The best movies of 2025

- Director: Walter Salles
- Metascore: 85
- IMDB user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 2 hours 17 minutes

Based on journalist Marcelo Rubens Paiva's memoir of the same name, "I'm Still Here" tells the story of a mother and activist trying to cope with the forced disappearance of her husband amid Brazil's military dictatorship. Starring Oscar nominee Fernanda Torres, the movie was nominated for Best Picture and won the Academy Award for Best International Film. The urgency of the story, as well as the quietly emotional performances, are among the driving factors behind the film's acclaim.

- Director: Steven Soderbergh
- Metascore: 85
- IMDB user rating: 6.7
- Run time: 1 hour 33 minutes

Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, and Pierce Brosnan lead the cast of this spy thriller, which follows a British intelligence officer tasked with investigating a list of possible traitors. One of the names on that list? The wife he's deeply devoted to. "Black Bag" shares tonal similarities with a James Bond movie, but with a subtler, more darkly comedic approach.

RogerEbert.com's Monica Castillo called the Steven Soderbergh effort "absolutely delicious, a svelte piece of entertainment that feels like a vintage yarn yet very much represents our own anxieties, questions of sustaining trust in relationships and high-stake careers."

- Director: Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus
- Metascore: 85
- IMDB user rating: 7.5
- Run time: 1 hour 57 minutes

"Cover-Up" examines the long and storied career of investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, who helped expose dark chapters in American history, including the My Lai massacre, the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, and the CIA's domestic spying program.

It took Hersh two decades to agree to participate in Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus' film, but the wait was well worth it: The Netflix film, which made its debut at 2025's Venice Film Festival, is "enthralling," according to Screen Daily's Nikki Baughan. "'Cover-Up' pays fitting tribute to a man who has made it his life's work to seek out and expose the hardest of truths," she writes.

- Director: Albert Serra
- Metascore: 85
- IMDB user rating: 7.2
- Run time: 2 hours 5 minutes

RogerEbert.com's Glenn Kenny called "Afternoons of Solitude" "visually beautiful, emotionally unnerving, and—arguably—intellectually confounding." Director Albert Serra's first feature-length documentary follows Spanish bullfighter Andrés Roca Rey. There is no commentary, narration, or interviews with those involved. Instead, the film offers a two-hour observation of the sport in all its gore and glory.

- Director: Bi Gan
- Metascore: 86
- IMDB user rating: 7.2
- Run time: 2 hours 40 minutes

Variety critic Jessica Kiang called Bi Gan's "Resurrection" a "marvelously maximalist movie of opulent ambition." Set in a world where humanity can no longer dream, the epic science-fiction drama follows the enigmatic Miss Shu as she tracks down a handful of people who have mysteriously retained the ability.

At its heart, "Resurrection" is a eulogy for a different era of cinema—before streaming services and truncated production timelines.

- Director: Angus MacLachlan
- Metascore: 86
- IMDB user rating: 7.1
- Run time: 1 hour 31 minutes

"A Little Prayer" had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, but didn't get a wider release until 2025. For RogerEbert.com, Matt Zoller Seitz called the family drama about the crises of adult children "a beautiful hand-wrought sculpture" that's "perfect just as it is."

Per the glowing critical response, the movie shines in the way it focuses on the humanity of its characters, not forcing viewers to determine who's right and wrong in complicated situations, but instead allowing them to see just how nuanced life and love can be.

- Director: Dea Kulumbegashvili
- Metascore: 86
- IMDB user rating: 6.5
- Run time: 2 hours 14 minutes

In this timely drama, a Georgian obstetrician who provides abortions to her patients despite the country's prohibitions must defend herself after being accused of negligence. Gripping and, at times, unbearably tense, the movie is a must-watch in the current political climate. Be aware that it may leave you unsettled, as IndieWire Reviews Editor David Ehrlich calls it a "remarkable and shudderingly unresolved film."

- Director: Joachim Trier
- Metascore: 86
- IMDB user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 2 hours 13 minutes

Danish-Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier—an Oscar nominee for 2022's "The Worst Person in the World"—returned to the big screen in 2025 with "Sentimental Value," a drama about family, trauma, and the restorative power of art.

NPR's Justin Chang called it Trier's "best movie to date," noting that it's "thoughtfully crafted and well acted." Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve star, with highly lauded supporting performances from Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas.

- Director: Zhangke Jia
- Metascore: 87
- IMDB user rating: 6.7
- Run time: 1 hour 51 minutes

During the pandemic, Chinese director Jia Zhangke began sorting through the decades of archival documentary footage he had captured. The result of that project was "Caught by the Tides," a fictional drama about a driven woman who lives for herself. It is composed almost entirely of the director's existing footage, interspersed with silent scenes featuring Zhangke's frequent collaborator (and real-life wife) Zhao Tao.

An actual arthouse project, NPR film critic Justin Chang praised the movie's portrayal of a country and its film industry in flux.

- Director: Rungano Nyoni
- Metascore: 87
- IMDB user rating: 7
- Run time: 1 hour 39 minutes

"On Becoming a Guinea Fowl" opens with the main character stumbling across the body of her dead uncle, lying on the road in the middle of the night. As her extended Zambian family prepares for Uncle Fred's funeral, long-held family secrets come to light, forcing a reckoning. A mix of dark comedy and serious drama, the movie has plenty to say about the challenges of processing complex emotions and the temptation to live in denial.

- Director: Sarah Friedland
- Metascore: 87
- IMDB user rating: 7
- Run time: 1 hour 30 minutes

In "Familiar Touch," we follow an octogenarian as she enters an assisted living facility, contending with the loss of her independence and the arrival of cognitive decline. The Santa Barbara Independent's Josef Woodard called it "a sensitive, moving, humor-speckled, and ultimately humane portrayal of the transitional process." Because aging is so infrequently addressed in cinema—at least not with this level of frankness and optimism—"Familiar Touch" is a must-watch.

- Director: Mstyslav Chernov
- Metascore: 88
- IMDB user rating: 8.5
- Run time: 1 hour 47 minutes

Filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov and journalist Alex Babenko follow a Ukrainian platoon as they set out to liberate the Russian-occupied village of Andriivka in this documentary. Called "bruisingly intimate" by New York Times critic Alissa Wilkinson, the film features real helmet-cam footage from the soldiers involved in the mission, alongside talking head reflections.

The must-watch documentary is equal parts a treatise on the futility of war and a conversation about how we depict war for pure entertainment in video games and on TV.

- Director: Clint Bentley
- Metascore: 88
- IMDB user rating: 7.5
- Run time: 1 hour 42 minutes

An adaptation of a 2011 novella by Denis Johnson, "Train Dreams" follows the quiet and unexpectedly layered life of a logger and railroad worker in turn-of-the-century rural Idaho. Star Joel Edgerton earned a Golden Globe nod for his turn as Robert Grainier, and New York Times critic Alissa Wilkinson praised the film for its "gorgeous" cinematography.

- Director: Park Chan-wook
- Metascore: 88
- IMDB user rating: 7.5
- Run time: 2 hours 19 minutes

In this satirical black comedy, a paper industry executive decides to literally kill the competition in order to nab a job. The beloved South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook wrote, produced, and directed the movie, which is based on Donald Westlake's 1997 novel "The Ax" but feels uncomfortable timely thanks to the encroachment of AI and increasing unemployment.

Script Magazine's Rahul Menon says that "No Other Choice" is a "bleak, brilliant, and mordantly hilarious" movie that "never loses sight of its ideas or the sadness at its core."

- Director: Josh Safdie
- Metascore: 88
- IMDB user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 2 hours 30 minutes

"Marty Supreme" is a "hyperkinetic spin on the sports movie," Variety's Peter Debruge writes. Loosely inspired by the real-life story of American tennis table player Marty Reisman, the movie has garnered ample awards buzz, particularly for Timothée Chalamet's performance. (Arts Knoxville critic Wyatt Allison calls it "career-defining.") Chalamet picked up the Best Actor prize at the January 2026 Critics' Choice Awards, and there are likely more trophies to follow.

- Director: Eva Victor
- Metascore: 90
- IMDB user rating: 7.2
- Run time: 1 hour 43 minutes

A dark comedy-drama, "Sorry, Baby" follows a college professor as she wrestles with the aftermath of a sexual assault. Told out of chronological order, the movie works to dismantle many of the assumptions around how victims of sexual violence should react to the trauma they've endured.

NPR film critic Justin Chang wrote that the movie's thesis—"that pain and healing come in many different forms [so] our stories should, also"—is made all the more poignant by Victor's thoughtful performance and sharp writing.

- Director: Jafar Panahi
- Metascore: 91
- IMDB user rating: 7.6
- Run time: 1 hour 43 minutes

In this Persian-language thriller, a group of former Iranian political prisoners decides whether or not to enact revenge on their past tormentor. The film, which was secretly shot in Iran, won the Palme d'Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. For RogerEbert.com, critic Robert Daniels raved about how controlled the film is despite its difficult subject matter, with nary a wasted shot or moment.

- Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho
- Metascore: 92
- IMDB user rating: 7.9
- Run time: 2 hours 41 minutes

"The Secret Agent" is a "masterful portrait" of life under a dictatorship, according to NPR critic John Powers. The historical thriller follows a former professor who—having been labeled a political enemy—is attempting to flee persecution. Brazil's submission for the 2026 Oscars, the film has seen a host of awards nods, including several for lead actor Wagner Moura's performance.

- Director: Julia Loktev
- Metascore: 94
- IMDB user rating: 7.4
- Run time: 5 hours 24 minutes

Emerging near the top of the list is this grim but urgent documentary, which follows a group of independent journalists in the lead-up to Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Rolling Stone critic David Fear calls the "marathon-length" film—"My Undesirable Friends," which clocks in at 5.5 hours—a warning about totalitarianism and the suppression of free speech, demonstrating how stealthily these forces can operate.

Director Julia Loktev is currently working on a follow-up that will track the journalists as they deal with the aftermath of their work and the repercussions of challenging a regime as powerful as Putin's.

- Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
- Metascore: 95
- IMDB user rating: 7.8
- Run time: 2 hours 41 minutes

Inspired by "Vineland," a 1990 novel by Thomas Pynchon, "One Battle After Another" follows an ex-revolutionary who returns to his old ways after a corrupt military officer begins pursuing his teenage daughter. Chicago Tribune critic Katie Walsh called the movie "a searing indictment of this American moment" for its portrayal of authoritarianism. The Hollywood Reporter critic Richard Lawson echoed that sentiment, noting that the film is "richly engaging" and "bracingly timely."

The all-star cast of "One Battle After Another," which includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and newcomer Chase Infiniti, makes the movie an easy watch, along with Paul Thomas Anderson's stunning direction.

Story editing by Louis Peitzman.