It’s that time of the year again, and we have reached the point where I take it upon myself to rank the top 10 movies of 2025. Not gonna lie, 2025 was a ROUGH year. The worst year since 2020, but that doesn’t mean all was bad. If you are unfamiliar with a few of these movies, I suggest you check them out — they are worthy of your precious time.
First, let’s get some honorable mentions out of the way for best movies of 2025:
Eden
Novocaine
Roofman
Song Sung Blue
Ballerina
Without further ado, let us all welcome 2026 with some of the best movies of 2025!
10. Big Deal
In a genre prone to preaching, Big Deal finds equilibrium, delivering a thoughtful South Korean financial thriller set amid the late 1990s economic meltdown. The film’s heart is the evolving relationship between an ambitious Solqueen employee and a loyal CFO at teetering soju giant Gumbo, forcing viewers to grapple with the moral grayness of profit versus principle.
Yoo Hae-jin’s nuanced performance grounds the corporate machinations in deep personal stakes, while the taut script and cinematography capture era tension through sleek boardrooms and gritty streets. Inspired by real events, it offers a window into greed, loyalty, and ambition without alienating. It’s not perfect—some subplots feel underdeveloped, pacing lags in jargon-heavy sections—but it’s a rare thriller that respects your intelligence and rewards repeat viewings.
9. The Amateur
In a sea of action films forcing unbelievable physical feats on unlikely heroes, The Amateur refreshingly subverts the trope by embracing its protagonist’s limitations. Rami Malek shines as Charlie Heller, a CIA cryptographer turned vengeful amateur operative, whose real weapon is intelligence—not muscles or one-liners. Driven by his wife’s murder, he outsmarts enemies with cryptographic savvy and elaborate traps, evoking Jason Bourne’s grit but grounded in vulnerability.
Global locations add authentic espionage flair, while well-choreographed sequences blend clever setups with visceral combat. Malek’s nuanced desperation makes the quest personal and urgent. Flaws exist—underdeveloped supporting roles (like Jon Bernthal’s truncated arc) and occasional believability stretches—but the highs outweigh them. It’s a smart, emotionally charged thriller prioritizing brains over brawn, standing out in 2025’s formulaic landscape. Satisfying and self-contained.
8. The Match
It’s rare in modern cinema to get a film so laser-focused on character-driven storytelling over spectacle. For Western audiences unfamiliar with “go” (baduk)—the ancient Korean equivalent of chess—this 2025 gem masterfully turns the master-protégé trope into a gripping tale of generational clash, pride, and subtle betrayal. Set in smoke-filled 1980s-1990s Go salons, Lee Byung-hun’s fierce, charismatic champion Cho Hun-hyun discovers raw prodigy Lee Chang-ho, taking him in and rigorously training him alongside his family.
As the quiet youngster (Yoo Ah-in as adult) develops an unorthodox style that eclipses his mentor’s aggressive approach, their paternal bond sours into profound rivalry—affection tangled with resentment. Even without deep Go knowledge, the Mr. Miyagi/Karate Kid dynamic shines through high-stakes tournaments testing philosophy and resolve. A compelling exploration of ambition and legacy.
7. M3GAN 2.0
In a year that’s been a cinematic dumpster fire, M3GAN 2.0 is the guilty-pleasure gem we didn’t deserve—a bold pivot from campy horror slasher to full-throttle action thriller that feels like Terminator 2’s glow-up. Ditching the viral TikTok dance weirdness and queer-icon fever dream, it globe-trots with pulse-pounding chases, robot brawls, and sly self-aware zingers while wrestling AI ethics, grief, and unlikely alliances.
Allison Williams delivers layered guilt-ridden grit as Gemma, forced to dust off the forbidden blueprint for an epic showdown. Sure, it abandons the original’s cult camp (alienating some fans) and bombed financially, but this evolution beats stagnation. Frankly, it pulls off a better Mission: Impossible movie than Tom Cruise has in years—no three-hour biplane dangling required. Blew me away.
6.Warfare
In an era of bombastic, hero-glorifying war flicks, Warfare—co-directed by Alex Garland and Iraq vet Ray Mendoza—dares to strip the genre bare, delivering the most unflinching, visceral depiction of modern combat since All Quiet on the Western Front. Based on Mendoza’s real 2006 SEAL platoon ordeal in Ramadi, this real-time nightmare embeds you with the squad (a killer ensemble: Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Charles Melton) as a routine overwatch spirals into pinned-down chaos.
No backstories, no swelling scores, no cathartic triumphs—just relentless tension, deafening sound design, raw brotherhood, and the pointless horror of insurgency. It’s exhausting, haunting, and anti-war to its core, ending on a gut-punch “Why?” that lingers. Not entertaining in the traditional sense, but profoundly necessary. A technical marvel that honors the fallen without romanticizing the fight
5. Boss
In a year drowning in faux-“absurdist” Western dreck that peddles nihilistic despair as profound comedy, South Korea’s Boss reclaims the term with gleeful, unapologetic chaos. This 99-minute action-comedy flips the gangster power-struggle trope into deliciously daft farce: after the boss croaks, three lieutenants bumble for control—one dreams of franchising his restaurant, another obsesses over tango, the third’s schemes flop spectacularly amid botched heists, poisoned dim sum, and rival showdowns. Throw in an undercover cop and personal betrayals, and it spirals into a cyclone of slapstick satire on ambition and petty human folly.
The ensemble (Jo Woo-jin, Jung Kyung-ho, Park Ji-hwan) nails the desperation and charm; kinetic action winks at the genre without cynicism. Minor gripes: predictable cop arc, some cultural gags may miss internationally. But absurdity here amplifies life’s lunacy with spark—no cosmic voids, just riotous laughs. A crowd-pleasing rebuke to 2025’s gloom.
4. Havoc
Finally free from Venom’s CGI drool and existential whining—good riddance—Tom Hardy reunites with The Raid’s Gareth Evans for this unhinged Netflix action thriller, a glorious mess of flying limbs, squibs, and bone-crunching brutality that makes John Woo blush. Hardy grunts through moral quagmires as jaded detective Walker, protecting a screw-up crook’s son amid botched heists, Triad massacres, and double-crosses, backed by a stacked cast (Forest Whitaker, Timothy Olyphant, Luis Guzmán stealing scenes).
Evans cranks the dial to eleven with rain-slicked Welsh chaos standing in for corrupt underbelly, delivering jaw-dropping set pieces like a multi-level nightclub siege and cabin finale. Sure, the plot’s predictable trope-pile with shallow sides and occasional CGI wonkiness, but this lean 97-minute car-crash cinema transcends B-movie DNA—raw, hilarious-harrowing adrenaline for old-school junkies craving danger over sanitized slop. Hardy unchained, Evans unleashed.
In a sea of wrestling biopics that wallow in tragedy and victimhood, Queen of the Ring stands tall as a refreshing, empowering celebration of women’s wrestling pioneers—without the melodrama. Emily Bett Rickards captivates as Mildred Burke, the trailblazing single mom who turns carnival grappler into national sensation under shady promoter Billy Wolfe, building an empire amid 1940s-50s sexism and eventual power struggles.
The nearly 2.5-hour runtime flies by with colorful characters, authentic in-ring action blending pros and actors, and fun cameos honoring legends. It smartly nods to hardcore fans while educating casuals on the male-dominated bans (lifted only in the ’70s) and perseverance that paved the way for modern stars like Trish and Charlotte. Not as gut-wrenching as The Iron Claw, with minor historical tweaks, but damn well-crafted and genuinely respectful. A strong contender for 2025’s best.
In a year choked with franchise sludge, Yadang: The Snitch emerges as the sharpest, most unflinching crime saga of 2025—a scalpel to the throat of corruption in South Korea’s seedy drug underbelly. Kang Ha-neul’s sly, street-smart informant Lee Kang-soo gets framed, cutting a desperate deal with Yoo Hae-jin’s scenery-chewing prosecutor to infiltrate a vicious cartel, clashing with Park Hae-jun’s rigid detective amid betrayals and a decadent drug gala exposing elite rot.
Director Hwang Byeng-gug and writer Kim Hyo-seok transform familiar tropes into electric, propulsive freshness—snappy banter, genre-shifting from action-comedy to noir thriller, neon-drenched visuals, and practical mayhem. Themes of ambition curdling into moral decay hit like a sledgehammer. Standout ensemble, especially breakout Chae Won-bin. No weak links; a lifeline for story-driven cinema. Mandatory viewing.
- F1
In a 2025 landscape drowned in soulless corporate slop—endless superhero sequels and reboots—F1 roars in as a revelation, the last gasp of real cinema that actually respects its audience. Brad Pitt-produced and starring as Sonny Hayes, a grizzled 55-year-old racer dragged out of retirement after a ’90s crash to salvage his old teammate’s flailing APXGP squad, this is pure adrenaline-fueled bravado.
Teaming with a cocky rookie amid clashes with the sharp technical director, Sonny navigates modern F1’s cutthroat world with heart-pounding rivalries and crashes. Pitt’s effortless charisma anchors it, while jaw-dropping practical stunts on real tracks deliver visceral, immersive races that turn casuals into fans. It’s a near-perfect popcorn triumph with genuine stakes, flipping the bird to Hollywood’s formulaic garbage. This is how it’s done.
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