It’s been one extremely erratic, downright wacky year at the movies.
Sequels again soared to the top of the box office — unless, of course, here was a “Tron” attached to the title. But many of the film world’s “sure things” proved fallible in 2025, including a Pixar film — “Elio” — that crashed and burned at the box office. Sad, that.
Add the cold-water-to-the-face reality that the bulk of major Oscar contenders got released prior to the awards-seeking sprint common December, and you have what could be considered either a head-scratching year or a game-changing one. And with the potentially disruptive Warner Bros.-Netflix deal hanging in the balance, and already sending ripples through the industry, anything might go on in the future.
This quiet December has elicited a collective year-end sigh among moviegoers ready to feast on cerebral and substantial fare during what is normally a critical period in the awards-hype cycle.
But wait one doggone one minute there, it’s a little premature to start in with the woe is Hollywood bit. For one thing, there is a dark horse chomping at the bit in the starting gates, and, based on knockout early screenings, “Marty Supreme” might well be, um, supreme. You can unwrap that great film on Christmas Day. And never discount the might of cinematic showman James Cameron. His latest “Avatar” installment is a work of staggering visual, if not storytelling, genius and is generating Oscar buzz too.
Actually, it’s overall been a very good year at the movies even if the box office doesn’t entirely reflect that, with many of the best films arriving from outside of America.
Here, then, are my Top 10 films of 2025 — and the dish on when and where you can see them.
1. ‘Sinners’
Oakland native Ryan Coogler cooked up one of the spiciest genre gumbos ever, a mix of horror film, musical and intricately detailed historical piece. With the spirit of an indie film, and fire in its belly, Coogler’s epic triumphed as a musical celebration of Black America and as a sexy, sinewy vampire tale with a 24-hour storyline that takes sharp bites at cultural appropriation and racism. It’s a masterpiece of visual storytelling and casts an intense visceral and visual spell from its opening seconds. The cast is too good to be true too with charismatic Michael B. Jordan giving two dandy performances as twins who are setting up a 1932 Southern juke joint that gets unwanted toothy visitors. Coogler and company shake up genre filmmaking here, and “Sinners” is all the better for it. So are viewers. When & where to watch it: Available on a several subscription services.
2. ‘Train Dreams’
What is the true measure of one person’s life? Director/co-screenwriter Clint Bentley’s gorgeous meditation on that question gets told from the rare perspective of a 20th-century Pacific Northwest logger and railroad worker. Bentley’s cinematic miracle speaks softly but says something profound and elemental about the sweeping changes that surround a man of few words but much passion, who played a pivotal role in the environment and the people around him. Joel Edgerton’s internalized performance is a master class in acting. This is a visual poem that touches you with its graceful intent and genuine emotion. When & where to watch it: Now available on Netflix.
3. ‘The Secret Agent’
NEON deserves the MVP trophy this year for accumulating the best international features. Case in point: Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Brazilian epic, which is remarkable in the same vein of Coogler’s “Sinners” in that it refuses to be pigeonholed into one genre. A soulful Wagner Moura gives one of the year’s best, most in-sync-with-the-material performances as the enigmatic Marcelo, a man leading a tricky double life in late ‘70s Brazil, a dangerous and volatile time. Filho’s serpentine film moves through its plot like a snake, surprising us at every turn. It even celebrates the magic of moviemaking. Its final moments gave us one the best endings of 2025 too. When & where to watch it: In theaters now.
4. ‘It Was Just an Accident’
Few contemporary artists have suffered for their art to the extent of Jafar Panahi. The Iranian filmmaker has not only been jailed for his thoughtful, thought-provoking work, but was exiled and even banned from making movies for awhile. He recently got slapped with a one-year prison sentence and a travel ban while out on his first U.S. promo tour. For all those reasons, you’d expect Panahi’s films would be roiling in anger and fury. They’re not, but, oh, how do they ever make their point while even making you laugh. His latest does that even as it revolves around the kidnapping of a family man who might be an abusive interrogator. The final moments of “Accident” sear into your psyche. Panahi’s neorealist style and reverence for Hitchcock is present in every precise scene (the opening segment is brilliant), in a moral story about the fallacy of vengeance and the legacy and fallout of trauma where a sound, a person, a smell holds the power to haunt you for a lifetime. This film seeps into your pores. When & where to watch it: In theaters now.
5. ‘Marty Supreme’
Director Josh Safdie takes a torch to the placid sports underdog story via a fictional portrait of 1950s New York ping-pong player extraordinaire and big-time hustler Marty Mauser (a never-been better Timothée Chalamet). The “Uncut Gems” co-filmmaker throws out the valorous, nice-guy schematic and goes on to trigger outright panic attacks in audiences. And we mean that as the highest compliment. Invigorating and even exhausting (in a good way), this wild, brazen film sticks audiences into the desperate skin of sweaty, anti-hero Marty as he tries to make it big but gets every roadblock thrown in his path (including several of his own doing). Boosted by an era-inappropriate soundtrack and strong supporting performances, “Marty” is a supreme throwback to those gritty, gutsy and grand 1970s films, as it takes on one man’s full-throttle quest to be the Best. When & where to watch it: Coming to theaters like a bullet train on Christmas Day.
6. ‘Sirāt’
Critics sometimes spout off that a film is unlike anything they’ve seen, a pronouncement that turns out to be heat-of-the-moment hyperbole. Not so Oliver Laxe’s trance-like experience. This spiritual and metaphysical mindblower is ostensibly about a Moroccan desert odyssey on which a concerned father and his young embark to find their missing daughter/sister, a fan of raves. But that doesn’t even begin to describe what befalls this duo and a pack of intrepid ravers in this visual and auditory boundary-pusher from an adventurous filmmaker who isn’t afraid of the Big Picture and then some. The techno soundtrack from Kangding Ray is revolutionary. When & where to watch it: Coming to the Bay Area in January.
7. ‘Sorry, Baby’
First-time filmmaker Eva Victor walked one of the most precarious tonal tightropes of the year with their dramedy that shifts from past to present to chart the before and after of a sexual assault on a New England literary grad student and, later, professor. Victor’s screenplay is without a doubt one of the year’s best and it’s filled with quirky characters you’ll fall in love with and a sincere, warm-hearted sense about surviving in the aftermath of a traumatic event. The scenes between lead character Agnes (played by Victor) and her best friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie) are like wrapping yourself up in an electric blanket on a cold winter night. And the beautiful ending had me blubbering. When & where to watch it: Available to rent and stream now on several platforms.
8. ‘Black Bag’
There’s an art to crafting, rather than just merely assembly-lining, a genre film. Veteran director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp nailed it and brought some class to movie theaters by emulating the witty banter and duplicitous spy shenanigans that used to be the staples of the films of yesteryear. As a sexy spy couple who smell a rat, Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett heat up the screen. “Black Bag” turns the tables on not just all of its characters (a dinner table scene is priceless and delicious) but on us. What a smart and efficient piece of old-school entertainment this is. When & where to watch it: Available to rent and stream now on several platforms.
9 ‘One Battle After Another’
Paul Thomas Anderson in this film created two of the most memorable, certain-to-become-iconic scenes of 2025 — one an undulating car chase played out on small hills that will take your breath away, and the other a rooftop chase featuring star Leonardo DiCaprio. For the most part, the stuff in between was remarkable in this hyperactive comedy/drama that leads to a showdown of a psycho military goon and tool for the government (Sean Penn) a former revolutionary (DiCaprio) and his more put together daughter (Chase Infiniti). “Battle” has its faults — the absence of one of its strongest characters in the second half — but it was exceptional in many other ways. When & where to watch it: Available to rent and stream now on several platforms.
10. ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’
In one of the gutsiest cinematic moves of they year, director and co-screenwriter Mona Fastvold brings to light the18th-century life of the founder of the Shaker movement through drama, mesmerizing choreographed movements and impassioned songs. It’s a daring harmonic convergence that heightens and defines Fastvold’s period film that travels from England to America and doesn’t make Lee a saint or a sinner. Amanda Seyfried’s bravura performance is a wide-eyed wonder too; she sings and she soars. The same applies to this movie. When & where to watch it: Opens in January in Bay Area theaters.
“Bubbling just under the Top 10:”Twinless,” “Dead Man’s Wire,” “The Life of Chuck,” “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” “Come See Me in the Good Light,” ”Dust Bunny,” “Bugonia,” “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” “Sentimental Value,” “Rental Family,” “Lurker,” “Watchers,” “Hamnet,” “The Paper Bag Plan,” “No Other Choice,” “Bring Her Back,” “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.”
Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.