Films of my life – The Best Films of 2025

The nominated films for 2024 were mostly released in early 2025. Amongst them, there were 3 movies that were not your traditional Oscar fare but received multiple nominations, and are amongst my 25 highest rated movies for 2025; here is a link to the full list .

The three films were Nickel Boys – a harrowing tale of 2 young black boys in a correction institute in the 1950s Florida.

Then there was Emilia Perez which is a brilliant film, full of twists and surprises. Unfortunately, it’s reputation is tarnished because of comments made by its Trans-lead.

Finally there is the best of the three; Anora – a sort of gritty version of Pretty Woman, with a breakout performance from Mikey Madison. I loved it and it’s one of my favourite films of the year. you can read my review here

After the spring Oscar blitz, 2025 was an excellent year for horror movies, with Weapons the most original of the batch, and 28 Years Later the most welcome sequel. Then there was Sinners – a new take on the vampire story, and Guillermo Del Torro’s Frankenstein , possibly the best adaptation of the Mary Shelley classic.

I would say that Frankenstein is my favourite film of the year – visually sumptuous, with real pathos in the story.

Beyond these, here are a few more highlights;

• If Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is truly the last movie of this franchise, then it went out on a spectacular high. The news that James Bond is to return is great news, but this franchise has raised the bar
• There were 2 great biopics this year; A Complete Unknown about Bob Dylan and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere. Both were excellent, both focused on specific times in the careers’s of their subjects and both featured strong performances from their leads.
• As we head to 2026, one film seems to be the favourite for awards; One Battle After Another starring Leonardo Di Caprio. It’s another winner from Paul Thomas Anderson. Very funny and very much a film for our times.