This year, I don’t have to ask; I know I’m broken. And not as a film critic, but as a functioning human being. The past 12 months have been traumatic for minorities, LGBTQ+ people, and immigrants. There’s so much evil that appears to go unpunished right now, and you’d have to be one of the perpetrators, or their allies, to remain unaffected. Writing about movies has often felt frivolous to me lately.
This may explain why this list is full of movies about dealing with trauma and getting through it. Even the lighter films listed here deal with crises of faith. Several choices also ask questions about why we must suffer and why we exist, and also contemplate the nature of evil.
Of course, I didn’t notice this pattern until I compiled the list. I know you folks think we critics are either evil masterminds who plot everything, or contrarians who don’t like movies everyone else likes (I stand by my pan of “One Battle After Another,” dammit!). I truly wish I was the supervillain you think I am, because my costume would be fierce.
Here are the top 10 movies of 2025.
10. “Train Dreams”
When William H. Macy’s grumpy old bomb expert says “it’s beautiful, all of it,” he could be talking about this movie. Nature alternates between being awe-inspiring and brutal in Clint Bentley’s adaptation of Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella. Joel Edgerton gives a career-best performance as Robert Grainier, a man whose life appears to be cursed. Set against the gorgeous backdrop of Washington state forests, “Train Dreams” is populated with characters you won’t soon forget.
9. “Sinners”
Who wouldn’t want two Michael B. Jordans in their movie? Writer-director Ryan Coogler doubles your pleasure by giving the Robert De Niro to his Scorsese the plum role of twins opening a juke joint in 1932 Mississippi. Assisting Coogler in creating this exciting nightmare universe full of music, vampires, and Jim Crow racism are his usual cohorts: costume designer Ruth E. Carter, production designer Hannah Beachler, and composer Ludwig Göransson. Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw amazes with stunning visuals in every scene. Featuring a cast that includes the always reliable Delroy Lindo, horror vet Wunmi Mosaku, and electrifying newcomer Miles Caton, “Sinners” gets better with every viewing.
8. “Highest 2 Lowest”
For his reunion with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee turns his latest joint into a reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s memorable neo-noir “High and Low.” Washington’s fifth turn for Lee casts him as the rich, out-of-touch music maven targeted by A$AP Rocky’s aspiring rap artist. Jeffrey Wright provides ample support as Denzel’s right-hand man. Lee’s love of New York City in total, not just “Da People’s Republic of Brooklyn,” gets equal billing with his love of Kurosawa, making his reunion with Washington one of their best films. Also worth noting is how much this writer, a Yankees fan, enjoyed Lee’s constant trolling of Boston and your beloved Red Sox.
7. “The Secret Agent”
Though this film, which won awards for best director and best actor at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, takes place during Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1977, it’s still a cautionary tale about where America seems to be heading. Wagner Moura gives a complex, haunted performance as a man who needs to escape the country for reasons that have little to do with espionage. Kleber Mendonça Filho’s latest film is a confident exercise in shape-shifting between movie genres and tone. He saturates every frame with a 1970s aesthetic that honors the era and its movies. “Jaws” gets a big shout-out, a metaphor for the dangers lurking under the surface of this story.
6. “Hamnet”
Perhaps the most divisive movie on this list, Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel has been called everything from “masterpiece” to “misery porn.” I don’t think either description is appropriate. “Hamnet” is simply a great movie, one that’s equally moving and horrifying. In a year filled with actors playing mothers on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Jessie Buckley gives the best reading of that trend. Her Agnes is all fury and emotion, complemented by the muted mourning of Paul Mescal’s Bard.
5. “Wake Up Dead Man”
The hero of Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” series, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), may have finally found a case that he can’t solve! Johnson takes a darker tone for this installment, and in doing so questions faith, religion, and the small-mindedness of a closed community. As a priest with a not-so-priestly past, the currently ubiquitous Josh O’Connor gets the best of the four roles he’s played in 2025. He’s a worthy sidekick for Craig’s dutiful detective. This latest installment is a clever and grisly love letter to mystery books and their readers.
4. “Frankenstein”
Guillermo del Toro’s passion project finds him yet again sympathizing with his creatures. The director’s take on Mary Shelley’s classic 1818 gothic novel mimics its source material by devoting equal time to Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) and the Creature he brings to life (Jacob Elordi). Though he pays tribute to James Whale’s beloved “Frankenstein” movies, del Toro delivers an immersive world of his own design, assisted by Kate Hawley’s period costumes and one of Alexandre Desplat’s best scores. Elordi makes you feel the Creature’s existential anguish, while Isaac basks in Victor’s madness. But it’s Mia Goth’s empathetic Elizabeth who allows us to feel for the Creature. Her understanding gives the film an undeniable sadness.
3. “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl”
A compelling argument in favor of speaking ill of the dead, this Zambian film looks at how traditions and generational trauma are interlinked. Writer-director Rungano Nyoni probes the customs of her homeland and uses satire to interrogate them. The unforgettable opening scene is a keeper: While dressed as Missy Elliott, protagonist Shula (a fantastic Susan Chardy) finds a dead body in the middle of the road that turns out to be her uncle. The juxtaposition of such an ostentatious costume next to a corpse is just the first of several surreal visuals Nyoni skillfully employs as she delivers the thesis statement implied in the title of this movie. The stunning, symbolic ending makes perfect sense if you’ve been paying attention.
2. “Sorry, Baby”
Eva Victor’s directorial debut is a film about processing the trauma of sexual assault, but it refuses to dwell on the events or define the survivor as weak and non-functioning. “The bad thing,” as Agnes (Victor) calls the incident, occurs offscreen in the second chapter of this episodic drama. How Victor handles this sequence, and the scene following it, prove that they’re a triple-threat, as writer, director, and performer. As Agnes’s best friend, Naomie Ackie has enormous chemistry with her costar. Victor handles the film’s gallows humor with ease. In his brief cameo, John Carroll Lynch provides the movie’s most moving moment.
1. “The Life of Chuck”
Since I saw this film at the Toronto International Film Festival back in 2024, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Mike Flanagan’s wonderful adaptation of Stephen King’s novella won the audience award at TIFF, but didn’t get a release until this year. Flanagan employs a great cast featuring Chiwetel Ejiofor and a fantastic Mark Hamill, guiding them through King’s lovely and bittersweet sci-fi-tinged fantasy. As Charles “Chuck” Krantz, Tom Hiddleston starts out as a mysterious figure before becoming the star of one of the best dance numbers ever thrown into a non-musical. Narrated with great care by Nick Offerman, and put together like a compelling puzzle it can’t wait for you to solve, “The Life of Chuck” is pure joy. This is the kind of movie that, like “The Shawshank Redemption,” will become a staple of repeat viewings.
Runners-up (11-20)
“Father Mother Sister Brother,” ”Blue Moon,” “Rental Family,” “Jay Kelly,” ”Black Bag,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “Predator: Badlands,” “Nuremberg,” “Resurrection,” ”One of Them Days.”
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe’s film critic.