2025 is nearly over, which means you only have a week to catch up with the best films of the year.
We know that’s a tall order. After all, Christmas TV is already upon us, whether you’ve allocated time to sit down and watch the Strictly Come Dancing special or The Masked Singer.
However, there have been some truly incredible films this year. Whether you like zombies, vampires, or period pieces about fictional tennis table players, there is something for everyone on this list.
So, if you’ve got the itch to watch a good movie this week, these are the best films of 2025.
The best films of 2025
10. Weapons
- Genre: Horror
- Cast: Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams
- Director: Zach Cregger
- Runtime: 2 hours 8 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: Buy or rent digitally on-demand
What it’s about: When 17 children from the same classroom mysteriously get out of bed and run away in the middle of the night, their teacher becomes an immediate suspect. However, something far scarier is at play.
Why to watch: Weapons, Zach Cregger’s tremendous, sprawling follow-up to Barbarian, isn’t the movie you’re expecting. Notably, it’s so funny, but those laughs either punctuate or tee up ghastly, horrifying imagery and an unexpected (but welcome) new horror icon.
9. Black Bag
- Genre: Thriller
- Cast: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Naomie Harris
- Director: Steven Soderbergh
- Runtime: 1 hour 34 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: NOW TV and Sky Cinema
What it’s about: Kathryn and George are both elite intelligence agents who happen to be married. But what is George expected to do when his wife is suspected of treason?
Why to watch: Steven Soderbergh doesn’t miss, and Black Bag, an exceptional, witty, and silky piece of spy fiction à la Jon le Carré with superb performances, is about as good as an original espionage movie gets. It even as ex-Bond Pierce Brosnan as a spy chief.
8. The Ballad of Wallis Island
- Genre: Comedy, Drama
- Cast: Tim Key, Tom Basden, Carey Mulligan
- Director: James Griffiths
- Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: Buy or rent digitally on-demand (or Prime Video US if you use a VPN)
What it’s about: Charles, a lottery winner who lives alone on a remote island, invites his favourite musicians to play a private gig. However, things don’t go to plan.
Why to watch: The Ballad of Wallis Island may be this year’s most unsung British film. It’s a love overdue showcase of Tim Key’s singular comedic talent; here, he’s somewhere between David Brent and Del Griffith, and he’s every bit as funny (and tragic) as that sounds. A true hidden gem that deserves to be in conversation with the year’s best movies.
7. One Battle After Another
- Genre: Thriller, Comedy
- Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Chase Infiniti
- Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
- Runtime: 2 hours 42 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: Buy or rent digitally on-demand
What it’s about: Bob, an ex-revolutionary who spends most of his time stoned, is forced into action again when a corrupt military official resurfaces and pursues his daughter.
Why to watch: One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson’s 10th film. That makes it the 10th testament of him being one of the great directors; a taut, rip-roaring, incisively scary (and funny) political thriller with a megastar delivering a pitch-perfect performance. Chase Infiniti is a revelation, and Sean Penn is fantastically icky to watch.
6. Eddington
- Genre: Thriller, Western
- Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler, Emma Stone
- Director: Ari Aster
- Runtime: 2 hours 29 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: Buy or rent digitally on-demand
What it’s about: Joe Cross, a small-town sheriff who disagrees with COVID protocols, finds himself in a violent stand-off with Ted Garcia, the local mayor.
Why to watch: Eddington is the definitive COVID movie; skin-crawlingly uncomfortable, anxious, and even a little traumatic. Yet, in typical Ari Aster (who directed Hereditary) style, it’s undoubtedly a tragi-comedy; doom scrolling in the form of cinema. Those who can’t bear it may just not be prepared to swallow how honest it is.
5. I Swear
- Genre: Drama, Comedy
- Cast: Robert Aramayo, Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson, Peter Mullan
- Director: Kirk Jones
- Runtime: 2 hours
- Where to stream in the UK: Buy or rent digitally on-demand
What it’s about: John Davidson, a 12-year-old boy with dreams of becoming a football player, begins to struggle with Tourette’s syndrome, a largely misunderstood disorder.
Why to watch: I Swear pulls off a delicate balancing act. It’s a comedy that wholeheartedly (and rightly) indulges in the hilarity of Tourette’s. But – thanks to Kirk Jones’ deftly dynamic script – it emphatically demonstrates the pain, exhaustion, and eventual peace in Davidson’s life. A triumph.
4. Sinners
- Genre: Horror
- Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Carton, Jack O’Connell
- Director: Ryan Coogler
- Runtime: 2 hours 18 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: Buy or rent digitally on-demand
What it’s about: Twin brothers Smoke and Stack return to their Mississippi hometown to open a juke joint for the local community. However, they attract the attention of an unbelievable evil: vampires.
Why to watch: There is a scene in Sinners where Miles Caton’s Sammie plays a song that literally transcends time; a soul-searing big bang of the sounds of the past and future. As you groove in your seat, it’ll feel like the best movie you’ve ever seen – and Sinners has loads of moments like that. “It’s magic what we do.”
3. 28 Years Later
- Genre: Horror
- Cast: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Ralph Fiennes
- Director: Danny Boyle
- Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: Buy or rent digitally on-demand (or Netflix US if you use a VPN)
What it’s about: Almost three decades on from the emergence of the Rage Virus, the UK remains under an indefinite quarantine. Spike, a 12-year-old boy who lives on an island defended by a causeway, journeys to the infested mainland for a personal cause.
Why to watch: 28 Years Later is a phenomenal zombie movie. It’s also a miracle; a technical and emotional marvel that’s genuinely audacious and feels like an evolution of the medium (there are shots here that have never been achieved before). Somehow, it lived up to its iconic predecessor’s legendary standing; bring on The Bone Temple in 2026.
2. The Long Walk
- Genre: Thriller
- Cast: Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Judy Greer
- Director: Francis Lawrence
- Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: Buy or rent digitally on-demand
What it’s about: Against his mum’s wishes, Ray Garraty volunteers for the Long Walk, a brutal nationwide competition that sees 50 young boys from across the US walk at a pace of 3mph until they can’t go any further.
Why to watch: It shouldn’t have been a surprise that Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games franchise’s veteran director) could turn an ‘unfilmable’ story into one of the best Stephen King adaptations we’ve ever had. Fittingly, it may be the most accurate and heartening representation of how young men befriend and fight with one another since Stand By Me. Pre-warning: you will cry… a lot.
1. Marty Supreme
- Genre: Drama, Sports
- Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma
- Director: Josh Safdie
- Runtime: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Where to stream in the UK: Exclusively in cinemas from December 26
What it’s about: Marty Mauser, a shoe salesman with dreams of becoming a table tennis superstar, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness – no matter the cost to his friends and family.
Why to watch: Marty Supreme is supreme: the best movie of 2025, one of the greatest films of the decade – nay, the 21st century – and one of the few cinematic experiences to hold a candle to There Will Be Blood.
Timothée Chalamet has never been better; a wiry, slimy, irresistible POS who immediately finds a place in the canon of great anti-heroes. The world failed to reward Adam Sandler for Uncut Gems – let’s hope the Oscars do the right thing.
Read more: BBC Christmas TV 2025 preview: All the must-see festive shows coming up
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