TOP 10 BESTEST FILMS OF 2025
a review by Evan Landon
Before we get to the list, let's remind ourselves of a few things:
This is just my personal list, so take from that what you will. Or just make your own. Fuck it.
There were a lot of movies that came out last year, so no, I did not see every single one.
If I did a review on it already this year, it will not appear on any lists I make because I already did it. If you think I am missing something, it is most likely somewhere in there.
Most lists have a lot of major studio films on their lists, but they get enough promotion or enough shit from everyone else that they don't need mine. Like I just said, it has already been done.
Thusly, as I give you my list of my Top 10 movies every year, here is my TOP 10 BESTEST FILMS OF 2025. Most of these are considered horror, but that should not stop you from checking these out, but I say that every year. I have wasted enough time already, so let's get right into it:
10) TOGETHER – For his feature full-length debut, writer/director Michael Shanks tasked real-life married couple (Alison Brie and David Franco) with presenting a fable of intimacy, sacrifice, and trust that seems a little overreaching at times. At other times, the story is refreshing with its take on how one can lose themselves and who they are bending over backwards for someone else. Through impossible physics and good ole body horror, the tale never takes itself too seriously and that is its greatest quality, in my opinion. I never really enjoy movies where someone has a sex scene with someone they are not married to or with, so this crossed off that box right off the bat. Is that a kink? I don't care. Alison Brie is hot and I can pretend I'm James Franco for ninety-minutes.
3.5 Out Of 5
9) NOVOCAINE – I swear, I thought Jack Quaid was losing his mind when he was a guest on RedLetterMedia's Best Of The Worst, but it turns out he has a awkwardly stellar plan on how he goes about choosing his projects. From the Scream franchise to The Boys, Quaid has definitely carved his own path apart from his celebrity parents. This one finds him in his same squirrelly demeanor as a bank manager who cannot feel any pain because of his congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (yeah, had to look that up). After a bank heist that resulted in his co-worker to whom he has feelings for, he is launched into a series of episodes of incredible violence up until the satisfying ending. The story is so batshit insane that you rarely think about it when the action scenes occur, to which there are many.
3.5 Out Of 5
8) CAUGHT STEALING – I said that if this movie even played a snippet of that Jane's Addiction song, I would shit all over this movie. Thank god they didn't and made the soundtrack with one of my favorite bands ever, Idles, which probably moved it up a couple of spots just with that. Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky has had a very polarizing career with films like Requiem Of A Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan, and my personal favorite, The Whale. Austin Butler continues to show why he is a superb leading actor as a baseball player turned bartender who falls into an underworld drug empire with characters bonkers enough to make a Guy Ritchie movie jealous. This one is definitely a great sleeper to check out if you haven't. Very re-watchable, and that is incredibly important when I make these lists.
3.5 Out Of 5
7) BRING HER BACK – After their surprised international hit, Talk To Me, the Philippou brothers have returned for their second outing that blows Harry Potter vs. Star Wars away. It is difficult to do that when such expectations are placed on such high levels, but these guys did it, and they did it well. I think it takes a real eye for such stories to become real and sometimes what comes out ain't so great. Sometimes, it comes out horrific and to keep that sort of thought close to the chest is never a bad idea. The plot, centered around a brother and sister whose parents have passed, are picked to live with a woman who has lost her daughter. There is a creepy kid who likes to chew on knives that hangs out there too, so there's that. I love what these guys are doing and look forward to whatevs project they got next.
3.5 Out Of 5
6) THE MONKEY – With two entries this year, Osgood Perkins has really come out of the gates steaming hot as a diverse director of horror, taking his talents to create drastically different films in the genre. I can say for certain that none of his three movies in the past three years are anything alike and I can say that for his other three too. This is another one that benefited from not taking itself too seriously. James Wan was so interested that he became the main producer, then Theo James got involved to play twins in a movie that is almost incomprehensible and it just became something bigger than anyone thought it could be. The kills are awesome too, don't forget that. Sure, it is based off of a Stephen King story, and I think I saw an MST3K called Merlin's Shop Of Mystical Wonders, but when is the last time making a Stephen King movie worked out for anyone? worked out for anyone? Give me The Long Walk and I will raise you a remake of Running Man. This horror flick is made for popcorn and is way better than I, or anyone I know, was expecting.
3.5 Out Of 5
5) BUGONIA – Already on the popular movie radar with his nomination in 2023 for Poor Things, which did make my list of Top 10 Bestest of 2023, Yorgos Lanthimos outdoes himself, yet again. The Greek director, who got his beginnings in experimental theater, has made some quiet favorites of mine (Killing Of A Sacred Deer, The Lobster) and has definitely outdone himself with this one. Emma Stone continues to make stellar choices when it comes to her filmography, with whom Lanthimos has collaborated with multiple times. However, it is Jesse Plemons that truly steals the show and deserves an award for this portrayal of a man betrayed by his own conspiracies who takes to kidnapping the female executive of the pharmaceutical CEO he works for so she can save the planet. The whole movie, from the acting to the cinematography to the script itself is off the charts. I cannot wait for what he comes out with next.
4 Out Of 5
4) ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER – This one snuck in really high on my list, but that is because I literally just saw it on New Years Eve. That being said, there are a few titles I missed like Anemone and Marty Supreme, but we will leave those for another time. Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson has outdone himself yet again, this time with Leonardo DiCaprio pulling off his greatest Jeff Bridges impression and Sean Penn with his hyper-sexualized pervert of a general tasked with taking out a group of radical left wing terrorists after freeing multiple groups of detained immigrants set for deportation. That may seem a little too heavy of a topic for a lot of people during these times, but it also serves as a time capsule of the events currently going on in the political world. What works about this film is how it relates family to revolutionary action and why it is both dangerous and complicit in both realms. I would have this much higher on my list if it were not for the 2 ½ hour run time.
4 Out Of 5
3) THE UGLY STEPSISTER – While I am not at all surprised this one did not make any other lists, that is merely because not many have heard of it. Norwegian filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt decided to make her feature film debut as the story of Cinderella's stepsister adapting her body in the most bizarre ways to be attractive, noting the Brothers Grimm's version, Aschenputtel, with the stepsister cutting off her toes to fit the glass slipper as her inspiration. What ensues is the untold story of how obsessive one can be to change their outward appearance, given the horrific ways one would go about it in the middle ages. Many people could take a look at this and realize very quickly how aesthetics have always been a demon of desire, wandering and meaningless, only to beckon the call of the fragile. I think this is one of the most overlooked movies of 2025 and even if your are not a fan of body horror, this story is ripe enough with amazing talent from an unknown filmmaker. When I first saw it, I knew it was going to be on this list.
4.5 Out Of 5
2) FRANKENSTEIN – Guillermo Del Toro has done it again. I had no doubt that his interpretation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein would be anything short of incredible, given his films in the Hellboy series, Pan's Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, and his Academy Award-winning The Shape Of Water (or, as I call it, 'the merman fuck film'), but I consistently asked myself, “Why make another Frankenstein film? This story has been told 100 thousand different ways already. What's the point?” After resigning to already dismiss the movie after being dumped to Netflix, I went ahead and watched it on many friends opinions and was perplexed as to how dismissive I had been to one of the greatest filmmakers of our time. Jason Isaac continues to shine on camera, despite his odd choices of roles. Jacob Elordi is unrecognizable as “The Creature” which adds the second part of the story. Mia Goth is always a breath of fresh air, as I do not believe I have seen her in something that I hated, and I have seen her in a lot! Just like with One Battle After Another, the 2 ½ hour runtime is the only thing I hold against it. This interpretation of Frankenstein might just be my favorite. . Thus far. There will be more.
4.5 Out Of 5
1) WEAPONS – I think I purposefully decided not to review this movie earlier on in the year. Fuck it, this one has had me baffled, starstruck, and doubled-over. When Zach Creggar made this, he was following-up to his magnificent first movie, Barbarian, and the more amazing shit I have to say about that one, the better. Hearing how Creggar dedicated this, in some way, towards his fallen friend from TheWhitest Kids You Know is some of the most heart-wrenching shit I could think of. To use such pain to move beyond, in a movie that would very easily be misinterpreted as incoherent, is more than any sort of praise I can muster. There is a huge message about alcohol and domestic abuse that is very prevalent, yet never makes itself truly known, and broken up into multiple stories does give it that pulp-like nostalgia that is so easy to follow. Josh Brolin is amazing in everything he does, Julia Garner keeps the same hairstyle and high-waisted jeans she did in The Wolfman, Alden Ehrenreich and Austin Abrams do an amazing job in their subplot, but Cary Christopher steals the show as Alex, the kid who takes down the evil Aunt Gladys. I am not certain how this or any others I picked for this list are going to age, but that is not for me to decide. This is my gem of this year.
4.5 Out Of 5