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: David Koepp
36. Matt and Mara

dir. Kazik Radwanski
80 min
Cast: Deragh Campbell Matt Johnson Mounir al Shami Emma Healey Avery Nayman Marlowe Granados
Cinematographer: Nikolay Michaylov
Writer: Kazik Radwanski
37. The Serpent's Skin

dir. Alice Maio Mackay
83 min
Cast: Alexandra McVicker, Scott Major, Charlotte Chimes, Jordan Dulieu, Avalon Fast
Cinematographer: Aaron Schuppan
Writer: Alice Maio Mackay, Ben Pahl Robinson
38. Black Bag

dir. Steven Soderbergh
94 min
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Tom Burke, Marisa Abela, Regé-Jean Page, Naomie Harris, Pierce Brosnan
Cinematographer: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: David Koepp
39. Avatar: Fire and Ash

dir. James Cameron
198 min
Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, Jack Champion, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Jemaine Clement, Giovanni Ribisi, David Thewlis
Cinematographer: Russell Carpenter
Writers: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
40. Beating Hearts

dir. Gilles Lellouche
160 min
Cast: Adèle Exarchopoulos, François Civil, Mallory Wanecque, Malik Frikah, Alain Chabat, Benoît Poelvoorde, Vincent Lacoste, Jean-Pascal Zadi, Élodie Bouchez, Karim Leklou, Raphaël Quenard
Cinematographer: Laurent Tangy
Writers: Gilles Lellouche, Audrey Diwan Ahmed Hamidi, Julien Lambroschini
41. Bring Her Back

dir. Michael Philippou, Danny Philippou
104 min
Cast: Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, Sally Hawkins, Mischa Heywood, Jonah Wren Phillips, Stephen Phillips, Sally-Anne Upton
Cinematographer: Aaron McLisky
Writers: Danny Philippou, Bill Hinzman
42. Grand Tour

dir. Miguel Gomes
129 min
Cast: Gonçalo Waddington, Crista Alfaiate, Cláudio da Silva, Lang Khê Tran, Jorge Andrade, João Pedro Vaz, João Pedro Bénard, Teresa Madruga, Joana Bárcia
Cinematographers: Rui Poças, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Gui Liang
Writers: Telmo Churro, Maureen Fazendeiro, Mariana Ricardo, Miguel Gomes
43. Soul Mates

dir. André Téchiné
100 min
Cast: Noémie Merlant, Benjamin Voisin, Audrey Dana, André Marcon, Mirindra Ramaroson
Cinematographer: Georges Lechaptois
Writers: Cédric Anger, André Téchiné
44. Sentimental Value

dir. Joachim Trier
135 min
Cast: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning, Cory Michael Smith, Catherine Cohen, Pia Borgli, Jonas Jacobsen, Anders Danielsen Lie
Cinematographer: Kasper Tuxen
Writers: Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt
45. Blue Film

dir. Elliot Tuttle
82 min
Cast: Reed Birney, Kieron Moore
Cinematographer: Ryan Jackson-Healy
Writer: Elliot Tuttle
46. Emmanuelle

dir. Audrey Diwan
105 min
Cast: Noémie Merlant, Will Sharpe, Naomi Watts, Jamie Campbell Bower, Chacha Huang, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang
Cinematographer: Laurent Tangy
Writers: Rebecca Zlotowski, Audrey Diwan
47. Lurker

dir. Alex Russell
100 min
Cast: Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Havana Rose Liu, Sunny Suljic, Daniel Zolghadri, Zack Fox, Cam Hicks
Cinematographer: Patrick Scola
Writer: Alex Russell
48. The Last Showgirl

dir. Gia Coppola
89 min
Cast: Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka, Billie Lourd
Cinematographer: Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Writer: Kate Gersten
49.The Secret Agent

dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho
161 min
Cast: Wagner Moura, Carlos Francisco, Tânia Maria, Robério Diógenes, Roney Villela, Gabriel Leone, Alice Carvalho, Hermila Guedes, Isabél Zuaa, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Thomás Aquino, Laura Lufési, Isadora Ruppert, Igor de Araújo, Ítalo Martins, Udo Kier, João Vitor Silva
Cinematographer: Evgenia Alexandrova
Writer: Kleber Mendonça Filho
50. It Was Just An Accident

dir. Jafar Panahi
104 min
Cast: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, George Hashem Zadeh, Delmaz Najafi, Afsaneh Najm Abadi
Cinematographer: Amin Jafari
Writer: Jafar Panahi

Some Notes Regarding 2025

Is American cinema dead? If not, it’s certainly dying. It was a phenomenal year for movies, just not if you were only looking at the “big five” studios (soon to be four?). Cinema seems to be going the way of book publishing, in which cheap genre fare is king, and the great literary novels (i.e., the mid-budget dramas) are far and few between. And while I’m not sure we’ve yet reached a New New Hollywood, or whatever that might be for this current era (Marty Supreme can you save us?), I think for the next few years, we’re going to be seeing more international films gain prominence stateside. And when everybody’s watching everything with subtitles anyway, what difference is it going to make?

I mean, look at the Oscar slate this year, where it’s not a matter of which international feature is making it into the best picture lineup, but rather how many. Personally, this is what I’ve thought the Oscars should be for a very long time, so I’m glad this expanded, younger academy is giving us a more accurate picture of the year in film (though still not perfect, of course). And moving the ceremony to YouTube is one of the smartest things the Academy has done, allowing for those of us without a cable TV package, and especially for those outside of the United States, easier access to the broadcast. I only wish they weren’t waiting until 2029.

The truth is, there just aren’t enough American movies being released to fill theaters anymore. Looking at my own list, in the top 50, I’ve only included a few true Hollywood films, whereas most of the American movies are independent productions, alongside features from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Spain, and Vietnam. And frankly, my list is better off for it.

At the top of my list is Giovanni Tortorici’s brilliant, Diciannove, a movie that feels as though it were made specifically for me. It’s the story of a literature student who is kind of depressed and realizes that maybe he’s also kind of gay. Produced by my beloved Luca Guadagnino, the film is edited in a truly contemporary style and stars the divinely handsome Manfredi Marini. If Luca ever ends up making his adaptation of Separate Rooms, I think Marini should certainly play the lead!! I know Diciannove has been somewhat polarizing, but it’s the film that excited me the most this year. I laughed, I cried, I was horny, and it’s the kind of debut feature we only get once every few years.

This year we were also blessed with another film by Philippe Lesage, his first since Genèse in 2018. Who by Fire is perhaps the movie I’ve recommended to the most people this year, and while structurally it’s rather unconventional—several long, one-take dinner scenes serving as emotional checkpoints for the characters in this 155 minute story about cabin fever—it’s got a performance by Noah Parker that keeps you invested from start to finish. It goes by so quickly, and even when rewatching, I’m still on the edge of my seat. Slowly but surely, it starts to feel like you’ve got a fever too.

Number three on my list is yet another film by Wes Anderson that has been ignored by critics, the Academy, and the general public. I find The Phoenician Scheme so profoundly moving, and especially the film’s ending, a moment of quiet grace (perfectly scored with Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring“). The film is posturing as this dense work about bureaucracy and religion and industry, but it’s actually quite simple and elegant. It’s about a man finding peace within himself, loving his chosen family, and leaving something good behind. I feel everybody is undervaluing this run that Wes is on—this film preceded by The French Dispatch and Asteroid City—but I really do think this is the most important (and best) work of Wes’ career.

Number four on my list is Trương Minh Quý’s stunning Việt and Nam. Shot on Super 16mm by Son Doan, this whole movie feels like a lucid dream, and it concludes with one of the most surprising shots I’ve seen in a very long time—I literally gasped in the theater. It’s deeply political in ways that I’m still unpacking, but I was surprised by how much this one has stuck with me since I first saw it back in April.

Rounding out my top five is Michel Franco’s Dreams, a film that I’ve now seen three times, and which plays so incredibly well with an audience. We selected Dreams for the New Hampshire Film Festival this year and it was so exciting hearing people react to the film—both during the gratuitous sexual scenes and the moments of intense violence. Franco makes harsh, controversial films that I think get overlooked because people just chalk him up to being a nihilist, but there’s more going on here than people are giving it credit for. I think, like Franco’s New Order from 2020, Dreams is going to age incredibly well.

Beyond that, I’ve included Bi Gan’s remarkable Resurrection (which I think should have won the Palme d’Or), Marty Supreme (which proves that Josh has the juice and Benny doesn’t), One Battle After Another (with its 40 minute “prologue” which I feel is some of the most dynamic and exciting work in Anderson’s filmography), Hard Truths (justice for Marianne Jean-Baptiste who should have won the Oscar back in March), The Room Next Door (god bless Isabelle Huppert and the Venice jury for correctly awarding this the Golden Lion), Peter Hujar’s Day (another banger from the underappreciated Ira Sachs), Dracula (the first Radu Jude movie that I’ve outright loved, which is funny considering how annoying it is), Woman and Child (absolutely devastating with a shocking dramatic turn halfway through, and it’s funny that this also premiered at Cannes alongside Sirāt), The Shrouds (a surprisingly difficult film that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about for nearly eight and a half months), and After the Hunt (which audiences are being willfully obtuse about and deserves more than two seconds of thought to really get at what Luca is trying to say).

Some of my other favorite things from this year include:

Every facial tick, gesture, and vocal choice that Denzel makes in Highest 2 Lowest. I admit, he should have been on my best actor list, and probably should have won, but for me the highlights this were the younger guys. Sorry!
Josh O’Connor in The History of Sound, The Mastermind, Wake Up Dead Man, and Rebuilding—2025 was HIS year.
Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s handheld 16mm photography in The Last Showgirl which is so fucking warm and gorgeous. It really is the star of the show (but Pamela Anderson is good too!)
All of the cute boys playing famous filmmakers in Nouvelle Vague. Thank you to Richard Linklater and his casting director!
The sound design in Sound of Falling, which really must be heard in a theater so you can feel it. It’s overwhelming.
The way Steven Soderbergh gently lit the dinner scenes in Black Bag. Luscious! I want to live in that townhouse!
I know I gave him my best actor prize, but Malik Frikah really is France’s response to Timothée Chalamet, and I think (hope) he’ll be going on to do great things in the years to come!
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom and his section of Grand Tour. A true master.