Top 10 Best Movies of 2025: This is not a “greatest films of all time” situation. This is simply what hit me the hardest this year, based on what I watched, when I watched it, and how long it stuck with me after.
If something you loved isn’t here, that doesn’t mean it’s bad. It just means these ten landed deeper for me. Let’s get into the list of Best Movies of 2025.
10. Bring Her Back
Release Date: May 30, 2025 (United States)
Directors: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou
Cast: Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, Sally Hawkins
IMDb / Rotten Tomatoes: 7.1 / 89%
Where to Watch: HBO Max (after theatrical run)
The Philippou brothers are quietly becoming one of the most interesting voices in modern horror. On paper, this sounds familiar. Almost too familiar. But the moment you actually sit down and watch it, you realize they’ve twisted the idea just enough to make it feel new.
That’s their strength—taking something that should feel cliché and making it uncomfortable again. It’s tight, unsettling, and confident. Horror needs more filmmakers like this.
Why it made the list: Fresh execution beats recycled ideas every time.
9. Weapons
Release Date: September 5, 2025
Directors: Zach Cregger
Cast: Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Amy Madigan, Benedict Wong
IMDb / Rotten Tomatoes: 7.5 / ~93%
Where to Watch: Hulu
This one creeps up on you.
A group of kids disappears. No answers. No easy explanations. And instead of spoon-feeding you information, the movie lets the tension slowly rot from the inside out.
The multiple perspectives work surprisingly well, and the cast sells the dread in a way that feels lived-in, not theatrical. The ending didn’t fully click for me on first watch, but on a rewatch, it settled better. This is one of those movies where the first viewing is everything.
Why it made the list: Atmosphere and mystery done right.
8. Warfare
Release Date: April 11, 2025
Directors: Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland
Cast: D’Pharaoh Woon‑A‑Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Taylor John Smith, Michael Gandolfini, Adain Bradley, Noah Centineo, Evan Holtzman, Henry Zaga, Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton
IMDb / Rotten Tomatoes: 7.9 / 93%
Where to Watch: Theaters / Amazon Video, Apple TV, Fandango at Home
This movie does not let you breathe.
I went in expecting something artsy and distant. What I got instead was relentless anxiety. No glory. No hero fantasy. Just chaos, confusion, and the brutal reality of being trapped in something you don’t control. It’s ugly. It’s loud. It’s exhausting. And that’s exactly the point.
Why it made the list: It made war feel horrifying again instead of cinematic.
7. Bugonia
Release Date: October 24, 2025
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, Alicia Silverstone
IMDb / Rotten Tomatoes: 7.8 / 87%
Where to Watch: Theaters / Peacock, Fandango at Home
This is the movie where I realized my taste clearly doesn’t line up with everyone else’s, and I’m fine with that.
It’s tense, paranoid, and unapologetically bleak. A conspiracy-driven story that doesn’t comfort you or give you an easy moral footing. Some people called it nihilistic. I called it honest. By the end, I wasn’t shocked by where it went. I was nodding along.
Why it made the list: It trusted the audience to sit with discomfort.
6. The Long Walk
Release Date: September 12, 2025
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson
IMDb / Rotten Tomatoes: 7.8 / 88%
Where to Watch: Netflix (after theatrical release)
This one surprised me on a second viewing.
The premise is brutally simple: keep walking or die. That’s it. And yet it never gets boring. The performances carry it, the relationships form naturally, and the Stephen King DNA is all over it, in the best way. The ending hit harder the second time around. Not louder. Just deeper.
Why it made the list: Simple idea, strong execution, lasting impact.
5. Marty Supreme
Release Date: 2025 wide theatrical release
Director: Josh Safdie
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Tyler, the Creator, Fran Drescher, Kevin O’Leary
IMDb / Rotten Tomatoes: 7.9 / 91%
Where to Watch: A24 / Theaters (then digital VOD)
Pure momentum.
This movie doesn’t slow down, doesn’t apologize, and doesn’t ask you to like the main character. It just commits. Hard. The dialogue crackles, the pacing never drops, and the soundtrack quietly carries half the movie without begging for attention. It’s messy in a way that feels intentional.
Why it made the list: Relentless energy and zero boredom.
4. Sinners
Release Date: 2025 (wide release date varies by region — major 2025 release)
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Lakeith Stanfield, Mahershala Ali
IMDb / Rotten Tomatoes: 7.4 / ~85%
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
This is horror, culture, mythology, and music all colliding at once.
It respects classic vampire lore but isn’t trapped by it. There’s style here, sure, but also substance. The way music is woven into the story gives the film a soul that most genre movies never even aim for. You can watch it during an October horror binge or on a random night, and it still works.
Why it made the list: It aimed higher than “just a horror movie” and got there.
Also Read: I Watched Every Hyped TV Show in 2025 — 5 Worst TV shows of 2025
3. F1
Release Date: June 27, 2025
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris
IMDb / Rotten Tomatoes: 7.7 / 79%
Where to Watch: Apple TV+ / Theaters
Old-school spectacle done the right way.
This is Top Gun: Maverick energy, just transferred to the racing world. Real speed. Real stakes. Real effort to put you inside the experience instead of burying everything in CGI noise. It’s not subtle. It’s not trying to be. And it doesn’t need to be.
Why it made the list: It reminded me why theaters still matter.
2. John Candy: I Like Me
Release Date: September 4, 2025 (festival premiere)
Director: Colin Hanks
Cast: John Candy
IMDb / Rotten Tomatoes: 8.0 / 95%
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
I love documentaries. I love John Candy more.
This didn’t feel like a manufactured tribute or a PR-friendly retrospective. It felt like a genuine celebration of someone who brought warmth into every room he walked into.
By the end, it stopped being about John Candy and started being about legacy—how people remember you when you’re gone. That’s powerful stuff.
Why it made the list: It made me feel grateful and sad at the same time.
1. Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair
Release Date: December 5, 2025
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, David Carradine
IMDb / Rotten Tomatoes: 9.0 / 97%
Where to Watch: Theaters / Later Digital Release
Nothing topped this.
Watching Kill Bill as one complete film instead of two separate volumes completely changes the experience. The flow, the emotion, the weight—it all hits harder.
This felt like cinema in the most literal sense. Four and a half hours flew by, and I realized how rare it is to be that locked in anymore. Whatever Tarantino has done since, this is his peak.
Why it made the list: Best theatrical experience I had all year. No debate.
Final Thought On Best Movies of 2025
Lists change. Opinions evolve. But this is how the year felt to me. If you only watched one great movie this year, that still counts. So tell me—what was yours?
