The 10 Best Movies of 2025: The Must-Watch Films of the Year
Movies shape-shift depending on where we are in life—the world outside, the mood we’re in, or even the state of our kitchen as we let a film run in the background while cooking. In the streaming era, it’s easier than ever to treat cinema as disposable, just another distraction squeezed between chores. But every year brings a handful of films that snap us out of that passive mode. Movies that make us stop, watch, and actually feel something.
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2025 delivered exactly those moments. For those asking What are the top 10 must-watch movies of 2025?, here are the ten films that stood out—stories that delighted, provoked, surprised, and lingered, proving the vitality of cinema.
1. Nouvelle Vague
Richard Linklater’s second entry on this list is a pure love letter to cinema. Set in 1960 Paris, it follows the young Jean-Luc Godard (played with magnetic energy by newcomer Guillaume Marbeck) as he roams the streets with American star Jean Seberg (a wonderful Zoey Deutch) and a rebellious French boxer (Aubry Dullin) to shoot Breathless guerrilla-style. Nouvelle Vague captures the thrill of filmmaking as rebellion, art as survival, and beauty as a reason to keep going. It’s the boldest, most joyous tribute to the New Wave in decades, and a clear contender for the top rated movies 2025.
2. An Officer and a Spy
Roman Polanski remains a deeply controversial figure—but he remains a master craftsman as well. His long-delayed dramatization of the Dreyfus Affair finally reached U.S. theaters in 2025, and the result is exceptional. Jean Dujardin stars as Officer Picquart, the intelligence official who risks everything to expose the wrongful conviction of Jewish captain Alfred Dreyfus (Louis Garrel). The film is a gripping reminder of how fragile justice can be—and how necessary it is to question authority. This is essential viewing if you are deciding Which 2025 films are worth watching? for their historical and dramatic weight.
3. Blue Moon
Richard Linklater delivers not one but two standout films this year. In Blue Moon, Ethan Hawke gives a career-best performance as lyricist Lorenz Hart, whose longtime collaboration with Richard Rodgers (played by Andrew Scott) is unraveling on the very night Oklahoma! becomes a sensation. Set over a single evening, the film captures Hart’s wit, ego, insecurity, and heartbreak with Linklater’s signature subtlety. It’s a stylish, melancholy portrait of a musical genius watching his world shift without him, confirming its place among the best Hollywood movies 2025.
4. Sentimental Value
Joachim Trier returns with a warm yet piercing look at family, grief, and inheritance. Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas play sisters navigating the fallout of their mother’s death and their complicated relationship with their estranged filmmaker father, played with weary charisma by Stellan Skarsgård. Houses may hold memories, but they don’t hold families together. Trier offers a quiet, aching meditation on what truly does. The film’s deep emotional resonance makes it one of the absolute must-watch movies 2025.
5. Peter Hujar’s Day
Ira Sachs’ intimate, luminous film is based on a real 1974 interview in which writer Linda Rosenkrantz asked photographer Peter Hujar to recount everything he did the day before—every mundane detail. Rebecca Hall brings quiet intelligence to Rosenkrantz, while Ben Whishaw plays Hujar as a charming, melancholy trickster, navigating the strange beauty of an artist’s life. Hujar died in 1987, long before his work was widely celebrated. Sachs’ film becomes both an ode to New York and a reminder that so much great art is born in the margins.
6. Roofman
Derek Cianfrance turns a stranger-than-fiction true story into a tender, bittersweet romantic comedy. Channing Tatum delivers one of his finest performances as Jeffrey Manchester, a former robber and prison escapee who reinvents himself, finding love and a new sense of belonging with Kirsten Dunst’s quietly radiant character. Roofman becomes an unexpected reflection on modern masculinity—on how the simple desire to support a family has become, for many, heartbreakingly elusive.
7. Sinners
Michael B. Jordan takes on dual roles as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, returning to the Mississippi Delta after World War I with dreams of opening a lively juke joint. But on opening night, a trio of sinister white musicians arrive—musicians who are literally bloodsuckers. Ryan Coogler blends supernatural horror with historical drama and a deep love of music. The film is gory, seductive, and electric—yet tinged with wistful longing for a kind of freedom that remains painfully out of reach. With its strong box office performance ($367.8 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo), Sinners stands out among the highest grossing movies 2025 for an original, non-franchise property.
8. The Mastermind
Kelly Reichardt steps into “almost-comedy” territory with this quiet, 1970s-set character study. Josh O’Connor plays J.B., a privileged art-school dropout who hatches a half-baked plan to steal four valuable paintings. He insists to his wife (Alana Haim) that he’s doing it “mostly” for their family—an excuse equal parts absurd and heartbreaking. O’Connor’s gentle, slippery performance grounds the film. You’ll never quite approve of J.B., but you’ll understand him. This type of nuanced character study is precisely why people are asking Which 2025 movies are getting the highest ratings? from critics.
9. Kill the Jockey
Luis Ortega’s surreal, stylish neo-noir channels both Buñuel and early Almodóvar. Nahuel Pérez Biscayart plays Remo, a perpetually drunk jockey who suffers a terrible accident involving his mob boss’ prized racehorse. Waking up with amnesia, he slips into a new identity—Dolores—complete with fur coat and head bandage. The result is a dreamlike, erotic, often confounding puzzle of a film—one filled with bold choices, intoxicating visuals, and an adventurous spirit. Despite being a neo-noir, its kinetic style and high-stakes premise meant it was widely debated among the best action movies 2025.
10. One of Them Days
Dead broke? You’re not alone. Keke Palmer and SZA shine in one of the year’s funniest, liveliest comedies. They play two broke twenty-somethings in Los Angeles racing against the clock to gather $1,500 before their landlord kicks them out. Their misadventures include selling blood (disaster) and raiding a charity bin for neon leisurewear. Director Lawrence Lamont and writer Syreeta Singleton craft a film that turns struggle into joy. One of Them Days is the kind of comedy that leaves you lighter than it found you—something we could all use more of.
The Final Word on the 10 Best Movies of 2025
The films of 2025 proved that cinematic artistry, whether found in a surrealist Argentine noir or a deeply moving biographical portrait, continues to thrive. These ten movies were the ones that truly broke through the noise, leaving a lasting impact and reaffirming the collective magic of going to the movies.