Since launching this blog in 2017, at the end of every year, I always include a list of my favorite movies (released in the last five years). One year, it was 12 movies. One year, it was 16. Last year, it was 44. This year, there are too many to list. I watched over 130 movies (137 as I type this, the most I've ever watched, about ten more than the year prior, with still a couple more to go).
Instead of listing all of the recent movies I enjoyed, which would be over 50 films, I figured I'd narrow it down and just highlight my 30 favorites, with room for honorable mentions as well as movies I liked that are older than 2020.
Note, 2025 movies I still need to see:
Sirat
The Ice Tower
A Magnificent Life
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
The Secret Agent
It Was Just an Accident
Arco
The Piano Accident
One of Them Days
Bring Her Back
Dog of God
[if you care to argue with me over my choices, or if you like what you see and want more recommendations, feel free to find me on Letterboxd at neonpajamas]
01.) Kill the Jockey
[2024]
A masterpiece. There’s nothing more to say. Emotional and strange and deeply moving. My favorite movie I watched this year, regardless of release year, regardless of it all. I can’t recommend this one enough.
02.) Mr. K
[2024]
My second favorite watch of the year. I loved this movie. The music. The fever dream logic. The labyrinthine corridors. The recurring characters. It has that chaotic pacing that I love so much in movies like Beau is Afraid and Mother! This one might not be for everyone, but it's one of my favorites.
03.) Die My Love
[2025]
I finished making my 2025 list on the 25th. Or so I thought. Until I watched this goddamn masterpiece. I loved every scene. All of the chaos. All of the messiness. All of the unhinged decisions. Quite possibly a perfect movie. Mommie Dearest shifting between goblin mode and sicko mode.
04.) Eddington
[2025]
Ari Aster is in my top five favorite directors, right up there with Yorgos Lanthimos and Quentin Dupieux and Alex van Warmerdam and Robert Eggers. I've loved all four of Aster's movies, and while Beau is Afraid is definitely my favorite, this one is right up there. It's over the top, it's unhinged, it's weird, it's stupid, it's shocking, it's everything. While this might be Aster's first movie that actually takes place within our actual reality, it still felt like a detached fever dream, one where you weren't sure where it'd take you. Maybe the only accurate portrayal of Covid I've seen on screen. I also love that when I searched 'Eddington' in Letterboxd, the two top search results are this movie and Paddington. Hell yes.
05.) Bugonia
[2025]
BUGONIA! Potentially my favorite movie of 2025, viewed at the 11th hour as I begin to compile my best-of lists, so get back to me in six months to see if this one has gone up or down on my list. This one made me drop my jaw more than twice. I adored it. Lanthimos is on a hell of a run. Three A+ movies in the last three years (and yes, Poor Things received the attention it deserved, but Kinds of Kindness does not get enough love). I say this after watching almost every Lanthimos film, but there's nothing else quite like Bugonia.
06.) Holy Spider
[2022]
One of the first movies I watched in 2025 and I'm still thinking about it. Uncomfortable and chilling and gripping and haunting. Damn.
07.) The Phoenician Scheme
[2025]
I finished my end-of-the-year list yesterday, watched this movie today, and now I need to go back and change everything. This movie was a joy. Laugh out loud funny, full of beautiful shots (as expected), and with sharp dialogue and a speedy premise I could actually follow. I haven't watched the last couple Anderson films (nothing since Isle of Dogs, I don't think) and this is making me rethink everything. If you'll excuse me, I need to check out Asteroid City and The French Dispatch. A+.
08.) One Battle After Another
[2025]
I'd been putting this one off because I didn't think it'd live up to the hype but boy was I wrong. PTA isn't my favorite, but I loved damn near every minute of this movie. Often in a montage-style that reminded me of The Departed, this one’s surprisingly fast-paced, despite being nearly three hours.
09.) Reflection in a Dead Diamond
[2025]
Someone said "James Bond on LSD" and that feels right. A matryoshka villain and a matryoshka plot. A dress that kills. A ring that sees through walls. For the entirety of its short and sweet runtime, this film is 100% pure art. A startlingly beautiful spy film.
10.) Nosferatu
[2024]
The atmosphere within the films of Robert Eggers is unmatched. Rats, nightmares, carriages, and castles. After he releases Werwulf next year, can someone please get him to adapt Ottessa Moshfegh's Lapvona? I’m ready.
11.) Tornado
[2025]
A fine follow-up to Slow West (2015), which I also watched and enjoyed this year. John Maclean is two-for-two when it comes to atmospheric westerns where many of the scenes look like landscape paintings. I wish this one had a bit more action, but it held my attention during its short and sweet runtime. I'm also a sucker for old circus troupes. And puppets. And sword fights.
12.) Frankenstein
[2025]
I really liked the Creature's tale, enjoyed it much more than Victor's tale. A beautiful film. One I probably need to watch again (and again). Spoiler: from the moment the castle caught fire until the very end, I was 100% invested and engrossed. RIP the wolves.
13.) Rabbit Trap
[2025]
A quieter, kindred spirit to 2021's In the Earth. Folk horror for ambient gear heads. Atmospheric, strange, slow. All under 90 minutes. My kind of film.
14.) Baby Invasion
[2024]
A lot of credit and props and co-signs for this one because it was unlike anything I've ever seen. Dystopian, disgusting, and pure evil. The Twitchstream live chat going on alongside the entire movie is unreal. I loved this movie, but I don't know if I'd recommend it, if that makes sense?
15.) The Monkey
[2025]
I liked this a LOT better than Longlegs and I'll stand by that. This one was really fun. I’ve seen a lot of hate with this movie and Osgood Perkins’ other 2026 release, Keeper, but the fact that he released three movies in two years is really admirable. This one felt like going on a haunted roller coaster ride. If you’re planning on being scared, you won’t care for The Monkey. If you plan on seeing some really funny deaths, you’ll probably have a hell of a time.
16.) Harvest
[2025]
Feed me all of the weird folk tales. Cover me in old world mayhem. Less surreal than I expected, but just as strange. Harvest is a mixture of madness and beauty. Some of the shots felt like paintings. Some of the scenes felt like dreams.
17.) Kajillionaire
[2020]
Heist films come in all shapes and sizes. This one was lovely. One of the few movies this year that made me laugh my ass off while sitting on the couch by myself.
18.) Nocebo
[2022]
A really strong folk horror film. Complete with rituals, curses, surrealism, wolves, and ticks. From Lorcan Finnegan, the same director as The Surfer and Vivarium and Without Name. The Surfer was originally on this list, but some last minute viewings (like Nocebo) bumped it off. Finnegan is a master of unsettling surrealism and has an obsession with writing characters unable to escape particular locations / situations.
19.) The Mitchells vs. the Machines
[2021]
This movie rules. Stunning animation braided with a steady supply of all ages jokes. Warmed my cold, cold heart.
20.) Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
[2022]
LMAO at me thinking Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio would be light-hearted. This one WRECKED me. I was more or less crying the entire time.
21.) The End
[2024]
Like if Dogtooth was a musical. I love when movies take it too far. Bring me more movies like this with 28% on Rotten. I’ll gobble them up.
22.) Keeper
[2025]
Two evergreen rules:
1) Never eat the forest cake.
2) Never visit the basement.
I loved this movie. No one is making dark fairy tales like Osgood Perkins. Cursed fables. Twisted folkloric nightmares. The jagged nails were a nice touch. The final image on the screen? Chef's kiss. This film is a prime example of what I'm talking about in my Letterboxd bio, where I state: If it has a 30% on Rotten and you thought it was too weird, it's probably one of my favorites. The more surreal, the better.
23.) Sisu: Road to Revenge
[2025]
89 minutes of mayhem. Kung Fu Hustle levels of over-the-top violence, but just like Kung Fu Hustle, I loved this movie. I got exactly what I expected when I pressed play. Just as good as the original. Like if Mad Max was produced by Hanna-Barbera.
24.) Mickey 17
[2025]
I watched this on an airplane and maybe that made it better, but I really enjoyed this movie. It felt like it existed in the same world as both Snowpiercer (2013) and The End (2024). Quirky, violent, stupid, fun. Any movie involving moronic billionaires getting what they deserve, I'm usually all in.
25.) Fresh Kills
[2023]
A slow burn that's worth the wait. A gangster movie that shifts the focus on the women in the family while the (god)father is away on business (or, you know, in jail). It was good, then it was good, then it was great.
26.) Companion
[2025]
So much better than I thought it would be. Pure entertainment that feels like a likely scenario in 2028. If Her was really her. Humanity is absolutely cooked.
27.) MadS
[2024]
I don't watch zombie movies often, but when I do, they feature lengthy single shots, hallucinatory house parties, and mysterious red powder. A beautifully shot zombie flick.
28.) Cuckoo
[2024]
My kind of crazy. I watched this one in the depths of my Halloween marathon and this one stood out as being one of the more enjoyable viewing experiences.
29.) Death of a Unicorn
[2025]
Whatever you do, don't saw off a unicorn horn, grind it up, and snort it. Don't. This was a great airplane movie, and it makes total sense that it was produced by Ari Aster.
30.) Strange Darling
[2024]
Brilliant. A cat and mouse flick that keeps you guessing. You think you know where it's going until you don't know a damn thing.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Caught Stealing
The Surfer
Roofman
The Sea Beast
Weapons
Sasquatch Sunset
Sinners
The Substance
The Day the Earth Blew Up
Sovereign
Novocaine
The Fall Guy
Marmalade
The Thicket
Nobody 2
The Outfit
Wendell & Wild
Daaaaaali!
Lake George
Havoc
The Long Walk
Movies watched this year
(that I enjoyed)
released before 2020
(in reverse chronological order)
Triple Frontier (2019)
Saint Maud (2019)
True History of the Kelly Gang (2019)
Us (2019)
The Old Man and the Gun (2018)
Tumbbad (2018)
In Fabric (2018)
Under the Silver Lake (2018)
Dragged Across Concrete (2018)
Lowlife (2017)
Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)
Revenge (2017)
Let the Corpses Tan (2017)
The Wailing (2016)
Without Name (2016)
Slow West (2015)
Witching and Bitching (2013)
The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears (2013)
End of Watch (2012)
Attack the Block (2011)
Harry Brown (2009)
The Saddest Music in the World (2003)
The Limey (1999)
Faust (1994)
Matinee (1993)
Loose Cannons (1990)
Thief (1981)
Donkey Skin (1970)
