Our 50 best films of 2025.
Our best feature films of 2025. Eligible were feature films that first premiered worldwide during 2025, at festivals and in regular theatrical/streaming releases. Animation features were excluded from this survey (a separate list to follow).
46-50
50. Hamnet (Chloé Zhao, US): Nature gets its own Shakespearean pathos
49. The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo (Diego Céspedes, Chile/France/Belgium/Spain/Germany): Community in danger in an orchestrated queer western. Our review
48. Our Wildest Days (Vasilis Kekatos, Greece/France/Belgium/Germany) - first feature. Young dissident troubles told with a cinematic group ecstasis in mind
47. After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino, US): A very worked-out script on the after #metoo period and its repercussions, with a superlative Julia Roberts performance.
46. Cover-Up (Laura Poitras, US). Capable portrait of investigative journalism (Seymour Hersh) in a chronicled way, in an age of post-truth.
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo
45-41
45. Die My Love (Lynne Ramsay, US). What happens when you forget to check your relationship status often, in a highly stylized fashion (including Jennifer Lawrence's brave take).
44. Dreamers (Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, UK) - first feature. Queer love under restraining orders. Our film review
43. Mortician (Abdolreza Kahani, Canada): Moral dilemmas in the snow. Our film review
42. Sinners (Ryan Coogler, US): Vampires of music in a let-it-all-out environment.
41. A Poet (Simón Mesa Soto, Colombia). Poetry becomes a thing to struggle with the law in this excellent moral despair film
Mortician
40-36
40. Kontinental '25 (Radu Jude, Romania/Brazil/Switzerland/United Kingdom/Luxembourg): Dinosaurs alert in this biting satire of everything Balkan
39. Sound of Falling (Mascha Schilinski, Germany): The past keeps coming back like a haunting ghost
38. Twinless (James Sweeney, US) - first feature: Gay and straight troubles in identity, expertly told comedic situations.
37. Enzo (Robin Campillo, France/Belgium/Italy): a more intersectional, class-aware 'Call Me By Your Name' French story.
36. A Body to Live In (Angelo Madsen, US): Body piercing before being made famous. Our film review
Twinless
35-31
35. Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie, US): an intense portrait of athletic nothingness
34. A House of Dynamite (Kathryn Bigelow, US): An almost romantic in its political well-to-do nature, masterfully crafted nuclear thriller.
33. Father Mother Sister Brother (Jim Jarmusch, US): Unconnected families with deadpan humor as their last chance to be together
32. Kafka (Agnieszka Holland, Czech Republic /Poland/Germany/France/Turkey). Not your usual biopic, with a lot of the director's tricks in the rather dull life of a great person
31. Nouvelle Vague (Richard Linklater, US): US affective homage to the French cinematic revolution
Nouvelle Vague
30-26
30. Black Bag (Steven Sonderbergh, US): style becomes substance in this old-fashioned, well-told spy thriller
29. Kiss of the Spider Woman (Bill Condon, US). A musical re-telling of the communist meets gay story, perfectly synced to
28. Sorry Baby (Eva Victor, US) - first feature. Academic environment, abuse, and a lot of strength from a fragile character
27. Blue Heron (Sophy Romvari, Canada/Hungary) -first feature. Family conundrum with troubled members told in a matter-of-fact way
26. Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos, UK/Ireland/South Korea/US): Bees bite in this sardonic and captivating portrait of corporate angst and conspiracy theories.
Blue Heron
25-21
25. The History of Sound (Oliver Hermanus, US/UK): Memories of sounds in this therapeutic cross-country journey with the quintessential Paul Mescal-Josh O'Connor couple.
24. Weapons (Zach Cregger, US): Moral panic becomes a reality, and Amy Madigan is a superb Bette Davis doppelganger
23. Blue Film (Elliot Tuttle, US) - first feature. Daring queer film debut on affection in all the wrong places. Our film review
22. Hedda (Nia DaCosta, US). The Ibsen story gets an intense film adaptation.
21. Lurker (Alex Russell, US) -first feature. Fandom becomes its own price in the Ripley-like, superb psychological thriller
Lurker
20-16
20. Pillion (Harry Leighton, UK) -first feature : BDSM made simple. Our film review
19. Oslo Stories Trilogy: Dreams (Dag Johan Haugerud, Norway): The stories we tell, and fabricate -warmly and passing through generations.
18. Resurrection (Bi Gan, China): The history of cinema is the history of a very intriguing spectacle
17. Urchin (Harris Dickinson, UK) -first feature: Modern-day welcome neorealism
16. Α Useful Ghost (Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, Thailand) -first feature: A very capable mixture of genres and styles in this politically-infused ghost story.
Pillion
15-11
15. Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier, Norway/France/Germany/Denmark/Sweden/United Kingdom). Father's unfinished business in a welcome, Bergmanesque light.
14. If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You (Mary Bronstein, US): Heart-wrenching, but indispensable portrait of a mother in existential panic.
13. The Stranger (François Ozon, France/Belgium): Ozon takes good photographic and textual care of Camus's text, with superlative Benjamin Voisin as the 'Other'.
12. Come See Me in the Good Light (Ryan White, US): American poet and activist Andrea Gibson receives a distinctive, non-trivial posthumous tribute to their creativity.
11. It Was Just An Accident (Jafar Panahi, Iran/France/Luxembourg): Moral dilemmas now become motivations for ultimate chaos.
Come See Me In the Good Light
10-6
10. The Chronology of Water (Kristen Stewart, France/Latvia/UK/US) -first feature. The back-and-forth, unorthodox cinematic portrait of poet Lidia Yuknavitch powerfully retells a fascinating storyline.
9. Blue Moon (Richard Linklater, US): Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater command the screen in this story of a talent gone astray.
8. Voice of Hind Rajab (Kaouther Ben Hania, Tunisia/France): Docufiction is here a weapon for awareness.
7. The Testament of Ann Lee (Mona Fastvold, US): Sex is a moral vice, but the force of the doctrine's defense is undisputable in this musical fantasy, with a tour-de-force performance by Amanda Seyfried.
6. One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson, US): American family and political affairs as a rollercoaster of stupidity.
The Testament of Ann Lee
5-1
5. No Other Choice (Park Chan-wook, South Korea): Work employment made uneasy in a remake that feels fresh and its elements well-placed.
4. The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil): Analogue state suppression in an expertly languished environment.
3. The Mastermind (Kelly Reichardt, US): One of the great portraits of being a loser.
2. Sirat (Oliver Laxe, Spain/France): The careful observation of the pursuit of luck and pleasure and fate in a group of people trying to manipulate fate.
1. Peter Hujar's Day (Ira Sachs, US): a masterful snapshot of a 70s photographer in the avant-garde New York, making the trivial be more significant -with two immersive performances (Ben Whishaw - Rebecca Hall).
Peter Hujar's Day
contributed by: Vassilis Kroustallis
