You wouldn’t necessarily know it from box office performance the past few months, but 2025 has been a great year for movies. With Wicked: For Good just released and Avatar: Fire and Ash on its way, it looks like 2025 is going to end on a good note, too.
From original stories from some of the best filmmakers of our time to exciting debuts and some welcome superhero movie successes, 2025 showed that there are still plenty of reasons to get up off your couch and head to the theater. And good news: if you missed these on the big screen (or want to watch them again), you can catch them streaming at home.
Here’s our list of the 10 best movies of 2025, featuring big screen blockbusters alongside indie breakouts.
10.Lurker
Director: Alex Russell
Writer: Alex Russell
Making social media and text messages cinematic is difficult. Lurker, the first feature from Complex alum Alex Russell, elegantly weaves screens and digital culture into a story of virality, fame, and the music industry. Following a directionless, very online young man (the excellent Theodore Pellerin) who ingratiates himself into a rising star's inner circle, it's as funny as it is uncomfortable. Though familiar in premise, Russell captures the secret rites of a rapper's entourage with rare authenticity — making this one of the year's most memorable debuts. -Ross Scarano
9.Thunderbolts*
Director: Jake Schreier
Writers: Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo
After a slump in the MCU (Deadpool movies notwithstanding), Thunderbolts* is a return to form. Like DC's Suicide Squad, it follows a ragtag group of antiheroes on a dangerous mission. They're not gods or heroes — just relatable characters, which makes them compelling.
Led by Florence Pugh, the film succeeds through its mix of action, humor, and relatability. It's one of the year's most entertaining blockbusters. -Brent Ervin-Eickhoff
8.F1: The Movie
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Writers: Joseph Kosinski and Ehren Kruger
Anticipation was high for F1: The Movie, and it delivered. Director Joseph Kominski (Top Gun: Maverick) and star Brad Pitt, playing a washed-up racer elevate a familiar redemption story set in the world of the buzziest international sport.
The racing segments are thrilling, using dynamic camera work and editing to put you behind the wheel. It's a roaring good popcorn movie and a big success for AppleTV. -Brent Ervin-Eickhoff
7.Superman
Director: James Gunn
Writer: James Gunn
DC's Superman reboot was even more impressive than Thunderbolts. James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad) skips the origin story and jumps straight into the action.
David Corenswet stars as Superman opposite Nicholas Hoult's unhinged Lex Luthor, who uses the media to turn the public against the hero. Superman questions his place in a skeptical world, and Krypto, his dog, adds Gunn’s usual levity. It's a breath of fresh air for the franchise and one of the year's most fun action movies.
If DC continues this direction, expect future entries on year-end best-of lists. Supergirl, anyone? -Brent Ervin-Eickhoff
6.One of Them Days
R-rated comedies have struggled in recent years, but One of Them Days kicked off 2025 strong. Keke Palmer and SZA star as best friends racing against the clock to make rent and avoid eviction.
With comic DNA from cult classics like Friday, the film takes the buddy movie in a fun new direction. Its wacky sense of heart elevates the simple setup, making it one of the year's funniest —and one you'll still be laughing at ten years from now. -Brent Ervin-Eickhoff
5.Marty Supreme
Director: Josh Safdie
Writer: Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
Orange blimps. The track jacket. That Zoom call. Marty Supreme carried impossible expectations, yet Josh Safdie's ping-pong dramedy delivered. Think Uncut Gems with lower stakes.. Timothée Chalamet's portrayal of the scummy-yet-lovable table-tennis superstar is impeccable, with witty dialogue that lands. The supporting cast shines: Gwyneth Paltrow as Kay Stone, Tyler, the Creator as Wally, and Kevin O'Leary as Milton Rockwell all turning in stellar performances.
While Mauser's duels with Koto Endo captivate like a Game 7, Marty Supreme transcends the table. It's about Mauser's pursuit of acceptance, fame, and victory. Chalamet articulates that chase perfectly—he'll be vying for his first Best Actor Oscar soon. -Mike DeStefano
4.KPop Demon Hunters
Director: Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans
Writers: Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang, and Chris Appelhans
This animated phenomenon became one of Netflix's biggest movies ever, resulting in a theatrical release (for awards contention) and sing-along editions. A group of musical superstars moonlight as demon hunters and face their biggest threat: a demonic boy band.
KPop Demon Hunters might seem gimmicky on paper, but in execution it's not. Like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse or TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, it pairs stylish animation with clever writing to create a truly fun experience. Oh, and as you might have heard, the songs are pretty good too. -Brent Ervin-Eickhoff
3.Weapons
Director: Zach Cregger
Writer: Zach Cregger
Zach Cregger’s follow-up to his horror hit Barbarian, Weapons tells the interconnected stories of a school teacher, a father, a drug dealer, a police officer, and the sole boy remaining after all of his classmates mysteriously, ominously disappear. It’s an eerie premise, and one that offers plenty of tension and excitement as you start to piece together the mystery with each change in focus to a new character.
Featuring some great jump scares as well as some truly unsettling slow burns, Weapons is among the pantheon of horror movies like The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and Hereditary that became an immediate classic. The way everyone who’s possessed runs, arms-outstretched? Truly terrifying. -Brent Ervin-Eickhoff
2.One Battle After Another
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson's impressively loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland, One Battle After Another boldly blends action, comedy, and drama, capturing the absurdity of our political moment without feeling too on the nose. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a washed-up revolutionary who has to rescue his daughter from a right-wing military nut played by Sean Penn, navigating tense car chases and hilariously off-putting meetings of a white-supremacist secret society called the Christmas Adventurers Club.
Anderson expertly juggles the narrative threads. Chase Infiniti delivers a breakout performance, holding her own against DiCaprio and Penn, while Leo offers his best physical comedy since The Wolf of Wall Street. It's one of the year's most exciting, timely, and best films. -Brent Ervin-Eickhoff
1.Sinners
Director: Ryan Coogler
Writer: Ryan Coogler
Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Creed) delivers his first entirely original standout with Sinners. Set in the 1930s Mississippi Delta, the story stars Michael B. Jordan playing twin brothers Smoke and Stack, whose juke joint venture becomes the site of bloody conflict between partygoers and some musically inclined undead monsters..
Though it's a vampire story at its core, Sinners explores questions of cultural purity and appropriation through exciting genre-blending and fantastic musical performances. Bursting with visual style, action, and excellent performances from Delroy Lindo and Hailee Steinfeld, it gets better on repeat viewings. It's one of the most inventive movies in years — an easy choice for best film of the year. -Brent Ervin-Eickhoff