Amongst my favourite films of the year are some which are mentioned quite a bit in the film discourse and others which have been ignored by the mainstream. Overall I felt 2025 was a great year for film with a lot of movies I loved which didn't quite make my final 10 because there was something special about this group of movies, something about each of them that resonated powerfully for me and will stick with me over the years. Despite coming close but not quite making it, films like Black Bag, Hedda, Eephus, Urchin, Blue Moon, Bring Her Back, The Wedding Banquet, Sentimental Value, Presence, Queens of the Dead, Peter Hujar's Day, The Plague, and Dust Bunny will all be films I enjoy revisiting from time to time. Blockbusters like Superman and Predator Badlands reminded me of the fun of the popcorn movie when they are done with a love for the material and a great deal of fun. But after careful consideration it was the following 10 films which most moved me in 2025. These are the films I know I will be rewatching again and again and remembering for years to come.
The moving story behind the movie first pulled me in, but it was the mix of charm, humour, and clumsy romance that hooked me. I am often drawn to the Duplass sensibility and that in combination with breakout star Michael Strassner's force of personality and vulnerability make The Baltimorons a new holiday tradition for me. Two mismatched strangers, who have a lot going on in their personal lives, end up spending Christmas Eve together in this beautiful, funny, and sad story about connection. This is the sort of movie where I wouldn't change a thing. It surprised me, unsettled me, and made me smile that sort of bittersweet smile that comes with balancing loss with new hope. This is my style of rom-com and holiday film. 
Companion
Sadly Companion fell completely under the radar despite its smart and bitingly entertaining critique of possession in relationships. With its Black Mirror style story that continues to take you in different directions that you'd ever expect, this is the sort of movie best experienced knowing as little as possible. A strong cast, bold direction, and a smart script pull everything together. Genre conceits can be hard to pull off but for me Companion completely stuck the landing... and all the steps along the way. I truly loved the sense of hope embedded in the film. Despite its rather cynical story, Companion finds spaces for what real love can look like, what self love can look like, and has some of my favourite final moments of any film all year.
I went into this film mostly blind and boy did I love what I saw. Sometimes it feels like post-apocalyptic films can be rote, but 40 Acres went to new places. Like the best genre films, this isn't about the setting or the struggle; it is about the relationships. 40 Acres is a story about the making of family, what pulls us together and apart. It goes without saying that Deadwyler is amazing (she does not disappoint), but I was blown away by the performance of Kataem O'Connor as well. Truly the whole cast is wonderful but these two together are spectacular. Deadwyler's eyes convey so much from the depths of rage and pain to the expanse of overwhelming love.
Hamnet
I really didn't know what to expect from this fictional film based on some aspects of William Shakespeare's personal life. Writer O'Farrell's speculation on the death of the Bard's son and the inspiration for the most famous play of the English language turns into a beautiful, cathartic story in the hands of director Zhao. Hamnet is verdant and alive for a story about death, loss, and rebirth. Buckley and Mescal are both radiant here, both talented actors who are doing some of their best work. The history is irrelevant here, this is about human pain and resilience. It is about art. I was quite emotionally moved by the brief yet mesmerizing performance of Noah Jupe, who may have given the best Hamlet performance I have seen, or at least one of the most moving.
Jafar Panahi's funny and heart breaking meditation on justice, revenge, and catharsis is everything all at once. It is hilarious, terrifying, terribly sad, and surprisingly redemptive. When a survivor of a torture prison recognizes the voice of one of his former captors, he takes them hostage himself. Along with some fellow former captives, he has to decide what to do with him. It Was Just an Accident is a film about our humanity, how to respond to atrocities, and what all of that says about us. It goes to some dark places and some truly hopeful ones as well. The story behind the film, shot guerilla style with permits and defying Iranian authorities to make and release the movie, makes Accident even more compelling of an achievement.
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There are a number of Stephen King adaptations that are amongst my favourite films of all time and The Long Walk is joining that list. Surprisingly it was made by a film maker who had yet to make a film I liked. Yet Lawrence's approach to tackling what is a very un-cinematic story, turned out to be revelatory. This allegory, perhaps heavy handed in the hands of other film makers, managed to feel completely honest and raw. A big part of this is the cast. Hoffman and Jonsson are both young actors I've been watching for a while now but everyone here is incredible, including Plummer, Wang, Odjick (heck all the other walkers), are just so vulnerable. An exploration of masculinity and fascism that explodes into a powerful ending that exceeds what the source material offered. The Long Walk has haunted me since I saw it and will stay with me.
Lurker
The Long Walk
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Marketed as a thriller with queer undertones, it was neither of those things, well, not as one would predict. Lurker isn't about physical danger. It's not a Single White Female style story. It's much more fascinating and unsettling than that. Lurker is about obsession, desperation, and how connection is built in unhealthy ways. The main characters are queer coded, but again, not as you expect. The story ends up being about heterosexual male obsession. Lurker flips the scripts on how narratives use references to point audiences in certain directions and takes us to far more interesting places. Leads, Pellerin and Madekwe are both amazing playing complex and difficult characters. Difficult characters appear to be my theme in 2025 and Lurker presents some of the most complicated. 
Sorry, Baby
Twinless
Sinners
The most I have aligned with the film discourse is with my love of Sinners. I believe this might be Coogler's strongest work... so far. I'd argue it might be Jordan's strongest work... so far. Whether that is the case or not is irrelevant because Sinners is the sort of film that reminds us just how magical cinema is. It is a complicated piece of work that is also a wildly entertaining and gripping movie. It both pays tribute to a genre while reinventing it completely. It is both conventionally scary and very inventive in the ways it gets under your skin. An ensemble piece, there are many wonderful performances in this film. At the end of the night, the final moments of this film have a rich emotional payoff that speaks directly to why I love movies and what the art form can do so well.
When I sat down to see Sorry, Baby I had no idea I would be watching one of my favourite films of the year. This film is at the same time deeply funny and devastatingly sad; its final moments wrecked me. This may be the most effective and accurate film about the experience of surviving sexual assault that I have seen. I loved how writer/director/star Victor made her choices. We get to see her. We never see the assault. Her character, and that character's pain, hope, and love is the centre of this story. I can't remember this impressive debut by a film maker in a very long time and I know Victor will be one I'll be watching as I can't wait to see what she will do next.
Usually my favourite film of the year is a film that pushed me, that I struggled with, that I couldn't stop thinking about, that makes me question so much I thought I knew. In 2025 this was certainly the case. Like my favourite films of the past few years (Everything Everywhere All at Once, All of Us Strangers, and I Saw the TV Glow) my 2025 favourite film came out of nowhere and upended all my expectations. I love getting surprised in this way by cinema and it is films like that which keep me excited about my passion for film.
The first time I saw Twinless I was shook. I didn't know what to think about it and it wouldn't leave my mind. Writer/director/star James Sweeney made such a raw and intricate film about difficult characters going through difficult situations and it struck a nerve in me I wasn't expecting. It is an extremely watchable film despite having morally challenging protagonists and an emotionally difficult story. Sweeney has made a film like no other this year with his bold, unapologetic energy, his explicit queerness, and a willingness to go places that might be a bit frightening to face.
I want to send out my applause to the following performances which were incredible to watch. I've already mentioned some of the great performances in the films listed above (Jesse Buckley, Michael Strassner, Danielle Deadwyler, Kataem O'Connor, Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Eva Victor, Dylan O'Brien, the entire cast of The Long Walk) but to add to this list some of my favourite in 2025 were Ben Whishaw in Peter Hujar's Day, Frank Dillaine in Urchin, Ben Foster in Sharp Corner, Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon, Everett Blunck in The Plague, Tim Key in The Ballad of Wallis Island, Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Value, Tessa Thompson in Hedda, and the incredible Tonatiuh in Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Of the 289 new films I saw in 2025, these were the ones that meant the most to me. I love getting to share about cinema that I adore and 2025 was a year full of great movies. Bring on 2026!
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