Adam's Favorite Films of 2025
2025 has been a fucking shitshow, just not in the cinematic, apocalyptic way we've been conditioned to expect. It's been a year defined by accumulation — a relentless piling-on of anxiety, exhaustion, rage, and grief — until the idea of being even cautiously optimistic about tomorrow feels laughably naïve. To paraphrase ANDOR, the pace of oppression has outstripped our ability to understand it fully. It's easier to hide behind forty atrocities than to reckon with a single, undeniable horror.
Oligarchs and fascists wasted no time shaping policy from the shadows: dismantling the free press, weaponizing religion, attacking LGBTQ+ protections, threatening access to healthcare, accelerating climate collapse, and normalizing cruelty as a governing principle. Whatever fragile illusion remained after the first Trump presidency — that the future might still belong to the many instead of the few — has finally been snuffed out.
As a result, we are perpetually on the brink — of burnout, of more bad news, of one more awful thing finally tipping the balance. Imagining tomorrow now requires a willingness to be disappointed by it. We no longer dream about the future so much as brace for it. The question isn't whether things will get better, but whether we can stop them from getting worse. Endurance has become the last remaining form of hope.
And yet, even in a year like this — especially in a year like this — movies mattered. Not as escapism, exactly, but as resistance. As communion. As proof that someone, somewhere, understood the dread, the anger, the fear, and those brief flashes of joy and wonder that still break through the despair. That while generative-AI slop threatens to further erode culture, art made by human beings still fucking matters. That telling stories — especially difficult, unruly, inconvenient ones — remains an act of defiance.
Sitting in the dark with strangers, watching light flicker across a screen, the world briefly made sense again. Not because the problems disappeared, but because they were named, confronted, and refracted through image and metaphor. Below are the films that did that for me — the ones that cut through the noise, made the year feel bearable, and, in small but meaningful ways, brought me joy and gave me the strength to endure in the face of never-ending injustice.
PS: I must also mention that 2025 was bookended by the passing of David Lynch and the tragic murder of Rob Reiner — two artists who, in radically different ways, shaped how we dream, laugh, and make sense of the absurdity of being alive. Lynch showed us that fear and beauty can coexist — that the darkness can be as mesmerizing and poetic as it is frightening — while Reiner reminded us that humor, sincerity, and empathy were not weaknesses but virtues: a way of surviving the cruelty and confusion of the world. The stories they told will be their lasting testament, and the world is immeasurably poorer for their passing.
My 15 Favorite Films of 2025
- FRANKENSTEIN
With FRANKENSTEIN, writer and director Guillermo del Toro (THE SHAPE OF WATER, NIGHTMARE ALLEY, PAN'S LABYRINTH) bares his soul as both creator and monster, delivering a gorgeously grotesque, heartbreakingly human vision of Mary Shelley's modern myth. It's a film obsessed with longing, abandonment, and the terror of being made wrong by the very hands that shaped you — brought vividly to life through staggering craft and deeply felt performances by Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, and Mia Goth. Every frame pulses with del Toro's lifelong empathy for outsiders and misfits, turning horror into lament and spectacle into sorrow. FRANKENSTEIN isn't just an adaptation—it's the song del Toro was born to sing.
- SINNERS
Written and directed by Ryan Coogler (CREED, BLACK PANTHER), SINNERS is a full-throttle barn-burner that fuses Southern Gothic, historical crime drama, supernatural horror, and musical elements into something fierce. Anchored by a razor-sharp dual performance from Michael B. Jordan — and supporting turns by Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O'Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, and Delroy Lindo — Coogler's film pulsates with sweat, blood, rhythm, and reckoning. SINNERS confronts the inescapable weight of the past and draws parallels between vampirism and assimilation, showing how systemic exploitation and cultural appropriation drain the life from communities under the guise of inclusion and opportunity.
- BUGONIA
The latest black comedy by Yorgos Lanthimos (THE FAVOURITE, POOR THINGS) follows two young men (Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis) whose paranoia curdles into conviction. They kidnap a powerful CEO (Emma Stone), suspecting that she is secretly an alien who wants to destroy Earth. With towering performances by Plemons and Stone, BUGONIA is funny, heartbreaking, and shocking in equal parts — a searingly relevant story about how people turn to conspiracy theories to make sense of tragedy; when broken systems push people to their breaking point.
- THE LONG WALK
Based on the novel by Stephen King, Francis Lawrence's THE LONG WALK follows 50 teenage boys as they take part in a deadly annual walking contest, forced to maintain a minimum pace or be executed, until only one remains. Harrowing and undeniably human, with memorable turns by Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, and Mark Hamill, THE LONG WALK is a top-tier King adaptation, right up there with MISERY, THE GREEN MILE, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, and STAND BY ME.
- LIFE OF CHUCK / SONG SUNG BLUE
Speaking of top-tier King adaptations starring Mark Hamill, LIFE OF CHUCK is written and directed by Mike Flanagan (DOCTOR SLEEP, MIDNIGHT MASS). It tells the extraordinary story of an ordinary accountant, Charles "Chuck" Kranz (played by Tom Hiddleston, Jacob Tremblay, and Benjamin Pajak). It's a poignant, life-affirming film with a powerhouse ensemble, including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara, Carl Lumbly, and the aforementioned Hamill.
Craig Brewer (HUSTLE & FLOW, BLACK SNAKE MOAN) has been one of my favorite filmmakers of the past 20 years, as he makes soulful, stirring movies about real people going through real things. His latest, SONG SUNG BLUE, is based on a true story and anchored by powerhouse performances by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson — her career best — as Mike and Claire Sardina, who start a Neil Diamond tribute band called Lightning & Thunder. I needed this movie — a cathartic release from all the pent-up dread, anxiety, and anger I've been carrying.
- BLACK PHONE 2
Scott Derrickson's BLACK PHONE 2 draws inspiration from classic horror films like THE SHINING, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, and FRIDAY THE 13TH to deliver an unexpected and unhinged sequel that is atmospheric and unnerving, but cathartic as well. Great performances by Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Demián Bichir, and Ethan Hawke, whose Grabber has emerged as the greatest slasher icon since SCREAM's Ghostface.
- PREDATOR: BADLANDS / PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS
Dan Trachtenberg's PREDATOR: BADLANDS and the animated anthology film PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS feel like '90s Dark Horse comic books come to life, complete with thrilling action set pieces, strong characters — like BADLANDS' Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) and Thia (Ella Fanning) — stunning visuals, and a surprising amount of heart and humor. Let Trachtenberg (PREY, 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE) do whatever he wants with this franchise — he owns it now.
PS: Marissa wrote a great piece on PREDATOR: BADLANDS you can read here!
- BRING HER BACK
Directed by brothers Danny & Michael Philippou (TALK TO ME), BRING HER BACK is a genuinely unsettling horror film about how grief consumes us and twists us into unrecognizable monsters, willing to do anything to alleviate the burden of that loss. An extremely fucked up, affecting horror film with incredible performances by Sally Hawkins and youngsters Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, and Jonah Wren Phillips.
- WEAPONS
If BRING HER BACK is the most fucked up horror film of 2025, Zach Cregger's WEAPONS is the most entertaining one. Something terrible happens to 17 kids. Everyone wants answers. Parents question teachers. Teachers question the police. Police target the town's vagrants. But they're all manipulated by a charismatic trickster who uses their influence to command people as weapons to kill for them. A brilliant ensemble, including Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan, as the iconic Aunt Gladys.
- ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
With ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, Paul Thomas Anderson delivers an electrifying absurdist epic about a strung-out stoner ex-revolutionary (an absolutely feral, Lebowski-esque Leonardo DiCaprio) forced back into the fight when he and his daughter (Chase Infiniti) are pursued by white supremacists, right-wing militias, and the unscrupulous Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn). A bruising portrait of resistance and endurance, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER is the most relevant film of 2025.
- THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME
Written and directed by Wes Anderson (THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL), THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME stars Benicio del Toro as charming businessman Zsa-zsa Korda, who has become the target of ruthless tycoons and cut-throat assassins. Anderson's latest is the funniest movie of 2025, with gorgeous cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel (AMÉLIE, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH) and delightful turns by del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, and Benedict Cumberbatch... did I mention Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston appear as basketball-playing brothers who challenge del Toro's Korda to a game of HORSE?
- NO OTHER CHOICE
Like BUGONIA, Park Chan-wook's NO OTHER CHOICE is a black comedy about how corporations grind human beings down into something unrecognizable. Based on The Ax by Donald Westlake, the film stars Lee Byung-hun (I SAW THE DEVIL) as a desperate, out-of-work paper industry expert who decides to kill off his competition to land the job he needs to maintain his family's way of life. Masterfully directed by Chan-Wook (THE HANDMAIDEN) with immaculately lensed cinematography by Kim Woo-hyung and layered performances by Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin, NO OTHER CHOICE is an absolute gut-punch of a film — one that resonates with the shared exhaustion and anxiety of living in these times.
- 28 YEARS LATER
Danny Boyle's frenetic but affecting 28 YEARS LATER owes a lot to the post-apocalyptic stories its predecessor inspired (THE WALKING DEAD, THE ROAD, THE LAST OF US), but still manages to breathe new life into the survival horror subgenre with propulsive filmmaking and shattering performances by Ralph Fiennes and newcomer Alfie Williams. Like the best zombie movies, it uses the undead to explore contemporary fears — pandemics, societal collapse, nationalism, isolationism — to a chilling effect.
- WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY
Rian Johnson's third KNIVES OUT film, WAKE UP DEAD MAN, has everything you want from a murder-mystery: an intriguing victim, a gaggle of quirky suspects, a picturesque setting, plenty of surprising twists and turns, and a brilliant detective at its center. Josh Brolin, Josh O'Connor, Glenn Close, and Daniel Craig are fantastic in this gorgeously shot locked-room mystery about the murder of a fire-and-brimstone priest (Brolin) who has made enemies of his parishioners.
- NOUVELLE VAGUE / BLUE MOON
Richard Linklater (BOYHOOD, DAZED AND CONFUSED) somehow found the time to release two of his best films in 2025. BLUE MOON and NOUVELLE VAGUE play like mirror images: one about an artist realizing the world has moved on (Lorenz Hart in MOON, played beautifully by Ethan Hawke), the other about a critic on the cusp of becoming a visionary filmmaker at the center of a cinematic revolution (Guillaume Marbeck as Jean-Luc Godard in VAGUE). Both films unfold the way ideas unfold—messy, circular, talkative—mirroring how art actually gets made. It's Linklater at his most personal and reflective.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Interestingly enough, 2025 was about seeing double: the dual performances of Michael B. Jordan in SINNERS and Elle Fanning in PREDATOR: BADLANDS; two award-worthy roles for Josh Brolin (WEAPONS, WAKE UP DEAD MAN), Benicio del Toro (THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER) and Ethan Hawke (BLACK PHONE 2, BLUE MOON); two excellent films by Dan Trachtenberg (PREDATOR: BADLANDS & PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS) and Richard Linklater (BLUE MOON & NOUVELLE VAGUE), two top-tier Stephen King Adaptations (THE LONG WALK, LIFE OF CHUCK), two black comedies about what happens when corporations destroy a life (BUGONIA, NO OTHER CHOICE), and two fucked-up horror movies about missing kids, with a strange woman doing spells' n' shit (BRING HER BACK, WEAPONS).
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