2025's 20 Must-See Movies: From Monster Mayhem to Mind-Bending Mysteries

2025 went hard. Big shiny blockbusters, scrappy little dramas, and a handful of movies that felt like someone spiked the punch with pure imagination. Streaming held its own against theatrical again too — Netflix, in particular, backed the year’s sharpest doc, a lush new spin on a literary cornerstone, and a franchise sequel that actually earns its place at the table. Here’s my no-filler rundown of the 20 films that stuck the landing — the ones I’m still thinking about, rewatching, or recommending to anyone who even hints they need something good tonight.

The 20 best movies of 2025

1. Sinners (Dir. Ryan Coogler) — Michael B. Jordan pulls double duty in Coogler’s blues-soaked vampire saga set in 1930s Mississippi, following twin brothers opening a juke joint and colliding with rivals, racism, old flames, and the undead. It’s that rare bullseye: popcorn thrills married to top-shelf storytelling that wins over both crowds and critics.

2. One Battle After Another (Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson) — Leonardo DiCaprio turns delightfully hapless as a dad drawn into shadowy political nonsense to save his daughter. PTA pivots into bright, biting satire with an ensemble firing on all cylinders. It’s funnier and friskier than you’re expecting from him — in the best way.

3. No Other Choice (Dir. Park Chan-wook) — A savage, darkly funny portrait of hustle pushed past the brink: Lee Byung-hun grounds a wildly violent, sprawling satire about a man literally eliminating his competition just to land a job. Bleak, razor-sharp, and weirdly tender when it counts.

4. The Perfect Neighbor (Dir. Geeta Gandbhir) — A devastating true-crime documentary told entirely through body-cam and security footage from Ocala, Florida. It plays like a found-footage thriller in real time — except it’s real, and that makes it hit twice as hard.

5. Marty Supreme (Dir. Josh Safdie) — The Safdie Brothers split the difference this year; Benny did The Smashing Machine, and Josh came out swinging with this 1950s table-tennis comedy-thriller starring Timothee Chalamet as a man chasing greatness at any cost. It crackles with that Uncut Gems anxiety — but funnier, looser, and lethal.

6. Final Destination Bloodlines (Dirs. Adam B Stein, Zach Lipovsky) — This franchise has always been proudly gnarly and dumb. This one still is — but smarter, too. A fresh spin on the mythology proves there’s gas left in the tank, and the Rube Goldberg demises are as inventively awful as ever.

7. Blue Moon (Dir. Richard Linklater) — Ethan Hawke gives a career-best turn as lyricist Lorenz Hart, spiraling through jealousy and self-loathing across a single night — the opening of Oklahoma! One location, a few hours, and it never blinks. Hawke disappears into Hart (shorter, less dashing, infinitely more wounded), and it stings.

8. Jay Kelly (Dir. Noah Baumbach) — George Clooney plays an aging movie star who’s over it, and Baumbach, in his most straightforward mode, uses that Clooney charm to tell a small, piercing story about regret and the life that slips past while you’re busy being someone else.

9. 28 Years Later (Dir. Danny Boyle) — Boyle and Alex Garland return to the virus-ravaged world they helped redefine, adding an eerie undead hierarchy to the mix. Under the chaos is a surprisingly tender story about a boy trying to save his ailing mom. Brutal, propulsive, and unexpectedly sweet.

10. Superman (Dir. James Gunn) — I had faith in Gunn to reset DC, and he actually makes the cape feel new again. David Corenswet nails both Clark Kent and the big blue Boy Scout, Rachel Brosnahan is a terrific Lois Lane, and the whole movie crackles like a comic panel come to life.

11. It Was Just an Accident (Dir. Jafar Panahi) — Shot without Iranian government approval (that’s not nothing), Panahi’s taut drama follows former political prisoners who think they’ve found one of their torturers. Do they take revenge — and are they even sure it’s him? Brave, thorny, and unshakable.

12. Weapons (Dir. Zach Cregger) — From the guy who made Barbarian: a multi-perspective horror-thriller with an A-list ensemble and an ending that detonates. Cregger can twist a premise until it screams, and he does it again here.

13. Train Dreams (Dir. Clint Bentley) — Joel Edgerton anchors this gorgeous adaptation of the novella: a simple, crushing tale about grief and a world speeding past a man who can’t keep up. It’s all there — painterly cinematography, a score that haunts, and realism that sneaks up and wrecks you.

14. Eternity (Dir. David Freyne) — A romantic comedy staged in the afterlife: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, and Callum Turner form a love triangle that bends space, time, and what-ifs. Teller steals it, toggling between comedic spark and a shrewd remix of his usual leading-man swagger.

15. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Dir. Rian Johnson) — Johnson’s Star Wars swing split the room (I’m pro), but Benoit Blanc remains a crowd magnet. This third case threads faith, doubt, and the supernatural into a mystery that just might be the best of the bunch. Daniel Craig returns with an ensemble so stacked it’s almost rude.

16. Presence (Dir. Steven Soderbergh) — 2025 gave us two ghost-story curveballs: one told from a dog’s POV (Good Boy) and this one, told from the ghost’s. Soderbergh turns a haunted house into a prickly family drama with a lurking mystery. Clever, melancholy, and quietly unnerving.

17. Frankenstein (Dir. Guillermo del Toro) — Mary Shelley’s been adapted a thousand times, but del Toro’s monster-sized heart for outsiders pays off again. Jacob Elordi’s Creature isn’t just a boogeyman; he’s a bruised soul in a thorny father-son story that’s as beautiful as it is bleak.

18. Bugonia (Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos) — Yorgos and Emma Stone reunite for a razor-wire thriller about conspiracy true believers. Two men (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) kidnap a high-powered businesswoman (Stone) convinced she’s an alien; she has to talk her way out before things turn unspeakable. It’s strange, tense, and unmistakably Yorgos.

19. Friendship (Dir. Andrew DeYoung) — Tim Robinson’s cringe-chaos meets Paul Rudd’s affable glow in a dark comedy about trying to make guy friends in your 40s. It pushes awkwardness into a new, deeply funny void and finds something honest in the free fall.

20. F1 (Dir. Joseph Kosinski) — If anyone could make Formula 1 feel like a stadium-sized adrenaline hit, it’s the Top Gun: Maverick team. Kosinski harnesses speed and spectacle; Brad Pitt brings pure movie-star torque. It’s lean, slick, and wildly rewatchable.

If you’re keeping score: streaming didn’t just keep up — it set the pace. The year’s best doc, a sumptuous classic made new, and a franchise sequel people actually love all dropped at home. Meanwhile, theaters got fed with everything from prestige oddities to jet-fueled crowd-pleasers. Not a bad year to be a movie person.

What did I miss? What are you yelling at your screen about right now? Drop your personal top 3 in the comments — I’m always looking for the one I slept on.