2025 Supreme
My top ten films of the past year
We are a few weeks into the new year, and Oscar nominations are announced tomorrow, so what better time to look back and take stock of the major movie moments of 2025? There were endlessly quotable diva performances from Emma Stone in Bugonia (“You can't beat me because you are a loser and I'm a winner and that's fucking life!”) and Julia Roberts in After the Hunt (“THEY. Go away!”). And we received not one, not two, not three, but FOUR Josh O’Connor films. That’s a total of eight big ears to yank!
Of course, there was also a fair share of strife this year in cinema. I still can’t bring myself to talk about the disaster that was Jurassic World: Rebirth. And the two-year conclusion of the viral insanity that was the Wicked press tour (flip it around: Wicked Witch!) resulted in an unnecessary sequel stuffed with Dulcibear and sex cardigans instead of substance.
Overall, 2025 was not a bad year for film. It contained some heavier hitters than the previous years, but I also felt that the quality of the entire lineup was a little lacking. However, a handful of films still rose to the top of my Letterboxd rankings as truly unforgettable. So, without further ado, here’s my list of the top ten films of 2025:
10. Marty Supreme
If you want to talk about unforgettable film press tours, Marty Supreme’s was certainly that. It started with a satirical marketing meeting where Timothée Chalamet proposed painting the Statue of Liberty orange and somehow ended with a blimp and Chalamet possibly living a double life as a SoundCloud rapper. However, unlike the doomed Wicked: For Good, Marty Supreme actually delivers on the chaotic intrigue of its viral marketing. Josh Safdie’s sports thriller about one man’s mission to be the greatest ping pong player in the world (no matter the cost) is the pulse-pounding experience you pay to see in a theater. A Bathtub crashing through the floor, a shootout over a lost dog, and a torrid affair with a Hollywood star are all held together by a career-defining performance from Chalamet. His charm and commitment culminate in a complex antihero that you oscillate between wanting to kiss, kill, and clap for. It’s a hard road to the Best Actor Oscar for a young actor, but this role will be the best chance Chalamet has had yet.
9. Black Bag
If you asked me what the most fun I had in a theater this year was, the answer is undoubtedly while watching Black Bag. Director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp teamed up for a delightfully sleek and sexy entry into the 2025 film lineup. Cate Blanchette and Michael Fassbender play a married couple who are as devoted to their careers as spies as they are to each other. However, they each have their secrets, and mounting suspicions erupt at a dinner party scene that has not left my mind since I saw the movie back in February. As I said in my original review, we are all starved for that three-star movie that is simply fun, hot, and just smart enough to elevate it to four stars. Well, Black Bag certainly satisfied.
8. The Life of Chuck
There is so much about The Life of Chuck that should not have worked for me. Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of the Stephen King short story is an at-times cheesy love letter to life. It’s a moral fable where the well-tread lesson is summed up simply by Walt Whitman’s “I contain multitudes.” Yet, I couldn’t help but burst into tears at the film’s conclusion. The three-act structure begins with a schoolteacher facing the end of the world alone, and then it works its way backward so that the audience is left guessing how everything connects until the end. Maybe I watched it at just the right time, but something about Flanagan’s earnest directing (and a stellar ensemble of Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hammill, Jacob Tremblay, and Chiwetel Ejiofor) reached me in an emotional way that no other film this year did.
7. Weapons
Every year, there is only one or two movies that I actually make the effort to see twice in the theater, and this year it was Weapons. A small town mystery and one very creepy aunt made it the acclaimed horror hit of the summer. Each successive watch has only deepened my adoration for Zach Cregger’s script. It’s scary, it’s funny, and it’s absolutely original. Plus, if you want to talk about favorite movie endings of the year, Weapons might take the cake. More than anything, Weapons has made me feel hopeful about the state of film. I’m so happy to live in a world where Amy Madigan’s wonderfully unhinged portrayal of Aunt Gladys is a possibility not only for an Oscar nomination but also a win.
6. Sentimental Value
Usually, more foreign films make their way into my top ten list, but this year, they are represented solely by Joachim Trier’s intimate family drama, Sentimental Value. Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve play a father and daughter whose dysfunctional relationship drags the film’s other characters into their drama like quicksand. The leads are both excellent, but Sentimental Value’s supporting cast left the greatest impression on me. Elle Fanning (whose stock is up in 2025) walks a tightrope as she plays a popcorn actress desperately trying to succeed in a role she knows was written for someone else. And Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, playing Reinsve’s sister, provides the true heart of the film. In a scene between the siblings, Reisnve asks why their tumultuous childhood didn’t negatively affect Lilleaas. “There's one major difference in the way we grew up,” she responds, “I had you.” As a younger sibling myself, the tears flowed freely on that one.
5. Sinners
Ryan Coogler delivered a completely original theater experience with his genre-bending horror film, Sinners. The directing, the ensemble, and the music are pure perfection. They all coalesce into a dance sequence where ghosts of the past, present, and future collide. Seeing it for the first time, I felt like I was levitating. If you were to give an award for the movie that had that scene in 2025, then Sinners wins it easily. Plus, Coogler gave us Michael B. Jordan playing twins, a vampire with an affinity for the Irish jig, and Haley Steinfeld saying the craziest profanities I’ve heard all year in a transatlantic accent. What more could you need from a film?
4. Hamnet
The trailer for Hamnet literally made me cry every time I saw it, so there was never a world in which this film wasn’t in my top ten. Jessie Buckley gives THEE performance of the year, but young Jacobi Jupe as the title character is equally astounding. Chloé Zhao’s prowess as a filmmaker is on full display (the final scene at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater gave me twenty minutes of sustained goosebumps). Hamnet is a beautiful exploration of love and loss and the power art has to conjure both within us. There have been some naysayers this year, calling Hamnet manipulative “grief porn,” but to that I say, QUIET, WENCH! AND GET THEE TO A NUNNERY!
3. The History of Sound
This one is for all my yearners! I am in a minority of voices that absolutely loved The History of Sound, but as I said in my review, this is not just another sad gay movie. The country setting, the folk music, and Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor’s devastating performances all coalesced into a period romance that I could have sat with for hours. Some critics complained that it wasn’t steamier, but sorry, not everything can be Heated Rivalry! Instead, The History of Sound accomplishes something much more difficult—convincing me to get a Mubi subscription.
2. Sorry, Baby
I went into Sorry, Baby knowing absolutely nothing, and walked away thinking, “Oh, A24, we are so back” (and not just because it brought my beloved Lucas Hedges back to the big screen). Eva Victor dazzles as the writer, director, and star. She handles the film’s heavy subject matter with an impressive balance of humor and sincerity. There is one shot of a house—which, if you’ve seen it, you’ll know—that has long stuck with me. The fact that Sorry, Baby will be fighting for even a single Oscar nomination tomorrow is an actual crime against art. Oh well, at least we got Julia Roberts shouting out the movie at the Golden Globes.
1. One Battle After Another
Call me a film bro, but I cannot deny the fact that Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is simply the film of the year. It’s had almost universal acclaim due to the timeliness of its subject matter and Anderson’s ability to construct a widely appealing thrill ride without compromising his auteur filmmaking. I could gush about every actor’s performance in this film (including impressive newcomer Chase Inifinity), but it would take far too long. Instead, I’ll settle for a shout-out to Leonardo DiCaprio’s ability to act his part so well as the paranoid and bumbling dad that I forget I hate him in real life. I said it when I saw One Battle After Another in September, and I am saying it again now—this will be the Best Picture winner. To see it on 70mm in IMAX at the Lincoln Square AMC was truly the highlight of my film year.
Some honorable mentions that didn’t quite make my top ten list: Superman, The Phoenician Scheme, Paddington in Peru (yes, I cried), Blue Moon, It Was Just an Accident, Eternity, Rental Family, Bugonia, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Song Sung Blue, and The Secret Agent.
Overheard at AMC Lincoln Square 13
As Nicole Kidman decreed: We come to this place for magic! Here’s the magic that happened at the best movie theater in NYC this past month:
During the credits of Song Sung Blue, when they showed the real pictures of Thunder and Lightning, the girl crying next to exclaimed, “Wait, this is a true story??” She then proceeded to cry harder. Same!
After a year and a half, the scaffolding outside AMC Lincoln Square has officially been taken down. OUR GIRL IS FREE!
Chris Pratt made a surprise appearance at a screening of his new film, Mercy, this week. Unsurprisingly, he was looking as rough as the trailer for that flop of a movie…
According to AMC’s version of Spotify Wrapped, I watched 77 movies in 2025 at their theaters. Nicole Kidman remains the truest constant in my life.
What Else I Watched This Month
Song Sung Blue (2025) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
As a white person, a movie about people singing Sweet Caroline is a siren call to me. Hugh Jackman works wonders as an overly zealous Neil Diamond fan, but it’s Kate Hudson’s heartfelt performance that sells this movie. Some are predicting a sneak for her into the Best Actress lineup, and honestly, I wouldn’t be mad. (Viewed at AMC Lincoln Square.)
Primate (2025) - ⭐⭐.5
For a January horror movie, Primate is actually a decent entry. The script is pretty bland, but it goes all in on the gore, which is fun when you have an audience to groan and cover their eyes along with you. About a third of the way into the film, I thought, “Did they film this with a man in a monkey suit?” Indeed, they did! (Viewed at AMC Lincoln Square.)
The Plague (2025) - ⭐⭐⭐.5
Nothing is scarier than being a thirteen-year-old boy. The Plague follows a boys’ water polo camp where a group of pre-teens decide that one outcast has “the plague”—a mysterious illness that can be spread from a single touch. This is basically Lord of the Flies meets “the cheese touch” from The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but the cinematography, soundtrack, and casting come together in a visceral experience that had me so thankful to never have to be a teenager again. (Viewed at the IFC.)
wait I forgot about black bag! I swore that happened in 2024 🫠