The 5 Best Movies of 2025

This year has been a doozy when it comes to great shows on TV and streaming. In fact, I had to seriously struggle while making my “Best Shows of 2025” list, with a number of big hitters not making the cut (sorry, The Last of Us, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Better Sister…).

But when it comes to the best movies of 2025? Well, this list was challenging for a different reason. TBH, I don’t think there were really all that many that deserve to be called “the best.” 2025 was kind of a meh year for cinema—with a few major exceptions of course. We got fun, twist-filled thrillers like Companion, somewhat satisfying sequels like Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy and Jurassic World: Rebirth and cute, under-the-radar offerings like The Italians. Yet, however enjoyable those might have been, only five films can be called the crème de la crème IMHO (and, no, Bridget Jones isn’t one of them).

Here, my picks for the best films of 2025—and I promise, they aren’t what you’re expecting.

• Rating: R
• Runtime: 138 minutes

My favorite movie of the year comes from Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) and stars Michael B. Jordan (also Black Panther)as a pair of brothers, Stack and Smoke, who return to Mississippi to open a juke joint. What initially feels like a period drama quickly takes a genre-bending turn with a series of tense and thrilling twists that truly kept me on the edge of my seat. I’m seriously rooting for Jordan, Coogler and the film itself at the Golden Globes this year (even if I am pissed Wunmi Mosaku didn’t get a nod too). The movie is scary, sexy, thrilling, hilarious and littered with meaning and metaphors—no wonder it has a 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

• Rating: R
• Runtime: 129 minutes

Bonkers doesn’t even begin to describe this off-the-walls horror movie about a bunch of kids who disappear from their homes in the middle of the night. The story unfolds brilliantly, revealing the events from different perspectives, and with escalating urgency (and terror). Things first take a turn when Julia Garner’s character falls asleep in her car—and gets a bone-chilling haircut. And all of this is before we meet the film’s most interesting (and award-worthy) character, Aunt Gladys. If Amy Madigan doesn’t win all the awards this season, you can catch me spreading my arms and running out into the night myself.

• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 85 minutes

While I don’t expect this one to win any awards, it was absolutely one of my five favorite films of the year. The pairing of Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson is inspired (whether they had a real-life romantic relationship or not). The film is a breezy 85 minutes and brings the laughs hard, much like its Leslie Nielsen-led predecessor. We could all use this kind of dumb, silly, joke-a-minute content right now, especially when it’s executed so spectacularly. Frank: “Please, take a chair.” Beth: “No thanks, I have plenty of chairs at home.” Gold.

• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 137 minutes

I won’t tolerate any naysaying when it comes to this Wicked conclusion. The film is excellent, and anyone who has a problem should take it up with Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz who created the Broadway musical (For Good brings the second act of the show to the big screen in an impressive way). And while Cynthia Erivo gave me chills in the first film, this time around, things are all about Ariana Grande. Her performance of the more “grown up” Glinda is nuanced, emotional and powerful. The fact that the same actress who gave us “Popular” last year is now able to give us that heartbreaking scene behind the door (cue the tears again) is wildly impressive. The movie’s themes are grand, sweeping and more relevant today than ever.

• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 99 minutes

Okay, okay, before you roll your eyes at me, keep in mind that a cartoon broke Netflix viewership records (becoming the most-watched Netflix movie ever), had the highest charting soundtrack of 2025 and its fictional girl group was the first girl group to hit number one on the Billboard Top 100 since Destiny’s Child. The film wasn’t just a success; it was a monster success. The film is up for three Golden Globes and, if I were a betting man, I’d put my money on it taking the trophy for Best Original Song for “Golden.” The film is wildly entertaining and has that rare je ne sais quoi that gives it appeal across generations and demographics. In short, it’s one of the year’s best. Hopefully, you’ve finished your Liz Lemon-sized eyeroll by now.