Movies & TV / Columns
The Top 30 Films of 2025 (#30 – 21)
Image Credit: Eric Milner/Warner Bros.
Welcome, one and all, to the start of my Movies Year in Review for 2025! I’m your host Jeremy Thomas, and today we begin my look at the best films of the past 12 months. Starting with last year, I moved away from doing both the best and worst of the year; as enjoyable as it can be to read a piece ripping into awful movies, I’d rather just celebrate the best. If you want to take a look at my worst films of the year, you can do so via my Letterboxd list of the worst 25 of 2025 here.
As always, keep in mind that this list is meant to be my personal opinion and not a definitive list. You’re free to disagree; you can even say my list is wrong but stating that an opinion is “wrong” is just silly. With that in mind, let’s get right into it!
2025 was an incredibly strong year for film. Horror was out in force this year; nearly half of my top 30 belong in the horror genre, and some others are genre adjacent. But it wasn’t just about the scares; 2025 also saw a number of dramas that blew me away, and animated films delivered pretty impressively too. We even had blockbuster films continue their comeback in ways I wouldn’t have necessarily predicted. The top films of the year are across the map in genre, format, budgets, and country of origin. As always, some I was very heavily anticipating as the year began while others knocked me for a loop completely out of nowhere. But enough babbling; let’s get right into to the first ten (and honorable mentions)!
(You should also check out Rob Stewart’s list of the top 30 films of the year here, here, and here, and Bryan Kristopowitz’s top 10 films of the year here and here. We all have very different tastes in movies so if you hate my list, you’ll probably like one or both of their lists! Either way, check them out because they’re great writers and I respect their lists.)
Caveat: My criteria for a film qualifying for this list is simple: if a narrative film had its domestic release this past year, either theatrically or on VOD or a major streaming service, then it was eligible. The only other caveat is that I have tried but have not seen everything that was released in 2025, especially factoring in streaming services. The films that I missed that could have likely qualified based on reputation were Sentimental Value, Train Dreams, Sirât, and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain. Other than that, I feel reasonably confident I saw just about every movie that would have likely made the list. For those curious, I saw a total of 192 films that were released in 2025 (down from last year’s 233), 161 of which were narrative films.
Just Missing the Cut
• The Dead Thing
• The Housemaid
• Baby Assassins Nice Days
• 40 Acres
• The Naked Gun
#30: One Of Them Days
First up on my list is a film that may have flown a bit under the radar for some considering its release all the way back in February. But One Of Them Days is a delightful little comedy that just happens to hit hard at unexpected times. Keke Palmer and SZA light up the screen together as two best friends who have to find a way to come up with their rent in a day after the loser boyfriend of SZA’s aimless artist spends their collected cash. The two actresses have a crackling chemistry between them that just makes their hijinks-ridden day pure fun to watch.
Syreeta Singleton’s script goes through many of the typical hoops that you might expect from that sort of a plot – ill-fated trips to quick money places, an idea that seems to work but spectacularly blows up in their faces, the inevitable blow-up between friends and such. But Singleton adds little quirks and moments that really bring the film alive. Broad comedies can sometimes be a bit of a chore to get through, but Lawrence Lamont’s direction gives the film a lived-in feel that is enhanced and not diminished by the humor. And particularly in this day and age, the desperation of Palmer and SZA’s Dreux and Alyssa to just make it day-to-day is both felt and seen.
While some elements come off quite familiar, there were some nice little twists and turns as well. And through it all we have a talented cast with pitch-perfect comedic timing. Palmer and SZA are backed up by great turns by Aziza Scott as a vengeful woman chasing them down as well as Joshua David Neal as the bad boyfriend, not to mention Patrick Cage. If I have a complaint, it’s that the final act causes a bit of tonal whiplash with a sudden switch into real danger that I didn’t really buy. But that’s a minor nitpick; this was a very pleasant surprise and one of the best comedies of 2025.
#29: Final Destination: Bloodlines
Any horror fan knows how risky it is to bring a dead franchise back to life. Breathing new life into old bones is a tricky proposition, particularly when a film series has been dormant for a long time. (Looking at you, The Strangers.) However, Final Destination: Bloodlines is a fantastic example of how to do it right. The “What if Death was a Rube Goldbergian Serial Killer” series has always seemed stuck in a state where it’s popular in and out of horror die-hards but still seems somehow overlooked when discussing the great horror franchises. I don’t think many were expecting it to come back as strong as it does with this entry, but Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein managed to deliver a maliciously fun revival entry that captures the core of what makes the series tick.
And when I say “What makes the franchise tick,” I mean the death sequences. Listen, we all want good stories with these films, but the reason we all go see them is because there are great sequences featuring implausibly coincidental events leading up to a gruesome death. And Lipovsky & Stein hold up their end nicely here, with plenty of blood and several nice little subversions that keep us guessing on when the big moment might come.
The script from Guy Busick & Lori Evans Taylor is obviously a big part of that, setting up the nasty convergence of events to kill our cast of characters. And it does that well, while also finding a clever little inroad to set up the premise of a whole family being targeted by the Grim Reaper. Honestly, there isn’t a ton to the story beyond the basic set-up and the plot twists, but that’s just icing on the cake when it comes to these films, and the cast is perfectly fine in their roles. Add in the late, great Tony Todd delivering an emotional monologue in a clever callback scene, Bloodlines is a very fun and effective romp that I’ll enjoy revisiting when I get the chance.
#28: Beast Of War
I enjoy a good shark attack movie, but the subgenre is littered with duds. At this point it seems like everyone with a vague proximity to water and an Adobe Premiere subscription has churned out a shark movie. But when done right, shark films can be an absolute thrill ride. Beast of War is the perfect example of that. Kiah Roache-Turner does a lot with a little as the writer and director of this period Australian thriller, which is loosely inspired by a real event and tells the story of a group of Australian army recruits in World War II whose ship gets sunk and must then deal with enemy aircraft and rising tensions among each other — oh yes, and a massive shark who is drawn by the blood in the water and wants to feed.
It’s clear from the get-go that Roache-Turner is working with a limited budget, but he does absolute wonders with it. Beast of War looks fantastic and the shark looks even better. The largely practical shark has one of the best shark movie introductions in recent memory and looks like an absolute thing of nightmares. Roache-Turner smartly follows the Jaws standard of featuring his creature judiciously and makes use of an inspired notion in an air raid siren stuck to the shark that fits thematically with the war motifs while also building tension.
The cast here is quite good, led by Mark Coles Smith as the resourceful Leo, while Sam Delich makes for a good semi-antagonist in the hot-headed Des. But the focus is where it should be: on the nail-biting thrills. The practical gore effects look great and Roache-Turner keeps the pacing tight for a banger of a film that reminds you just how good shark movies can be.
#27: 28 Years Later
28 Years Later is a rather divisive film among us here at 411; our own Jeffrey Harris liked it but didn’t love it, while Rob Stewart was distinctly not a fan. I absolutely understand the criticisms, but as someone who didn’t love 28 Weeks Later as much as I did 28 Days Later I found this a poignant and unnerving film with a whole lot to say.
It must be said that Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are clearly not incredibly enamored with Weeks and I fully get not being happy with the way this film handles that movie (by basically ignoring it). But if you can put that aside we have an incredibly well-made film that leans into its post-Brexit, post-COVID themes about isolationist anxiety with an apt lack of subtlety. Young Alfie Williams does fine work as Spike, the boy who chafes against his father (a stellar Aaron Taylor-Johnson) in his attempts to save his sick mother. Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes provide plenty of gravitas and an emotional core to the story, with a heartbreaking final act that hits directly at the core.
The Rage zombie work is strong here; it’s doing what zombie films do, and in an effective manner. Chi Lewis-Parry is great as Samson, our chief “Alpha” infected, and gives us enough horror content to keep things moving along while the themes sink in. I know how divisive the ending in particular is, but for my money it hit quite strongly with the movie’s distinctly British identity. I’ve already seen 28 Years: The Bone Temple and I think it smooths some of the edges around this entry, but even before that this one had earned its spot of my favorites of the year.
#26: The Life of Chuck
When you put a Stephen King story in Mike Flanagan’s capable hands, you’re pretty well assure to make movie magic. Flanagan has a sensibility that just seems to work well with King’s motifs; his adaptations of Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep found the emotion within those horror tales. The Life Of Chuck may be his best King adaptation to date. King is of course best known for his horror, but his non-horror works make exceptional movies as well. The Life of Chuck is based on his 2020 novella and sees Flanagan create what feels like perhaps his most personal film yet, one that tugs at the heartstrings while never feeling overly maudlin.
Chuck is kind of a difficult film to properly explain without getting spoilery, but the easiest synopsis is that it tells the life story of the seemingly ordinary titular character (Tom Hiddleston) in reverse chronological order. There are supernatural elements here — it is a Stephen King adaptation from Mike Flanagan, after all — but they’re merely the trappings of the story rather than the main thrust. Flanagan has a wonderful cast led by an effortlessly charming performance by Hiddleston, along with Jacob Tremblay, Benjamin Pajak, and Cody Flanagan in the younger iterations. The quartet of performances anchor a film that would have been completely lost without the kind of grounded depiction of good old Chuck.
The rest of the cast shines as well, particularly Mark Hamill as a young Chuck’s grandfather and Trinity Bliss as young Chuck’s crush. Meanwhile, Flanagan brings the tale to life with several creative flourishes and shows how important just one man can be to the world. Hiddleston’s dance sequence midway through the film with Annalise Basso is one of the most singularly uplifting film scenes of the year and through his cast, the director delivers an affecting tale that captures the emotional beats of those different stages of life. Life of Chuck is simply a delight of a movie and one I’m looking forward to revisiting when I need a pick-me-up comfort watch.
#25: It Was Just An Accident
It Was Just An Accident was one of my last watches for a film that could have potentially made it onto this list, and one I did on a bit of a whim based on the praise I’d heard for it. I’m exceptionally glad that I did. Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s dramatic thriller has earned nominations for Best International Film and Best Original Screenplay, both of which would be worthy wins. The film follows a man who, after visiting a garage with his wife and daughter to get his car fixed, is spotted by mechanic Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri). Vahid who believes the man may be Eghbal, a guard from his time in an Iranian prison who tormented him and others. Unable to let it go, Vahid kidnaps the man and seeks out other former prisoners who may be able to positively identify the man and enact justice.
Panahi is one of the cornerstones of the modern Iranian New Wave era of films, an area of filmmaking I fully admit not being very familiar with. If It Was Just An Accident is any indication, I may have to dig in deeper. The film deftly balances tension, humor, and very human drama as Vahid’s group of potential allies grows larger and argues over what should be done. It’s a strong ensemble that helps drive the story down its slow burn toward the key questions: is the man their tormentor, and what do they do if he is? Those questions touch at the heart of serious some pretty hefty notions that are at once deeply relevant to Iran (Panahi is a noted critic of the Iranian government) but hits quite strongly in a universal way.
Panahi doesn’t have easy answers for us, nor should he. It would be easy to get lost in praising the politics behind the film, but Accident stands on its own even outside of that. It never loses itself in tedium the way slow burn movies can, and it’s not about revenge so much as it’s about what it means to grapple with the wounds inflicted by injustice. How do you get past the event that scarred your life when the greater perpetrator is staring you in the face every day? Panahi’s answer is restrained in form — don’t come into this expecting brutal violence — but holds nothing back in its themes. That helps make it one of the most quietly powerful films of 2025.
#24: Bring Her Back
While A24 put out a number of great films in 2025, they had a harder time with their trademarked horror content. Films like Opus and Death of a Unicorn were less than successful, leaving the company once known primarily for movies like Hereditary, The Witch, and X to be overtaken by other horror studios (hello, NEON).
Fortunately, A24 wasn’t completely out in the cold with horror fans thanks to Bring Her Back. The Philippou Brothers’ sophomore film followed in Talk to Me’s bloody footsteps in feel-bad horror, raising the stakes through a grim story about the depths to which grief can take us. The story follows a pair of stepsiblings who are placed with Laura, a foster mother who is mourning the loss of her daughter Cathy. Laura says she would do anything to hear Cathy’s voice once more, and that proves to be all too dangerously true.
There’s a lot going on in this film, which is a hard watch to say the least. The Philippous rest their narrative on the incredibly capable back of Sally Hawkins, who plays very against type as Laura. It’s perfect casting because Hawkins’ reputation makes her likable when we first see her, which only makes the things she does more shocking. Grief horror is nothing new, but Bring Her Back doesn’t lose itself in slow-burn drudgery the way that some lesser entries in the subgenre have. Along the way we have strong performances by Billy Barratt and Sora Wong as the stepsiblings and Jonah Wren Phillips as Oliver, another foster child at the house. There are some truly skin-crawling moments, particularly if you have a thing about teeth-based horror moments, and it builds to a depressingly potent climax. It’s one of the harder horror watches of 2025, and I mean that in a good way.
#23: The Monkey
Speaking of NEON, they had a great year in 2025 as they navigated their way further to the top of the horror genre. The studio made a strong statement in 2024 with Longlegs, Cuckoo, and Immaculate. This year the studio continued to press their advantage with Together and Presence, and another horror-adjacent film we’ll be taking about in the top 10 (they also released Keeper and Shelby Oaks, but no one bats a thousand).
They also gave us The Monkey, which may have been the most purely fun horror film of the year. Osgood Perkins followed up Longlegs with this batshit adaptation of the Stephen King short story. Theo James gives a fun dual performance as twins who experienced the titular cursed toy as children and must deal with it again years later.
This film was a complete change of pace for Perkins, whose entire resume is filled with quiet, mood-heavy slow burn moves like The Blackcoat’s Daughter and I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House. This is anything but that, and it’s a delight to see Perkins cut loose. The madcap tone of the film, punctuated by the bloody kills, keeps things fun without underselling the story. There are some very wild swings in the movie and I fully understand why it doesn’t work for everyone, but for my money this was the most purely enjoyable horror film of the year.
#22: Predator: Killer of Killers
If you had told me five years ago that the Predator franchise would be delivering some of the best movies of the year in 2025, I would have laughed. The series has had its ups and downs, but between Alien vs. Predator and its unwatchable sequel plus The Predator, there have been more downs. At the very least, there didn’t seem to be a remote hope of ever reaching the heights of the original.
Enter Dan Trachtenberg. Trachtenberg reinvigorated the franchise with Prey, and spoiler alert: we’ll be talking about Predator Badlands later this week. But we at least knew those movies were happening. Predator: Killer Of Killers was a stealth project that wasn’t even known about until two months before it released.
And what a blast it is. Anthology films almost always have one segment that falls flat. Killer Of Killer is nothing but hits, with three segments focusing on different humans who encounter a yautja and a final segment bringing it all together. Micho Robert Rutare’s script (based on a story he co-created with Trachtenberg) captures a set of compelling characters who you instantly want to get behind. The animation from The Third Floor draws inspiration from anime and Arcane, delivering gloriously stylized action. Killer of Killers makes me want to see more of these characters, opening up the franchise wide to new potential stories. That in itself makes it a film worth celebrating; that it’s a great animated action anthology pushes it to an even higher level.
#21: Influencers
I went into Influencers with high expectations. I adored Influencer, Kurtis David Harder’s social media thriller from 2022, and particularly the performances from Cassandra Naud and Emily Tennant. The two did wonderful work as CW and Madison, a woman who preyed on social media influencers and the influencer who gets caught in her trap. The ending of that movie left audiences in a tricky spot: was it going to be a one-and-done hit, or would Harder go into a potential sequel that could risk screwing it all up?
Harder went with the latter, but fortunately he knew exactly what he had with the first film. Influencers smartly builds on the success of that movie by bringing back Naud and Tennant, pitting them against each other in a story that expands the first film’s scope and story while retaining its magic formula. As we catch back up with the two characters, they’re in very different places. But it’s only a matter of time before they float back into each other’s orbits, and the results are electric.
Naud and Tennant remain at the top of their game as our lead characters, joined by some strong new characters like Georgina Campbell’s annoying influencer Charlotte and Jonathan Whitesell & Veronica Long as a couple running a men’s rights activist grift. Harder widens the scope of the first movie’s themes and is able to provide sharper commentary as a result. The direction is flashy yet not distracting, and there’s greater emotional depth on display from the cast. Films based around social media have a hard time hitting the mark, but Influencers is a top-notch example of how to do it right.
And that will do it for part one! Join me once again later this week as we will continue the Year in Review with the next ten. Until later this week, don’t forget to read the many other great columns, news articles and more here at 411mania.com! JT out.
