I know my job is to watch new movies and shows, but I made it a goal to watch even more films in 2025. I even went to my first film festival this year to see some movies before they were released in theaters, one of which will even make this list. In retrospect, I picked a pretty good year to up my movie-watching, because there have been a ton of great films.
Don't get me wrong, there's been some bad movies, too. Even worse, there have been some movies I was excited for that fell way short of expectations. But some of the best from this year have the potential to be all-time greats. My top three films, in particular, I expect to live in our memories and be rewatched on our screens long after 2025 comes to a close.
Malcolm has been with the Tom's Guide streaming team since 2023, watching dozens of movies each year so you don't have to watch the bad ones.
10. 'Superman' (2025) (HBO Max)
"Superman" (2025) isn't technically the first project in James Gunn's DC Universe. That honor belongs to "Creature Commandos" season 1. But for all intents and purposes, this movie marks the true beginning of a new era at DC. It also introduces us to a new Man of Steel: David Corenswet. But we're not getting a full origin story in this superhero film. Our version of Clark Kent has been Superman for a while now; he's even already dating Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and drawn the ire of Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult).
This movie isn't perfect. There are corny moments, plot holes, and it falls apart a bit towards the end. This is no "The Dark Knight." It's not even "The Winter Soldier." But "Superman" (2025) still has emotional moments that mostly land, while bringing back some camp to superhero movies. There are costumes with underwear on the outside, there are hypno glasses — it's a Superman movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. That's why it manages to be so great, despite its flaws.
Stream "Superman" (2025) on HBO Max now
9. 'The Testament of Ann Lee' (Theaters)
OK, so remember how I said you can watch all of these movies right now? I lied. While I already managed to catch "The Testament of Ann Lee" at an awards screening, you won't be able to see it in theaters until Christmas Day (Dec. 25). But that's literally just a week away, so I couldn't bear to leave this movie off my top 10 list.
"The Testament of Ann Lee" stars Amanda Seyfried as Ann Lee, leader of the Shakers, a Christian sect that rose to minor prominence in the American colonies after they left England for the New World. While now most known for well-made furniture, at the time, Ann was viewed as a religious firebrand, advocating for gender equality, communal living, ecstatic devotion to Christ (the shaking dances that gave the group the name "Shakers") and abstinence from sexual relations. She had detractors who wished her imprisoned or worse, but she also had devoted followers who viewed her as the female embodiment of Christ
I'll be honest, I didn't know anything about this movie going in, so I was shocked to discover that "The Testament of Ann Lee" was a musical. But the musical elements of this movie are its best parts. Seyfried is perfect casting as Ann Lee, and the choreography of the Shakers worshipping brings something to this movie you won't find elsewhere in this top 10. It's simple, yet complex. Incredibly precise, yet if you watch closely, you can see some individuals doing their own thing among the dancers. To nail down that balance is truly impressive.
Watch "The Testament of Ann Lee" in theaters starting Dec. 25
8. 'Eternity' (Theaters)
"Eternity" centers around Joan (Elizabeth Olsen). She's married to Larry (Miles Teller), until at a gender reveal party, he chokes on a pretzel and dies. Terminally ill and quite old herself, she dies a week later and arrives at a hotel where she can pick the place where she will spend the afterlife with her soulmate.
The good news is her soulmate is there waiting for her! Larry, who, like Joan, is now a younger version of himself, finds Joan upon her arrival and is ready to find the perfect eternity for them. There's just one problem: Joan's first husband, Luke (Callum Turner), died in the Korean War and has been waiting for her for decades, bartending at the hotel. That leaves Joan with the impossible choice of picking one of two soulmates to spend eternity with.
This was one of the best romantic comedies I've seen in years. The writing is clever, and the casting is excellent. There's not just chemistry between Olsen and her two husbands, but frankly, there's chemistry between the two husbands as well. Da'Vine Joy Randolph is also a delight every time she's on screen with anyone. You can see this rom-com in theaters now, or wait for "Eternity" to be available to stream at home.
Watch "Eternity" in theaters now or pre-order it from Amazon to watch at home
7. 'Nouvelle Vague' (Netflix)
"Nouvelle Vague" is acclaimed director Richard Linklater's homage to the French New Wave and Jean-Luc Godard's crime drama classic, "Breathless." The movie stars Guillaume Marbeck as Godard, following him and his cast and crew as he goes about the making of "Breathless," and it instantly transports you back to 1950s France. This comedy-drama oozes style, and it should be a star-making performance for both Marbeck and Aubry Dullin as Jean-Paul Belmondo, the star of "Breathless."
As incredible as this movie looks, I still can't get over the performances of Marbeck and Dullin. Both have essentially never acted before, and they put on two of the best performances I've seen all year. Marbeck genuinely deserves Best Actor consideration for his portrayal of Godard. Is this movie as good as "Breathless"? No, it's not. But it's good enough to inspire you to go back and watch the real thing.
Stream "Nouvelle Vague" on Netflix now
6. 'Black Bag' (Prime Video)
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14 - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/maxresdefault.jpg)
"Black Bag" stars Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett as espionage power couple George Woodhouse and Kathryn St. Jean. They both work for the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre; George is a surveillance expert whose polygraph tests are legendary within the agency, and Kathryn is more fieldwork-oriented as the head of psychological operations.
At the beginning of the movie, though, George realises Kathryn's work is suddenly his problem. A piece of covert tech has been stolen, which means someone in the agency is a traitor. Unfortunately for George, it's possibly her.
This begins a game of cat and mouse orchestrated by legendary director Steven Soderbergh. Almost everything is laid out in a dinner party in the opening act of the movie — George, Kathryn, agents Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke) and James Stokes (Rege-Jean Page), data scrapper Clarissa (Marisa Abela), in-house therapist Dr Zoe Vaughn (Naomie Harris) and Kathryn — and if you pay attention, this movie constantly rewards your vigilance. It's one of the best spy thrillers I've seen in years and infinitely rewatchable.
Stream "Black Bag" on Prime Video now
5. 'It Ends' (Letterboxd)
"It Ends" is the road trip from hell. A group of four recent grads go to get food: James (Phinehas Yoon), Day (Akira Jackson), Fisher (Noah Toth) and Tyler (Mitchell Cole). But with one wrong turn, they end up in purgatory, on a never-ending two-lane road to nowhere.
I loved this movie when I saw it at the Atlanta Film Festival this year. It starts as jump scare horror and then devolves into a slower psychological thriller as you watch this group slowly devolve into madness. The sound design is also a high point of the movie. The way the drone of the sound and score builds throughout the movie to create tension really works.
When writing up this list, I thought I'd have to leave it and "Withdrawal" (my real fourth-best new movie of the year) off the list because they are film festival films that haven't made it to theaters or streaming. But, incredibly, you can now rent "It Ends" from Letterboxd for $19.99, and I promise you, if you're a horror fan, it's money well spent.
Rent "It Ends" from Letterboxd now
4. 'Weapons' (HBO Max)
I'm not the world's biggest horror fan, but "Weapons" is the second horror movie on this list so far, and it won't be the last. Set in the small town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, this movie centers around the disappearance of Justine Gandy's third-grade class. One night, at 2:17 a.m., the entire class ran out of their homes, except for Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher). As the movie unfolds, you'll see how various people in the town are impacted, drawn into, and eventually solve this mystery.
The first half of "Weapons" will have you totally on the edge of your seat, waiting for scares that you know are coming and still get you anyway. I had chills, I had goosebumps, and a big reveal about halfway through the movie had my entire theater audibly gasp.
After that reveal, we get a bit of a tonal shift in the movie, though not as abrupt as the shift in director/writer Zach Cregger's previous movie, "Barbarian." I won't spoil it for you, but I'll just say that you'll be surprised how much you laugh during the movie's climactic scene.
Stream "Weapons" on HBO Max now
3. 'Sinners' (HBO Max)
Technically, every movie in this list is one spot lower in my rankings than I've listed here. But as I mentioned earlier, unfortunately, my fourth-best film of the year, "Withdrawal," is still awaiting distribution. Since you can't watch it anywhere, it didn't feel fair to include it.
There's no such asterisk needed for "Sinners," though. This vampire movie was my Best Picture winner for most of the year, until it was finally supplanted by a film that I think is a masterpiece. Still, I essentially have "Sinners" in the same tier as the final two films in my rankings. If I rewatched them all, I could see myself moving it as high as the top spot.
If you haven't seen it yet, "Sinners" stars Michael B. Jordan as Smoke and Stack, twins from Clarksdale, Mississippi, who have come down from Chicago to open up a juke joint in their hometown. Their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton, in an incredible debut performance) is the evening's entertainment, but when he plays his music is so powerful that it brings in unwanted guests, in the form of an Irish vampire named Remmick and his friends (Jack O'Connell).
This is a killer vampire movie in its own right, and it takes "From Dusk Till Dawn" and turns it into a masterpiece. But it's so much more than that. It's a remarkable period piece that examines Mississippi Delta blues music and life under Jim Crow in 1932. It pays tribute to a whole history of African/African-American music and even highlights the similarities between Black people and the Irish, who each have their own reasons to dislike white Englishmen. I may have two films ranked higher on this list, but trust me, there's no movie quite like "Sinners."
Stream "Sinners" on HBO Max now
2. 'Hamnet' (Theaters)
![HAMNET - Official Trailer [HD] - Only In Theaters This Thanksgiving - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xYcgQMxQwmk/maxresdefault.jpg)
"Hamnet" starts as a traditional biopic centered around the budding romance of Agnes (Jessie Buckey) and William (Paul Mescal) Shakespeare. Yes, that Shakespeare. A historical fiction, it follows them as they begin a courtship, a family and then William begins his career as the world's most renowned playwright.
At that point, though, this movie transforms into a tragedy that will leave you utterly devastated. Then, once you're just about able to pick yourself back up, it reveals the origins of "The Tragedy of Prince Hamlet of Denmark" and hammers you once again. It's an incredible masterclass in emotionally manipulative storytelling.
The real reason this movie is so high up my list, though, is Buckley's performance as Agnes. Despite its emotional depths, it's a surprising physical performance that makes Buckley's portrayal of Agnes so compelling and impressive to watch. Expect her to take home Best Actress at the Academy Awards in March.
Watch "Hamnet" in theaters now
1. 'One Battle After Another' (PVOD)
"One Battle After Another" is a loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's novel Vineland. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as "Ghetto" Pat Calhoun, a member of the far-left revolutionary group the French 75. He falls in love with another member of the group, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), and they have a daughter, Charlene (Chase Infiniti).
But then Perfidia sells out the group to Col. Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn) to save herself, and Pat and Charlene go on the run. Flash forward sixteen years, and they're now Bob and Willa Ferguson, living in Baktan Cross, California. Things are relatively normal until Lockjaw arrives, hunting down the pair to close the book on a potentially humiliating chapter of his career.
This movie is a masterpiece. There isn't a weak performance in the cast, and it's probably among Leonardo DiCaprio's best performances. The writing excels at being comedic and dramatic at just the right moments. There is incredible cinematography, and the film's score and soundtrack (the movie utilizes both) perfectly set the mood in any given scene. I won't go as far as to say it's the movie of the decade, but it's close.
Buy or rent "One Battle After Another" from Amazon now or stream it on HBO Max starting Dec. 19
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