My 5 Favourite Films of 2025.

I am forever catching up on films. While too many went under my radar, there are also those I’m still excited to see because for whatever reason they weren’t released here in Australia in 2025. For instance, Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident and The Secret Agent, starring Brazilian actor Wagner Moura (Civil War) which both premiered in Cannes in May 2025 and received late year releases in countries like France and Brazil, are only just now been released in advance screenings from this week. I know it’s a minor complaint, but it just means that I can’t consider them as films that might have made this list. Maybe I’ll have to retroactively consider them on my 2026 list. By the way, Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Supreme has stirred up such interest and debate around it that I can’t wait to see that one too. Did I mention Sirat and Nouvelle Vague? Those two as well because it seems distributors are cruel and for some reason between January and March during awards season new releases (from the previous year) come thick and fast in Australia. Read on to discover my 5 favourite films of 2025 (in alphabetical order). Yes, I know five is an odd choice. Too little to really matter. However as I said earlier, I have missed viewing far too many films in 2025. While I enjoyed films like Weapons, F1, Highest 2 Lowest, Nuremberg, Jay Kelly and Train Dreams, they didn’t sweep me up and inspire me like these five films below. Enjoy!

Bugonia.

Many viewers often find Yorgos Lanthimos films and his absurdist and dark comedies overwhelming to watch. The Lobster (2015), The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) and Poor Things (2023) all come to mind. The latter is arguably my favourite film of 2023, especially Emma Stone’s Oscar winning performance as Bella Baxter, a childlike creation reborn after a brain transplant. In recent years Emma Stone’s working relationship with Lanthimos has blossomed. She has clearly stepped outside of her comfort zone as an actress showcasing her versatility. Their collaboration (as of early 2026) has seen them join forces together on no less than four feature films. Their latest Bugonia just might be their most divisive due to its intense, dark comedic nature and shocking ending. It’s fair to say there aren’t a lot of laugh out loud moments as you cringe at the absurdity of the storyline. In this genre-bending film, two conspiracy-obsessed wackos played by Jessie Plemons as Teddy and Aidan Delbis as Don, kidnap the CEO (Emma Stone) of a powerful pharmaceutical company, when they become convinced that she’s an alien (from Andromeda) out to destroy the Earth. When they precede to put her through a series of unbearable trials (the less offensive of them all is when they shave her head) to determine whether she is an alien, things start to slowly unravel for Teddy and Don.

In short, Emma Stone is as always incredible in anything she does. We really sympathise with her character and how calculating she is in trying to escape. But for my mind Jesse Plemons steals the show with his terrifying and unhinged performance as Teddy, whose disconnect with the real world is seriously troubling. Spoiler ahead: The scene where he quietly bullies his cousin into chemical castration because of his absurd beliefs shows how paranoid and messed up he really is. This and several other scenes that come later are arguably even more chilling than Plemons cameo in Civil War (2024) as a fascist militia crazy.

Across its nearly two hour runtime, Bugonia will leave you gobsmacked. I have no doubt about that. You might even sympathise with Teddy’s theories.

One Battle After Another.

One of the most audacious highly original films of 2025 was One Battle After Another. Where do I begin in my praise for Paul Thomas Anderson’s lively thriller and amusing masterpiece. Let us start with its story, which finds former revolutionary, now paranoid stoner, Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) running around in a ratty old bathrobe trying to save his daughter Willa from Sean Penn’s monstrous and frightening Colonel Lockjaw (arguably the best name for a character in a long time maybe since Jeff Bridges ‘The Dude’) whose singular deranged obsession is to avenge his humiliation at the hands of Bob’s revoluntionary ex-wife played by Teyana Taylor. What I also love about PTA’s film is how he throws his main protagonist(s) into the deep end where they have to find a way through their existential crisis. DiCaprio’s Bob for instance is both hopeless and helpless, caught between his own personal failures and being forced into action to rescue his daughter. One of my favourite plot points sees Bob failing at every turn, trying to remember the secret password to reconnect with his former revolutionary group. 

As always with PTA films, he assembles an extraordinary large ensemble cast. The women of One Battle After Another in particular Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor and Chase Infiniti are all incredible. Taylor is a screen stealer in her portrayal of radical Perfidia Beverly Hills despite her limited screen time in the first act. She is so captivating that you can’t help but think about her despite her absence, even when everything truly turns to shit. Because of her, Perfida’s teenage daughter Willa (played by Chase Infiniti) is forced to flee in a desperate attempt to survive. Also worthy of a mention is Benico del Toro as Sensei, which saw PTA shutdown production for two and half months to wait for Benicio to play Sensei because he was doing The Phoenician Scheme. And then there is Sean Penn’s villainous white supremacist Colonel Lockjaw. It is truly impossible to understate how important his performance is in this film. His character embodies everything that is wrong with America as a society today.

In any case, if you really like Paul Thomas Anderson and his films, you’ll like One Battle After Another.

The Phoenician Scheme.

The Phoenician Scheme sits somewhere alongside Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and The French Dispatch (2021) as my favourite Wes Anderson film. After my own personal disappointment with Asteroid City (2023), Anderson’s latest film feels like a return to form for the auteur director. I especially enjoyed his world building and quirky characters. Moreover, with its central ideas around family, nostalgia, (mis)adventure and redemption once again taking root at the heart of his films, The Phoenician Scheme is easily a fun and rewarding watch unlike the forced narratives of Asteroid City.

The story follows eccentric millionaire, Zsa Zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro) and his plight to make his latest grand exploitative infrastructure project a reality. Unfortunately Korda’s enemies are not pleased with him and we witness the first of several comedic attempts to blow his plane out of the sky. His extraordinary escape forces him to appoint his estranged daughter Sister Liesl (Mia Threapleton), a wanna-be nun, as the sole heir to his fortune. But more than anything Korda wants to bond with his daughter. Liesl though is less than enthusiast about her appointment but still decides to tag along with her father and what may come. The two are joined by the suitably apt Michael Cera, in his Wes Anderson film debut as entomologist Bjorn Lund, as they navigate the dangerous road ahead beset with shady businessmen, terrorist and more assassins. It all accumulates in a hilariously farcical fight scene with Korda’s antagonist brother (Benedict Cumberbatch). It’s worth noting Benicio del Toro’s and Mia Threapleton’s performance are both brilliant, especially Threapleton’s deadpan, sarcastic delivery and humour. 

Predator: Badlands.

Elle Fanning never ceases to surprise me. Her versatility is probably what I love best about. Not only did she appear in a supporting role as Rachel Kemp, an American actress, in Sentimental Value in 2025, she also made her debut in the Predator franchise entry surprise hit of 2025, Predator: Badlands. Fanning plays dual roles as twin Weyland-Yutani synthetics, Thia and Tessa. While Thia’s initial mission involved biological research, she soon runs into trouble and is dismembered in half. She is found by Dek, an outcast Yautja (Predator) who must redeem himself by hunting the unkillable Kalisk. Meanwhile Thia’s sister, Tessa is also on the hunt to retrieve the formidable Kalisk. Nothing will stand in her way, not even her sister Thia who has formed the most unlikely of partnership with Dex. This new action-packed chapter is unique amongst the Predator films. It subverts our expectations of what a Predator film should be. It’s a lot of fun. For the record I’m not a fan of the Predator franchise as a whole. I’ve come to love the original. Prey was awesome and so was Badlands. The rest I could easily forget. Badlands is a lot of fun because in this film, the Yautja isn’t the hunter. He is the hunted. And with Fanning (as Thia) playing his sidekick, there are a lot of genuine laughs, which makes this new entry unique in the Predator mythos. 

Sentimental Value.

I’ve said it before, I’m a big fan of non-English language films. European cinema, for instance, often feels more authentic and stimulating than American films these days (maybe even always was). Its focus on artistic integrity, complex social themes, and auteur-driven vision is what makes Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value a shining example of what filmmaking should be. In Trier’s intimate character study for Sentimental Value, he delves into ideas around family relationships, trauma and memory. It leaves us feeling profoundly moved at the end of it. The film sees sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, who was once a distinguished film director. He has come home with a hidden agenda to cast his successful stage actress and eldest daughter Nora in his new film. When Nora refuses his offer, he instead desperately gives the part to an up-and-coming young American actress played by Elle Fanning. This turn of events leads to more fiction to an already complicated relationship Nora and her sister Agnes share with their father. At the beginning of the film, Trier opens with a series of scene of the house that will play a big part of the film. In a voice-over we hear Nora describing the house as a living and breathing entity. Throughout more flashbacks we also bear witness to some of the trauma experience by the Borg sisters.

In short, Stellan Skarsgard (Good Will Hunting, Chernobyl and Andor) is a tour de force as Gustav Borg, Agnes and Nora’s absent father. He is a troubled man haunted by the trauma of his mother’s suicide. Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) plays the complex role of Nora whom we follow closely throughout the film, especially her pain and resentment towards her father but also her emotional evolution by the end. Then, there is Agnes played by little known actress Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas. Her supporting role as Agnes in the film is my favourite performance of the year. It is such an underrated performance and easily overlooked compared to say Emma Stone or Renate Reinsve in their respective lead roles. Without exaggeration Lilleaas as Agnes is the central grounding force that anchors the entire film together. It is the accumulation of all the small moments that make Lilleaas great. Though if I am to pinpoint one moment that is worthy of our attention it is when Agnes makes a welfare visit to see her deeply troubled sister Nora in the third act. It ends in an emotional embrace where the two sisters experience a deeply cathartic moment once weighted down by their shared childhood trauma. Please see this wonderful film. It will blow you away with its themes, character arcs and emotional storytelling.