The Best Movies of 2025, According to One Very Biased Cosmopolitan Editor
Otherwise known as every single time we went to the theater and said "we're so back" this year.
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Looking back, this might be the year that the movies were actually so back. Sinners carried us through the spring and gave us something to talk about, while Materialists polarized us and had us arguing about Broke Man Propaganda and the state of the rom-com. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning scratched the summer blockbuster itch. And Marty Supreme had us all wondering if we should pick up ping pong paddles. Even though technically speaking the box office performance spreadsheets would disagree, we had a lot to chew on at the movie theaters this year. Below, you'll find my top 10 movies of the year. My DMs are open for anyone who wants to argue.
Honorable Mention: 'Marty Supreme'
I couldn't, in good faith, put this on the actual list because I was not graced with a screening invitation and therefore I have not been able to see it. But I have no doubt that once I do see it, it'll crack my top 10.
'Black Bag'
This is one of the sexiest films I saw all year, and that's a big part of why it made this list, because the rest of the year was a bit... sexless? It's a spy thriller starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, and they play a pair of married spies who each start to suspect the other is up to something they shouldn't be up to. It's thrilling!
'Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale'
Ultimately, I have to be me, and putting the final Downton Abbey movie on the best of the year list is very on-brand. But it is also a beautiful send-off to one of the most beloved television and movie franchises of the last 15 years. Also, you have to see the costumes. They're incredible.
READ: Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael Say Goodbye to Downton Abbey
'One of Them Days'
Bring! Back! Th buddy comedy!!!!! Sza and Keke Palmer's two-hander was one of the best theater experiences I had all year (full of groups of girlfriends laughing their asses off). These two have such effortless chemistry that I started to wonder if they had secretly been friends for years. I wish we got 10 movies like this a year.
'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery'
This might be recency bias because I saw this for the first time a week ago, but in my opinion, this is a better Knives Out follow-up than 2022's Glass Onion because it actually tackles themes other than just 1) the mystery at hand and 2) greed. There's plenty of that, sure, but Josh O'Connor's character, a priest in a new-to-him parish, is going through a whole existential/religious crisis that gives this film a new layer. It's also just really enjoyable to watch.
'Hamnet'
The tear-jerker that lives up to its hype. Hamnet follows William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes after the death of their son Hamnet, and it is as devastating as it sounds. The final 30 minutes of this movie completely transported me to another place, and Jessie Buckley gives one of the best performances of the year.
'Materialists'
Who would dare put Materialists at number 5 on their best-of list? Me, that's who! It's not perfect, and you could argue that the marketing was a real bait-and-switch, but this was one of the few films of the year that compelled an entire group of my girlfriends and I to head to the theater together and stand on the sidewalk for half an hour afterward debating whether it was good or not. I like a movie that gets people talking.
READ: How ‘Materialists’ Perfectly Uses Chris Evans, an Interview With Director Celine Song
'Sorry, Baby'
I saw this at the Sundance Film Festival in January and knew even then that it would make my best-of list. Eva Victor writes, directs, and stars in this debut feature about Agnes, who spends the movie trying to come through the aftermath and grief of a tragic event. It's surprisingly funny given that premise. I laughed, I cried!
'Sentimental Value'
The first of three entries on this list that could be categorized as "generational trauma, the movie" Sentimental Value follows an actor named Nora who is actively resisting all her father's attempts to reconnect with her. As the film progresses, you learn more about each of their motives, and it makes the ending all the more cathartic. Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård
give incredible performances as father and daughter, beautifully supported by Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas.
'One Battle After Another'
As Jennifer Lawrence told Leonardo DiCaprio in their instantly-iconic Variety Actors on Actors segment, "I’m so sad that you don’t have a teenage daughter. You look great with one." This is one of the best movies I've ever seen about dads and daughters, about the trauma our parents pass down to us and whether we can ever really escape it. Newcomer Chase Infiniti is well up to the task of going toe-to-toe with one of our best living actors.
'Sinners'
What is there to be said about Sinners that hasn't already been said? Ryan Coogler's newest manages to do something impossible: be a movie that is about vampires but also about race, that is wildly crowd-pleasing and genuinely thrilling, showcasing Michael B. Jordan in maybe his best performance ever, giving a masterclass in genre, storytelling, and action. Basically, it's a magic trick. Months later, I still think about this movie on a regular basis. It's an instant-classic that I think and hope will continue to reveal itself to me as the years go on.
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