We’ve made it! The final post. My top twenty movies of 2025! Is anyone going to read this? I don’t know! I just love content creation of any kind. So if you have checked this out or read any of the others, thank you so much for your support. Be sure to tell me what your top movies are! I’m always open to talk about film.

This list finishes up the 4.5 star films and goes into the 5 stars. I gave 11 movies 5 stars this year and remember, for my personal review I use a 0 to 11 scale. So out of those 11 films, only the top 6 get a perfect 11 out of 11. So I will be adding my personal score again to these just so you know just how awesome they are. Here we go!

Rental Legend: (F)andango, (G)oogle, (P)rime, (Y)outube, (A)pple. If the prices vary they’ll go in order from cheapest to most expensive. Otherwise it’s whatever order I felt like at the time. And these are subject to change of course.

20: The Bad Guys 2 (Peacock or rent for 5.99 from F/G/A/Y/P)
I missed the first film and happened to watch it because someone was streaming it on Tiktok and I got sucked into it. So when this one came around I knew I had to catch it in theaters. Dreamworks has great animation and this is another great staple from the company. The vocal cast is good and I can see why they were cast. There were no huge names just thrown into it for name recognition. It’s not uncommon for Dreamworks to make a sequel that’s either equal to or surpasses the original and The Bad Guys 2 in no different. Not only is this great for your family but I would even recommend this to those without kids.
9 out of 11

19: The Naked Gun (MGM+ or rent for 5.99 from G/A/F)
Yes, I loved this film that much. I was worried going into this film because a classic like The Naked Gun could go so wrong when given a legacy sequel. But somehow director and co-writer Akiva Schaffer pulled it off. But if you look at his pedigree, it’s makes sense. He was a writer on SNL from 2005 to 2014 so he fully understands this kind of humor. The Naked Gun captures the spirit and same style of comedy as the original and Liam Neeson not only has the same initials as Leslie Nielsen, but he give a very similar energy to Nielsen without being a carbon copy. Neeson is his own special character with Frank Drebin Jr. and his chemistry with Pamela Anderson, who was also hilarious, made the film.
9 out of 11

18: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)
This has been a solid series so far. I thought Knives Out was a fantastic film and Glass Onion was good, but lesser than the first. But this film picks it back up so much that I have to rewatch the first film to figure out my order. Wake Up Dead Man was so well done and it’s all thanks to the amazing cast. The only person I would have replaced was Mila Kunis and not just because she’s a bad person, but because she wasn’t good. But this film shows that we need more movies with Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) and that Josh O’Connor is the future of film.
9 out of 11

17: John Candy: I Like Me (Prime)
It’s been 31 years (32 in March) since we lost John Candy and still not a bad word has come out about him. Watching this documentary made me want to go back and rewatch everything he had ever done. He was such a beloved actor and this documentary has interviews with so many people who loved him, it’s impossible not to want to watch his whole filmography. This also says a lot about mental health and the expectations of Hollywood and the toll it can take. Watch this film. You’ll love John Candy even more.
9 out of 11

16: Hamnet (Still in a few theaters as of 1/11/26)
Paul Mescal is a phenomenal actor. I’m no as familiar with Jessie Buckley but she was good in this. But none of that would matter if Jacobi Jupe who played Hamnet wasn’t great. Not only is he the titular character but he’s the heart of the movie and he gave anything less than an amazing performance, not even Mescal or Buckley could have saved it. I can’t explain more without spoilers but there’s two pivotal scenes in this film that if Jupe didn’t deliver, it would have fallen flat. This is a good movie. It’s a slow burn but a fantastic finale makes it all worth it.
9.5 out of 11

15: Good Boy (AMC+ or rent from 5.99 to 6.99 from A/F/G)
This film took over 3 years to make because Indy was played by the real dog of Ben Leonberg and Kari Fischer who are the director and producer respectively. He’s not a trained acting dog so they filmed a little bit each day for years. What we got was a haunting movie that shows that so much can be done with so little. This had an estimated budget of 70 grand so I refuse to accept a bad low budget horror now. This is a good supernatural horror film.
9.5 out of 11

14: Chainsaw Man – The Movie: The Reze Arc (Rent for 19.99 from P/F/G/A/Y)
I like Chainsaw Man, but I don’t love it. Denji is a bit too perverted for my liking but it’s all the side characters that I like. But this movie, this movie was better than all of season one combined. And remember, I liked season one. This movie wove an interesting story, introduce a terrifying new bad guy, and had a very exciting final battle that I’m still thinking about. If this is a sign of the future of the series, it’s going to be great.
9.5 out of 11

13: The Threesome (Netflix or rent for 5.99 from Y/A/G/P/F)
With a title like this you would think this would be a raunchy comedy. You might expect a film to pair with Blockers or something like that. But this is so much more than that. This movie has a classic romcom story with a nice twist and a very likable and talented cast that kept you rooting for all of them. I’ve always been a fan of Zoey Deutch so it was Jonah Hauer-King and Ruby Cruz that I wasn’t familiar with but both of them were perfect. And if you don’t like love triangles, don’t worry, this isn’t one.
9.5 out of 11

12: Twinless (Rent for 5.99 from Y/G/A/F/P)
Writer, Director, and Costar James Sweeney made one of my favorite movies of the year. It was such an interesting dark psychological dramady that I still think of it to this day. What could have been a big twist isn’t really held onto that long and instead the drama and the tension is built up on when the other shoe is going to drop. The movie manages to make you understand everyone even if they’re not always in the right and builds sympathy where other movies may have let it fizzle. This is a great film.
9.5 out of 11

11. Ocean with David Attenborough (Hulu/Disney+)
This one is easy. Who doesn’t love a documentary hosted by David Attenborough? If you raised your hand, you’re wrong. David Attenborough is a true treasure and I argue that he’s one of the greatest living people. His voice is iconic and his passion for saving the planet is unmatched. I could listen to him read the Applebees menu. This documentary is equal parts devastating and hopeful. He shows us how humanity has caused a catastrophe in our oceans but also how we’re working to overcome it. This is another great Attenborough nature doc.
10 out of 11

10: One Battle After Another (HBO Max or rent for 6.99 from G/A/F/Y/P)
This film was almost 3 hours but it never once felt like it. I haven’t seen a Paul Thomas Anderson movie since Inherent Vice so I wasn’t too familiar with his work. But now I guess I’ll have to go back and watch his other movies (except for Licorice Pizza, I’m not supporting that one). This was such a complex movie with so many moving parts that somehow ever got too convoluted. The cast was superb and we get an exciting story focusing around Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), Bob’s daughter Willa (Chase Infinity) and the MAGA adjacent Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn). This is a pro revolutionary and anti-fascist movie that is exactly what we need in today’s world.
10 out of 11

9: Frankenstein (Netflix)
Guillermo Del Toro directing a Frankenstein movie? Hell yeah! There was no world where I was going to miss this film. This is the best version of Frankenstein we’ve seen on screen. I’ve recently rewatched the 1931 Boris Karloff version and its a cinematic masterpiece, but it’s not a good adaptation. Jacob Elordi was a fantastic Monster and Oscar Isaac shows what a narcissistic scumbag Dr. Frankenstein is. Every performance in this film was great, the settings were great, the cinematography was great. I can’t really think of a way this film could be improved.
10.5 out of 11

8: Little Amelie or The Character of Rain (Rent for 5.99 from Y/A/F/G/P)
I didn’t plan on seeing this. I thought it looked beautiful but the trailer didn’t wow me. But I decided to give it a try and my God did this movie captivate me. This movie balances everything so well. Amelie could have easily been an unlikeable character with how she was written but the performance and her growth as a character made her charming. This is a deep and emotional animated movie that needs to be watched by everyone.
10.5 out of 11

7: The Life of Chuck (Hulu/Disney+ or rent from 4.99 to 5.99 from A/G/F/P/Y)
This is a film made up of three moments from Chuck’s life and this has one of the most existentially terrifying scenes in any movie I’ve ever seen. Not like horror movie terrifying, but this scene that gave me a shiver running down my spine due to the existential dread I felt. But beyond that this is a movie that runs the gamut of emotions. I was charmed, I was sad, I was laughing, I was terrified, I was hopeful. This film is so well done and all three actors who played Chuck (Benjamin Pajak, Jacob Tremblay, and Tom Hiddleston) helped make him a memorable and relatable character.
10.5 out of 11

6: Kpop Demon Hunters (Netflix)
This was one of my most rewatched films last year. I saw it three times in total and I’m already considering watching it again. This had infectious songs, the fantastic Spider-verse animation, and a familiar yet still enjoyable story. This is so much fun to watch and the earworms keep it from getting old. I could listen to the soundtrack over and over. I need a sequel. I need more. I doubt a sequel could live up to this one, but even if it was at least a three star film, it would be worth it.
11 out of 11

5: D(e)ad (Rent for 3.99 on G/P/A/Y)
I expected to like this movie. It’s the brainchild of Izzy Roland from Dropout TV fame who I was already a fan of. What I didn’t expect was to be blown away. So this was a crowdfunded film that raised about 258k on Kickstarter and what they did with that money was impressive. The cast is mostly made up of Izzy’s family but since they’re all showbusiness people, they knew what to do. This film had a touching message about grief, loss, but also purposefully distancing from toxic family members. One of my favorite comedic moments of the year was in this film and I still think about it almost daily. Once this is available to buy physically, I’m going to own it. I traveled about an hour and a half to see this and I would have traveled even longer if I had to.
11 out of 11

4: Freaky Tales (HBO Max or rent for 4.99 to 5.99 from G/A/F)
This film is an anthology film that takes place in 1987 Oakland where all the pieces come together in a very satisfying ending. This movie is punk rock at it’s core even if it plays it a little safe at times. Watching nazis die is always good time so this movie would have had a good score from me anyway, but I think Kit Lazer put it best when he said “Pulp Fiction meets Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World with a sprinkling of The Warriors. No, I will not explain.”
11 out of 11

3: Superman (HBO Max or rent for 7.99 on F/G/A/Y/P)
This was my other most watched movie of the year. But Billiam, you may be asking, if KDH and Superman are your most watched movies, why aren’t they your top two? Well, because rewatchability doesn’t always equal quality. They both rank high but there are two movies I think are better films that are also less rewatchable. James Gunn understands Superman as a character. He truly gets him and that’s where Zack Snyder failed. Sure I liked Man of Steel and Henry Cavill was great as Superman and Clark, but Gunn understood who Superman was and showed us that. He showed us a love of the source material and introduced us to a world that was already build. We didn’t need another origin story. He dropped us right in the middle and it worked.
11 out of 11

2: My Dead Friend Zoe (Rent for 3.99 on P/F/G/A/Y)
Yet another movie from last year that deals with trauma and grief very well. Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) is a combat vet who is having to deal with being a civilian again. Not just that but she has to deal with the loss of her best friend Zoe (Natalie Morales) who follows her around and talks to her. With a touch of comedy, we get a story about a woman trying to find herself after suffering trauma and all the while we slowly learn what happened to Zoe. This is a very important movie about mental health and how our country likes to forget to “support the troops” after they return home.
11 out of 11

1: Sinners (HBO Max or rent for 5.99 from P/F/G/A/Y)
To borrow a phrase from the younger generation; this movie was a vibe. There was an undeniable style in this film that permeated every aspect and made the product as a whole feel so genuine. The music was great with one particular number that had this crescendo that left me stunned. Every performance was the best it could have possibly been with Michael B. Jordan playing twins and being so good at it I could pretend that they were played by two different people. This is a yearly rewatch. I already own it. This is the best movie of the year hands down.
11 out of 11

So that’s it, all 135 2025 releases that I saw last year. As I wrote this my order changed a bit but for the most part I put these in order as I went and my opinions stayed the same. I would love to know what your top movie of the year is. I’m always down to talk movie and to hear your opinion on what you loved. I’ll do this again next year, but for now be sure to check back as I plan to keep doing blogs throughout the year. I’ll see you in the future.

-Billiam