{"id":2217642,"date":"2025-12-31T11:25:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T11:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2217642"},"modified":"2025-12-31T11:25:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T11:25:20","slug":"the-envelope-picks-the-best-movies-tv-shows-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-envelope-picks-the-best-movies-tv-shows-of-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"The Envelope picks the best movies, TV shows of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

As an editor, the lion\u2019s share of my job is about identifying the awards season\u2019s most compelling stories and conveying them to our readers. But I do reserve a small sliver of time for the joys of advocacy, championing work that I love and hoping that converts readers into viewers, and perhaps even voters. <\/p>\n

So, with no new issue this week, my New Year\u2019s Eve newsletter felt like the perfect time to reflect on the movies and TV shows that moved me in 2025. And if you give them another look before you cast your awards ballots, all the better. <\/p>\n

MOVIES<\/h2>\n

1. \u2018A Little Prayer\u2019 and \u2018The Testament of Ann Lee\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
<\/picture>\n
\n

David Strathairn and Jane Levy in \u201cA Little Prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Music Box Films)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

I am not terribly spiritual myself, but I encountered transcendence twice at the movies this year. As quiet and beseeching as its title, Angus MacLachlan\u2019s chamber drama<\/a> \u201cA Little Prayer,\u201d about a family man (David Strathairn) navigating marital trouble between his son (Will Pullen) and his daughter-in-law (Jane Levy), uncovers varieties of religious experience in 19th century landscape painting and small, memorable kindnesses. As sweeping as the extraordinary life it depicts, Mona Fastvold\u2019s biographical portrait \u201cThe Testament of Ann Lee,\u201d which follows the Shaker leader (Amanda Seyfried) and her devotees from the textile mills of Manchester to the wilderness of colonial New York, carves sensuous art from the exalted song and dance<\/a> of evangelical faith. But whether the scale is intimate or epic, both capture, to quote \u201cA Little Prayer,\u201d that rare thing: \u201ca powerful sense of the sublime.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. \u2018Sinners\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Michael <\/picture>\n
\n

Michael B. Jordan in \u201cSinners.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Warner Bros. Pictures)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201cSinners\u201d has rightly been praised for its novel twist on the vampire genre, its deep investment in African and African American music<\/a>, its blockbuster box office in an era largely dominated by franchise IP. But perhaps the highest compliment I can give director Ryan Coogler may be that the Jim Crow Mississippi he conjures is so richly textured, so allergic to cant or cliche, that I\u2019d have been just as riveted if the bloodsuckers had never shown up. That\u2019s what it\u2019s like to be in the hands of a master.<\/p>\n

3. \u2018Sorry, Baby\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Eva <\/picture>\n
\n

Eva Victor in \u201cSorry, Baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Philip Keith \/ A24)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Eva Victor is not the first filmmaker to face trauma with a sense of humor, but few have done it with such a gentle, humane touch. As Victor\u2019s Agnes moves through life in the aftermath of a sexual assault on her college campus, the writer-director-star focuses squarely<\/a> on the slow, ungainly, ultimately profound work of healing \u2014 and includes some of the best gags about academia this reformed graduate student has ever seen. No apology needed: \u201cSorry, Baby\u201d marks the arrival of a major talent.<\/p>\n

4. \u2018One Battle After Another\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Leonardo <\/picture>\n
\n

Leonardo DiCaprio in \u201cOne Battle After Another.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Warner Bros. Pictures)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

With elements of action, satire, political thriller and family melodrama, Paul Thomas Anderson<\/a>\u2019s wild yarn about the members of a revolutionary group <\/a>\u2014 and the fallout that comes when the past catches up with them \u2014 is well-nigh indescribable. But it\u2019s also unforgettable. Combining high-wire filmmaking with electric performances, it never relinquishes its grip on the viewer and invites multiple viewings. Which is just as well, considering that this one is going to be on the tip of our tongues all the way through the Oscars.<\/p>\n

5. \u2018Nouvelle Vague\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Zoey <\/picture>\n
\n

Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg and Guillaume Marbeck as Jean-Luc Godard in \u201cNouvelle Vague.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Jean-Louis Fernandez)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

The purest delight of the season is Richard Linklater\u2019s mash note for the French New Wave, a zippy comedy of errors about the making of one of the most influential films of all time. As Jean-Luc Godard (the rakishly charming Guillaume Marbeck) tries to put \u201cBreathless\u201d together with spit, glue and attitude on the streets of Paris, \u201cNouvelle Vague\u201d becomes as confident a caper as the original, with Jean-Paul Belmondo (Aubry Dullin) and Jean Seberg (a beguiling Zoey Deutch<\/a>) as the French director\u2019s oft-befuddled collaborators \u2014 and sometimes foils. To overlook a film with this much cinematic joie de vivre<\/i> would be a crime.<\/p>\n

6. \u2018Sir\u00e2t\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"The <\/picture>\n
\n

The rave sequence that opens \u201cSir\u00e2t.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Neon)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

The less said the better about Spain\u2019s acclaimed Oscar submission, which takes such twists and turns as it wends its way through the Moroccan desert that it left me frozen, after my first screening, in a sort of defensive crouch. I simply suggest that you go on the journey with filmmaker Oliver Laxe as he follows a father (Sergi L\u00f3pez) and son (Bruno N\u00fa\u00f1ez Arjona) on their search for a missing loved one, beginning with a rave so lifelike<\/a> it almost had me dancing in the aisles.<\/p>\n

7. \u2018Hedda\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Tessa <\/picture>\n
\n

Tessa Thompson, center, in \u201cHedda.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Matt Towers \/ Prime Video)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

I must admit I went warily into \u201cHedda.\u201d<\/a> An awards-season Ibsen adaptation had, I feared, all the makings of a fusty, dour costume drama. Mea culpa, Nia DaCosta. Mea culpa. The filmmaker\u2019s sharp, fresh take on \u201cHedda Gabler,\u201d featuring mesmerizing performances from Tessa Thompson as the devious title character and Nina Hoss as her (gender-swapped) former lover, renders the play as provocatively, and vividly, for today\u2019s viewer as it must have been for attendees at the Munich premiere in 1891 \u2014 and in the process reminds us why the original is an enduring classic.<\/p>\n

8. \u2018Sentimental Value\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Stellan <\/picture>\n
\n

Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd and Elle Fanning in \u201cSentimental Value.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Kasper Tuxen)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

No film this year has left me more eager for a rewatch than Joachim Trier\u2019s delicate family drama, and I was rewarded with the sense that \u201cSentimental Value\u201d is really two films, woven together so deftly that they can\u2019t quite be unraveled. One is the story of two sisters (Renate Reinsve<\/a> and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) bonded by generational trauma. The other is about a filmmaker, their father (Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd), recruiting a sympathetic outsider (Elle Fanning) to tell the story of his own. By the time these strands reach their conclusion, on a soundstage built to resemble the family manse, Trier\u2019s thoughtful architecture pays off in the understanding that you really can<\/i> go home again, because home is a state of mind.<\/p>\n

9. \u2018The Alabama Solution\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"A <\/picture>\n
\n

A still from \u201cThe Alabama Solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

(HBO Documentary Films)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

In an especially strong year for documentaries<\/a>, particularly those that appreciate, emulate or chronicle the work of investigative journalism, it seems a shame to single out just one. But from the moment of its Sundance Film Festival premiere<\/a>, the movie by Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman registered as a prime example of nonfiction storytelling\u2019s unmatched ability to \u201ccomfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable,\u201d starting with its unflinching use of Alabama state prison inmates\u2019 contraband cellphone footage of the shocking conditions they\u2019re forced to endure. As advocacy, as expos\u00e9, as portrait of the fight for justice, no documentary has stuck with me this year quite like \u201cThe Alabama Solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

10. \u2018All That\u2019s Left of You\u2019 and \u2018The Voice of Hind Rajab\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Scenes <\/picture>\n
\n

Scenes from \u201cAll That\u2019s Left of You,\u201d left, and \u201cThe Voice of Hind Rajab.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Watermelon Pictures; Venice Film Festival)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

One expands its tale of the Palestinian experience<\/a> across continents and decades, the other condenses its saga to just 90 minutes, balanced on a knife\u2019s edge between documentary and drama. But for all their stark stylistic differences, both \u201cAll That\u2019s Left of You\u201d and \u201cThe Voice of Hind Rajab\u201d \u2014 along with films such as \u201cPalestine 36\u201d and \u201cPut Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk\u201d \u2014 urgently communicate, in specific human terms, the life-and-death consequences of a struggle for self-determination too often abstracted in the West to its \u201ccomplicated\u201d or \u201cthorny\u201d geopolitics. Whether the setting is Jaffa or Gaza, the subject a multigenerational family pushed to its breaking point or the fate of a single little girl, both will leave you shaken. As they should. <\/p>\n

TV SHOWS<\/h2>\n

1. \u2018Andor\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Diego <\/picture>\n
\n

Diego Luna and Genevieve O\u2019Reilly in \u201cAndor.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Lucasfilm Ltd. \/ Disney)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Turning its portrait of reluctant rebel Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) into a kaleidoscopic thriller about a simmering revolution reaching the boil \u2014 and the authoritarian forces set on stopping them \u2014 \u201cAndor\u2019s\u201d second season emerged, by degrees, as the year\u2019s most astounding political allegory \u2014 on any size of screen. Aided by an ingenious structure, which divided its four-year arc into four, three-episode miniseries, it ensnared even avowed \u201cStar Wars\u201d skeptics, and featured both the best action set piece and the best monologue<\/a> of the year. <\/p>\n

2. \u2018The Rehearsal\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Nathan <\/picture>\n
\n

Nathan Fielder in \u201cThe Rehearsal.\u201d<\/p>\n

(John P. Johnson \/ HBO)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Another sophomore step up, this iteration of \u201cThe Rehearsal\u201d \u2014 which bordered on cavalier about its civilian subjects in Season 1 \u2014 finds impresario Nathan Fielder with more skin in the game, and so becomes a revelatory meta-comedy that lives up to its immense ambition. Come for the elaborate re-creation of American airports, stay for a surprisingly vulnerable Fielder investigating the possibility that he\u2019s on the autism spectrum, and be wowed by the series\u2019 real-world implications for pilot communication. Whatever aspect of \u201cThe Rehearsal\u201d grabs you first, it\u2019s the inimitable, inexpressible whole that makes it essential viewing. <\/p>\n

3. \u2018Adolescence\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Stephen <\/picture>\n
\n

Stephen Graham, left, and Owen Cooper in \u201cAdolescence.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Netflix)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

It would be easy to be jaded about \u201cAdolescence,\u201d which seems likely to follow in the footsteps of \u201cBaby Reindeer\u201d and win just about every award it\u2019s eligible for. (It\u2019s already notched eight Emmys<\/a>.) But from the moment I first laid eyes on its extraordinary one-shots<\/a>, I was persuaded that the series\u2019 technical wizardry was no gimmick. As written by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham and directed by Philip Barantini, in style and substance \u201cAdolescence\u201d captures polite society\u2019s hold on young men spiraling out of control \u2014 and invests its central figure, Owen Cooper\u2019s 13-year-old Jamie, with both the childishness and the menace to match. <\/p>\n

4. \u2018Elsbeth\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"A <\/picture>\n
\n

Carrie Preston in \u201cElsbeth.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Michael Parmelee \/ CBS)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

I was glad to hear that CBS plans to campaign \u201cElsbeth\u201d as a comedy at the Emmys in 2026, in part because it may improve Carrie Preston\u2019s chances at a nod for her turn as irrepressible investigator Elsbeth Tascioni, and in part because the designation highlights what has always shined most in the legal universe of Robert and Michelle King. Here, it\u2019s broader and brighter than the acerbic satire of \u201cThe Good Wife\u201d and \u201cThe Good Fight,\u201d and embedded in a \u201cColumbo\u201d-esque case-of-the-week structure, but the pair\u2019s sense of humor \u2014 always keyed to punching up \u2014 continually works wonders, especially in a world where so much crime media is unrelentingly grim.<\/p>\n

5. \u2018The Pitt\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Noah <\/picture>\n
\n

Noah Wyle in \u201cThe Pitt.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Warrick Page \/ HBO Max)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Given that \u201cER\u201d was the first show my mom let me stay up late to watch, I wasn\u2019t surprised to like \u201cThe Pitt.\u201d But even with my high expectations, I was dazzled by the series\u2019 ability to introduce such a wide array of characters in the pilot episode, and then to develop them all in a seemingly infinite variety of directions while solving one medical crisis after another. Indeed, forced by its \u201creal-time\u201d structure to keep the focus tight even as the stakes ratchet skyward, \u201cThe Pitt\u201d registers as even richer, subtler and more relevant than its predecessor. May its heyday last just as long. <\/p>\n

6. \u2018Dying for Sex\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Jenny <\/picture>\n
\n

Jenny Slate, left, Sissy Spacek and Michelle Williams in \u201cDying for Sex.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Sarah Shatz \/ FX)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Since first seeing it in the spring, I haven\u2019t been able to get out of my head the most hilarious moment in \u201cDying for Sex.\u201d When Molly (Michelle Williams<\/a>), early in a journey of sexual self-discovery prompted by a recurrence of cancer, falls victim to an online ransomware scam, she drops to the floor to escape the sight of her laptop camera \u2014 soon to be joined by her loyal but scattered bestie, Nikki (Jenny Slate), who is not much help but is great company. It had me doubled over with laughter, like so much of Liz Meriwether and Kim Rosenstock\u2019s adaptation of the real-life story. The miniseries never pulls a comic punch despite the heavy subject matter, and is peppered with idiosyncratic choices and memorable performances that make it sing. Special shout out to Rob Delaney for turning a total slob named Neighbor Guy<\/a> into one of the romantic heroes of the year.<\/p>\n

7. \u2018Forever\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Michael <\/picture>\n
\n

Michael Cooper Jr. and Lovie Simone in \u201cForever.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Elizabeth Morris \/ Netflix)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

The Emmy success of \u201cThe Studio\u201d and the buzz around \u201cI Love L.A.\u201d may have somewhat overshadowed \u201cForever,\u201d but they have given me consistent opportunities in 2025 to recommend my<\/i> favorite L.A.-set show of the year. Mara Brock Akil\u2019s warmhearted, meticulously wrought teen romance, channeling Judy Blume\u2019s<\/a> condescension-free interest in young people, paints a portrait of places in the city where those other series rarely go, and does so with uncommon sensitivity. I could watch \u201cForever,\u201d well, forever. Plus, it features one of the year\u2019s finest dramatic performances: Like the series as a whole, Karen Pittman\u2019s protective mother transforms an archetype that could easily ring with cliches into a lived-in, multilayered portrait. Give me more, Netflix! <\/p>\n

8. \u2018The Gilded Age\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Audra <\/picture>\n
\n

Audra McDonald, left, and Den\u00e9e Benton in \u201cThe Gilded Age.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Karolina Wojtasik \/ HBO)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

After two enjoyably low-stakes seasons, HBO\u2019s New York-set spin on the upstairs\/downstairs drama, created by \u201cDownton Abbey\u2019s\u201d Julian Fellowes, breaks out of the (opera) box in Season 3. With ruined women, roguish men and more geegaws than you can shake a stick at \u2014 not to mention a character known to the internet as Clock Twink (Ben Ahlers) \u2014 the series remains a deliciously campy prime-time soap, but it now features moments of genuine romance, or regret, to accompany the social climbing. With Peggy (Den\u00e9e Benton<\/a>) finding love, Ada (Cynthia Nixon) finding fortune and conniver in chief Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) finding herself on the outs with her wealthy husband (Morgan Spector), \u201cThe Gilded Age\u201d has reached glorious maturity by developing a subplot for just about every taste, even one as lofty as the Van Rhijns\u2019. <\/p>\n

9. \u2018The Paper\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Domhnall <\/picture>\n
\n

Domhnall Gleeson in \u201cThe Paper.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Aaron Epstein \/ Peacock)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Call me a homer if you like for putting a show about the survival of local newspapers on this list. And when it comes to the indignities of 21st century journalism, \u201cThe Office\u201d spin-off, from Greg Daniels and Michael Koman<\/a>, certainly passes my fact-check. But more importantly, and sustainably, Peacock\u2019s mockumentary treats the Toledo Truth Teller as the setting for a rock-solid workplace comedy, replete with a winsome editor in chief (Domhnall Gleeson), an ace reporter (Chelsea Frei) and a perfect foil, in the form of managing editor\/aspiring influencer Esmeralda Grand (Sabrina Impacciatore, in perhaps the year\u2019s funniest performance). Sure, I\u2019m liable to root for any film of TV show that qualifies as a \u201clove letter\u201d to my chosen profession, but you can\u2019t fake credibility. \u201cThe Paper\u201d<\/a> has the goods.<\/p>\n

10. \u2018Pluribus\u2019 and \u2018Paradise\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Sterling <\/picture>\n
\n

Sterling K. Brown in \u201cParadise,\u201d and Rhea Seehorn in \u201cPluribus.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Disney; Apple TV)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

One is full of jaw-dropping plot twists, the other meditative, often silent. One imagines the end of the world as we know it in terms of natural disaster, the other in the form of an extraterrestrial\u2019s utopia. What Dan Fogelman\u2019s \u201cParadise\u201d<\/a> and Vince Gilligan\u2019s \u201cPluribus\u201d share, though, is far more important than what sets them apart: a commitment to postapocalyptic storytelling rooted in flawed, compelling characters, not the minutia of megavolcanoes and mRNA. Indeed, as \u201cParadise\u2019s\u201d hero, Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown<\/a>), squares off against the power-mad Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson<\/a>) in an underground bunker, or \u201cPluribus\u2019\u201d Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn<\/a>) clashes with stubborn ally Manousos Oviedo (Carlos Manuel Vesga) on an Earth overtaken by happy lemmings, what becomes clear about both series \u2014 and I mean this as a high compliment \u2014 is how ordinary<\/i> they are. If you want to know how you might handle doomsday, you could do worse than starting here. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As an editor, the lion\u2019s share of my job is about identifying the awards season\u2019s most compelling stories and conveying them to our readers. But I do reserve a small sliver of time for the joys of advocacy, championing work that I love and hoping that converts readers into viewers, and perhaps even voters. So, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2217643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2217642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The-Envelope-picks-the-best-movies-TV-shows-of-2025.com2F6e2F212F098da9ef486f99575b116280.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2217642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2217642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2217642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2217644,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2217642\/revisions\/2217644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2217643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2217642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2217642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2217642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}