2025 was a fulfilling but challenging year for me artistically. I created 3 amazing collaborative projects with 3 artists I am so excited to have worked with. Monzy the Terrible, Mantis the Miasma and Black Karma all helped me create incredible works of collaboration while I continue to toil away behind the scenes on some pretty big projects. While all this has been going on, I’ve been watching a lot to help inspire all of that music! This year has been an excellent one for art, and while I still have so much to discover, I’m going to put together a list of 10 of my favorite films this year! I would heavily recommend anything listed here, and I hope everyone has a successful start to 2026! 

I may eventually make a list for 2025 albums, but due to a lot of mixing being done this year I’m not up to date on music as I’d like to be. Shoutout to Sunmundi & Sasco for making my favorite album of the year with Contacting.

TOP 10 FILMS OF 2025

Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler

I wrote about Sinners at length earlier this year in my top 10 halfway through the year, but Sinners remains my favorite film of the year. While there has been a lot of quality output through the second half of the year, Sinners is a film that is so impeccable it's hard to imagine something that holds up quite as well. Something that has improved over time is the cinematography and tone, drenched in gothic imagery and incredible period elements. The performances are some of the best of the year, and I think this will hold up as a modern classic in the same breath as films like Oppenheimer and Nope, as some of my favorites of the decade. 

28 Years Later, directed by Danny Boyle

Another film that has stood pat at the top of my list from earlier this year, 28 Years Later, is a film that I continue to be higher on than most. This film ended up being my most-watched film from this year, and Boyle & Garland infuse so much into this story that it is easy to keep coming back. Through the massive scope and technical risks, as well as incredible character writing and pacing, they create what is one of my favorite coming-of-age films ever. The texture and thought behind the sets, the thought put into the worldbuilding, and the twists on what has become a very trite genre make this film stand above the rest of the year’s output. The soundtrack here is also a work of genius, with the Young Fathers lending one of my favorite albums of the year to help score this film. 

Wake up Dead Man, directed by Rian Johnson

The Knives Out films have always been ones that I have loved, especially as a showcase for Rian Johnson’s typical sense of subversion and ability to attract massive ensemble casts. I am happy to report that, outside of some underwritten and lazy ensemble characters, this film is my favorite of the trilogy! Josh O’Connor is one of the best actors working today, and the choice to give him the most screen time is an amazing one. Father Jud is the most interesting and multi-dimensional protagonist these stories have had, and it propels this movie into another tier. Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, and Daniel Craig are also doing amazing work, but O’Connor is the center of the show. Johnson tackles a broad stand in for religion in today's world and uses Blanc & Jud to explore both the positives and negatives of the people and ideas that inhabit a lot of religious communities While I think this film would have benefitted from a little more specificity in terms of the kind of Christianity is on display, its musings are effective in their intent and execution. The media continues to push a false brand of Christianity as fascism envelopes the United States, and that is precisely the attitude and mindset that this film is addressing. While I think a film directly commenting on its place within the metatextual can come off as pretentious, like in Johnson’s other works, the earnestness of Father Jud’s performance grounds this as a plea to those watching to push back against the all-encompassing greed and selfishness at the center of the modern church. I find it very interesting how this film delivers on a great mystery while also creating a compelling character piece in one of the more complex settings thematically put to screen in recent memory. If only I got to see it in theaters!

No Other Choice, directed by Park Chan-Wook

Park Chan-Wook needs no introduction to those who love film, but his recent film No Other Choice may be my favorite I’ve seen so far. No Other Choice is a film that is incredibly transparent in some aspects and subtly dense in others. Led by what may have been 2 of my favorite lead performances of the year by Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin, this film careens to a depressing and well-earned ending. In the world this film inhabits, the title is less of a summary and functions more as a diegetic phrase. Both in the situations it puts its characters in and the actions they take to climb out, they feel they have no other choice. This film is oddly comedic, finding humor in between the crushing depression of unemployment put to screen with some of the funniest scenes this year. Visually, the mastery on display through transitions, dissolves, and some truly special editing is unlike what I saw last year. The overexposure of the early portion initially puzzled me, but as the film continued, its purpose both metaphorically and as a device to tell this story became obvious. The thematic work being done throughout this film is among the best of the year, and that should serve as no surprise given Chan-Wook’s incredible catalog. In a time where unemployment is a reality a lot of people face, it feels almost too prevalent in the current moment. There is a lot to be said about the family dynamics and specifically the responsibility the father feels to provide, which I would love to get into after a couple more watches and more people viewing the film, but for now, see this if you can!  I saw this in IMAX in its limited release at Regal, but this film has subsisted in my memory as possibly the most airtight film of the year and one I’ll be excited to watch again.

The Mastermind, directed by Kelly Reichardt

I’ve been hearing about Kelly Reichardt’s work for a long time and have gotten very close to pulling the trigger on watching First Cow or Certain Women, but it just hasn’t worked out. While I certainly intend on checking out Certain Women and likely her whole catalog now, I was really excited to check out her work. The Mastermind was immediately on my radar given Josh O'Connor's involvement, and it did not disappoint. From moment one, Reichardt had my attention and my interest. The jazz music backing this film is its engine in a lot of ways, with O’Connor portraying a man slowly losing everything while grasping at straws. This one is a bit of a slower one, with the camera lingering as characters complete rather mundane tasks. This is exactly what really worked for me. I felt the performances really got to shine in these small moments, and a shared intimacy develops through the recognition of the truth that these menial tasks are universally relatable. As much as the scheming and machinating of our main character go horrifically awry, most of the film is spent as he deals with the emotional fallout of his actions. There’s a moment later in the film where Mooney shares a moment with his son in his car, and it embodies what I really love about this film. Disappointed family members, a passion for more, and a penchant for messing things up are things a lot of people can relate to, even if they can correctly identify how much the consequences truly outweigh the actions. Mooney’s main sin is that he refuses to accept the various forms of help given to him because he knows better, and he ultimately pays for it. This will certainly not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I found this to be a watch that rewarded my patience and gave me one of my favorite experiences of the year.

One Battle after Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

One Battle after Another is a bit of a complicated case for me. On one hand, I think this is technically a contender for best of the year. If it wasn’t for what has been a very strong end to the year for me, this would still be very high on my list. This film is one that excels in many different areas, but falls a bit short for me in others. While I initially came out very high on the film and still would recommend it, there has been a lot of criticism of the invocation of revolutionary politics in a way that many have called inauthentic. While to some extent I agree with this criticism, this and many other very well thought-out pieces of critique did slightly shift my perspective overall. I think this is a film that is well-intentioned and outwardly comes off as progressive. I can’t help but think about some of the choices made throughout this film and how they sit within the context of the film. There has been a lot of talk about this film and people who are much more qualified than I, who have spoken at length about it, so I will keep my negative thoughts somewhat brief and will be happy to share those sources with anyone interested. I think while this film ultimately wants to be a father-daughter film, the adaptation of Vineland into the 21st century and key choices with main characters create a film that wants to be relevant and empowering, but also will mostly use this in the service of this central rescue and relationship. This, on its own, is not necessarily a problem, but when the film covers such divisive topics without truly focusing on and exploring them, it can lead to a lot of questions around the intentions of these inclusions. With all that being said, this film probably contains my favorite ensemble cast of the year. Benecio Del Toro, Teyana Taylor & Chase Infiniti specifically really elevate the film, with the three’s performances adding a lot of gravity any time they were present. Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn are both great in highly animated but entertaining roles as the protagonist and antagonist, but I do find their characters to be a bit more stagnant, given their main roles and respective talents. Paul Thomas Anderson is doing some of his best work in this film, and while this is a strong addition to his back catalog that will undoubtedly win him plenty of awards, I do find myself slightly disappointed as time has passed. 

Bugonia, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

Yorgos Lanthimos is one of my favorite contemporary filmmakers at the moment, but like others here, he is not for everyone. Lanthimos’s often twisted realities illuminate some very interesting parts of humanity and societal expectations, with films like The Lobster and Poor Things being very interesting conceptually on top of being very well made. He’s back with Emma Stone for Bugonia, and I left this one slightly underwhelmed, though thoroughly entertained. I felt myself ready for another classic Lanthimos flick, and while it has its moments, I think there was something lost in adaptation here. While translating this film to a modern age certainly works on a very surface level, I find a lot of the possible depth to be slightly deflated with this approach. With that being said, both Plemmons and Stone are incredible here, and there is a lot to like. The black and white imagery interspersed here is some of my favorite of the year, and Robbie Ryan’s visuals are striking and unique. I really love Plemmons’s work, so it was awesome to see him successfully carry a film on his shoulders. I also really loved the final twist of this film and the closing sequences. While I wish there was more to sit with here, I think the absurdity of the original film (2003’s Save the Green Planet) fits very well with Lanthimos’s sensibilities as a filmmaker. While this won’t be the film I recommend to those who are experiencing his work for the first time, it’s an undeniably great film to close out his recent incredible run and take some much-needed time to rest. 

Eephus, directed by Carson Lund

Eephus is one of my favorite films in a really long time and could end up really high on this list over time. Easily the smallest film on this list in terms of production, Eephus is a deceptively effective film. This is a film that covers a recreational baseball league’s last game after years of consistent play, which may initially seem like a slight premise. However, this film utilizes this to explore a wide variety of interesting and well-thought-out characters throughout the game. The title of the film refers to a pitch that is explained to perfection within the film, but the title functions in a more literal sense as well. This film is purposefully slow and a bit mundane in all the ways baseball can be, and it connects because it feels authentic to the spirit of the game. As I discussed with the Mastermind earlier, allowing the audience to linger with these characters as they experience boredom or making plans that won’t come to fruition helps me connect. There’s a peace and quiet that is allowed to exist at times here, and I think it really enhances the overall experience. Baseball is something I think can be deeply fascinating when properly understood, and this film gets that. There’s a reverence in the casting, the quotes used to kick off multiple sequences, and the way people act that is clearly authentic to real-life experience. As the sun sets on this game, there’s a real bittersweet sense of melancholy and appreciation, and it's something that deeply resonates with me. 

Avatar: Fire and Ash, directed by James Cameron

Avatar: Fire and Ash is the latest installment of the science fiction mammoth, and I came away relatively satisfied. This is a bit of an odd feeling to contend with, given my recent reevaluation and love for Avatar: Way of Water and hope for this film. This time around, I feel like Cameron was more focused on completing this chapter of the Sully story and less focused on pushing the boundaries that he’s always been known to do. There are a ton of new things in this film, and the visuals are an incredible upgrade even to Way of Water, but I can’t shake the feeling that a lot of this film occupies a similar space. Although in a lot of cases, I think this symmetry works for me as set-ups and pay-offs to arcs established in Way of Water. On a positive note, Varang, played by Oona Chaplin, was incredible in this film and really added to Quaritch’s character in a way that makes me very excited to see the two of them together again. Neytiri is also given a lot more to do within this film, and I really loved seeing her and Jake’s inner turmoil and grief. Spider is very present in this film as well, and while I don’t love a lot of the writing his character gets, I do really appreciate how complex his character is in his relationship to the other main characters. I will again applaud the decision to make the kids the main characters because Lo’ak and Kiri are two of the most interesting in the series. Lo’ak specifically gets some real moments of substance in this film and is the heart of the film for me. All in all, I really loved this film, though I hope that if 4 and 5 get made, they keep that same boundary-pushing magic they pulled out for 2!