Over the course of the year 2025 I watched 353 films, where 216 of those were new releases. I attended film festivals such as Sundance, TIFF, Fantastic Fest, Tribeca, and many more. I met A-List actors and international auteurs to give their insights of cinema. I met fellow film critics from all over the world. Needless to say, 2025 was a lot, and 2026 is looking to be bigger and better. So as 2025 comes to a close, I thought I would recap this eventful year into the best, worst, and underrated of this year.
Worst Films of 2025.
The Electric State. Directed by the Russo Brothers
$320 million went into this bland and utterly forgettable Netflix blockbuster. The Electric State lacks any semblance of life and is void of any meaningful filmmaking and storytelling. It is a complete waste of time and money as the Russo Brothers and Netflix are speedrunning killing cinema.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. Directed by Emma Tammi
While I understand Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is for the fans, just because it is filled to the brim with references doesn’t make it a good horror movie. Lacking all sense of a narrative, cinematic vision and art, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is a disaster that it thinks its audience is as stupid as a rock.
A Minecraft Movie. Directed by Jared Hess
While A Minecraft Movie has a vision, its vision is sadly brainrot as the entire purpose of this movie is just to be meme-able. Children deserve good movies, not ones that actively insult their intelligence at every chance it gets. While I must give the movie credit for sticking to its vision, its vision is one that makes me want to throw up in my mouth.
Underrated films of 2025.
The Life of Chuck. Directed by Mike Flanagan.
No one can make me question my existence like Mike Flanagan and he does it again in his latest feature, The Life of Chuck, a feel good movie about death. Soul-stirring and life-igniting, The Life of Chuck is a beautiful film about life, mortality, and living life to the fullest that did not deserve to bomb at the box office.
Splitsville. Directed by Michael Angelo Covino
Splitsville is a perfect combination of romance and screwball comedy as it tackles the awkward feelings of open relationships. As funny as it is smart, Splitsville had me laughing so hard that I almost pissed myself from laughter. Splitsville is the testament of the comforting power of a crowd-pleasing comedy. Even my parents loved this.
The Smashing Machine. Directed by Benny Safdie
If there is a film that we are going to be looking at differently in ten years, it will be Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine. The film received a lot of unnecessary hatred because of Safdie winning the Silver Lion at Venice Film Festival and Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson giving a serious performance. While the film is not perfect and is a bit “Oscar-bait”, there is no denying that The Smashing Machine is a different kind of biopic that we will look at differently in the decades to come.
Best Performances of 2025
Rose Bryne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
Rose Bryne delivers a powerhouse performance in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You as she plays a mother struggling to keep her life together with a special needs daughter. Every moment she is on screen, you feel her anxieties, pains, and struggles completely as motherhood meets Uncut Gems.
Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon.
Ethan Hawke’s performance as Lorenz Hart in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon is a different kind of biopic performance. A single night of Hart’s life is captured perfectly by Ethan Hawke who is delivering one of the best performances of his career as he charms you and breaks your heart. It’s the transformative biopic performance we see a lot these days, but Hawke manages to make it feel seamless and witty.
Lee Byung-hun, No Other Choice.
Lee Byung-hun delivers what will most likely be one of the most underappreciated performances of 2025 in Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice. Striking a balance between madness, desperation, and haplessness, Lee Byung-hun’s performance is both hysterical as it is tragic as he plays a man navigating the living hell that is the job market. It is a masterful performance that we rarely see that will sadly be overlooked at this year’s awards race.
Best Films of 2025
Hamnet. Directed by Chloe Zhao
It takes a lot for me to cry while watching a film and Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet made me ugly cry for about two hours straight. As beautiful as it is heartbreaking Hamnet explores how a terrible tragedy can bring catharsis and beauty into the world. It is an unexpected crowd-pleaser that is sure to make you cry with tears of sadness and tears of joy.
No Other Choice. Directed by Park Chan-wook
If you are currently navigating the job market, you know it is its own kind of Hell. Exhausting, frustrating, and soul-sucking, it is a kind of hell that makes you lose your own self-worth. Park Chan-wook takes that Hell and explores it in one of the most unexpected crowd-pleasing dark comedies of the year. Hysterical and filled with Park’s maximalistic direction, No Other Choice is a capital Fuck You to capitalism that will make you feel seen and heard.
It Was Just an Accident. Directed by Jafar Panahi.
It Was Just an Accident by Jafar Panahi is the definition of courageous filmmaking. Film entirely in secret, Jafar Panahi risks his life again as he does another take down of the tyrannical Iranian Regime, this time about the lasting impact of being tortured by the regime. Featuring one of the best acting ensembles of the year, It Was Just an Accident is the testament of courageous filmmaking against the impossible.
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