For the third year in a row, some kind of meaningful quote about the year feels apprpopriate. Reflecting on 2025, my head and heart are here:
"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” - George Moore
Last year was a period for learning to say “no” more often in carrying on this double life of a school teacher and a film critic. That sure worked because 2025 might be the year where I anchored myself to home the most since the pandemic year. I switched teaching jobs from a place that had a 20-minute commute to a local one mere blocks from my home that I could walk or bike to.
Being that close to home, the reduction of logistical stress has been staggering, but so has the narrowing of habitat, so to speak. It feels like I left home for fewer screenings and movie events than I ever have. I let others get the by lines and let the movies come to me, and that turned out just fine for the 15th anniversary year of Every Movie Has a Lesson.
According the Letterboxd diary logs, I saw about 100 movies that received a theatrical or digital release in 2025. I stayed home this year, and it shows. From Somewhere in Montana on January 10th to Anaconda on December 23rd, 90 written reviews were published on Every Movie Has a Lesson, a dip from 107 in 2024 where I had a bump from participating in festival coverage. Many of those 90 also ran on my top outlet of Film Obsessive, where I successfully completed my second year as Editor in Chief and Content Supervisor. All told, combining reviews, editorials, awards coverage, and podcast articles, I authored and published 160 pieces on Film Obsessive in 2025—a site I’m damn proud to help lead.
Over on the podcast front, the Cinephile Hissy Fit podcast with Will Johnson produced 39 episodes in 2025, including our landmark 200th episode. Hitting #200 and having the chance to visit Los Angeles again count as my movie highlights of 2025. My trip this time came as a member of the Critics Choice Association invited by Netflix to cover Jay Kelly with a press conference including stars George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Emily Mortimer, and director Noah Baumbach. Every now and then, I sure get to do cool things. In being part of the CCA, I continue to gain long-distance friends, and I remain eternally grateful for all of the perks that come with being part of that recognized leader in journalism and film criticism.
Alright, let’s get to the precious list. Here’s my “10 Best” list for 2025. As comfortable as I am, I can never see everything, as I have my blind spots and gaps. Nonetheless, I still value digging for treasure behind the mainstream where I can.
All poster images: impawards.com, Letterboxd, and IMDb
MY 10 BEST FILMS OF 2025
1. Sinners
2. Black Bag
3. One Battle After Another
4. IS THIS THING ON?
5. Jay KellY
6. Hamnet
7. The Life of Chuck
8. Eddington
9. Rental Family
10. Sentimental Value
On my ledger, 2025 was a very good year, but not a far-and-away great year, at least in terms of star ratings. There are years I have filled an entire top 10 (and sometimes more) with all 5-star reviewed films. This year, either I was stingy, or things were just a shade less, because I only had six. Moreover, that score count was two until September. I feel like this year’s Oscar races reflect that level field as well, where most of the races are very competitively open here at the end of the year.
As for my Top 10, nothing has been able knock Ryan Coogler’s Sinners out of the top spot. I found the quality across the acting, storytelling, music, and production value to be nearly flawless and undoubtedly impactful. I know Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another has leapfrogged Sinners at Warner Bros. in studio favoritism and in many awards categories. Still, I think Coogler’s degree of difficulty was far greater. I have never been a There Will Be Blood fan and think Boogie Nights is Anderson’s leader-in-the-clubhouse in the masterpiece department, but it’s quite alright if 2025 becomes PTA’s year to get all the Academy flowers for the lightning rod of a statement film.
In between Sinners and One Battle After Another is Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag, a movie as sharp and as engrossing as any other in the director’s stellar and varied filmography. It’s just a damn good 94-minute original movie, which is hard to find this day and age. With that in mind, I can readily admit that originality scores well with me, as eight of my Top 10 are non-IP original screenplays. The other two are adaptations of best-selling novels. As much as I loved Superman, there’s not a comic book movie in sight. Annually, my heart comes into play plenty. Thanks to Jay Kelly, Hamnet, The Life of Chuck, Is This Thing On?, Sentimental Value, and Rental Family, go ahead and call me that “rank sentimentalist” from Casablanca. That’s my taste and comfort zone and always will be. I welcome rewatching those six for years to come. Don’t worry. The acid of Eddington all by itself balances that softness out.
THE NEXT TEN BEST:
11. F1
12. Song Sung Blue
13. Warfare
14. She Rides Shotgun
15. Magazine Dreams
16. Frankenstein
17. Roofman
18. Highest 2 Lowest
19. The Knife
20. Rebuilding
These next ten are a fun and eclectic mix. Song Song Blue is arguably the best crowdpleaser of the year. Going larger, the big screen electricity of F1 and the impeccable artistic grandeur of Frankenstein stand next to little indies like She Rides Shotgun, Rebuilding, Magazine Dreams, and The Knife. Those latter four were likely made for less than probably the wardrobe budgets of the first two.
Three of those four were anchored by extremely good under-the-radar lead actor performances from Taron Egerton, Josh O’Connor, and Jonathan Majors respectively. None of those three will get a whiff at Oscar consideration, and that’s a shame. The Knife, a home-based cop procedural pot boiler, is the directorial debut of former NFL All-Pro Nnamdi Asomugha, adding the big chair to his excellent second talent of acting. Seek those smaller gems out.
Once again, originality and strong filmmaking win, as shown by heavyweights like Spike Lee, Guillermo del Toro, Derek Cianfrance, Alex Garland, and Richard Linklater holding places in this next ten. The best filmmakers tend to make the best cream capable of rising to the top.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
DOCUMENATARY: John Candy: I Like Me
SHORT FILMS: Death is Business, Liquor Bank
I don’t nearly have enough time to cover as many documentaries or short films as I should, but I try to champion what I can. A critic could review just documentaries dropping through the calendar year and the work would fill a full-time position. The best one I saw in 2025 was John Candy: I Like Me, a beautiful personal and industry tribute to the late Canadian star directed by Colin Hanks. On the short film side, I’ve been following Chicago filmmaker Matthew Weinstein’s work for years, and he hasn’t missed yet. Death is Business continues to sharpen Matthew’s storytelling chops. Another Chicago artist on the rise is Marcellus Cox. His Liquor Bank was a stiff sermon on manhood and accountability are stronger than the drinks being poured down the drain. I look forward to what he produces next.
Other 4-star movies (in alphabetical order):
Blue Moon, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Dog Man, Eleanor the Great, Elio, Familiar Touch,The Fantastic Four: First Steps, How to Train Your Dragon, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, The Naked Gun, Predator: Killer of Killers, No Other Choice, The Smashing Machine, Superman, Suze, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, The Wedding Banquet, Wicked: For Good, Zootopia 2
LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED
from Review Blog https://everymoviehasalesson.com/blog/2025/12/column-my-10-best-movies-of-2025
