Best of 2025

Not only is it the end of 2025, this is also the first full year of my (revamped) newsletter! Thank you for coming along on this journey of mine as I practice my review writing craft. I truly appreciate your time and attention. With that, I decided to compile a few best of the year lists. They won’t be the most surprising or out there picks, but hopefully it’s a chance to reminisce on some of the great things that came out this year. I would love to hear your favorites of 2025 as well! 

Best Movies of 2025

I had a lot of fun at the movies this year! Lots of delightful, over the top, gothic fare. Even with more subdued films, there were so many that clearly had an artistic vision that was able to be brought to life. 

1. Sinners

Of course Sinners goes at the top of the list for me!!! It’s a film that has given me this fiery sort of hope throughout an admittedly pretty difficult year, state of the world wise. Hope for cinema, hope for the world, hope for the sort of life that lets us enjoy art like this every once and a while. Watching it makes me feel like I could fight God. Aaah! Sinners, amiright?

2. Wake Up Dead Man

Maybe some recency bias here, but I was so charmed by Wake Up Dead Man, the latest in Rian Johnson’s Benoit Blanc whodunnit mysteries. I loved the small town, Northeast-ier, church-ier tone of this one, and how it weaves its thematic ideas into its plot. There is just something so satisfying about the Knives Out films and the way they comment on The Issues of Today and I hope we have ten thousand of them. 

3. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

I have to hand it to If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, genuinely one of the most stressful movie watching experiences I’ve had in a while. If Sinners made me feel like I could fight the world, this film made me want to curl up in a ball and scream. I have to admire any work that gives such a visceral reaction, even if I never want to watch it again. 

4. Frankenstein

I love my emo, tortured boys! Even when the story felt a little shaggy, it still had that central core of craft and vision that I have to give it some flowers. In general I’ve been enjoying the rise of these moody, over the top adaptations of gothic classics and look forward to this expanding little subgenre.

5. Materialists

I remain compelled by…something in this film, even though as time goes by I keep finding things I didn’t like about it. Maybe I just like Dakota Johnson’s performance? Maybe I just like the tone? I actually don’t know! But looking back on what I watched this year, something about this resonated with me so I have to have it round out my top 5 of the year.

Best non-2025 Movies (First Time Watched)

In many ways this is a cheating category because two of them are 2024 films so it’s basically an excuse to talk about more recent films I liked. Oops! 

1. Anora

Anora just has this palpable energy to it I can’t get over. It’s beautiful and bleak, loud and quiet. I’m obsessed with Mikey Madison’s performance and the way people speak and move in this film’s world. Really a masterpiece, imo. 

2. Slow West

A wonderful surprise! Originally I only watched it because of its short run time (under 90 minutes!) but then I just fell in love with it. It was made in 2014 but feels quite modern, a Cohen Brothers-esque western with many funny and poignant moments.

3. Nosferatu

I love a film that commits to a bit. More than anything that might be what ties a lot of my picks together: movies that maintain a consistent vision, even when it might be offputting to some viewers. Nosferatu would have been ruined if director Robert Eggers decided to sand down any of its dark, stilted edges. So we’re left with something totally unique and captivating. 

4. Killers of the Flower Moon

I never know how to describe or evaluate Martin Scorsese's work given how large he looms in film culture. But this is a good movie. He directs the hell out of it and Lily Gladstone brings a moral gravitas to her role as Mollie Burkhart that really holds a mirror up to the true villainry that surrounded her. Scorsese always has been fascinated by evil men in his stories, and I think this is one that really is able to examine some truly vile people without glorifying them. 

5. Meek’s Cutoff

It’s actually insane how good Michelle Williams is in this. For a movie with very little dialogue and even less plot (the story is: settlers are on the Oregon trail and get lost. That’s it.), it relies on the slightest of eye movements and twitches of the mouth to convey any of its ideas, and Williams rises to the task. It would not have worked without her subtle and thoughtful performance.

Best TV Shows

I didn’t watch a lot of television this year, and I honestly was underwhelmed by a lot of it. I was severely disappointed by season 2 of Andor, for example. But there were some clear highlights so even though I felt there were slim pickings, that doesn’t detract from my excitement for the shows that did rank. 

1. The Pitt

I watched The Pitt twice this year. My entire internal clock is calibrated to counting down to January 11 when the new season comes out. It’s remarkable how this feels both fresh and like something that’s always existed. I’ve fully bought into the world of this show and can’t wait for more.

2. Task

My ultimate guilty pleasure is a dour prestige crime drama so maybe it’s no surprise that I was really into Task, made by Mare of Easttown creator Brad Inglesby. Like his earlier work, Task takes a humanistic approach to the crime drama, where murder and violence exist alongside normal people who are pushed into situations through a combination of desperation and circumstance. It’s a perfectly contained, perfectly executed season of television.

3. Taskmaster, Season 19

The British gameshow Taskmaster is probably the best casual viewing show on at the moment, and Season 19 featuring American comedian Jason Mantzoukas was just a delight from start to finish. It’s hard to evaluate a show like this against scripted or more high concept shows, but in terms of pure personal enjoyment this had to be included on my list of best television of the year.

4. The Rehearsal, Season 2

Even though I did find myself struggling with the end of season 2, I have to admit that no one is making television like Nathan Fielder is right now. The Rehearsal is such a unique show, one that blurs the line between artifice and genuine connection, cringe and empathy. And honestly, anything that has enough substance for me to feel complicated about is doing more than a lot of television that I watched this year.

5. Severance, Season 2

In a bit of a flip from The Rehearsal Season 2, I feel like this season of Severance was saved by its finale. This season failed to reach the same heights of perfect, offputting, craft as the first, but still managed to find its way. In the end, I care about these characters and I find the sci-fi (or not so sci-fi) world they live in deeply compelling. A TV show can go a long way with that. 

Best Albums

1. Imaginal Disk - Magdalena Bay

What an album! I rarely connect to more vibe-y, weird music – I’m squarely a basic pop girlie most of the time. But Magdalena Bay are able to bring a pop sensibility to their more experimental music that really, really works here. I’d never heard of this band before this year and now they’re firmly ingrained into my music cannon. An instant classic for me.  

2. Virgin - Lorde

I could write about how much I connected with this album and how brilliant I think it is, but maybe it’s simpler and more true to just say I love Lorde. I think she’s such an interesting artist and I’ve always really connected with her sensibilities and interests. It’s definitely parasocial but I just feel like we’re two weirdos who have found each other, which to me is the pinnacle achievement of pop stardom. 

3. Man’s Best Friend - Sabrina Carpenter

I was more critical of this one when I first reviewed it, but I have to admit Man’s Best Friend has basically instantly become a staple of my listening habits. It was the first album I sang along to after recovering from COVID. I’ve grown to appreciate the sweaty, hazy world it exists in. I think it has more to say than I gave it credit for originally. The parts that bother me still bother me, but it more than makes up for that in pure unfiltered bops.

4. Moisturizer - Wet Leg

Sorry the album art is terrifying lol. Wet Leg is so fun! I love their affect and their catchy riffs. Even when some of the songs are a bit repetitive, they all sound great and it can coast on the strength of “catch these fists.” We put this album on at a recent dinner party and it was a hit. Overall feels like a real crowd pleaser.

5. Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party – Hayley Williams

Wins for best album title of the year, hands down. This would probably place higher but I only just listened to it so I still need to fully marinate on my opinions. Anyway, this is full of gloomy, groovy jams. It’s wild that Hayley Williams has been making music for so long and still is able to produce such interesting stuff. 

And that brings us to the end of this list and just a little bit closer to the end of 2025. Again, I’d love to hear your favorite things of the year. If there’s things I’ve missed I would love to check them out. Wishing you all the best in 2026. See you next year! 

Each month I highlight an organization that’s important to me. I encourage people to check out the cool work they do, and also to find causes within their community to support as well.

Today I’m shouting out Collective Focus.