Here I am again with the post that practically keeps this website alive. But since I love making lists and have been publishing my favorite movies of the year since I was 14, 2025 couldn’t be any different. And what a year for cinema it was, featuring not only great films but also important ones that reflect the dangers and instabilities of our time. If the 2020s have been marked by Netflix’s growing dominance, the looming threat of AI, and the ongoing struggle between theatrical attendance and streaming numbers, it’s also a decade that proves cinema is strong as ever, with new and foreign voices starting to reshape an industry that was once ruled by big Hollywood studios.
As it always happens, I’m publishing this list without having checked The Testament of Ann Lee and The Plague: two movies I’ve been dying to watch but are secretly kept hidden until Oscar season. I was checking all my Best Movies of the Year lists from Papiro & Mint, and I realized I left out pretty incredible titles because of this, such as Phantom Threat, Ladybird, At Eternity’s Gate, Minari, The Souvenir Part II, Babylon, and even A Complete Unknown. But as for the ones who follow me on Letterboxd or Instagram, I tend to keep these lists pretty much up to date. So here’s a Papiro & Mint list of the best movies of 2025:
20. “After the Hunt” by Luca Guadagnino
Despite being a movie that hasn’t really been as well accepted as Luca Guadagnino’s previous films, we can’t deny that After the Hunt is an incredibly well-directed movie featuring amazing performances by Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield. More than that, Nora Garrett’s screenplay is a smart take on cancel culture, which more than revealing its many complexities, it’s also more interested in showing how its grey areas are used as a pretext to bring out the absolute worst in people. The result is an elegant and sharp dialogue-driven movie that I seemed to have enjoyed more than most people.
19. “Sirât” by Oliver Lax
Unapologetically loud and cool as fuck, Oliver Lax’s third feature was described by the Spanish-French director as a hypnotic trip that homages Stalker, Mad Max, and Easy Rider. It follows the journey of a man and his son searching for his missing daughter through the desert raves of Morocco, while a war breaks out. While it doesn’t really have a story formed by beginning, middle, and end, Sirât is a sensorial film that uses music and mystery to build tension, resulting in an apocalyptic road trip that is more interested in creating an experience than answering the questions raised through the script.
18. “Urchin” by Harris Dickinson
While Harris Dickinson’s feature debut as a director is a very simple movie, Urchin stands out for shining a light on a character that society seems to easily ignore in our daily routine: drug-addicted homeless people. With one of my favorite male performances of the year, Frank Dillane impersonates this young man who, despite trying to go straight, he keeps falling back into the same vicious cycles he can’t break free from. The most interesting part is how Harrison isn’t interested in making this a sensationalist film, nevermind giving us any easy answers, resulting in a beautiful, complex, and Dardenne-brothers-inspired film.
17. “No Other Choice” by Park Chan-wook
Based on a book that has already been adapted to the big screen by Costa-Gavras in 2005, No Other Choice is a beautiful, twisted, and comical movie about an unemployed man who literally decides to kill his competition. More than being a smart satire towards capitalism, Park Chan-wook redesigns the original story into modern Korea with one of the most incredible works of production design and cinematography of the year, transforming No Other Choice a beautiful and funny movie into a modern piece of art.
16. “Hamnet” by Chloé Zhao
It’s been a while since I left a theater after shedding so many tears, but that’s not because Hamnet is a devastating film; quite the opposite. The movie is so beautiful when it comes to dealing with the feelings of grief, parenthood, family bonding, and spiritual connection that it’s impossible not to feel human while watching Maggie O’Farrell’s tale of William Shakespeare’s family. I also love how the movie is more concerned with telling the story of Shakespeare’s wife than the english authour himself, which also creates openings to talk about male grief and one’s necessity of feeling spiritually fulfilled in life through faith and work. It’s a very simple film that talks about very human feelings, resulting in a movie with the most magical moments of the year.
15. “The Quiet Son” by Muriel and Delphine Coulin
Despite being on the official selection of last year’s Venice Film Festival, which gave Vincent Lindon an award for Best Actor, The Quiet Son came out in theaters only this year. Telling the story of a father who needs to deal with his older son, who’s getting into radical right-wing groups through an amazing performance by Benjamin Voisin, The Quiet Son is an incredibly important movie that deals with urgent matters such as the rise of new fascist movements growing in Europe. More than that, it deals with important questions of how the limits between parenting and freedom are at stake when it comes to these modern problems, resulting in a complex and beautiful movie about fatherhood and coming of age.
14. “Latin Blood: The Ballad of Ney Matogrosso” by Esmir Filho
Being more popular in Brazil than in other countries, Latin Blood is Ney Matogrosso’s biopic told through a very sexy, beautiful, and free manner. Featuring an outstanding performance by Jesuíta Barbosa as one of Brazil’s most controversial figures from the 70s and 80s, Esmir Filho tells the story of Ney Matogrosso not only through his music career but also through his love affairs, his problematic relationship with his father, and the losses he faced through the AIDS pandemic. It’s a very simple but very sexually charged film, making this one of the best and most exciting queer movies of the year.
13. “The Son of a Thousand Men” by Daniel Rezende
And speaking of queer Brazilian films that weren’t necessarily known in other countries, The Son of a Thousand Men is a beautiful tale of family, tradition, sexuality, and gender told through the story of Portuguese writer Valter Hugo Mãe. Through the optics of magic realism, the film follows the story of a lonely man who lives inside a cave and wishes to have a son. Through the perspective of several different characters, we see how this lonely man ends up creating the most unusual of families, while dealing with themes such as acceptance and tolerance, told through a universal and magical way. Rodrigo Santoro and Johnny Massaro are absolutely incredible here. If you haven’t watched it, it’s on Netflix!
12. “Pillion” by Harry Lighton
No one had more fun in the film industry this year than Alexander Skarsgard while promoting his new film Pillion, a movie about the relationship between an average Joe with a dominant top biker who reads Karl Ove Knausgaard – something that can already be considered a masterpiece, in my opinion. But Harry Lighton does an outstanding job in his feature debut by adapting Adam Mars-Jones’ novel through a non-judgmental and non-sensationalist way, resulting in a kinky room-com about affection that questions heteronormative relationships in interesting, sexy, and non-conforming ways. In other words, Pillion is one of the spiciest and most relevant LGBTQ films of the year.
11. “28 Years Later” by Danny Boyle
2025 was a pretty good year for horror, and 28 Years Later was by far one of my favorites for retransforming Danny Boyle’s original zombie idea into an incredibly moving coming-of-age with complex and political takes. With a sequel coming up this week, 28 Years Later is a semi-experimental movie about a boy’s transition from boyhood to adulthood in a world where Britain is isolated from the world because of a zombie epidemic that has destroyed the country. Shot entirely on iPhone, the movie expands the original 28 Days Later movie into a Kes-inspired film about growing up and facing the dangers of the world, while creating interesting metaphors for Brexit, the lower class, and family tradition.
10. “The Stranger” by François Ozon
With one of the most haunting works of cinematography of the year and one of my favorite Benjamin Voisin’s performances to date, The Stranger is François Ozon’s adaptation of Albert Camus’ classic of the same name. By telling the story of a French man living in Algiers in the late 30s, we follow how this man’s indifference towards life ends up affecting his destiny after he ends up murdering an Arab, creating existential questions about one’s purpose in life, our sense of community and empathy, and the problems of colonization. More than that, François Ozon’s passion towards the novel can be felt through every single frame of the film, making this a movie that probably matches the grandeur of the novel by translating it through moving and hypnotizing images. Without a doubt, one of my favorite movies by the French director.
09. “Alpha” by Julia Ducournau
I really, really don’t understand the hate towards Julia Ducournau’s Alpha, an incredibly touching movie about memory and resistance told through the perspective of a young girl who starts facing prejudice after having an A tattooed on her arm. More than that, it’s a movie that uses magic realism and body horror to talk about the AIDS pandemic through a very beautiful and poetic manner, while creating an oniric and eccentric screenplay that isn’t afraid to explore the characters’ fears and emotions in extreme and physical ways. The movie also features one of the best performances of the year by Tahar Rahim, who plays the uncle of the young girl who is dying of AIDS. The result is an original, beautiful, and unusual story that takes you to places you won’t expect.
08. “Fiume o Morte!” by Igor Bezinovic
I’m not a big fan of documentaries in general, but what Igor Bezinovic did here is something quite extraordinary. By documenting the story of how the Italian fascist Gabriele D’Annunzio took control of a small city in Croatia during the 20s and decided to seize the city for himself, the director reconstructs acts of history’s past with the current population of Fiume in modern times, along with implementing these characters’ personalities and lifestyles into the narrative. The result is a beautiful and interesting study of a society’s history and legacy, along with personal intakes of family, memory, culture, and civilization, resulting in one of the most provoking and visually impressive movies of the year.
07. “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” by Mary Bronstein
Rose Byrne swallows up this entire film with a groundbreaking performance to narrate the story of a woman on the brink of collapse. Through beat, after beat, after beat, this extremely unusual and smart screenplay is a trip to a woman’s psyche that is trying grasp the struggles of motherhood through absurd and comic situations. The result is one of the most original and unsettling character studies I’ve seen in years.
06. “The Mastermind” by Kelly Reichardt
I’ve never been a really big fan of Kelly Reichardt, but this one is special. The Mastermind is a bright neo-noir about a married man who decides to steal some paintings from his local museum. The way everything goes wrong feels like a cross over between Robert Altman and Coen brothers movies, with Josh O’Connor impersonating this failed 70s generation in a way that reminds us of Elliot Gould in The Long Goodbye. There are some moments like nothing really happens, but unlike most of Reichardt’s films, this feels to work in a positive way, along with the beautiful cinematography, costume design, and an insane jazz soundtrack. Apparently, this wasn’t the people’s favorite, but I have to admit The Mastermind is a pretty cool film.
05. “One Battle After Another” by Paul Thomas Anderson
I mean, what’s left to say about One Battle After Another that other websites, critics, and film buffs haven’t already said? I must admit the fandom around this film is a little irritating, but I guess that’s what happens when you make an extremely important movie that denounces the absurdities of current America, which is ruled by white supremacists who are deporting immigrants every day. More than a political film, it’s a smart and funny story full of action and absurd sequences which were only possible to exist thanks to Paul Thomas Anderson’s freedom to do absolutely whatever he wishes in Hollywood. Wouldn’t be surprised if this wins Best Picture at the Oscars.
04. “The Secret Agent” by Kleber Medonça Filho
It’s been a pleasure to follow Kleber Medonça’s career since Neighbouring Sounds and see Brazil’s ascendence in Hollywood through I’m Still Here, and now the amazing The Secret Agent. I don’t blame people who aren’t Brazilian and don’t understand this film, for this is such a Brazilian story in terms of how the city of Recife is brought to life through incredible characters and absurd situations. And all of that happens while it’s also a homage to cinema itself and the memories that are passed through generation to generation. I must admit Wagner Moura’s fandom around this film is a little over the top, but we can’t deny that The Secret Agent is, without a doubt, one of the most incredible movies of 2025.
03. “Bring Her Back” by Michael and Danny Philippou
Probably the most controversial film on this list, especially for being in such a high position, Bring Her Back is by far my favorite horror movie of the year, and one of my favorite cinematic experiences of 2025. What Michael and Danny Philippou do here is not only extremely disturbing and insane, but it’s also incredibly touching and moving. Featuring an amazing performance by Sally Hawkins and the creepiest child performance I’ve seen in a long time by Jonah Wren Phillips, Bring Her Back simply matched all the boxes for me in terms of acting, writing, and directing. Sure, Weapons was cool and original, but Bring Her Back is absolutely freaking brilliant.
02. “Sentimental Value” by Joacquim Trier
Joacquim Trier makes such an incredibly deep and moving picture about family, art, and performance that it is impossible for me not love it. Formed by an incredible cast of Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value stands out for the simplicity in taking a family drama and transforming it into a study of the importance of art, and how its ideas perpetuate through our lives. It’s a pretty metalinguistic movie, which reminds me a lot of Bergman Island and The Souvenir: Part II, two films that I think are one of the best of this decade. For me, Sentimental Value has also joined this list.
01. “Marty Supreme” by Josh Safdie
The hype is definitely real when it comes to Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme, a movie that despite being very similar to his and his brother’s previous films, is still a feature that brings the director’s traits to another level. More than being incredibly well written, shot, directed, and edited, watching Marty Supreme reminded me of the time when we used to go to movie theaters to watch those incredible films that marked our lives. We can feel the passion in every frame of the film, which is only boosted by Timothée Chalamet’s best performance to date – not to mention a surprisingly good comeback from Gwyneth Paltrow. It’s a movie that will mark our times, and I’m hoping it will win every possible award it deserves.
Honorable mentions in alphabetical order: Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro, The Love That Remains by Hlynur Pálmason, Resurrection by Bi Gan, Sinners by Ryan Coogler, The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Habia, and Wild Foxes by Valery Carnoy. Also, shout out for the amazing performance by August Diehl in The Disappearance of Josef Mengele by Kirill Serebrennikov.