The year in movies and TV was anything but quiet in 2025. After a stretch of delays and long waits, the industry roared back to life. Beloved shows returned from extended hiatuses, blockbuster movies drew droves, and theaters and streaming services alike were suddenly crowded again.
I didn’t keep a meticulous tally of how many movies or shows I watched, but the list is long. I spent a truly alarming number of hours binging prestige TV, consuming popcorn entertainment and stumbling upon the occasional surprise gem that came out of nowhere. Keeping up wasn’t always easy, but it was fun.
And that’s the key word for 2025. This was a year that delivered scale and substance, with plenty of standout performances, bold swings and long-awaited payoffs. With that in mind, here are my picks for the 10 best movies and 10 best TV shows of the year, listed alphabetically, with streaming links where available.
10 best movies of 2025
‘Blue Moon’
The first of two showbiz movies on this list, “Blue Moon” takes place over the course of a single, quietly devastating night. As Richard Rodgers celebrates the success of “Oklahoma!,” his former creative partner Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) drifts through a party at Sardi’s, grappling with professional irrelevance, unrequited love and his own self-destructive impulses. Hawke is extraordinary, capturing Hart’s wit, bitterness and aching vulnerability. Watching him circle the edges of a triumph he helped make possible is both painful and deeply human.
Stream with purchase on Apple TV or Prime Video
‘Frankenstein’
If anyone was going to take another swing at “Frankenstein” and make it feel essential, it was Guillermo del Toro. I expected visual splendor and gothic atmosphere, and the film delivers both in abundance, but what surprised me most was the emotional weight given to the familiar story of a mad scientist and his creation. Del Toro leans into the tragedy at the heart of Mary Shelley’s story, framing the monster not as a horror icon but as a profoundly sad byproduct of human arrogance. The craftsmanship is exquisite, but it’s the compassion that really got to me.
Stream on Netflix
‘Hamnet’
![HAMNET - Official Trailer [HD] - Only In Theaters This Thanksgiving - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xYcgQMxQwmk/maxresdefault.jpg)
In this intimate study of grief, Jessie Buckley is incandescent as a mother navigating the aftermath of her child’s death, her performance alive with rage, tenderness and exhaustion. Paul Mescal plays her husband, William, as a man gifted at writing and who loves deeply but doesn’t know how to share sorrow in the same language. Chloé Zhao captures grief not as a single event, but as something that reshapes everyday life. It’s a hushed, beautiful film that lingers in the spaces between words, even ones penned by Shakespeare himself.
Playing in theaters
‘Jay Kelly’
The other showbiz movie on this list, “Jay Kelly” takes a sharp, funny look at performance, both onstage and off. The film follows a fading Hollywood figure (George Clooney) on a road trip with his longtime manager, played by Adam Sandler, who once again proves he has formidable acting chops beyond goofing off. What begins as a breezy, star-driven dramedy gradually reveals itself as a study of aging, ego and creative regret. I laughed a lot, but the humor carries a sting, rooted in missed chances and self-deception.
Stream on Netflix
‘One Battle After Another’
I wasn’t prepared for how funny “One Battle After Another” is or how great Leonardo DiCaprio is in it. This is one of his best performances, balancing sharp comedic timing with the kind of emotional volatility he excels at. Paul Thomas Anderson has created another masterpiece — a feverish, darkly hilarious film about people who keep showing up to fight, even after the cause has lost its shine. It’s a thrilling and supremely relevant story in today’s polarized America.
Stream with purchase on Apple TV or Prime Video
‘Rental Family’
There’s something deeply moving about watching Brendan Fraser continue his comeback, and “Rental Family” gives him another great showcase. He brings such gentleness and sincerity to the role of a washed-up actor who joins a business that provides stand-in relatives for weddings, funerals and other life events. There are many amusing moments, but the humor is balanced with melancholy, as the story explores loneliness and the transactional nature of modern connections. “Rental Family” left me joyful and teary-eyed, a reminder that even the strangest setups can reveal very real truths.
Playing in theaters
‘Sentimental Value’
At its core, “Sentimental Value” is about a family reckoning with the emotional wreckage created by a complicated patriarch. Renate Reinsve leads a stellar cast that includes Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning. Joachim Trier’s film moves fluidly between humor and heartbreak, often within the same scene. It captures the push and pull of nostalgia: how comforting it can feel, how heavy it can become. By the time it ended, I felt like I’d lived alongside these characters, carrying their history with me.
Playing in theaters
‘Sinners’
“Sinners” sank its fangs into my throat and didn’t let go. At first glance, it’s a viciously entertaining vampire movie but it quickly reveals deeper ambitions. Set in the Jim Crow-era South, the film follows twin brothers (Michael B. Jordan) whose attempt to reclaim their past collides with an ancient, predatory evil. Ryan Coogler blends horror with history, using vampirism as a metaphor for exploitation, violence and survival. Jordan’s dual performance is extraordinary, giving each brother a distinct inner life. This is genre filmmaking with real muscle and emotional bite.
Stream on HBO Max
‘Train Dreams’
Spanning decades in the life of a railroad laborer, “Train Dreams” captures a man’s existence on the margins of a rapidly changing America. Joel Edgerton delivers a beautifully restrained performance, anchoring a film more interested in mood and atmosphere than conventional plot. There’s a profound loneliness at its center, but also moments of wonder and grace. IIt’s meditative, patient and haunting, the kind of movie that leaves a deep impression long after it’s over.
Stream on Netflix
‘Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery’
In my book, this is the best “Knives Out” yet, and considering how good the first two movies are, that’s high praise. “Wake Up Dead Man” drops Benoit Blanc into a small, insular community after the shocking murder of a monsignor. As Blanc investigates, the case pulls him into a tangle of faith, hypocrisy and moral absolutism. Once again, the cast is stacked and uniformly excellent, but Josh O’Connor as a young priest is a standout. The mystery is satisfyingly knotty, the dialogue snaps and the twists genuinely land.
Stream on Netflix
Haven’t seen yet but would possibly make this list:
- “Is This Thing On?”
- “It Was an Accident”
- “Marty Supreme”
- “The Testament of Ann Lee”
Honorable mentions:
- “Black Bag”
- “Bugonia”
- “Kpop Demon Hunters”
- “Nouvelle Vague”
- “The Secret Agent”
- “Superman”
- “Zootopia 2”
10 best TV shows of 2025
‘Adolescence’
What immediately distinguishes “Adolescence” isn’t just its harrowing story, but how it’s told. The series is built around long, unbroken takes that refuse to give the viewer any distance, trapping us inside interrogation rooms, family arguments and moments of stunned silence as they unfold in real time. That choice gives space for truly devastating performances, particularly Owen Cooper as the accused teenager, Stephen Graham as his unraveling father and Erin Doherty as a psychologist — all of whom deliver Emmy-winning work. The lack of cutaways and escapes underscores the show’s deeper anxieties about online influence, masculinity and institutional failure.
Stream on Netflix
‘Andor’
It was a tall order for “Andor” to top its first season, which transformed the “Star Wars” universe into a tense, morally thorny political thriller about how rebellions are actually built. And yet, season 2 somehow goes further, widening its focus to show the personal cost of sustained resistance as Cassian (Diego Luna) becomes more deeply embedded in the machinery of revolt. The plotting is meticulous, the performances are stellar and the show continues to resist easy heroics in favor of hard choices and quieter sacrifices. This is still a prequel, so we know how it ends, but “Andor” makes every step toward that fate feel hard-earned.
Stream on Disney Plus
‘Hacks’
Just when I think “Hacks” has explored every permutation of Deborah Vance and Ava’s toxic, irresistible bond, it finds a new way to twist the knife. Season 4 tracks Deborah’s late-night triumph, while Ava grapples with balancing ambition and loyalty. Jean Smart remains a force of nature, delivering insults like gifts and vulnerability like a gut punch, while Hannah Einbinder continues to sharpen Ava into someone both harder and sadder. The show’s genius lies in how funny it remains even as it asks whether these two are actually good for each other.
Stream on HBO Max
‘Pluribus’
At first glance, “Pluribus” sounds like a nightmare scenario: a mysterious force sweeps across the planet, leaving most of humanity blissfully calm, connected and conflict-free. But Vince Gilligan, unsurprisingly, isn’t interested in simple dystopias. Rhea Seehorn is Carol Sturka, a prickly, cynical writer who finds herself immune, along with a handful of others who must decide whether individuality is worth preserving in a world that seems happier without it. Equal parts dark comedy and existential thriller, “Pluribus” asks unnerving questions about free will, conformity and the nature of humanity that are extremely relevant in today’s AI-saturated world.
Stream on Apple TV
‘The Pitt’
Seeing Noah Wyle back in scrubs is an instant memory trigger as someone who grew up watching “ER,” but “The Pitt” quickly makes it clear it’s its own show. It unfolds in near real time, with each episode following an hour of a shift stacked with emergencies, ethical dilemmas and personal crises until the pressure feels unbearable. Wyle anchors the chaos with a weary, grounded performance that exudes authority and fatigue. “The Pitt” thrives on momentum and pressure, capturing how modern medicine often feels less like heroism and more like survival.
Stream on HBO Max
‘The Rehearsal’
Nathan Fielder returned for season 2 of “The Rehearsal” with what appears, at first, to be a shockingly straightforward goal: improve aviation safety. His theory hinges on a breakdown in communication between pilots and first officers, and from there, things spiral in the uniquely Fielder way. While the season loosely tracks this premise, it quickly fractures into digressions about authority, performance, fear and control, blurring the line between problem-solving and obsession. Watching Fielder pursue certainty through ever-more elaborate simulations is equal parts hilarious and deeply uncomfortable.
Stream on HBO Max
‘Severance’
The wait for season 2 of “Severance” was long, but the payoff was worth it. As the fallout from the innies’ brief taste of freedom reverberates, the show digs deeper into the emotional wreckage of dividing a self in two. Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), and their co-workers are forced to grapple with knowledge they can’t unlearn. Lumon remains a monolith of corporate menace, but the real tension now lives in quieter moments of grief, longing and denial. What emerges is something more intimate than a mystery-box thriller
Stream on Apple TV
‘Slow Horses’
By now, “Slow Horses” feels like a well-oiled machine, and I mean that as the highest compliment. This season once again drops Jackson Lamb’s band of disgraced spies into a mess involving state secrets, bad decisions and even worse people, and lets them claw their way out. Gary Oldman continues to make Lamb both repulsive and irresistible, while the ensemble proves, yet again, how essential they are to the show’s rhythm. The plotting is tight, the dialogue is crisp, and the humor is bone-dry. “Slow Horses” may be comfort viewing at this point, but it’s comfort sharpened to a blade.
Stream on Apple TV
‘The Studio’
“The Studio” takes aim at Hollywood itself, following a newly appointed studio head as he attempts to balance art, ego and profit without completely selling his soul. The show delights in insider absurdity — development meetings, prestige-chasing, panic over optics — while never losing sight of the human cost of the industry’s constant churn. Seth Rogen anchors the chaos with just enough sincerity to keep his character from becoming a caricature. What makes “The Studio” work is how often it lets moments of quiet doubt cut through the satire. It’s funny, yes, but also uncomfortably recognizable.
Stream on Apple TV
‘Task’
Brad Ingelsby has a gift for turning crime stories into intimate portraits of people under pressure. He did it with “Mare of Easttown,” and “Task” lives up to that precedent. FBI agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) is appointed to lead a task force in the Philadelphia suburbs to stop a string of brutal robberies, only to find the prime suspect is a seemingly ordinary family man (Tom Pelphrey). As the investigation unfolds, the show draws uneasy parallels between the two men, each balancing duty, violence and the weight of providing for a family. “Task” is less about who’s right or wrong than about how easily morality bends under strain.
Stream on HBO Max
Honorable mentions:
- "The Chair Company"
- “Dept. Q”
- “Dying for Sex”
- “The Gilded Age”
- “The Last of Us”
- “The Lowdown”
- “Paradise”
- “Squid Game”
- “The White Lotus”
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