The 2025 Movie Roundup
10. Companion
I decided to see 'Companion' completely on a whim. I hadn't seen a trailer for the movie, I hadn't heard any discussion about it, I didn't even know it was coming out. I only saw the showtimes and that it had both Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid. I am very glad that I decided to see this movie. Thatcher and Quaid both put on great performances as the leads and the pacing is great for going in blind.
7.5/10
9. The Running Man
'The Running Man', in essence, is a very typical action adventure movie. Upfront, nothing about this movie is particularly daring or inventive. And that doesn't change throughout the runtime either. So why did I rate this movie so highly? Put simply it's because it's well made. There are definitely some low moments in the movie, but I enjoyed the performances from Domingo, Brolin, and Cera very much. Additionally, while it never truly goes past the surface level, and you could argue the focus on Brolin as a bad actor is a negative in the long term, I always love anti-capitalist and anti-billionaire sentiment.
7.8/10
8. F1: The Movie
'F1' falls within the same sort of lane as 'The Running Man' does. The sports story of an old-timer coming back for one last shot at greatness isn't new and 'F1' doesn't do anything to subvert that trope. However, just like 'The Running Man', 'F1' gets this high a rating by being a high quality genre film. No, 'F1' doesn't to anything crazy or hyper interesting with its plot. But it succeeds in just being well made and hitting every point you would want in a sports drama.
8.2/10
7. The Monkey
'The Monkey' was just a lot fun. 'The Monkey' was a dark comedy and while there isn't much to take away from the movie, I think it did a great job at being funny. It also was one of the years three major movies where a pair of twins is played by a single actor. Unfortunately, this part of the triplets had the weakest performance. Fortunately, monkey funny.
8.2/10
6. Death of a Unicorn
'Death of a Unicorn' is another addition into the "culturally appropriate to shit on rich people" lexicon of films. Similarly to the films placed lower on this list 'Death of a Unicorn' is not a particularly complex film. The premise and execution are both quite simple in fact. A family that controls a powerful pharmaceuticals company gets a hold of a dead unicorn and discovers that its horn is a verified cure-all. That family then gets slaughtered by the unicorns for abusing their offspring. The unicorn affects are really well done as well, and that carries a lot of the rating for this film.
8.3/10
5. One Battle After Another
A lot has already been said about 'One Battle After Another', and much praise has already been lobbied towards it. It is a very good film with great action set pieces and at times beautiful cinematography (the car chase scene through the hills being a highlight). Penn, DiCaprio, Del Toro, and Infiniti all put on great performances. Penn especially is a very memorable villain with a perfect blend of intimidation, humor, and being pathetic. Ultimately, this film suffers from not always seeming to know what it wants to say. It uses revolutionary ideology and migrant detention facilities as simple set dressing and backstory, never truly making comment on whether these things are positive or negative forces. They really seem to be used largely as excuses to involve heavier weaponry in story that is at the end of the day about a father searching for his stolen daughter. That leaves a bad after taste in my mouth after what was largely a very good film.
8.4/10
4. The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson's movies occupy a special place in my heart and 'The Phoenician Scheme' is no different. I absolutely adore the visual style of Anderson movies. His characters also tend to speak in a certain tone and cadence that scratches my brain just right. I also love the use of miniatures in 'The Phoenician Scheme'. I'll admit that I don't fully understand the point of the movie, but it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch and quote.
8.4/10
3. Mickey 17
'Mickey 17' was the first of the twins-movie triplets, and humbly I believe that Pattinson's performance as Mickey is the best of the three. Both Mickey's spend most the entire runtime in incredibly similar outfits and the viewer's ability to distinguish between the two falls entirely on the quality of Pattinson's portrayal of them. I found Ruffalo and Collette's performances as bumbling dictatorial buffoons enjoyable and I thought that the aliens were absolutely adorable. The biggest thing the movie suffers from is poor pacing and a slightly ham-fisted message. Otherwise I found it to be quite endearing.
8.7/10
2. Superman
Coming out of the theatre after the first time watching 'Superman', I was sure it was my favorite movie of the year. I'm a sucker for earnest characters and Corenswet's Clark Kent reeks of earnestness and hope. Hoult added an incredible entry into the Hater of the Year awards and I adored the little idiosyncrasies of the Justice Gang. I don't have any major problems with the film and any gripes I do have are quite small. I don't love the lighting on Corenswet's face during some of the flying scenes. Other than that, I got everything I could have possibly wanted out of my most anticipated movie of 2025.
9.3/10
1. Sinners
When I first saw the trailer for 'Sinners' in November 2024 I wasn't sure I wanted to see it. I liked Coogler, I liked the performances I'd seen from Michael B. Jordan before, but I wasn't sure about the old south vampire thriller the trailer seemed to portray. I decided to watch a late preview the Thursday before a brief road trip I was about to go on with my dad. Ever since that first viewing 'Sinners' has stuck in my mind like a Cognito hazard. 'Sinners' in many ways feels like a love letter to the blues and really just art in general. Remmick is my favorite antagonist of the year and the sheer amount of people who seem to think that being a vampire would be cool is a testament to how compelling he really was. 'Sinners' truly deserves thousands of words of dissection that this brief review will not give, and for that it is my favorite movie of 2025.
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