Before you get to the Top 10 Movies of 2025, there were plenty of other great flicks throughout the year. This list is #11 to # 30. There are movies on this list that didn’t make my Top 10, but some of them are so good they might have made others Best Of the Year, so many of them are worth checking out.
You can read the Top 10 Movies of 2025 here.
You can read my Worst Five Movies of 2025 here.
You may also notice that while this is a Best list, I do criticize the films here and there. Just because a film was among the best movies I saw all year, doesn’t mean it couldn’t have worked its way higher on the list with some tweaking.
(As with the Top 5, I’ll repeat the usual disclaimer: living in Saskatchewan, I don’t always get to see everything inside of that calendar year. Some of the best foreign and independent movies trickle in as the new year moves forward. So, the list may be missing some important films that I will finally see over the next few months. But who wants a Best Of list in April?).
11) Twinless
Twinless is a darkly hilarious, smart, weird, and occasionally devastating dramedy directed by James Sweeney. It blends sharp comedy with deeper emotional stakes as two very different men form an unlikely bond rooted in grief and loneliness, anchored by a revelation‑level performance from Dylan O’Brien. There’s one powerhouse scene that comes out of nowhere to smack you in the mouth.
12) The Ballad of Wallis Island
It’s forced, obvious, and on the nose in places, but The Ballad of Wallis Island is a quietly charming British comedy‑drama directed by James Griffiths that has a mix of warm humor, quirky characters, and emotional undercurrents. It follows an eccentric lottery winner and two former bandmates in a story about nostalgia, reconnection, and unexpected friendship. It’s weird that the husband disappears for a good chunk of the movie, but even with its flaws, it won me over.
13) The Naked Gun
Akiva Schaffer’s Naked Gun reboot delivers lots of belly laughs in a world starved for good comedies. It’s not perfect, but it hits enough gags and absurd moments to make you forgive its flaws. I even saw it twice in the theatre. Liam Neeson makes it work (especially the chili dog scene!). It’s a goofy, irreverent blast that reminds you how fun a well‑timed pratfall and a perfectly executed pun can still be.
14) Nouvelle Vague
Nouvelle Vague, directed by Richard Linklater, is a black‑and‑white, French‑language dramedy about the making of Jean‑Luc Godard’s Breathless and the birth of the French New Wave. Linklater recreates 1959 Paris in vintage 4:3 cinematography, capturing the creative chaos and camaraderie of the filmmakers who changed cinema forever. It’s playful, observant, and feels like a tribute made by someone who truly loves the art of movies. If you’re one of those people who love movies about the art of making movies, you’ll dig this one.
15) Sorry, Baby
Sorry, Baby is a funny, poignant look at the kind of trauma you don’t get over, even as the rest of the world quietly expects you to. Written, directed by, and starring Eva Victor, the film feels confident in its voice, refusing to pander or offer easy answers about healing or closure. Victor is terrific onscreen, blending sharp humor with real emotional weight, and the movie carries strong Lena Dunham or Phoebe Waller-Bridge vibes, not just in tone, but in its willingness to sit in discomfort and let comedy and pain coexist (Victor also uncannily looks like Waller-Bridge, which doesn’t hurt the comparison). It’s intimate, smart, and empathetic, finding humour in survival without ever cheapening what its protagonist has been through.
16) If I had Legs I’d Kick You
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is less a movie you “enjoy” than one you survive, a tightly wound anxiety machine that hits in hot, relentless blasts. Comparisons to Uncut Gems feel earned, with a sense of pressure that never really lets up, and Byrne is an absolute tour de force at the center of it all. It digs into heavy themes around motherhood and mental health with precision and cruelty, and while it was bizarrely billed as a comedy (someone involved is deeply unwell), there are a couple of genuine laugh‑out‑loud moments. Brilliant, exhausting, unforgettable, and I probably never want to see it again.
17) Bugonia
Bugonia isn’t a full return to Yorgos Lanthimos’ early, razor-sharp heights, but it’s the most I’ve enjoyed his work in a while. I was mixed on Poor Things. It’s visually wild, well-performed, often funny, but narratively diffuse, like a series of smart sketches that never quite locked together. Bugonia feels more focused by comparison. The story still isn’t airtight, but it has a clearer spine and a sharper sense of what it’s poking at.
The performances once again do a lot of the work. Jesse Plemons continues his run as one of the best actors alive; he’s endlessly watchable and always finds something human (or unsettling) in material that could easily tip into caricature. There are solid ideas here about conspiracy culture, corporate greed, and how easily paranoia becomes a worldview. It’s not laugh-out-loud funny overall, but there are moments (like the flat Earth imagery) that land beautifully. Bugonia may not be peak Lanthimos, but after the last couple of films, it felt like a step back in the right direction.
18) It Was Just An Accident
It Was Just an Accident is a quiet gut punch of a film, made all the more powerful by the circumstances of its creation. Fresh off its Palme d’Or win at Cannes, Jafar Panahi’s latest feels inseparable from his ongoing legal persecution in Iran. It’s a film that exists as both art and defiance. Often gripping though occasionally too measured in its pacing, it’s endlessly thoughtful, building moral tension instead of narrative fireworks.
The non-actors are uniformly excellent, grounding the film in lived-in realism, and Vahid emerges as a quietly devastating character. The ending is chilling, and the film earns extra love simply for how it was made and the courage of the man who made it.
19) Thunderbolts
Thunderbolts is a surprisingly solid entry in the Marvel burnout era, giving us a team of washed-up, damaged, D-list heroes thrown together for one chaotic, fast-moving adventure. It’s funny, dark, and surprisingly heartfelt, exploring themes like regret, found family, and what it means to be broken, all while delivering comic timing and sharp performances, especially from Florence Pugh. Not perfect, with a few underused characters and uneven moments, but it’s entertaining, emotionally grounded, and a lot more satisfying than you’d expect from a Marvel movie these days. It was stronger than both Captain America: Brave New World and Fantastic Four: First Steps. Das full review!
20) Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning keeps the franchise sprinting, dangling, and globe-trotting like only Ethan Hunt can. Tom Cruise delivers jaw-dropping stunts, from tight-quarters knife fights to a chaotic bi-plane sequence, with a commitment that borders on mythic. The plot twists and world-ending MacGuffins are dizzying, and characterization is light, but the movie moves at breakneck speed, packed with tension, thrilling set pieces, and relentless momentum. Nearly three hours long, it’s indulgent, messy, and exhausting, but also exactly the kind of spectacle that reminds you why we go to the theatre. Tom Cruise run towards my full review here!
21) Presence
Presence is simple but effective, a tight 84-minute family drama with a supernatural edge; not really a horror movie, despite the marketing. Soderbergh’s fluid, unobtrusive camerawork enhances the story and atmosphere, letting the tension build naturally. It won’t blow anyone’s doors off, but it’s quietly chilling and lean, with no fat to slow it down. Soderbergh’s little experiments best most filmmakers making their wannabe opuses.
22) Warfare
Warfare drops you into the middle of a Navy SEAL mission gone wrong, a real-time, boots-on-the-ground story of modern combat and brotherhood. The young cast sells the intensity and danger, and the cinematography plus a killer sound mix (especially on my sweet surround speakers) makes you feel every moment of the fight. It doesn’t break new ground in the genre and in fact, may be trying to have its cake and eat it too by showing us the horrors of war in a strangely jingoistic fashion, but it’s a solid, immersive watch.
23) The Monkey
The Monkey, directed by Osgood Perkins, is a darkly funny, strange spin on a lesser-known Stephen King story. It’s not straight horror, though there’s gore and jump scares. It’s more of a pitch-black comedy wrapped in a supernatural premise, exploring family, fatherhood, and the inevitability of death. Theo James and Tatiana Maslany give standout performances, and Perkins’ direction balances creepiness and comic timing with precision. The script could dig deeper, but the film’s mix of absurdity, terror, and gallows humor makes it a memorable, unsettling ride. Don’t look that monkey in the eyes when you read my full review here!
24) Fantastic Four: First Steps
Fantastic Four lands as the most competent version of Marvel’s “first family” yet — and that’s faint praise. It’s polished, fun to look at, and gives Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben some emotional stakes amid cosmic chaos, but it never quite sparks. The retro-futuristic production design and costumes are gorgeous, and the story explores family, connection, and impending planetary doom, but trailers and a few plot missteps undercut the impact. Enjoyable enough, but more like the “I Dunno, Okay I Guess Four” than truly fantastic. Here’s my full review!
25) Eddington
Ari Aster’s Eddington swings big but doesn’t always stick the landing. It takes a long time to find its rhythm, and while it juggles plenty of ideas, many go underexplored. The cast is strong, and the last third finally delivers some payoff, with moments that are genuinely exciting. Uneven and sometimes a slog, but original and bold enough to land. But it’s still often exciting storytelling from a smart director.
26) Dangerous Animals
Dangerous Animals puts a free-spirited surfer in a tense fight for survival against a shark-obsessed serial killer. The film is competently made and explores its premise effectively, with strong suspense in the first half as the terror of impending death builds. Courtney delivers a solid performance, though the lead doesn’t always sell her lines. It occasionally veers into extremes, so viewer tolerance may vary, but it’s a mostly gripping, if uneven, thriller.
27) Good Fortune
Good Fortune follows a well-meaning but bumbling angel, Gabriel, as he meddles in the lives of a struggling gig worker (Aziz Ansari) and a wealthy capitalist (Seth Rogan). Keanu Reeves is perfectly cast, and while the movie is a bit clunky at times, it delivers more than a few genuine laughs. Like I said with Naked Gun, comedies are rare these days, so I’ll gladly take it. It was better than I thought it would be. (Hey, we’re at number 25 here, so the flaws start to show).
28) The Perfect Neighbor
AKA: The Blair Bitch Project (har har). The Perfect Neighbor is a documentary that uses police bodycam footage to unpack how a long-running neighborhood dispute turned deadly, exploring fear, prejudice, and Stand Your Ground laws. It hits hard on gun violence and systemic racism in America, even if the story sometimes undercuts itself. Raw, emotional, and surprisingly effective, it’s a sobering look at how tensions escalate and justice plays out.
29) Sketch
Sketch is a charming little sleeper about imagination and grief, where a girl’s drawings come to life and wreak havoc on her town. Limited by budget but smartly contained, it tells a touching human story about love, loss, and fighting for the people you care about. The humor, music, and creature designs mostly hit, and the emotional moments feel genuine, E.T.-adjacent in vibe if not scope. Not without flaws, but a surprisingly sweet and creative ride. NOTE: After learning that Sketch was distributed by the faith-based Angel Studios (the same company behind the highly controversial Sound of Freedom) my enjoyment diminished somewhat, knowing it comes from a studio with an overtly religious agenda.
30) Good Boy
Good Boy is a neat little mash-up of Lassie and Presence, following a brave pup named Indy as he faces supernatural forces to protect his human, Todd. The film is well-shot, and Indy is absolutely adorable. Seriously, give that dog an Oscar. The story doesn’t always fully stick, but at a mercifully short runtime, it’s a charming, quick watch.
