2025 was a good year for cinema. Lots of big blockbusters as usual, but many original and great screenplays as well. This post curates some of my personal favourite films from 2025. This is not a rankings list whatsoever so I’ve left out some great films from this post but these are the ones I wanted to write something about. But before; here’s the honorable mentions: No Other Choice, Hamnet, Sentimental Value, It Was Just an Accident, Eternity, Marty Supreme, Superman, Black Bag, Oh Hi!, One of Them Days, Ballerina, Materialists.
Wake Up Dead Man
Judgement is upon us
All three Knives Out films stay much differently in my mind. The first one was a pretty basic whodunnit film which didn’t try very hard. The second one was like a quirky holiday movie that was barely a murder mystery, and a failed one in my opinion. But the third one was the most thematically complex and thoughtful of these so far. Exploration of morality, belief and human condition wrapped in a cozy murder mystery, so everything I’d want from a detective movie.
The duality between Benoit Blanc and Jud Duplenticy was great. Through that, Rian Johnson could explore not only his own relationship to faith, but how to reconcile our personal beliefs with a universal duty to afford each other grace when it is difficult to do so.
Most of the ensemble were unique and memorable (except for Cailee Spaeny’s character, she deserved better). All acts –setup, investigation, twist and resolution– were satisfactory.
What I’ll remember the most is the camerawork in this film. Both Rian Johnson and Steve Yedin outdid themselves. Lighting in church scenes added so much to the conversation and overall.
I hope they make ten of these movies.
Bugonia
We Are Not Alone!
When I think of Yorgos Lanthimos’ filmography, the only word that comes up is weird. Not in a bad way, but not in a very good way either. Sometimes he can get lost in that artsy weirdness and that makes him lose focus on emotions that he needs to deliver. In Bugonia, he stays mostly focused.
I had two predictions for this film; I thought he will either explore and make fun of the online conspiracy theorists and “red pill” environment, or he will make it look like that and subvert expectations by making Emma Stone really an alien. And not to anyone’s surprise, he did go for the second option.
Still he makes sure that it’s not only a comedic release of a twist. This is a dark satire about our time; conspiracies motivated by corporate caused pain, rage between people in opposing classes, how easy it is to be convinced when in a vulnerable position.
All that and it’s Yorgos’ funniest movie.
Predator: Badlands
Yautja are prey to none. Friend to none. Predator to all.
I wasn’t really a fan of the Predator series until Prey (2022), and after that, I watched every Predator related media that came out. I couldn’t catch this one in IMAX because my local IMAX theater decided to replace it with the comedy film Yan Yana after 1 week. I didn’t want to see it on a worse screen so I had to wait for its digital release.
Did it have what I expected? Yes and more. I was expecting cool hunting action sets, a cool predator, a cool prey, a cool mecha fight and Ella Fanning. I also found a really nice “rework” of the Predator franchise. We normally see the predator as the other. The one who hunts our main character with his cloak and full arsenal. Instead, director Dan Trachtenberg flips the script and makes us watch the hunt through our predator’s eyes. The result is a narrative that is less a sci-fi horror and more a mythic coming-of-age odyssey.
The emotional core of the film is the relationship between Dek and Thia (Ella Fanning), a damaged android who has to travel as Dek’s backpack. They create a beautiful dynamic; Thia learning to feel and Dek learning to protect. It’s a found family narrative at its best.
The final fight in the film essentially breaks the Predator lore. Suggesting that their culture is not monolithic, that they are capable of change. Conservative fans of the older films may not like this humanization of the hunter, almost demystifying the monster always comes at a cost to horror, but as a piece of storytelling, it is far more satisfying than watching another team of soldiers get picked off in the jungle.
Weapons
The gun is metal, the weapon is what trauma makes of a child
Normally I’m not a big fan of horror movies. So it was a surprise to me too that I loved Weapons this much. The best comment I heard about Weapons came from a friend; she said “imagine if Longlegs (which has great first 2 acts but a horrendous last act) stuck the landing”. This was all I needed to watch it.
The film’s not so hidden message is gun violence in schools and the mass hysteria following that and also gives some good solutions (or reasons) for it. For example; the disconnect between teachers and children. Julia Garner’s character is being stopped at each of her attempts to be more involved in children’s lives.
On the technical side, the camerawork is incredible. It makes a lot of scenes much more scary than it actually is. The acting, the humor are all on point.
The film argues that trauma is turning people into weapons against the teacher. The gun is just a piece of metal; the real danger is a human being stripped of their autonomy. The witch is a metaphor for mass hysteria. And the final monologue by one of the kids kidnapped was brilliantly done.
Overall this was an undeniable piece of cinema.
Sinners
Music as communion, and vampirism as empire
“There are legends of people born with the gift of making music so true, it can pierce the veil between life and death, conjuring spirits from the past and the future. In ancient Ireland, they were called Filí. In Choctaw land, they called them Firekeepers. And in West Africa… they’re called Griots. This gift can bring healing to their communities… but it also attracts evil.”
The opening monologue of Sinners encapsulates the prefix and the true meaning of the film beautifully. There are multiple layers of storytelling for the audience to look for and Ryan Coogler doesn’t force any of them to outshine others. We can look at this through the lenses of black experience, cultural vampirism, imperialism and so on.
To me the one scene that stands taller than any other is the music montage towards the middle. When little Sammie starts to sing and make music so true, it pierces the veil between life and death, conjures the spirits from the past and the future. That few minutes proves to me that cinema is the best storytelling medium.
To the shock of many, the film is left out from many “best of 2025” lists from big media corporations. But Ryan Coogler being snubbed from awards and lists isn’t new. Ever since he made it clear that he doesn’t want to join the Academy and says he’d rather join labor unions, “the institution” also made it clear that it would take a hostile stance against Coogler. When you opt out of a system, that system stops advocating for you. Coogler instead did win in his own game. He worked with Micheal B. Jordan in all of his films. Worked with Ludwig Göransson in all of his films. And with that, he made his own brand, made his own signature style. And made sure that people could take ownership in his movies.
Can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.
Avatar: Fire & Ash
The fire of hate gives way to the ash of grief
Avatar franchise is a divisive subject among cinephiles. Some love the franchise because of its characters, the world, the action pieces. And some see the franchise only as a glorified tech demo. An opinion that got very famous prior to the second movie was that this franchise has no cultural impact. Which got disproven extremely quickly but still, this was a very popular idea. Since then, Avatar got two incredibly successful films at the box office. And with the third one, everybody is now invested more than ever in the films, the Na’vi and the Pandora.
Personally, I love and adore Avatar. My first ever 3D cinema experience was Avatar. And ever since that intro where the camera flies above the tree line of Pandora, this franchise held a special place in my mind. It was so magical, so full of life and beauty. It felt real, it felt alive. And ever since, I wanted more of that world.
Fire & Ash not only scratched that itch for me, it gave me a transcended experience and showed me that Pandora has much more to offer. We see lots of new additions to this world, and I loved every one of them. The wind traders, who James Cameron first sketched in 1979, were awesome. The ash clan was a much needed third party in this conflict.
But Cameron also gave depth to what we’ve already seen. The death of Neteyam haunts the narrative in this film. The grief that settles upon the Sully family is heavy. And every member of it deals with that differently. Jake struggles to keep his family together but cannot stop himself from blaming Lo’ak for Neteyam’s death. Neytiri sings everyday during the eclipse to feel closer to her son. Lo’ak fights depression and self loathing. All these characters have such emotional depth and it’s unbelievable how accurately we can see those emotions through the screen.
Let’s talk about Neytiri. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her the whole time. She was fierce, deadly and powerful. Her action sets were gorgeous. We see her full range in this one. Zoe Saldana did a great job playing this incredible character.
It is fast paced, a rollercoaster of sensory overload and emotional catharsis. You could tell The Way of Water was a necessary setup for this epic display in Fire and Ash. A lump in my throat in almost every image, on the verge of tears for a lot of scenes. The dynamics, the creatures, Varang… I could never imagine that I’d almost cried over a whale court scene. But that “blind witness to our end” line hits like a truck every time.
It’s easily the best Avatar film yet. Just an incredible out of body experience. Can’t get enough of it.