<\/p>\n
Welcome to a very special year-end edition of Trust Me, I Watch Everything.<\/strong><\/a> My name is Brett Arnold<\/a>, and I’m a film critic and host of Roger & Me<\/em><\/a>, a weekly Siskel & Ebert<\/em>-style movie review show. This week, I’m counting down the best films of 2025.<\/p>\n I watched more than 500 new movies this year. Not all were winners (cough, Wicked: For Good<\/em><\/a>) but here are 25 that I expect to be revisiting for years to come.<\/p>\n I can’t think of another war movie that puts you in the soldiers’ shoes as well as Warfare <\/em>does; it’s really that intense and authentic. The movie is based entirely on the memories of the soldiers involved in a surveillance mission gone wrong in insurgent territory. It’s extremely loud, intense and harrowing stuff, focusing on the disorientation of having to continue doing the job as people are dying and things are exploding around them. The immediacy here \u2014 and all that tense waiting \u2014 really make it stand out, as does the limited perspective and lack of other establishing details. It stars a cast of fresh-faced young heartthrobs<\/a>, which really helps sell the idea that these men are really just boys.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>Warfare<\/em> is now streaming on HBO Max<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on HBO Max<\/a><\/p>\n Presence<\/em> is not the horror movie it was marketed as, but it\u2019s haunting and chilling in a different way. Here, the camera is<\/em> the ghost that\u2019s haunting a house, and the entire movie takes place from that perspective. The viewers are along for the ride, limited to what the ghost knows and doesn\u2019t know, as the lost soul tries to solve the case of its own death and figure out why it\u2019s haunting this family. It cleverly ends up being a movie about parenting, among other themes. Director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp are more interested in the dynamics between the family inhabiting the house than delivering cheap thrills, and it pays off with a gut-punch of an ending.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>Presence <\/em>is now streaming on Hulu<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on Hulu<\/a><\/p>\n The silliest movie Wes Anderson has made in years is, somehow, as sincere and emotional as anything he\u2019s ever directed. That’s really saying something considering Asteroid City <\/em>was his last film. The joys here, and some of the film’s biggest laughs, come from not only the eccentric characters and beautiful compositions we’ve come to expect from Anderson, but also from the surprising things you don’t expect to see in a movie like this. I didn’t know I needed to see a man violently (and bloodily!) explode in Wes Anderson’s signature style, but I absolutely did, and I likely didn\u2019t laugh harder at anything this year.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>The Phoenician Scheme<\/em> is now streaming on Peacock<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on Peacock<\/a><\/p>\n Amanda Seyfried is a revelation<\/a> in The Testament of Ann Lee, <\/em>a one-of-a-kind musical about the true story of Ann Lee, the founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers. The movie brilliantly works the hymns into rapturous musical numbers \u2014 some of which are earwormy enough to get stuck in your head \u2014 and really makes you understand how Lee\u2019s religious rise was based in trauma and sexual repression. Worth noting: Director Mona Fastvold\u2019s husband, Brady Corbet, directed The Brutalist <\/em>last year. Both films are notable for looking like they cost tens of millions more than they actually did, which is an impressive feat in and of itself.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>The Testament of Ann Lee<\/em> is now playing in theaters<\/a> nationwide.<\/p>\n Get tickets<\/a><\/p>\n It was a strong year for Stephen King adaptations, and this is my favorite one. The gimmick of the story is that it follows an ordinary man’s life but in reverse order, from Act III to Act I. In the process, we learn about his existence, as well as the life he didn’t live but might have enjoyed more. It may sound corny, but by the time Act II hits, I was fully in the palm of the movie’s hand and openly weeping, both in a sad way and in a revelatory, beautiful, life-affirming way. Saying any more would be a disservice to this special and quietly powerful film, which is as inspiring as it is depressing.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>The Life of Chuck <\/em>is now streaming on Hulu<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on Hulu<\/a><\/p>\n There\u2019s simply no other director using the camera and doing editing tricks quite like Park Chan Wook, whose latest film feels incredibly of the moment despite being based on a book from the \u201890s. It\u2019s about a man who gets abruptly laid off after 25 years at the same company and the extreme and violent lengths he goes to eliminate the competition for the job he wants. It\u2019s an extremely dark satire that manages to make you laugh and cry, sometimes within the same sequence! It\u2019s an incredible tonal balancing act, and there are casually astonishing transitions and camera movements throughout.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>No Other Choice <\/em>is now playing<\/a> in a limited number of theaters before expanding wide next month.<\/p>\n Get tickets<\/a><\/p>\n The Voice of Hind Rajab <\/em>is the most disturbing movie to watch of the year, but that\u2019s exactly why it feels so important to recommend. It\u2019s a dramatized film depicting volunteers at the Palestine Red Crescent Society staying on the phone with a 6-year-old girl who gets trapped in a car with her dead family in war-torn Gaza. It features actors and actresses, but the phone calls being depicted are real, and the girl we hear on the phone is the real caller. The filmmakers quite brilliantly take the viewer out of the \u201cfilm\u201d throughout and remind us that this is all real. It\u2019s a documentary-fiction film hybrid that begs to be seen.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>The Voice of Hind Rajab <\/em>is now playing<\/a> in a limited number of theaters.<\/p>\n Get tickets<\/a><\/p>\n This indie screwball comedy manages uproarious big laughs alongside insightful and acidic satire about the thoroughly modern world of open marriages. The movie sports a centerpiece fight scene that is a real barnburner, but it\u2019s the rawness and honesty of it all that sneaks up on you, getting at the jealousy, contempt and insecurity lurking under all these new-age ideas about being open to your partner sleeping with other people. By the time it leans into absurdism, I was fully on board and howling along with every gag. Somehow, it pulls off the sincerity as well as the comedy. Splitsville <\/em>is actually the biting and sexy relationship movie starring Dakota Johnson that Materialists <\/em>promised to be.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>Splitsville <\/em>is now available to rent or buy on Apple TV<\/a>, Prime Video<\/a> and other VOD platforms.<\/p>\n Rent or buy<\/a><\/p>\n This sneakily profound movie throws you without explaining itself, and by the end, you\u2019ll appreciate that approach. There\u2019s a late reveal that totally recontextualizes what came before it in such a clever way that I gasped. The twisty nature of the narrative serves to tell a deeply affecting story from the past that still resonates today.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>The Secret Agent <\/em>is now playing<\/a> in a limited number of theaters.<\/p>\n Get tickets<\/a><\/p>\n Noah Baumbach\u2019s latest film is less a celebration of movie stars and the art of moviemaking than it appears, and more an acidic, introspective and far more interesting character study of a George Clooney-esque movie star who aims to show how hollow life at the top can be. It’s a deeply sad treatise on the art form that is cinema and the people who make films happen. It’s less a love letter and more an examination of, \u201cWas it worth it, and what was it all for?\u201d for the stars at the center of them. It’s a movie seeking answers on what’s truly important in life, and recognizing the transactional nature of what’s not. By the time the final sequence and perfect last line hit, I was a mess.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>Jay Kelly <\/em>is now streaming on Netflix<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on Netflix<\/a><\/p>\n David Mamet\u2019s first film since 2008 is captivating and darkly hilarious. It\u2019s comprised of only four scenes, all dialogue exchanges between the titular Henry Johnson (played by Mamet’s son-in-law, Evan Jonigkeit) and some other characters. The opening sequence is among the most exhilarating I\u2019ve seen this year, and it\u2019s just two men talking. It\u2019s an examination of power, masculinity and coercion, and explores just why it is some people are so damned gullible. Giving away any specifics would be a crime. Seek it out!<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>Henry Johnson <\/em>is now available to rent or buy on Apple TV<\/a>, Prime Video<\/a> and other VOD platforms.<\/p>\n Rent or buy<\/a><\/p>\n The deeply moving Train Dreams<\/em> is a seemingly small film that’s actually as grandiose as it gets. It traces the life of a single ordinary man and, in the process, becomes a treatise on life writ large and what it all means, and how we can’t ever really possibly begin to understand until we’re at the very end of it. It’s also about the beauty and interconnectedness of the Earth, and how we’re just as much a part of its fabric as the trees and the dirt, and those who came before us. It’s hard to describe but transfixing to watch unfold, with scenes flickering in and out like memories. It’s a film about finding meaning in life, and that quiet profundity absolutely knocked the wind out of me.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>Train Dreams <\/em>is now streaming on Netflix<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on Netflix<\/a><\/p>\n This film from Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan is astonishing in both its ambition and execution. Watching it, you feel like you\u2019re experiencing cinema from its inception through now. The film is an anthology of sorts, with each section representing a different film movement and style, from the silent era onward. It\u2019s nearly impossible to describe, but fans of the history of the form will appreciate the experience. It gets at the connection between films and dreams, and how films are the closest we can get to making dreams a reality.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>Resurrection <\/em>is now playing<\/a> in a limited number of theaters.<\/p>\n Get tickets<\/a><\/p>\n Writer-director Nia DeCosta’s modern remake of Henrik Ibsen’s classic 19th century play Hedda Gabler<\/em> is a sumptuous treat that’s thrilling to behold. The setting has been updated to a 1950s English countryside, and the story unfolds over one crazy night. Tessa Thompson is simply sensational as Hedda, a woman who can’t help but wrap everyone she encounters around her finger, simply because she can. Rarely does a contemporary take on a classic text prove itself to be this entertaining.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>Hedda <\/em>is now streaming on Prime Video<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on Prime Video<\/a><\/p>\n This warm, gentle, sad and wonderful indie holiday gem really sneaks up on you. The star, who also wrote the film, is newcomer Michael Strassner. He gives an incredibly endearing performance in what is clearly a very personal story, alongside Liz Larsen, a veteran actress who’s never had a lead role like this in a film before. It’s a fantastic showcase for them both that’s unexpectedly affecting and even life-affirming, making you laugh all the while. It’s a reminder of the power of cinema and that you don’t need millions to make something special. There’s a strong possibility that it’ll become a Christmas classic, like the recent Oscar-nominated The Holdovers.<\/em><\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>The Baltimorons <\/em>is now streaming on AMC+<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on AMC+ via Philo<\/a><\/p>\n Yorgos Lanthimos returns with yet another collaboration with Emma Stone, and it may be their finest work yet, though it may not leave you in the best headspace. The film balances tone impressively, making you laugh uproariously one minute and inducing absolute dread the next. It’s a film about our post-truth world, in which people can’t agree on basic realities. It builds to a third act that feels inevitable and then takes it a step further with a stunningly audacious ending montage that left a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. It poses the all-too-urgent question: Is humankind worth saving? You may not like the answer. It\u2019s the feel-bad movie of the year!<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>Bugonia <\/em>is now streaming on Peacock<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on Peacock<\/a><\/p>\n Eephus <\/em>is a movie about baseball that functions as a pure love letter to the sport, and also as a metaphor for life and the bitter end of the things that we love. It\u2019s both celebrating and mourning the end of an era, as these men are set to lose what binds them together. It\u2019s a hangout movie that’s not concerned with plot, yet still quietly profound and powerful. If you weren\u2019t romantic about baseball before, you might just be afterward.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>Eephus <\/em>is now streaming on Mubi<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on Mubi<\/a><\/p>\n Sinners <\/em>would be one of the best movies of the year even before it introduces the horror element that winds up taking over the second half and turning it into another type of spectacle entirely. It\u2019s as audacious as it is purely entertaining. Before it becomes a vampire movie halfway through \u2014 From Dusk Till Dawn <\/em>vibes! \u2014<\/em> it\u2019s an impressive period piece gangster movie that patiently sets up the stakes of its story. In the end, the movie works entirely as entertainment on its own terms but also on an entirely different level: as a metaphor about its director\u2019s feelings on making art as a Black man in an industry that\u2019s eager to exploit his perspective. It\u2019s a big swing, and it connects, especially after you see the mid-credits scene that you should definitely stick around for.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>Sinners <\/em>is now streaming on HBO Max<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on HBO Max<\/a><\/p>\n Zach Cregger’s smash-hit Weapons<\/em> is the unlikeliest Oscar movie of the year, as the buzz around Amy Madigan as Aunt Gladys has reached such a fever pitch that a nomination is virtually guaranteed. Cregger himself could find himself nominated for his screenplay too, an original work that is best described as something like a fairy tale written by Stephen King. It\u2019s got jump scares as well as more unsettling implications, like a horror movie rendering of what it looks like to be a child in a household with absent or abusive parents.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>Weapons <\/em>is now streaming on HBO Max<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on HBO Max<\/a><\/p>\n25) <\/strong>Warfare<\/em><\/strong> (Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
24) <\/strong>Presence<\/em><\/strong> (Steven Soderbergh)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
23) <\/strong>The Phoenician Scheme<\/em><\/strong> (Wes Anderson)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
22) <\/strong>The Testament of Ann Lee <\/em><\/strong>(Mona Fastvold)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
21) <\/strong>The Life of Chuck <\/em><\/strong>(Mike Flanagan)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
20) <\/strong>No Other Choice <\/em><\/strong>(Park Chan Wook)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
19) <\/strong>The Voice of Hind Rajab (<\/em><\/strong>Kaouther Ben Hania)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
18) <\/strong>Splitsville<\/em><\/strong> (Michael Angelo Covino)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
17) <\/strong>The Secret Agent (<\/em><\/strong>Kleber Mendon\u00e7a Filho)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
16) <\/strong>Jay Kelly <\/em><\/strong>(Noah Baumbach)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
15) <\/strong>Henry Johnson <\/em><\/strong>(David Mamet)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
14) <\/strong>Train Dreams <\/em><\/strong>(Clint Bentley)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
13) <\/strong>Resurrection<\/em><\/strong> (Bi Gan)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
12) <\/strong>Hedda <\/em><\/strong>(Nia DaCosta)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
11) <\/strong>The Baltimorons <\/em><\/strong>(Jay Duplass)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
10) <\/strong>Bugonia <\/em><\/strong>(Yorgos Lanthimos)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
9) <\/strong>Eephus <\/em><\/strong>(Carson Lund)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
8) <\/strong>Sinners <\/em><\/strong>(Ryan Coogler)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
7) <\/strong>Weapons <\/em><\/strong>(Zach Cregger)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
6) <\/strong>Blue Moon <\/em><\/strong>