//  What I Sat With, What Stuck

An echo chamber dialogue

I watched 63 films that were newly released in 2025. I think this was a good year for film, but I’m not entirely sure. I feel like you can really only tell in hindsight, so let’s see how the next couple of years shape up. What I will say is that 2026 is off to a great start, but that’ll be for another day. My uncertainty comes from the fact that while there was a great crop of movies, I feel like after the top 15–20, the quality drops significantly. The reality is that the majority of films I watched last year were simply… fine. But let’s focus on the positive.

My main (obvious) takeaway is that people are yearning for original films – well-thought-out, intentional, fun, original films that stick, are remembered, and hopefully revered. Films that create another reason to go to the movie theater. My last article expounded on how magical that experience can be.

One theme I noticed across several films was the idea of sacrifice in the pursuit of greatness, and whether it’s worth it, especially when you’re responsible for a family (Jay Kelly, Sentimental Value, Marty Supreme). Those three films, in particular, all arrive at different conclusions, which I really appreciated. They genuinely gave the viewer something to think about, especially since we all have ambitions we may want to strive for. I think whatever makes life worth living is ultimately worth pursuing. For some, that’s a family. For others, it’s complete dedication to a craft, or some other human marker of success. And I think that’s perfectly okay. One just has to be honest with themselves, own their choices, and take full accountability for the inevitable consequences of their actions.

Okay, now I’ll get into my top 10 films and honorable mentions. Many of these I already wrote casual reviews for on Letterboxd. One or two I may do deeper-dive articles on in the future. After the rankings, I’ll do a film wrapped style breakdown, partially pulling from Letterboxd stats, including favorite theater moments, scores, most-watched films, and more.

Honorable Mentions:

• Bugonia

• Black Bag

• Sirât

• Superman

Top 10 Films of 2025:

10. Train Dreams

9. One Battle After Another

8. Frankenstein

7.Sentimental Value

6. Sorry, Baby

5. It Was Just an Accident

4. No Other Choice

3. Hamnet

2. The Secret Agent

1.Sinners

Most Watched:

Disclaimer: Watching a movie twice, or even three times, is pretty normal for me if I like it, or if I’m really mixed on it and unsure whether I’m missing something. I’ll also rarely pass up watching a movie with a friend or loved one just because I’ve already seen it.

I saw Sinners six times, all in theaters, and in literally every format available. I even caught the Halloween re-release. Truly a certified banger classic.

Second place goes to One Battle After Another, with three watches.

Favorite Theater Experiences

Obviously Sinners, but my favorite individual watches were watch #2 on Easter Sunday, when most of my jam-packed theater seemed to have come straight from church, and watch #3, seeing it in 70mm (also my first 70mm screening).

I also really have to shout out Weapons. That was such a fun watch, and there’s one scene in particular that was unforgettable to experience with a crowd.

Favorite Performances

• Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

• Entire Sinners cast ( too hard to pick)

• Entire Sentimental Value cast (also too hard to pick)

• Odessa A’Zion – Marty Supreme

• Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein

• Jessie Buckley & Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet

Favorite Streaming Movie

I don’t really watch streaming movies, and I’m not counting limited theatrical releases with immediate streaming drops. This is just a reminder to really try to catch movies in theaters – the “mid” movies made for theaters are still far better than the average made-for-streaming movie.

Most Impactful

• Hamnet

• Sinners

• Train Dreams

• The Secret Agent

• Sorry, Baby

• It Was Just an Accident

Favorite Film Scores

• Sinners

• One Battle After Another

• The Smashing Machine

• After the Hunt

Still Haven’t Seen But Highly Anticipated

• If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

• Blue Moon

• Blue Heron

• Urchin

• Pillion

• Testament of Ann Lee

• My Fathers Shadow