Best of the Best: Honoring the Standout Films and Filmmakers of 2025
From unforgettable performances to innovative directing and stunning cinematography, the best films of 2025 delivered excellence across genres and formats. This Best of the Best list honors not only major releases, but also documentaries, animation, first films and international cinema that expanded what storytelling can be on screen.
This yearโs great performances, smart directing and behind-the-lens talent deserve recognition. Documentaries, animation, first films and honorable mention movies should be lauded too. Thatโs why theyโre in this โBest of the Bestโ listing. Let it be your guide to the best in film in 2025.
Honorable mention films: 28 Years Later, Black Bag, The Choral, Dead Manโs Wire, F1, Father Mother Sister Brother, The History of Sound, Is This Thing On?, Nuremberg, One of Them Days, The Smashing Machine, Sorry, Baby, Superman, Warfare, Weapons
Best Directors: Jon M. Chu (Wicked: For Good), Ryan Coogler (Sinners), Akinola Davies (My Fatherโs Shadow), Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme), Chloรฉ Zhao (Hamnet)
Best First Films: East of Wall (Kate Beecroft) My Fatherโs Shadow (Akinola Davies), One of Them Days (Lawrence Lamont), Sorry, Baby (Eva Victor), Warfare (Ray Mendoza)
Best Foreign Language Films: My Fatherโs Shadow, An Officer and a Spy, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value
Best Documentaries: Orwell: 2+2=5, The Perfect Neighbor, Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, Seeds
Best Animation: Arco, K-Pop Demon Hunters, Zootopia 2
Best Actors: Timothรฉe Chalamet (Marty Supreme), แนขแปpแบนฬ Dรฌrรญsรน (My Fatherโs Shadow), Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams) Dwayne Johnson (Smashing Machine), Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)
Best Actresses: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet), Julia Garner (Weapons), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value), SZA (One of Them Days), Tessa Thompson (Hedda)
Best Supporting Actors: A$AP Rocky (Highest 2 Lowest), Delroy Lindo (Sinners) Paul Mescal (Hamnet), Anthony Ramos (House of Dynamite), Leo Woodall (Nuremberg)
Best Supporting Actresses: Emily Blunt (The Smashing Machine), Rebecca Ferguson (House of Dynamite), Amy Madigan (Weapons), Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another), Mari Yamamoto (The Rental Family)
Best Screenplays: The History of Sound (Ben Shattuck), House of Dynamite (Noah Oppenheim), Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie), My Fatherโs Shadow (Akinola Davies and Wale Davies), The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonรงa Filho)
Best Cinematography: Marty Supreme (Darius Khondji), Sinners (Autumn Durald Arkapaw), The Secret Agent (Evgenia Alexandrova), Train Dreams (Adolpho Veloso), Wicked: For Good (Alice Brooks)
Visit Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.ย