Today marks the end of another year in which I felt a lot of gratitude for the movies that help us reflect on and greater understand the deeply stupid world we live in. Those moments when you feel like other people realize just how screwed up everything is, that it's not all in your head, feel more precious by the day. It's pretty routine hear to people declare that cinema is "dead" because of declining theater attendance or corporate mergers or whatever nonsense studio executives are hoping to do with AI, but as long as movies are still being made that can offer that elusive sense of solidarity, it isn't dead. It's a period of pretty intense changes, and it seems likely that not all the changes will be good, but the art form will survive. Here are ten good arguments for why.
10. Cloud
I just watched this one last night, talk about getting in right at the buzzer. Anyway, Kiyoshi Kurosawa has been making films about the dehumanizing effect of the internet since the turn of the century - if anyone was entitled to an “I told you so” in the year 2025, it was him. Ryosuke (Masaki Suda) is a mild-mannered scammer who buys random items of questionable quality and sells them on the internet at inflated prices to people who don’t know better. As his tactics get more brazen, a small community of disgruntled “customers” begins grumbling and orchestrating small pranks. It all seems like typical online toxicity, until it suddenly isn’t and the film’s second half becomes an intense crime thriller as an angry mob hunts Ryosuke down. Despite the vast amount of shootings and other violent encounters with origins in internet pettiness, the direct connection between the perpetually aggrieved tenor of social media and deadly real world events is something many people don’t want to acknowledge. This movie won’t let you forget it.
I just watched this one last night, talk about getting in right at the buzzer. Anyway, Kiyoshi Kurosawa has been making films about the dehumanizing effect of the internet since the turn of the century - if anyone was entitled to an “I told you so” in the year 2025, it was him. Ryosuke (Masaki Suda) is a mild-mannered scammer who buys random items of questionable quality and sells them on the internet at inflated prices to people who don’t know better. As his tactics get more brazen, a small community of disgruntled “customers” begins grumbling and orchestrating small pranks. It all seems like typical online toxicity, until it suddenly isn’t and the film’s second half becomes an intense crime thriller as an angry mob hunts Ryosuke down. Despite the vast amount of shootings and other violent encounters with origins in internet pettiness, the direct connection between the perpetually aggrieved tenor of social media and deadly real world events is something many people don’t want to acknowledge. This movie won’t let you forget it.
9. Strange Harvest
We need at least one out-of-left-field horror pick on a Rob list, don't we? Here's one you almost certainly won't see on any others - a terrifying serial killer story told in the style of a fake true crime documentary. This is not a new idea, but it updates the aesthetic to match the ubiquitous Netflix style most of us have gotten used to in recent years. The effect was just so convincing that it reminded me of the first time I saw Lake Mungo years ago, and I hope this film has a similar long journey to widespread discovery and acclaim.
The notorious “Mr. Shiny” (Jessee Clarkson) terrorizes the San Bernadino era with hideous occult murders, pursued relentlessly by two detectives (Peter Zizzo and Terri Apple). The story goes in some wild directions, but is never less than totally absorbing. The attention to detail is what makes the execution work so well - the drone shots, the meticulously rendered archive footage from the beginning of the killing spree in the 1990s, and the way the experts are shown arriving and getting comfortable before the formal interviews begin - it all evokes that distinctive modern true crime feel. It’s unlikely that such a documentary would show the gruesome crime scene photos the viewers are treated to, but perhaps that can be written off as the fictional director resorting to unethical exploitation.
8. Train Dreams
This beautiful, haunting film unfolds in the early years of the 20th century, an era of rapidly advancing technology experienced through the perspective of Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton, who makes it impossible to imagine anyone else in the role). His wife (Felicity Jones) and infant daughter are the light of his life, but his work logging and building railroads takes him away from the family cabin for long periods at a time. It may not sound very complicated from just a brief description, but this is a sad, profound look at our simplest needs as human beings and how forces always seem to conspire to keep them from us. It’s also almost unbearably gorgeous, shot masterfully by Adolpho Veloso in the lush temperate rainforests of Washington state.
7. No Other Choice
A beautifully directed black comedy about a man named Man-su (Byung-hun Lee, best known in America as the villain in "Squid Game") who made a very good living as a longtime manager at a paper mill but suddenly finds it all at risk when he’s laid off by the plant’s new owners. Desperate to keep his family’s house, Man-su applies for a job at another mill and resolves to murder the other applicants to make sure things go his way. However, he’s far from a hardened killer and his murder attempts frequently turn into desperate mayhem. While very funny, the sad truth of the story is that this is absolutely the kind of behavior encouraged by capitalism. It’s also easy to forget about the themes altogether and just take in the splendor of Park Chan-wook's filmmaking, with stunning deep focus cinematography, unexpected but brilliant camera angles, and scene transitions that are breathtaking in their creativity.
A beautifully directed black comedy about a man named Man-su (Byung-hun Lee, best known in America as the villain in "Squid Game") who made a very good living as a longtime manager at a paper mill but suddenly finds it all at risk when he’s laid off by the plant’s new owners. Desperate to keep his family’s house, Man-su applies for a job at another mill and resolves to murder the other applicants to make sure things go his way. However, he’s far from a hardened killer and his murder attempts frequently turn into desperate mayhem. While very funny, the sad truth of the story is that this is absolutely the kind of behavior encouraged by capitalism. It’s also easy to forget about the themes altogether and just take in the splendor of Park Chan-wook's filmmaking, with stunning deep focus cinematography, unexpected but brilliant camera angles, and scene transitions that are breathtaking in their creativity.
6. The Perfect Neighbor
This hugely compelling documentary uses innovative storytelling to explore a distressingly familiar American story. Composed almost entirely of police body camera footage, the first half of the movie is a series of encounters between officers and Susan Lorincz, a “Karen” living in a predominantly black Florida neighborhood who keeps coming up with asinine reasons to call law enforcement on the nearby children. The pattern reaches what may have been an inevitable conclusion when Lorincz fatally shoots her neighbor Ajike Owens, leaving four children without their mother and the community in shock. Watching the police arrive that night as the news spreads around the neighborhood is devastating, but important to see in a country where these incidents end up becoming just another statistic. The case led to a lot of debate about Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” laws, but the movie’s primary interest is not the legal factors but the psychological ones, specifically how racist paranoia can drive someone to near madness. In other words, the fact that Lorincz felt like her life was threatened just before the shooting is less important than the fact that she already felt like her life was threatened by simply existing near black people.
This hugely compelling documentary uses innovative storytelling to explore a distressingly familiar American story. Composed almost entirely of police body camera footage, the first half of the movie is a series of encounters between officers and Susan Lorincz, a “Karen” living in a predominantly black Florida neighborhood who keeps coming up with asinine reasons to call law enforcement on the nearby children. The pattern reaches what may have been an inevitable conclusion when Lorincz fatally shoots her neighbor Ajike Owens, leaving four children without their mother and the community in shock. Watching the police arrive that night as the news spreads around the neighborhood is devastating, but important to see in a country where these incidents end up becoming just another statistic. The case led to a lot of debate about Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” laws, but the movie’s primary interest is not the legal factors but the psychological ones, specifically how racist paranoia can drive someone to near madness. In other words, the fact that Lorincz felt like her life was threatened just before the shooting is less important than the fact that she already felt like her life was threatened by simply existing near black people.
5. It Was Just An Accident
Undeterred by two decades in prison, the dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi went to great lengths to complete this rebuke to the cruelty of his country’s ruling theocrats. It was shot entirely in Iran without securing government permission, and since it was co-produced by a French studio, France has submitted it as its entry for the Best International Feature category at the Academy Awards, where it will almost certainly get nominated. A seemingly ordinary man gets in a minor car accident and takes his car to a nearby mechanic, but one of the employees is a man named Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) who suspects him of being the government agent who tormented him in prison years earlier. Vahid kidnaps the man and seeks out other former prisoners to identify him, although it proves difficult since they were blindfolded for most of their imprisonment. Will they take revenge on the man despite not being certain it’s him? The tight screenplay walks an impressive balancing act, often teetering on the edge of black comedy while depicting the tragedy of otherwise peaceful souls being left with hate and rage in their hearts as a result of oppression. In another provocation to the Iranian regime, several female characters spend most of their time onscreen without the traditional hijab.
Undeterred by two decades in prison, the dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi went to great lengths to complete this rebuke to the cruelty of his country’s ruling theocrats. It was shot entirely in Iran without securing government permission, and since it was co-produced by a French studio, France has submitted it as its entry for the Best International Feature category at the Academy Awards, where it will almost certainly get nominated. A seemingly ordinary man gets in a minor car accident and takes his car to a nearby mechanic, but one of the employees is a man named Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) who suspects him of being the government agent who tormented him in prison years earlier. Vahid kidnaps the man and seeks out other former prisoners to identify him, although it proves difficult since they were blindfolded for most of their imprisonment. Will they take revenge on the man despite not being certain it’s him? The tight screenplay walks an impressive balancing act, often teetering on the edge of black comedy while depicting the tragedy of otherwise peaceful souls being left with hate and rage in their hearts as a result of oppression. In another provocation to the Iranian regime, several female characters spend most of their time onscreen without the traditional hijab.
4. Wake Up Dead Man
The arrival of the third film in Rian Johnson's Knives Out series was proof that these aren’t just the most enthralling detective movies of their time, but thoughtful and amusing examinations of life in 2020s America. This time, the ace detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, still doing the hilariously weird accent) heads to rural New York, where a bullying Catholic priest (Josh Brolin) has been murdered and suspicion falls on the assistant pastor, Father Jud (Josh O’Connor). As Blanc analyzes what he calls an “impossible crime,” the story becomes a surprisingly detailed dissection of the difference between what religious faith is supposed to be and the reality of what it often is…..while still being frequently hilarious. As per usual with this series, there is a great ensemble cast, including Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Thomas Haden Church, Jeffrey Wright, and more.
3. Weapons
Expectations for Zach Cregger's next film were quite high after Barbarian, but it still doesn't seem like we were prepared for how good this movie is. All but one student in Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) third grade class vanish without a trace one night, leaving the community frantic and desperate. The mystery unfolds slowly from various perspectives, including that of Justine, a parent (Josh Brolin), a police officer (Alden Ehrenrich) and the principal (Benedict Wong). It's a fantastic cast, including an unrecognizable Amy Madigan in a role that is expected to get her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, although going into details about that character might spoil the fun. In general, this is a movie that's more fun on the first viewing the less you know about it. For now, it's enough to say that it's a very absorbing experience full of unexpected humor and with what may end up being the most hilarious, cathartic, utterly brilliant ending of the decade.
2. Dead Talents Society
This delightful, endlessly creative Taiwanese film deserved much better than being dumped unceremoniously on Netflix. The setting is a huge entertainment complex populated by ghosts who compete to make a splash in the crowded world of Asian urban legends. They orchestrate their scares with a small crew, get interviewed on television, and thank the people who killed them if they win at the Golden Ghost Awards. An unlicensed amateur referred to as “The Rookie” (Gingle Wang, giving a deeply sympathetic performance) desperately needs a break and gets some much needed guidance from an ambitious manager (Chen Bolin) and an aging ghostly icon (Sandrine Pinna). Making fun of Asian folklore and horror films is one thing, but what makes this movie so special is how sweet and heartfelt it is despite the ghoulish trappings.
Paul Thomas Anderson has long secured his reputation as one of the great American directors, but I've personally admired most of his movies more than I actually loved them. That changed this year - I had no idea he had a vibrant, exciting movie like this in him. Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland was the foundation for an epic, beautifully made, disarmingly funny examination of America’s slide towards an authoritarian police state in the 2020s. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Bob, a former member of the French 75 revolutionary group who is now a bumbling single father raising his daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti). When Willa is kidnapped by the group’s old enemy, the white supremacist Colonel Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn), Bob has to join with new allies to get her back.
The biting depiction of the rank hypocrisy of the far right gave fascist influencers a few days worth of engagement farming, there’s a lot more to the film than that. The fraught, violent family dynamic between Bob, Willa, and Lockjaw resembles the warring segments of America’s population who somehow have to keep sharing the country together. Meanwhile, the contrast between Bob and the cool as a cucumber activist Sergio (Benicio Del Toro) illustrates that changing the world isn't always about yelling and blowing things up. Sometimes it's just helping out your neighbors. I can't pretend to have absorbed everything going on here in one viewing - it will likely take several to fully take in the complex themes of this sprawling film, which is one of the shortest three hour movies out there thanks to Andy Jurgensen’s fantastic editing.
If you're looked at other top ten lists for 2025, there's like a 90 percent chance this film was at the top of those too. I try to be original with these things, but sometimes the choice is just very clear.
11. Companion
12. Titan: The Oceangate Submersible Disaster
13. Left-Handed Girl
14. Cover-Up
15. Good Boy
16. Eddington
17. In Your Dreams
18. Presence
19. Predators
20. Lost in Starlight
2026 should be.....interesting, if nothing else. Good luck, everyone.
