We’re almost at the end of 2025, so it’s time to look back and decide on the best movies we’ve seen this year. These ‘best of the year’ lists are far from definitive, ask us tomorrow and our choices might be different. That’s the beauty of film in a way; so many to love and so little time to enjoy them all.
So here you go: 15 movies, 3 writers, 1 list. Merry Christmas you filthy animals.
28 Years Later
Director: Danny Boyle
There is no better director/writer combination than Danny Boyle and Alex Garland when it comes to the horror/sci-fi genre. Together, they’ve given us gems like 28 Days Later (the start of the franchise) and Sunshine. From that Boots sequence that set all our hearts pounding, to quiet pathos present in Dr. Kelson’s (Ralph Fiennes) bone temple, the pair have crafted an affecting coming of age film that just happens to be set in a zombie-infested world. It tackles so much in such a layered, nuanced way – society’s view of masculinity, the disillusionment that comes from growing up, overcoming and accepting loss. 28 Years Later is a tremendous film and one of the year’s best.
– Natasha Alvar
Black Bag
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh returns to his roots in this confident, efficient spy yarn that exudes coolness and respects viewers’ intelligence each step of the way. Featuring an impeccable ensemble including Michael Fassbender (building off his “malfunctioning robot” vibes in The Killer), Cate Blanchett, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan (chewing scenery to a pulp), Black Bag might not necessarily have the most “ambitious” aims, but it knows exactly what it is and achieves its mission, zipping along at a fast clip and delivering a twisty narrative that — for all its dark comedy, rapid-fire dialogue, and high-stakes interrogations — has much to say about trust and romantic relationships. Complete with a jazzy score by David Holmes that ranks among the year’s best, it’s a film that’s prime for repeat viewings.
– Alex McPherson
Cloud
Director: Kyoshi Kurosawa
Suspenseful, absurdist, and, by the end, downright evil, director Kyoshi Kurosawa’s takedown of Internet culture and capitalism’s soul-sucking influence veers from twist to twist with devilish ease. Centered around a factory worker moonlighting as a shady online reseller, Kurosawa takes his time setting up the pieces, establishing Yoshii (Masaki Suda) as a quiet man driven by greed and addicted to his scams, unaware of just how quickly his operations will explosively unravel. Kurosawa builds towards a hyperviolent finale, transforming this slow-burn thriller into an unlikely action film that’s both strangely hilarious and bone-chilling.
– Alex McPherson
Hedda
Director: Nia DaCosta
It takes some doing to keep audiences interested in a character who is, at their core, pretty unpleasant. Yet in Hedda, Nia DaCosta’s take on Henrik Ibsen’s classic play, Tessa Thompson is so charismatic as the lead character that you forgive almost every devious act she unwisely commits. Taking place across a single day in Hedda’s newly acquired mansion, DaCosta’s fourth film is slick, stylish and seldom slow. Everyone from the supporting cast – Nina Hoss is a standout as Hedda’s ex-lover Eileen Lovborg – to the lighting department and costume designers bring their absolute A game.
– George White
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s new film is an outstanding cinematic achievement — a tension-filled and profoundly moving exploration of revenge and of retaining one’s humanity within a repressive regime. Made in secret and inspired from Panahi’s own experiences in prison, It Was Just an Accident focuses on people processing their trauma in different ways who might finally get the chance to confront the person who tortured them, questioning whether “catharsis” is even possible. Alongside the remarkable production, and the best ensemble of 2025, Panahi’s film is a testament to cinema and to art itself, while also remaining a damn thrilling viewing experience in its own right with a final scene that has been seared into my memory.
– Alex McPherson
Materialists
Director: Celine Song
I’m of the firm belief that Celine Song’s Materialists will be recognised for its brilliance in years to come. Currently, it gets compared far too much to Song’s debut Past Lives, which is a very different film exploring completely different themes. The capitalist nature of society has shaped how we look at dating, with our partners becoming commodities that we look at to elevate our own lives. Celine Song’s movie is thus an unflinching view of what modern dating has become, a mere transactional business deal leading to the merging of resources. It’s one of the few rom-coms that really has its pulse on what modern dating looks like.
Despite the bleak realism of our transactional world, Materialists reminds us of the true value of love. Both Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and John (Chris Evans) decide to choose love and each other despite the awareness of the challenges that await.
– Natasha Alvar
One Battle After Another
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
What I love about Paul Thomas Anderson’s films is how varied and diverse they are – in tone, subject matter – yet they feel distinctly his, in the writing, the filmmaking. One Battle After Another is not his best film, but that doesn’t matter because it’s still very good and one of the year’s best. Featuring a whole host of fantastic performances and an exhilarating Jonny Greenwood score, One Battle After Another is the kind of film built to watch in a theatre. The camera work is tremendous and that rolling hills sequence alone reminds us why PTA is one of the best directors we have working today.
– Natasha Alvar
One of Them Days
Director: Lawrence Lamont
It’s often said that comedy is a dying art on the big screen, but 2025 certainly bucked that notion. The Naked Gun, Freakier Friday and Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy all amused cinemagoers across the globe, but none could hold a candle to Lawrence Lamont’s One of Them Days, following two roommates in a frantic race against the clock to avoid homelessness. Led by the delightful duo of Keke Palmer – who continues to prove herself as one of Hollywood’s great entertainers – and SZA – who makes a hell of an acting debut – this punchy outing blends the chaos of 2000s comedy with a fresh, modern feel. Comedy is back, baby.
– George White
Reflection in a Dead Diamond
Director: Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
Co-directors Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani craft an experience that is genuinely unlike anything I have ever seen before. The aging John Diman (Fabio Testi) is a retired spy residing in a high-class hotel in the French Riviera. He’s intrigued by his beautiful neighbor who mysteriously goes missing — leading John to reflect on his lurid years as a spy and on unresolved missions from his past. A loving pastiche of 1960s eurospy, giallo, and exploitation cinema with outrageous violence and phantasmagoric imagery, Reflection in a Dead Diamond is a mind-bending assault on the senses that, for all its nonstop stylistic ferocity, is assembled with a tremendous sense of rhythm and care. Fiction blending with reality, cinema as life, Art as an all-encompassing force. It’s utterly transportive, and deeply, deeply weird.
– Alex McPherson
Sinners
Director: Ryan Coogler
Every year we beg for more original movies to save us from the graveyard of reboots, sequels and regurgitated content that’s being shoved down our throats. Sinners is the answer to that prayer, the salvation to our starved movie souls. Sinners is director Ryan Coogler’s most personal film to date, a movie that wants us to consider what art means to us, and how important it is for artists to charge forward and make what they desire despite dissenting voices. That main musical set piece that connects black culture and music across time is goosebump-inducing, and it is just one of the many great set pieces in this fantastic movie.
– Natasha Alvar
The Long Walk
Director: Francis Lawrence
Tell anyone the synopsis of this film, based on the Stephen King novella (under the pseudonym Richard Bachman), and their eyes will likely glaze over. That’s right, The Long Walk is, on the surface, about exactly that: a long walk. Yet it’s so much more than that. Through J.T. Mollner’s sophisticated screenplay, and the layered performances of two of the brightest young stars around right now, Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, every scene is more engaging than it has any right to be. Ignoring Mark Hamill’s cartoonish army major, it’s perfect proof that all you need for success on screen are the right words and the right people saying them.
– George White
The Mastermind
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Kelly Reichardt’s latest film is a wryly funny and melancholic character study disguised as a heist film that only the legendary filmmaker herself could make. Featuring Josh O’Connor giving his strongest performance to date, the film follows an aimless, self-absorbed family man named J.B in the early 1970s amidst the backdrop of the Vietnam War, who hatches a plan with some criminal compatriots to steal paintings from a local art museum. Suffice to say, a true “mastermind” he is not, and the privileged man-child’s attempt to give “meaning” to his life backfires in quietly spectacular fashion. Reichardt, ever the patient and incisive filmmaker, lets us live inside the film’s sumptuous period aesthetic and recognize truth (and karmic justice) in its deeply flawed, yet ever human protagonist.
– Alex McPherson
The Testament of Ann Lee
Director: Mona Fastvold
At the risk of sounding too ‘Nicole Kidman in that AMC Theatres commercial’, some films truly are magical – and The Testament of Ann Lee is one of them. Following the titular Lee, the founder of the religious Shaker movement, the film captures your attention from scene one and refuses to let go. William Rexer’s cinematography is stunning, with director Mona Fastvold ensuring every facet of the movie – script, tone, performance – is focused on maximising the impact of this singular story. At the centre of it all is Amanda Seyfried, who puts in a career best performance (sorry, Mamma Mia! fans), mastering both the emotional and musical demands with ease.
– George White
Together
Director: Michael Shanks
Regardless of the issues surrounding this film’s origin, the final product is a deeply enjoyable one, with real-life partners Alison Brie and Dave Franco using their chemistry to full effect as a flawed couple who grow closer in ways they could never imagine. This has all the elements you’d hope for in a film like this – cringe-inducing body horror, twists and turns aplenty, and a dash of tension-lifting comedy – making for a fun couple of hours in the cinema. Together might not reach the heights of other body horror hits like The Fly or The Substance, but it’s still well worth a watch.
– George White
Train Dreams
Directors: Clint Bentley
Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams is about the life of Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), an ordinary man with a wife and daughter, who worked whatever jobs he could to make a living, and who lived long enough to see the world change before his very eyes.
Is there value to a life simply lived? If I leave nothing behind – no legacy, no descendants, no mark – if I leave the world quietly and without sound, would my life have mattered? Robert Grainier’s tale shows us that there is purpose to the lives we lead even if all we did is love and lost, or even if we did not. Train Dreams is a lovely, heartfelt portrait of life – a moving film that will stay with you long after 2025 is over.
– Natasha Alvar
