AP Film Writers' Best Movies of 2025: Bold Returns, Surprise Hits and Standout Debuts

Despite what the accountants might insist, 2025 proved to be a lively year for cinema. Filmmakers inside and outside the studio system delivered daring, personal and wildly imaginative work — some of it even finding mainstream success. Remarkably, Ryan Coogler's Sinners ranked among the top North American earners alongside familiar sequels and reboots, while many other standout films look destined for cult followings.

The industry itself was in flux: Warner Bros. faced the possibility of another merger amid broader upheaval. Yet audiences demonstrated a continued appetite for the theatrical experience, whether shouting an in-theater joke like "chicken jockey" or, improbably, propelling KPop Demon Hunters up the box office charts two months after its Netflix debut. The year also included several underseen masterpieces — a reminder that box office tallies and trophies are fleeting, while films endure.

Lindsey Bahr’s Top Movies Of 2025

1. One Battle After Another

   Paul Thomas Anderson delivers the year’s most exhilarating ride with a film that blends farce, frenetic action, tender single-parent drama and buddy-comedy beats into an almost indescribable whole. Every performance, from leads to the smallest supporting parts, is strong; the film’s bold, singular vision and payoffs reaffirm the unique pleasures of seeing a movie in a theater. (In theaters)

2. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

   Mary Bronstein turns a domestic nightmare into a raw, surreal portrayal of maternal exhaustion and unraveling. Anchored by a fearless Rose Byrne, the film is an exposed nerve — existential dread made cinematic — and even features unexpected cameo turns. (Available for digital rental)

3. Marty Supreme

   Josh Safdie, with longtime collaborator Ronald Bronstein, turns the life of a broke table-tennis player and the ruthless Marty Mauser into white-knuckle entertainment. Set in midcentury New York, Marty Supreme gives Timothée Chalamet a defining performance of ambition and ego. (In theaters Dec. 25)

4. Sentimental Value

   Joachim Trier’s textured, mature portrait centers on a quiet home where ghosts of the past and unsaid words linger. Anchored by a moving Stellan Skarsgård performance as an acclaimed filmmaker attempting to reconnect with his daughters, the film explores family, grief and forgiveness with surprising warmth and wit. (In theaters)

5. The Naked Gun

   Akiva Schaffer’s shameless reboot/sequel/remake resurrects studio comedy with wholehearted commitment to absurdity. Its relentless silliness lands in a way few big-studio comebacks do. (Streaming on Paramount+)

6. Sinners

   Ryan Coogler returns with a deeply personal, go-for-broke bluesy vampire–gangster musical. Vibrant and symbol-rich, the film features a remarkable ensemble and layers of historical resonance, making it one of the year’s most original thrillers. (Streaming on HBO Max)

7. Sound of Falling

   Mascha Schilinski’s haunting second feature interlaces past and present on a North German farm, following four young women across different eras. Disorienting and transfixing, it reads as both coming-of-age tale and ghost story. (Wide release in theaters Jan. 16)

8. It Was Just an Accident

   In his first film since imprisonment, Jafar Panahi sets up a gripping moral dilemma about justice after torture. Tense, devastating and darkly funny, the film forces viewers to confront difficult questions about culpability and retribution. (In theaters)

9. The Voice of Hind Rajab

   Kaouther Ben Hania uses cinematic language and real audio to create a harrowing document of the Israel–Hamas war. Set inside a dispatch center, the film is a spare, powerful record of crisis and human resilience. (In theaters Dec. 17)

10. Urchin, The Chronology of Water and Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight

    Three notable first features from familiar faces: Harris Dickinson’s Urchin channels social-realism to illuminate cycles of homelessness; Kristen Stewart’s The Chronology of Water is an electric memory piece of trauma and inspiration; and Embeth Davidtz’s directorial debut confronts the Rhodesian bush war with grace and courage. (Availability varies.)

Also Noted: Hedda, My Father’s Shadow, The Secret Agent, The Testament of Ann Lee, Blue Moon, The Ballad of Wallis Island, The Mastermind, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, Splitsville, Sorry, Baby, Presence, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.

Jake Coyle’s Top Movies Of 2025

1. One Battle After Another

   Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest feels both of the moment and curiously out of time. It examines how movements and countercultures are coded by ritual, and it creates its own grammar of struggle — anchored by a standout, unstoppable central performance. (In theaters)

2. No Other Choice

   Park Chan-wook’s pitch-black comedy, adapted from Donald E. Westlake’s novel, follows a recently unemployed man who decides murder is the only way to succeed in the job market. Diabolically clever and morally complex, it showcases Park’s mastery of dark satire. (In theaters Dec. 25)

3. It Was Just an Accident

   Jafar Panahi balances pain, fury and playfulness in a film made under extreme circumstances. It’s an important, gripping and deeply human work from one of cinema’s most courageous voices. (In theaters)

4. Marty Supreme

   Josh Safdie’s picaresque ping-pong epic is one of the year’s most breathless and giddy films. Timothée Chalamet’s tireless performance infuses this New York tale with manic energy. (In theaters Dec. 25)

5. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

   Rian Johnson’s latest Benoit Blanc mystery may be the most affecting in the series, combining clever plotting with unexpectedly moving beats and a standout turn from Josh O’Connor. (In theaters; streaming on Netflix later in December)

6. April

   Dea Kulumbegashvili’s haunting sophomore film follows Nina, a solitary obstetrician traversing rural Georgia to care for women while enduring severe vilification. A pitiless, unforgettable portrait of endurance. (Not yet available for digital rental)

7. Sinners

   Ryan Coogler’s audacious genre mash-up combines style, history and raw energy — a rare Hollywood-scale original that found crossover success. (Streaming on HBO Max)

8. Secret Mall Apartment

   Jeremy Workman’s documentary starts with a quirky premise — a hidden living space inside a Providence mall — and uncovers a thoughtful story about art, commerce and community. (Available for digital rental)

9. Blue Moon

   Richard Linklater’s chamber drama reunites Ethan Hawke’s Lorenz Hart with warmth, wit and melancholy. It’s a relaxed, intimate pleasure that rewards patient viewers. (In theaters)

10. Afternoons of Solitude

    Albert Serra’s documentary focuses tightly on a matador and his encounters with bulls, offering a meditative, near-pure cinematic study of ritual and spectacle. (Available for digital rental)

Also Noted: Caught by the Tides, One of Them Days, Eephus, My Father’s Shadow, The Testament of Ann Lee, Cloud, Sentimental Value, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, Bugonia, Sorry, Baby.