We conclude our series of year end reviews of 2025 in cinema with our 10 favourite films of the year – let us know if you agree in the comments!

To see what we ranked between 20 and 11, and for all of our other year end reviews, you can find them HERE – click on the title links for the individual film reviews.

Thanks for reading and we’ll be back with more reviews in 2026!

20. A Complete Unknown
19. Weapons
18. September 5
17. Companion
16. Black Bag
15. A Real Pain
14. Flow (Straume)
13. Sinners
12. The Ballad of Wallis Island
11. Young Mothers (Jeunes mères)

10. The Brutalist

Brady Corbet’s epic drama follows a Hungarian architect and Holocaust survivor trying to carve out a life in post-war America, and it’s a film that fully earns its intimidating runtime. Adrien Brody delivers a towering performance, supported superbly by Felicity Jones and a career-best Guy Pearce. From its striking opening to its intoxicating exploration of ambition, trauma and the American Dream, almost every element from the performances to the cinematography and Daniel Blumberg’s score hits the mark. A demanding but deeply impressive piece of filmmaking that lives up to the hype.

Where to watch: The Brutalist

9. Train Dreams

Clint Bentley follows up ‘Sing Sing‘ with a poetic, deeply moving portrait of a solitary life in early 20th-century America, led by a superb Joel Edgerton as a man shaped by fleeting love, devastating loss and a lingering sense of guilt, carrying the film with quiet, lived-in intensity. The film’s use of landscape, gentle pacing and Bryce Dessner’s score create an elegiac, contemplative mood throughout. Tragic but strangely comforting, it’s a beautiful piece of filmmaking that lingers long after it ends.

Where to watch: Train Dreams

8. A House of Dynamite

Kathryn Bigelow delivers a terrifyingly plausible political thriller imagining the U.S. response to an incoming nuclear strike from an unknown enemy. Told in three interlocking segments, the film focuses on process, pressure and impossible decision-making as events spiral toward catastrophe. It’s gripping throughout, even if the opening stretch is the strongest. Less about spectacle than dread, it’s a nerve-shredding film that lingers for the questions it leaves behind.

Where to watch: A House of Dynamite

7. The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Made in secret under threat of imprisonment, Mohammad Rasoulof’s film is a gripping and unflinching look at life in modern Iran under authoritarian rule. Set within one family during the 2022–23 protests, it smartly uses paranoia and domestic conflict to reflect a society built on fear and suspicion. Strong performances and sharp writing anchor the drama, even if the final act leans a little too hard into thriller territory. Urgent, informative and often powerful, it’s a very good film that shines a light on oppression happening right now.

Where to watch: The Seed of the Sacred Fig

6. Better Man

Technically a 2024 release, but one I didn’t catch until this year, and I’m glad I did. This inventive Robbie Williams biopic casts its star as a CGI monkey – a bonkers idea that somehow works – and delivers a candid, surprisingly open account of his career, insecurities and self-destructive tendencies. The musical numbers are well judged and used sparingly, letting the story breathe rather than overwhelming it. Far better than the trailer suggests, it’s one of my favourite music biopics of recent times.

Where to watch: Better Man

5. The Lost Bus

Paul Greengrass brings his trademark intensity to this gripping survival drama set during California’s devastating 2018 Camp Fire. Focusing on a school bus driver tasked with getting a group of children to safety, the film builds tension expertly before delivering a relentless, edge-of-your-seat second half. Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera provide a strong emotional anchor amid the chaos, and the filmmaking feels terrifyingly urgent and realistic throughout. A superb disaster movie that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

Where to watch: The Lost Bus

4. Islands

A hypnotic slow-burn mystery set on sun-drenched Fuerteventura, with Sam Riley outstanding as a washed-up ex-tennis pro drifting through life on the island’s fringes. When he inserts himself into the lives of a visiting British family, the film slides into a tense, ‘Talented Mr. Ripley‘-esque character study built on suggestion rather than twists. Riley and Stacy Martin share terrific, unsettling chemistry, and the island itself becomes a character, mirroring the unease beneath the surface. A simmering summer noir that rewards patience and lingers long after it ends.

Where to watch: Islands

3. One Battle After Another

Paul Thomas Anderson delivers his best film in years with this bold, thrilling story of left-wing revolutionaries, paranoia and unfinished business. Leonardo DiCaprio is perfectly cast as a burned-out radical dragged back into conflict, supported by a chilling Sean Penn and a terrific ensemble. The craftsmanship is impeccable, from Jonny Greenwood’s electrifying score to the dazzling set pieces, which enhance rather than overwhelm the characters. Funny, intense and politically resonant, it’s PTA at the very top of his game and one of the year’s standout films.

Where to watch: One Battle After Another

2. I Swear

A deeply moving and often very funny biopic about John Davidson, a Scottish man with Tourette’s syndrome whose life experiences lead him to become a powerful campaigner for greater understanding of the condition. Robert Aramayo is outstanding in the lead, capturing both the humour and the daily hardship of living with Tourette’s without ever exaggerating or playing it for easy laughs, while strong supporting turns from Maxine Peake, Peter Mullan and Shirley Henderson give the film real emotional grounding. It’s an unashamedly life-affirming film that makes you laugh, smile and wince in equal measure, telling an important story with warmth, honesty and real feeling.

Where to watch: I Swear

1. I’m Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui)

Walter Salles delivers a profoundly moving Brazilian drama about one family’s search for truth after the forced disappearance of a husband and father during the 1970s military dictatorship. Fernanda Torres is extraordinary as Eunice Paiva, giving a restrained, devastating performance that captures the quiet endurance of a woman holding herself together for her children while living with unbearable uncertainty. By telling a brutal political history through an intimate family lens, the film finds immense emotional power without ever resorting to melodrama. Deeply humane, quietly shattering and unforgettable, it’s my best film I saw in 2025.

Where to watch: I’m Still Here

We’ll be back in 2026 with more reviews of the latest releases and more podcasts. Thanks for reading as always!