Key Highlights
- Peter Debruge and Owen Gleiberman, Variety’s chief film critics, compile a list of the top films from 2025.
- The movies reflect on themes such as escapism, reality, and personal growth.
- Diverse storytelling techniques are highlighted, including voiceovers, character studies, and post-pandemic narratives.
- Key films include “Dreams,” “Souleymane’s Story,” and “One Battle After Another.”
The Best Movies of 2025: A Reflection on Escapism and Reality
In 2025, the line between escapism and reality blurred in a year marked by significant real-world challenges. The films we turned to for solace often offered a poignant blend of both, reflecting back at us with a stark realism that made the journey to escape all the more powerful.
Peter Debruge’s Top 10
1. Dreams: Directed by Dag Johan Haugerud and starring Ella Øverbye as Johanne, this film explores the complexities of young love through a unique blend of narrative techniques, including voiceovers.
2. Souleymane’s Story: French director Boris Lojkine’s powerful depiction of an asylum seeker in Paris highlights the harsh realities faced by immigrants and refugees.
3. One Battle After Another: Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film is a dystopian adventure that intertwines political thriller, chase movie, and father-daughter love story elements, set against a backdrop of autocracy.
4. Sound of Falling: Directed by Mascha Schilinski, this innovative film challenges traditional narrative structures through its use of multiple generations and eras.
5. 28 Years Later: Danny Boyle and Alex Garland return to the zombie genre with a post-pandemic narrative that evokes collective memory and processing of loss.
6. Marty Supreme: Josh Safdie’s film about an ambitious Ping-Pong player is a character study filled with humor, driven performances, and a compelling protagonist.
7. It Was Just an Accident: Jafar Panahi’s film serves as both a warning to those in power and a complex exploration of revenge and moral complexity.
8. Train Dreams: Clint Bentley’s elegiac salute to blue-collar workers features Joel Edgerton’s nuanced performance and evocative images that bring Denis Johnson’s prose to life on screen.
9. The President’s Cake: A heartwarming, miniature marvel from Iraq, directed by Hasan Hadi, centers around a 9-year-old girl tasked with baking a cake for Saddam Hussein’s birthday.
10. Steve: Cillian Murphy stars in Tim Mielants’ film about an overworked headmaster at a last-chance school, offering a gritty and insightful look into the challenges of education.
Owen Gleiberman’s Top 10
1. One Battle After Another: Anderson’s greatest film since “Boogie Nights” is a dystopian adventure that serves as both a political thriller and a moving father-daughter love story, set against the backdrop of an autocratic society.
2. Marty Supreme: Safdie’s film about an early-50s Ping-Pong wizard is a soulful all-American crowd-pleaser that challenges traditional hero narratives.
3. Sentimental Value: Joachim Trier’s family drama, while reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman in its dynamics, explores the mysteries of redemption through an intricate and rapturous storyline set around a stately old house in Oslo.
The films selected by Debruge and Gleiberman for their top lists encapsulate the year’s most impactful storytelling techniques. From the personal to the political, these movies offer a profound reflection on the human condition during a time of both escape and confrontation with reality.