LeavittLens’ Top 10 Films of 2025
One of the great challenges to my Top 10 list each year is an unavoidable one: geography. Due to the nature of the film industry’s backloaded slate, combined with the fact that many of the best films are either release on limited screens or inaccessible until the turn of the new year to the average viewer in, say, Phoenix, I end up having blind spots year over year. Each year my list inevitably excludes a great film that would have easily made my Top 10 and perhaps even headlined it (Parasite in 2019, The Zone of Interest in 2023, The Brutalist and A Different Man in 2024, etc.), but because of limited or delayed releases, I didn’t see it until the first month or two of the following year.
In the past I’ve simply resigned myself to the reality of my geographic limitations, but this year has prompted a change in me. Not only were my December film-watching patterns limited by geography, they were also interrupted by a newborn! Due to these limitations (which, to be clear, are filled with joy—I enjoy living in Phoenix and am enraptured with my little girl), I have elected to push my Top 10 list into the January of the following year, giving me an additional month to catch up on things I missed. This year, for instance, the delay enabled me to see such films as Marty Supreme, Eddington, Bugonia, Hamnet, Sentimental Value, and Nouvelle Vague (just before the turn of the new year), factoring them into my end-of-year Top 10 and ideally avoiding the error of past oversights. Before we get to my final list, here are some general takeaways from 2025:
This was a GREAT year for movies: ranking my Top 5 was exceedingly difficult—I believe each film will retain a lasting imprint on me and on film culture. While 2025 doesn’t quite reach the heights of years like 2019, 2007, or 1999, it is approaching that tier.
This also makes the bottom end of my list challenging: cutting Bugonia, Nouvelle Vague, Companion, and Eddington, all terrific movies with thematically rich and expertly crafted execution, is a brutally difficult choice. Not only were the highest highs terrific, but there was a depth to the quality of films this year that is rarely seen.
Even with the added month, there were inevitably blind spots that persisted, particularly when it comes to non-English language films. I have yet to see No Other Choice, for instance, a film which very well could have made my Top 10. I am, unfortunately, still only a layman in all of this, but if anyone is interested in paying me to go see films, I’m all ears…
All said, below is my Top 10 list from 2025, some summary statements around each, and—as usual—a full film diary that includes Emily’s ratings and one-sentence reviews. Because I know that most people are here for her comments more than mine.
LeavittLens Top 10 Films of 2025
10. Hamnet | Director: Chloé Zhao | LeavittLens Rating: 8/10
While I completely understand the primary critique leveed against this film—namely that is it leans into melodramatic manipulation far too much—it worked effectively for me. Perhaps it was because it was baked into a date night with my wife (which are fewer and farther between with a 7 month old); perhaps it was the subject matter (as a new dad, English major, and writer, this just hit me where it counts); perhaps it was the tremendous performances at the center of it (for all our hand-wringing, we shouldn’t be so cynical about sincere performances when they are this effective at eliciting emotion). In any case, Chloé Zhao has proved she’s got a proper film in her after Nomadland’s semi-documentary style. We go to the movies to feel something, and this one succeeds in spades. Buckley may not win the Oscar, but no one could complain if she does.
9. 28 Years Later | Director: Danny Boyle | LeavittLens Rating: 8/10
Speaking of feeling something at the movies: I can count on one hand the number of films that have produced the sort of visceral, adrenaline rush that 28 Days Later produced in me. I remember seeing Mad Max: Fury Road in theatres for the first time and feeling like I had never quite experienced something so primally invigorating—this is the first film I’ve seen since that has approached that feeling. As with Fury Road, however, the thematic interests, visual taste, and central performances elevate 28 Years Later into a potent reflection on mortality and human nature, with a third act that builds a remarkable visual statement on both. The color grading, cinematography, and action set pieces are all remarkable, and there are 2-3 sequences in this film that are among not just the best of the year, but among the best action scenes of the century.
8. The Phoenician Scheme | Director: Wes Anderson | LeavittLens Rating: 8/10
At this point, the conversation around Wes Anderson feels as muted as the expressions on many of his characters’ faces: either he’s your thing, or he’s not. And while the Academy may lean towards the latter, I am without a doubt in the camp of the former. His films seem to be maturing with him, maintaining his trademark humor, style, and thematic interests while adding a more reflective, existential filmic container to house them in. His reflections on parenthood, hubris, death, and what any of it can really mean are all the stuff of both Asteroid City and now The Phoenician Scheme, and I’m here for it. This latest installment may be the funniest of any of his films, and ranks #2 in my Wes rankings behind The Grand Budapest Hotel. What a year for Benicio Del Toro - all the acclaim is well-deserved. Also, finally Wes was able to snag Michael Cera for one of his romps: Cera was built by scientists in a lab to star in a Wes Anderson film.
7. Weapons | Director: Zach Cregger | LeavittLens Rating: 8/10
After Zach Cregger’s surprise horror debut Barbarian, expectations were high for another original story follow up, and far from a second film slump, I think Weapons improved upon the first film. Hinting a blend of contemporary American anxieties (teacher-student relationships, policing, school shootings, COVID etc.), Cregger manages to make a film about all of them and none of them at once. While his intentional thematic obscurity was frustrating at points, he more than made up for it with his structural eccentricities, weaving together humor and horror in equal measure. In many ways, this film is why we go to the movies. To be horrified and confused; to laugh out loud; to involuntarily leap and yell “Oh S***!” and “NOPE!” in a theatre full of people experiencing the same thing; to wonder; to sit in deep grief and sadness; to thematically ponder. Weapons manages to capture more of the visceral and vicarious human experience than many films I’ve seen in recent years, and doing so in such a compelling and coherent way only adds to its success.
6. Black Bag | Director: Steven Soderbergh | LeavittLens Rating: 8.5/10
An espionage thriller from one of our great working directors that stars the man born to play James Bond and one of the best working 21st-century actresses centralizing themes of marriage, fidelity, and loyalty in a post-modern, ethically ambiguous world? Cue the Martin Scorsese “absolute cinema” meme. A highlight of the first few months of the year, which are often where studios dump their duds, Black Bag sees the sure-handed Soderbergh (has he ever made a bad film?) elevate his game a bit with a tight, cleverly written, morally compelling, and beautifully shot popcorn movie. With shades of Agatha Christie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and all your favorite spy capers, seeing this in a packed theatre was one of the highlights of the movie year.
5. Train Dreams | Director: Clint Bentley | LeavittLens Rating: 9/10
“Sometimes it feels like the sadness will eat me alive. Sometimes it feels like it happened to someone else.”
Beautiful. Painful. Devastating. Poetic. Spiritually evocative. Clint Bentley has done right by the Clint name. Shot entirely in natural light, it shows: akin to films like The Revenant and A Hidden Life in its visual splendor, and with a stirring script to boot. This is far and away the best Joel Edgerton has ever been. Though much of its tragic content is not for the faint of heart, it captures well the beauty and turmoil of life in the early to mid-20th century.
4. Sinners | Director: Ryan Coogler | LeavittLens Rating: 9/10
A terrific exploration of the destructiveness of uniformity as a false sense of “freedom and love,” and a holding up of unity in diversity as the power to fight against the evil power of uniformity. The juke scene is among the best I’ve seen in a film this year, and its work as a seamless genre-bending tribute to the blues instantly makes it one of the best music-centric films of the century. The best Michael B. Jordan has ever been, x2. Delroy Lindo is immaculate. A coming out party for Miles Caton. Between Ryan Coogler and Jordan Peele, we have steady hands on the thematically rich thriller/horror genre for decades to come. They’ve got a lifetime subscription from me.
3. Marty Supreme | Director: Josh Safdie | LeavittLens Rating: 9/10
I could have easily flipped Sinners with Marty Supreme, so I consider this more of a 3a and 3b situation. The Safdie brothers have such a singular filmmaking vision and execution, and Josh’s work here takes on the largest scope and thematic richness of any of his films. He knows how to cast a lead who can play ruthless, unrelenting drivenness (Pattison in Good Time, Sandler in Uncut Gems, and Chalamet in Marty Supreme are definitely all from the same family), but the editing, sound and composing, and cinematography choices here reveal a director who has figured out his voice fully and is fraying off some of the jagged edges of his previous films (which, to be clear, were already great). Nevermind that Chalamet seems to have embodied Marty’s outright cockiness in his press tours for this film: it is a frenetic feature of a film that never lags in any of its 140 minute runtime.
2. One Battle After Another | Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | LeavittLens Rating: 9.5/10
In reality, when we look back on 2025 in a couple of decades, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another will be the most remembered and celebrated film of the year, and rightfully so. The only reason I have placed it #2 on my list is because Wake Up Dead Man is just so uniquely calibrated for me and my interests. From the standpoint of craft, there isn’t a better combination top to bottom than this film: the performances, the writing, the cinematography, the music, the camera work (that final chase scene is unlike anything I’ve seen in a film before), the humor and social commentary—all of it adds up to not just one of the best movies of the year, but one of the best movies of an already esteemed career. For me, it’s There Will Be Blood in first, and One Battle After Another chasing it up and down hills in second place in the PTA rankings.
1. Wake Up Dead Man | Director: Rian Johnson | LeavittLens Rating: 9.5/10
If there was a movie made in a lab specifically for me and my interests, it would be Wake Up Dead Man. See my full analysis here.
Film Diary:
Here
Clint’s Rating 54%
Emily’s Rating: 75% (“Choppy but had some sweet moments.”)
Harder Than The Rock
Clint’s Rating: 80%
Emily’s Rating: 70% (“Transported me to an island vacation.”)
Aaron Rodgers: Enigma
Clint’s Rating: 60%
Emily’s Rating: 60%
Music By John Williams
Clint’s Rating: 75%
Emily’s Rating: 95% (“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime isn’t enough for music.”)
The Count of Monte Cristo
Clint’s Rating: 81%
Emily’s Rating: 95% (“EPIC.”)
Saturday Night
Clint’s Rating: 72%
Emily’s Rating: 75% (“A creatively chaotic tribute.”)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Clint’s Rating: 71%
Emily’s Rating: 80% (“Downey to disguise himself”)
Anora
Clint’s Rating: 78%
Emily’s Rating: 80% (“I had to ignora the first graphic half of this movie…”)
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Clint’s Rating: 65%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Manchester By The Sea
Clint’s Rating: 95%
Emily’s Rating: 85% (“This one burned bad.”)
Black Bag
Clint’s Rating: 90%
Emily’s Rating: 85% (“A dope couple - a clever movie.”)
The Brutalist
Clint’s Rating: 92%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
September 5
Clint’s Rating: 82%
Emily’s Rating: 75% (“Felt like a dramatized documentary.”)
Nickel Boys:
Clint’s Rating: 91%
Emily’s Rating: 90% (“Beautifully shot - worth every nickel.”)
The Wild Robot
Clint’s Rating: 85%
Emily’s Rating: 75% (“I am a robot/mom.”)
Didi
Clint’s Rating: 80%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
The Beekepper
Clint’s Rating: 50%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Companion
Clint’s Rating: 80%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Mickey 17
Clint’s Rating: 75%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
A Different Man
Clint’s Rating: 92%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Michael Clayton
Clint’s Rating: 92%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Groundhog Day
Clint’s Rating: 89%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
The Handmaiden
Clint’s Rating: 84%
Emily’s Rating: 40% (“Ugh - not my cup of tea.”)
Conclave (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 95%
Emily’s Rating: 92% (“The cinematography, the coloring, the details, the themes, the message - immaculately conceived, all around…”)
One Of Them Days
Clint’s Rating: 78%
Emily’s Rating: 82% (“It was fun to have a comedy again!”)
Margin Call
Clint’s Rating: 80%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Zootopia
Clint’s Rating: 95%
Emily’s Rating: 90%
Father of the Bride Part II
Clint’s Rating: 75%
Emily’s Rating: (“Shoutout to Cheryl, who Martin Short reminded me of in this one.”)
Culprit
Clint’s Rating: 41%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Lucky
Clint’s Rating: 79%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Sinners
Clint’s Rating: 93%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Adolescence
Clint’s Rating: 87%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Do The Right Thing
Clint’s Rating: 95%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Black Mirror: Eulogy
Clint’s Rating: 88%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Napoleon Dynamite
Clint’s Rating: 85%
Emily’s Rating: 95% (“So many scenes flashback in my head. This is another nostalgic movie for me.”)
Shiva Baby
Clint’s Rating: 78%
Emily’s Rating: 65% (“Shiva…shiva…um…it was fun, but I don’t remember a ton about it.”)
The Gentlemen
Clint’s Rating: 65%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Presence
Clint’s Rating: 81%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Black Mirror: Bete Noire
Clint’s Rating: 78%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Now You See Me
Clint’s Rating: 54%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Black Mirror: Hotel Reverie
Clint’s Rating: 72%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Ocean’s Eleven
Clint’s Rating: 95%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
The Prince of Egypt
Clint’s Rating: 84%
Emily’s Rating: 100% (“No, yes! Are you kidding me? This? I don’t even know how to describe how good it is. I mean, it was just like…childhood.”)
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
Clint’s Rating:
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Sicario
Clint’s Rating: 91%
Emily’s Rating: 90% (“This movie is sic(k). And by sick I mean cool.”)
The Phoenician Scheme
Clint’s Rating: 87%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Untold: The Fall of Favre
Clint’s Rating: 71%
Emily’s Rating: 70% (“Can Packers QBs really be trusted?”)
The Ballad of Wallis Island
Clint’s Rating: 83%
Emily’s Rating: 65% (“I liked the scenery and music components.”)
My Old Ass
Clint’s Rating: 74%
Emily’s Rating: 60% (“I don’t remember it that well.”)
Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster
Clint’s Rating: 71%
Emily’s Rating: 82% (“Finally, a movie I got to choose. This is like putting a person in a hyrdoflask.”)
I’m Still Here
Clint’s Rating: 89%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Ocean’s Twelve
Clint’s Rating: 71%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Ocean’s Thirteen
Clint’s Rating: 73%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Straw
Clint’s Rating: 32%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Sinners (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 93%
Emily’s Rating: 71%(“My water broke the first time we tried watching this. We then watched after Zoe arrived. A little gruesome, I’m not too into vampires, but overall, I liked this one.”)
28 Weeks Later
Clint’s Rating: 89%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
The Order
Clint’s Rating: 78%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Edge of Tomorrow
Clint’s Rating: 81%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Wicked
Clint’s Rating: 38%
Emily’s Rating: 60% (“About two hours too long…and they make you see another one.”)
Capote
Clint’s Rating: 86%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Before Sunset
Clint’s Rating: 98%
Emily’s Rating: 85% (“Ethan Hawke is good.”)
Before Midnight
Clint’s Rating: 92%
Emily’s Rating: 75% (“Dialogue is excellent, but not as good as the first two.”)
Melancholia
Clint’s Rating: 56%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
American Gangster
Clint’s Rating: 71%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
F1
Clint’s Rating: 74%
Emily’s Rating: 91% (“Vroooooom…I thought this was excellent. Thank you God for Brad Pitt”)
KPop Demon Hunters
Clint’s Rating: 73%
Emily’s Rating: 90% (Singing “My little soda pop.”)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Clint’s Rating: 92%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Clint’s Rating: 95%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Clint’s Rating: 90%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
First Reformed (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 95%
Emily’s Rating: 60% (“They just took it a little bit too far with some of that.”)
Knives Out (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 90%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Glass Onion (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 81%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
The Residence
Clint’s Rating: 84%
Emily’s Rating: 91% (“That was clever.”)
Drop
Clint’s Rating: 47%
Emily’s Rating: 68% (“It gives me flashbacks to When A Stranger Calls.”)
Blade Runner
Clint’s Rating: 82%
Emily’s Rating: 55% (“I don’t really remember these.”)
Blade Runner 2049 (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 88%
Emily’s Rating: 65% (“I don’t really remember these.”)
The Amateur
Clint’s Rating: 51%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Mickey 17 (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 71%
Emily’s Rating: 50% (“Everyone needs to know that Clint has a crush on Robert Pattinson. He calls him Bobby P.”)
A Hidden Life (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 98%
Emily’s Rating: 95% (“Beautiful images, music, and story.”)
Civil War (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 77%
Emily’s Rating: 60% (“Interesting to see a war photographer’s perspective, but I didn’t love it.”)
Weapons
Clint’s Rating: 90%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
Clint’s Rating: 75%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Zoolander (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 74%
Emily’s Rating: 88% (“I’ve unlocked a new fear: filling up my car at gas stations.”)
The Hateful Eight (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 82%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
The Other Guys (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 78%
Emily’s Rating: 90% (“Bye Sheila!”)
10 Things I Hate About You
Clint’s Rating: 75%
Emily’s Rating: 75% (“I wish I could remember 10 things about this movie.”)
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Amongst Thieves
Clint’s Rating: 68%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
The Dark Knight (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 94%
Emily’s Rating: 92% (“I like Heath Ledger.”)
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Clint’s Rating: 91%
Emily’s Rating: 80% (“Brownie points for the one continuous shot effect.”)
The Thurday Murder Club
Clint’s Rating: 53%
Emily’s Rating: 78% (“British humour is good.”)
Shrek (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 85%
Emily’s Rating: 100% (“Not the gumdrop buttons!”)
Shrek 2 (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 75%
Emily’s Rating: 90% (“10% off because I’m disenchanted with the fairy godmother.”)
Shrek The Third (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 80%
Emily’s Rating: 100% (“Where’s the baby?”)
Django Unchained (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 90%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Coherence
Clint’s Rating: 85%
Emily’s Rating: 50% (“Trippy - creeped me out.”)
Highest 2 Lowest
Clint’s Rating: 61%
Emily’s Rating: 68% (“Interesting examination of wealth, but more middle than high or low for me.”)
The Departed (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 85%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
28 Years Later
Clint’s Rating: 87%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Inside Man (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 85%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Wind River (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 81%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Soul (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 97%
Emily’s Rating: 98% (“It’s soul good - effectively summarizes the human experience. ”)
One Battle After Another
Clint’s Rating: 95%
Emily’s Rating: 60% (“Of the Andersons, I prefer Wes.”)
Phantom Thread (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 87%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Thelma
Clint’s Rating: 73%
Emily’s Rating: 95% (“The hero we didn’t know we needed.”)
Nosferatu (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 90%
Emily’s Rating: 50% (“I mixed this up with Frankenstein.”)
The Naked Gun
Clint’s Rating: 75%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Friendship
Clint’s Rating: 65%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Frankenstein
Clint’s Rating: 73%
Emily’s Rating: 50% (“Nah - it didn’t bring me to life.”)
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 67%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
The Naked Gun (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 75%
Emily’s Rating: 61% (“You have to be in a certain stupid mood for this one”)
A Christmas Carol
Clint’s Rating: 75%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Zootopia 2
Clint’s Rating: 83%
Emily’s Rating: 90% (“A zoo oo oo”)
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Clint’s Rating: 90%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Train Dreams
Clint’s Rating: 93%
Emily’s Rating: 78% (“As beautiful as it is devastating”)
Caught Stealing
Clint’s Rating: 75%
Emily’s Rating: 60% (“A little too violent for little miss Emily”)
Jay Kelly
Clint’s Rating: 79%
Emily’s Rating: 70% (In a mirror: “Jay Kelly”)
Wake Up Dead Man
Clint’s Rating: 97%
Emily’s Rating: 100% (“As someone married to a pastor, it was fun to see an accurate representation of a healthy spiritual leader. I love a good comedy-mystery mashup like this.”)
Die My Love
Clint’s Rating: 65%
Emily’s Rating: N/A
Hamnet
Clint’s Rating: 88%
Emily’s Rating: 97% (“I gotta hamnet to em - this wrecked me in the best way.”)
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Rewatch)
Clint’s Rating: 60%
Emily’s Rating: 87% (“But what would I wear?!”)