TOP 20 BEST FILMS OF 2025

    Hello, everyone! Happy New Year! I cannot believe it is already the very first day of 2026. Time is going by so fast. It feels like I just finished writing my Best Movies of 2024 list. I hope this year brings us more happiness and less sadness.

    When it comes to movies, I still managed to watch quite a few last year, even though I did not reach my 2024 record. According to my Letterboxd diary, I logged 127 titles in total, consisting of 110 feature-length films (including rewatches) and 17 short films. Unfortunately, this is a 50.58% drop compared to 2024, when I viewed 257 films. This decline happened because I was so busy with my studies. Sometimes, even when I had free time, I just was not in the good mood to watch anything. Out of those 110 features, 28 were 2025 releases. Once again, this is a 12.5% decrease from the previous year, where I had seen 32 new movies before finalizing my annual list in early 2025. In terms of quality, the 2025 films I have seen were not much different from those in 2024. But to be honest, very few titles from 2025 actually piqued my interest.

    Anyway, without further ado, here is my ranking for the 20 best films of 2025. Just a quick disclaimer though. Even though this is a 'best of' list, the movies at the bottom are not always actually good. I did not watch that many films this year, just the ones that looked interesting to me.

20. Sinners | United States | Directed by Ryan Coogler

    I am one of those people who did not really get the hype for this one. I understand that people love the culture and the unique mix of music, vampires, and Black history in this film, but it just failed to meet my huge expectations. It is not a bad film, but it is definitely not something I would rewatch.

19. Good Boy | United States | Directed by Ben Leonberg

    I have not seen a horror movie from a dog's point of view since that one segment of V/H/S 2. Then, at the end of 2025, I finally watched Good Boy. It does not just use the 'dog camera' as a gimmick. It actually uses it to show the emotions of the dog, Indy. He was a great actor. I just wish the story and the pacing were a bit more polished, because then it would have been a really great film.

18. Superman | United States | Directed by James Gunn

    I usually do not care much for superhero movies because they are a bit too much fantasy for me. But Superman was different. It looked at the human and political side of things. It felt relevant and deep, not like one of those cheap movies made just for the money.

17. Caught Stealing | United States | Directed by Darren Aronofsky

    The action moves very fast, which makes the movie a lot of fun. There is not much to comment because the movie gets right into the action without wasting any time. When a movie can keep me quiet because I am so focused on the excitement, I consider it a success.

16. Twinless | United States | Directed by James Sweeney

    This was a great debut movie for 2025. Even though the story is simple, the emotions in it really touched my heart. I think Dylan O’Brien should get a lot more attention for his performance in this film.

15. 28 Years Later | United Kingdom | Directed by Danny Boyle

    It was great to see Danny Boyle return to bring this old series back to life. It was one of my favorite horror experiences of 2025. It is scary, intense, and gross, and I mean that as a compliment. However, I really did not like the ending. It was just too silly for me.

14. Hallow Road | United Kingdom | Directed by Babak Anvari

    This movie is only 80 minutes long and stays inside a car the whole time, but it is very intense from beginning to end. The ending felt a little bit too long for me, but the surprises were great. It even gave me fake goosebumps (the feeling of being creeped out by something I totally misinterpreted). Also, Rosamund Pike proves once again that she nails every single role she takes.

13. The Ugly Stepsister | Norway | Directed by Emilie Blichfeldt

    Ugh, I can still hear the sound of Elvira’s stomach rumbling because of that tapeworm she ate just to be thin. That sound still haunts me to this day, and it is honestly the biggest reason why this movie is at number 13 on my list.

12. Bone Lake | United States | Directed by Mercedes Bryce Morgan

    I really underestimated this one at first. I thought it was going to be a basic, predictable thriller. But it actually surprised me. It knows it should not pretend to be something deep. Instead, it just plays around with the genre's rules, which makes it a really fun watch for horror fans like me. It definitely proved me wrong.

11. Companion | United States | Directed by Drew Hancock

    I was surprised by this movie, even though I already knew the plot. The tension was very good and it made me want to know what would happen next. It is a really fun watch.

10. Dangerous Animals | Australia | Directed by Sean Byrne

    On the surface, it looks like any other shark thriller. But what makes it unique is that even though it was marketed as a shark horror movie, the real enemy is actually a human all the time. The film does a great job playing with claustrophobia, and the tension really ramps up as the main character tries to survive both a vicious pet shark and its crazy owner.

9. Predator: Killer of Killers | United States | Directed by Dan Trachtenberg

    Just like Caught Stealing, the action here is so fun that everything else does not really matter. The animation is super cool. Plus, having leads from three different eras in the action sequences was such a unique move, it really made the film stand out. I am not a Predator expert, but this feels like one of the best ones yet.

8. Jumbo | Indonesia | Directed by Ryan Adriandhy

    I am really glad I had the chance to see this on the big screen. It was actually the first 2025 movie I saw. It is a huge step forward for Indonesian animation, but it is also just a good movie overall. It has all the right ingredients, such as likeable characters, a simple but deep story, and beautiful animation. The song Selalu Ada di Nadimu is amazing, especially during the performance scene. It felt so magical. Great job, Pak Ryan!

7. Final Destination: Bloodlines | United States | Directed by Zach Lipovsky & Adam B. Stein

    The strength of this franchise is the creative and scary death scenes, and this movie does a great job with them. But I was even more surprised by the story. It is quite different from the previous films because it explores the history and mythology of Death itself. So, Final Destination: Bloodlines showed me that there are still a lot of new ways to tell this classic story.

6. Sorry, Baby | United States | Directed by Eva Victor

    Sexual harassment is a terrible problem that never seems to end. Eva Victor's debut film tells us a hard truth: even when the perpetrator is punished, the victim is not automatically okay (unfortunately, the perpetrator did not get punished in this movie). The emotional wounds stay open. Sorry, Baby uses humor to tell the story, and that actually makes it feel much sadder. I hope it gets a nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards.

5. F1 | United States | Directed by Joseph Kosinski

    This was a surprise. At first, I was not sure about watching it because it is very long and I was not really excited for it. But when I finally watched it, I felt like I was right in the middle of a race. I think it would be even better in a cinema because the sound is so realistic and amazing.

4. Bring Her Back | Australia | Directed by Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou

    Horror movies that deal with grief always have a special place in my heart. After Talk to Me took the number one spot on my 2023 list, the Philippou brothers have done it again. They have made a horror film that's scary but also makes you really think at the same time. The cast is incredible, especially Sally Hawkins. She made me so frustrated, but I also felt so sorry for her.

3. Together | Australia, USA | Directed by Michael Shanks

    This was my most anticipated movie of 2025, and luckily, it lived up to all my expectations. Body horror is really having a moment right now, especially since The Substance got so much attention. While Together does not exactly reinvent the wheel, it is definitely a bright spot for the genre. It helps prove that body horror is not just a generic category, but also can be something special.

2. Weapons | United States | Directed by Zach Cregger

    I have been talking about surprises this whole time, but the biggest and best surprise of 2025 for me was Weapons. At first, I really did not want to watch it because the story did not look interesting. But I was bored and had nothing else to watch, so I gave it a try. It turned out to be so much fun. The non-linear story felt like a puzzle, and I loved putting the pieces together. The ending was a little plain, but it was not disappointing. Also, Amy Madigan was incredible. She deserves an Oscar nomination, and I really hope she wins.

1. It Was Just an Accident | Iran, France, Luxembourg | Directed by Jafar Panahi

    It is probably not a surprise to see this at number one, since there is already so much hype for it. Iranian filmmakers really never miss, even though I have only seen a handful of their movies myself. This Palme d’Or winner handles its theme of moral conflict so well, and it is so intense that it felt like it was choking me. And that ending made my whole body just froze because it was so frightening. To me, this is the definition of a horror movie that is not labeled as horror. Just marvelous.

    I have had a real mix of feelings watching these films. Some were just okay, while others were absolutely mind-blowing. There are still some 2025 releases that I am interested in but have not had a chance to see yet, so they did not make this list. I will definitely be catching up on them in 2026, like It Ends, Zootopia 2, Sore: Istri dari Masa Depan, Homebound, and Meat Kills. I am really hoping 2026 brings some great movies. Looking at the lineup, the year looks pretty promising with Toy Story 5, Scary Movie 6, and The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. There is also Scream 7, but honestly, I hated the production process so much that I will not spend a single cent to watch it.

    Thank you for reading my blog post. I hope you all have a wonderful 2026. Please come back again to read my new writing soon. Bye, everyone!