Best Films of 2025

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Best of 2020-29 | Best of 2026 | Best of 2024

The following list averages the opinions of my favorite critics plus mine.

Foreign movies show sometimes a year later, so if you can't find a title, check last year's ratings.

Special section: The 2025 Film Festivals

Sundance (jan):

Clint Bentley: Train Dreams

Eva Victor: Sorry Baby

Alireza Khatami: The Things You Kill

James Sweeney: Twinless

Dea Kulumbegashvili: April

Emilie Blichfeldt: The Ugly Stepsister

Amanda Kramer: By Design

Geeta Gandbhir: The Perfect Neighbor

Ira Sachs: Peter Hujar’s Day

Hailey Gates: Atropia

Ang Lee: The Wedding Banquet

Michael Shanks: Together

Alex Russell: Lurker

Bill Condon: Kiss of the Spider Woman

Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman: The Alabama Solution

James Griffiths: The Ballad of Wallis Island

Khalil Joseph: BLKNWS - Terms & Conditions

Amber Fares: Coexistence My Ass

Georgi Unkovski: DJ Ahmet

Rashad Frett: Ricky

Rachel Holder: Love Brooklyn

Sophie Brooks: Oh Hi

Berlin (feb):

Cannes (may):

Director: Title

Venezia (aug):

Director: Title

New York (oct):

Director: Title

Locarno (aug):

Director: Title

Toronto (sep):

Ratings for the 2025 season

MUST SEE...:

7.2 Rob Tregenza: The Fishing Place
7.2 Lucile Hadzihalilovic: La Tour de Glace/ Ice Tower
7.0 Clint Bentley: Train Dreams
7.0 Michel Franco: Dreams

7.0 Duke Johnson: The Actor

SO SO...:

6.9 Eva Victor: Sorry Baby
6.8 Joon-ho Bong: Mickey 17
6.7 Alireza Khatami: The Things You Kill
6.7 James Sweeney: Twinless
6.7 Dea Kulumbegashvili: April
6.7 Emilie Blichfeldt: The Ugly Stepsister
6.7 Amanda Kramer: By Design
6.7 Geeta Gandbhir: The Perfect Neighbor
6.7 Ira Sachs: Peter Hujar’s Day

6.6 James Ashcroft: The Rule of Jenny Pen
6.5 Michael Morris: Bridget Jones - Mad About the Boy
6.5 Hailey Gates: Atropia
6.5 Ang Lee: The Wedding Banquet
6.5 Michael Shanks: Together
6.5 Alex Russell: Lurker
6.5 Bill Condon: Kiss of the Spider Woman
6.5 Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman: The Alabama Solution
6.5 Carl Fry & Maxwell Nalevansky: Rats!
6.5 Bill Guttentag: Rule Breakers

6.5 Peter Browngardt: The Day the Earth Blew Up

Passable...:

6.4
6.2 Drew Hancock: Companion
6.0 Rebecca Lenkiewicz: Hot Milk
6.0 Peter Hastings: Dog Man
6.0 Mark Waters: La Dolce Villa
6.0 James Griffiths: The Ballad of Wallis Island
6.0 Khalil Joseph: BLKNWS - Terms & Conditions
6.0 Amber Fares: Coexistence My Ass
6.0 Georgi Unkovski: DJ Ahmet
6.0 Rashad Frett: Ricky
6.0 Rachel Holder: Love Brooklyn
6.0 Sophie Brooks: Oh Hi
6.0 Noah Pritzker: Ex-Husbands
6.0 Kyle Hausmann-Stokes: My Dead Friend Zoe
6.0 Alex Parkinson: Last Breath
6.0 Cutter Hodierne: Cold Wallet
6.0 Ricard Cusso and Tania Vincent: Sloth Lane
6.0 Steven Soderbergh: Black Bag (2025)
6.0 Prarthana Mohan: Picture This
6.0 Ash Avildsen: Queen of the Ring
6.0 Bruno Dumont: The Empire
6.0 Lowell Dean: Die Alone

6.0 Anthony Schatteman: Young Hearts

YUCK!...:

5.9 Lawrence Lamont: One of Them Days
5.8 Dave Needham : Plankton The Movie
5.5 Atom Egoyan: Seven Veils
5.5 Nicholas Stoller: You’re Cordially Invited
5.0 Leigh Whannell: Wolf Man
5.0 Neil Burger: Inheritance
5.0 Jonathan Eusebio: Love Hurts
5.0 Leonore Serraille: Ari
5.0 Jon Gunn: The Unbreakable Boy
5.0 Paul Anderson: In the Lost Lands

5.0 Mark Anthony Green: Opus

GASP!...:

4.9
4.5 Michael Polish: Alarum
4.5 Mel Gibson: Flight Risk
4.5 Joe and Anthony Russo: The Electric State

4.5 Dan Berk & Robert Olsen: Novocaine
4.0 Josh Ruben: Heart Eyes
4.0 Prarthana Mohan: Picture This
4.0 Arabella Burfitt-Dons: Grey Matter
4.0 Tyler Spindel: Kinda Pregnant
4.0 Olatunde Osunsanmi: Star Trek Section 31
4.0 Anders Lindwall: Green and Gold
4.0 Julius Onah: Captain America - Brave New World
4.0 Dougal Wilson: Paddington in Peru
4.0 Simon West: Old Guy
4.0 Osgood Perkins: The Monkey
4.0 Dito Montiel: Riff Raff

4.0 Craig Johnson: The Parenting