The blockbuster returned in 2025, and it looked a lot different than usual. We’ve had more than enough Jurassic World and Avatar, but we also saw original films attract large audiences. Horror thrillers like Sinners and Weapons surprised at the box office. Additionally, cinematic achievements like One Battle After Another and Marty Supreme also made solid returns. This is in addition to crowd-pleasers like F1 and K-Pop: Demon Hunters.
But it’s not just theatergoers that proved 2025 was a good year for film. It’s the impressive catalogue of international cinema that broadened the medium’s horizons. Whether it’s Jafar Panahi’s secretly made It Was Just an Accident, No Other Choice’s commentary on the Korean workforce, or Norway’s Sentimental Value carrying on the legacy of Bergman, the rest of the world gave Hollywood a lot to chew on.
Here’s my list of 50 favorite films of 2025, from the steady hands of Paul Thomas Anderson and Wes Anderson to the next gripping chapters in the Knives Out and Predator lore.
50. The Running Man
49. Elio
48. Eddington
47. Lurker
46. The Smashing Machine
45. Song Sung Blue
44. Mickey 17
43. Avatar: Fire and Ash
42. Predator: Killer of Killers
41. Companion
40. The Life of Chuck
39. Warfare
38. Predator: Badlands
37. The Long Walk
36. Nuremberg
35. The Fantastic Four: First Steps
34. 28 Years Later
33. Blue Moon
32. Roofman
31. Thunderbolts
30. The Naked Gun
29. Eternity
28. Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
27. Sorry, Baby
26. Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
25. Caught Stealing
24. Wicked: For Good
23. Bring Her Back
22. Zootopia 2
21. The Phoenician Scheme
20. The Secret Agent
19. Frankenstein
18. F1
17. Chainsaw Man – The Movie
16. Friendship
15. Sore: A Wife from the Future
14. How to Train Your Dragon
13. It Was Just an Accident
12. Wake Up Dead Man
11. Rental Family
10. Weapons
9. No Other Choice
8. Superman
7. Train Dreams
6. Bugonia
5. Marty Supreme
4. Hamnet
3. Sentimental Value
2. Sinners
1. One Battle After Another
Still Need to Watch: Father Mother Sister Brother, The Housemaid, Is This Thing On?, Late Fame, Sirāt, The Testament of Ann Lee
The Verbatim 