March 29, 2026) -- Here is my list of the best films, best actors, and the most disappointing films from the year 2025. This was a lean year for movies. I saw over 70 movies in 2025. I thought five of them were excellent. I gave those my highest rating, an A (I don't do A+ ratings).

Below this list of top films, are documentaries and honorable mentions, followed by lists of my picks for top director, top actor, top foreign film, etc. Those lists are followed by lists of the worst films, overrated films, funniest, saddest, weirdest, most romantic, etc. I've included a Dubious Distinction award for a films of “bad taste.” My top 10 lists include more comedy and films starring black actors, two varieties of movies absent from most top 10 lists. Drama is easy, but comedy is difficult.

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1. One Battle After Another
This is no surprise, since it won the Academy Award for best picture, and many other prizes from many awards associations. This one one of very few outstanding movies of 2025.
2. Hamnet
William Shakespeare's personal life and his work are perfectly combined in this story about how he turned tragedy into art. Jessie Buckley won a well-deserved Academy Award for her outstanding performance in this film as Shakespeare's long suffering wife.
3. Frankenstein
Guillermo del Toro's stature is such that he is able to attract the talent and resources needed to make a high quality movie, and has done so here. His is a new take on Frankenstein, that he has both written and directed, reimagines this two century old story. Cinematographer Dan Laustsen creates powerful imagery. Oscar-nominated composer Alexandre Desplat provides the moody musical backdrop for the movie. The sets, production design by Tamara Deverell, the elaborate costumes designed by Kate Hawley, and fine acting all combine for a horror masterpiece.
4. Code 3
This overlooked dark comic masterpiece about a burned out ambulance driver, brilliantly played by Rainn Wilson, is not just about true American heroes, but it shines a brilliant light on problems in America's broken health care system without being didactic.
5. The Alabama Solution
Six years of investigations into the Alabama prison system is packed into this powerful documentary about modern slavery in America. There ought to be a special place in hell for people claiming to be Christians who support and defend this prison system and similar systems in other states.
6. Cover-Up
This documentary about famed journalist Seymour Hersh explores the man and modern journalism. Celebrated and reviled, lionized and disdained, Seymour Hersh still tries to make the world a better place by exposing the truth, but it never seems to work because we don't learn from history and our leaders can no longer be shamed.
7. It Was Just an Accident
Exiled Iranian director Jafar Panahi's new movie is a “what if” story about a group of people trying to decide what to do with a kidnapped man who once tortured them in an Iranian prison. It is a masterful combination of a character study and a moral dilemma.
8. No Other Choice
This dark comedy is about a man who loses his job. He is so desperate to find another job with equal pay and prestige that he decides to literally eliminate his competition. It is a comedic and harrowing look at modern society and the cold calculus of modern corporate employment practices.
9. The Perfect Neighbor
A tragedy takes place after years of tensions between neighbors. Can a white person actually get away with murdering an unarmed black woman by citing the “stand your ground laws?” This documentary movie answers that question, at least in this particular case.
10. Sirat (Sirât)
Travelers head out into dangerous southern Morocco deserts in search of a concert and a missing woman. The increasingly harrowing, heartbreaking and perilous journey seems like the end of all things, in places where the earth is not friendly to humans at all.

Train Dreams
This quiet, dream-like film about a man searching for the meaning of life in the ordinary course of events is the opposite of a Hollywood blockbuster. Great cinematography by Adolpho Veloso, haunting performances by Joel Edgerton and William H. Macy, along with a fitting song by Nick Cave round out this minor masterpiece.
Wake Up Dead Man
Third in the “Knives Out” series of mysteries, this one captures most of the magic of the first film, and is quite a lot better than the second one. Once again, Daniel Craig is the masterful detective who solves what seems to be a perfect murder, and once again, there are lots of good suspects.
Blue Moon
Ethan Hawke gives a great performance as renowned lyricist Lorenz Hart in this talky movie set in a New York City bar on the opening night of Oklahoma! in 1943. Hart knows it will be a massive hit, even though it is low brow. Despite his poor health and alcoholism, Hart holds forth in a dazzling display of wit and petulence. He fears his best years are behind him, while Oscar Hammerstein takes his place of fame and glory with composer Richard Rodgers.
Zootopia 2
I wasn't expecting much from this film, being a sequel, but it turns out to be very funny, a worthy successor to the first film. Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, new cop partners, get into a lot of trouble with the department while uncovering a conspiracy which makes them targets of a powerful family.
Arco
One of the year's best animated movies features a young time traveler, who is lost in time while trying to cope with life in his past and our future. Imaginative and colorful, this movie is an exploration of family, friendships and environmental disasters.
Elio
This is a good Pixar movie about a young boy who seeks aliens from outer space and finds them, causing all sorts of interplanetary problems. It packs a very powerful message about family ties and the love that parents have for their children even when it isn't obvious.
Sly Lives (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
Sly Stone was a multi-talented musical genius who blazed a musical trail that is still being followed today, influencing hip hop artists, and many others. This documentary tells his story and that of Sly and the Family Stone, the band that shone like a meteor through the late 1960s and 70s before flaming out in 1983.

Links to reviews of all the films I've reviewed on this page are indexed in the following web pages:

A through B   C through D   E through G   H through L
M through Q   R through S   T through Z

Sirat (Sirât)
Travelers head out into inhospitable, dangerous southern Morocco deserts in search of a rave concert and a missing woman. There is a deadly, chaotic, apocalyptic, surreal setting to this movie that sets it far apart from the usual road trip movie.
No Other Choice
This dark comedy is about a man who loses his job. He is so desperate to find another job with equal pay and prestige that he decides to literally eliminate his competition. There are some truly surreal events along this dark comic path.
One Battle After Another
Along with the usual adventures of fugitives fleeing justice, there's a strange White Supremecy subplot involving a man trying to cover up his past. There is also an underground liberal organization and a stoner comedy subplot, too.
Bugonia
At first, this movie seems to be about a couple of conspiracy nuts who go too far in kidnapping the head of a powerful corporation. Later, it gets weirder. Then it goes off a science fiction cliff into crazy land.
Weapons
This movie starts out as a straight mystery, then it looks like it is headed into science fiction, then it suddenly veers off into supernatural horror territory, with bits of comedy thrown in as well.
Die My Love
This movie seems to be lost in time and space. The main character is going crazy and can't seem to tell the difference between fantasy and reality, taking the audience along with her. To experience this movie is to take a walk on the crazy side.
The Phoenician Scheme
This Wes Anderson film, like many of his other films, has more than its share of weird characters and weird situations. Everything is a bit off kilter, from the color palette to the motivations. I can't say this movie makes a lot of sense, but it is an amusing comedy, and, like peppermint schnapps, it is easy and pleasant to swallow. It is an inspired casual collection of odd people and odd occurrences.

All of these films have won awards or have been highly rated by some critics groups. They are mostly not bad films, but are not top 10 material for my list. The Plague
Die My Love
Friendship
The Secret Agent
F1: The Movie
Sentimental Value
KPop Demon Hunters
Marty Supreme

While I saw most of the best films 2024, I purposefully missed nearly all of the reportedly bad films, including Melania – War of the Worlds – Snow White – Bride Hard – Gunslingers – Regretting You – Smurfs – Juliet & Romeo – The Strangers: Chapter 2 – Shadow Force and Five Nights at Freddy's 2, among many others, I did see some disappointing movies. Here are some films I saw that disappointed me most:

The Long Walk
The Plague
Die My Love
Wicked: For Good
Friendship
The Secret Agent
F1: The Movie
Jurassic World: Rebirth
Captain America: Brave New World

Dubious Distinctions: The Bad Taste Award

The Bad Taste Award this year goes to a movie I did not see: the documentary movie, Melania, which grossed around $17 million worldwide. My concern with this movie is because Amazon spent $75 million on this movie ($40 million of which was overpaid to the Trump family's production company, Muse Films). This is not about Melania herself, or even her husband. It is about the dangerous convergence of big tech companies with the federal government, combining the surveillance, misinformation and propaganda capabilities of both. These combined powers can destroy our democracy. The deal to make Melania is being investigated by members of Congress as a possible bribe.

Page navigation: Commercial Links,    Honorable mention,  Best of by category,  Funniest movie,   Best Love Stories  Saddest movie,  Scariest villain ,  Overrated movies,   Best movies you haven't heard of,   Most disappointing movies,   Dubious Distinctions.

Commercial link — Click here for links to places to buy or rent these movies in digital formats, or to buy soundtracks, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. It doesn't cost any extra money to use these links, but it does help offset my expenses a little bit. I suggest you shop at least two places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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