Nathaniel's "Best" of 2025 (Part 2)
Friday, February 27, 2026 at 8:44PM by Nathaniel R
THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS
Consider today's list of abundance a sequel to Tuesday's overflowing cup of film joy. We previously covered honorable mentions which featured films from Brazil, Argentina, France, Vietnam, the American indie scene and Hollywood. Today we move on to the cream of the crop. Herewith a baker's favourite dozen films of the year. I heartly recommend seeing each and every one of them.
My absolute favourites of the year proved to be largely contemporary pictures coincidentally set in the only two countries I happen to have ever lived in: the US and Norway. The latter country arguably had their best film year ever with not one but five multiple award-winning pictures (Sentimental Value, The Ugly Stepsister, Dreams, Sex, Love) in international release. That said, this best / favourite list cannot be so easily pinned down to two countries in the present day. The best movies of 2025 transcend time and place just like that phenomenal "I Lied to You" sequence in Sinners, to include turn of the century England (17th century to be precise), the Jim Crow era South (rural Mississippi in October of 1932 to be exact), and the corner of 42nd and Madison here in New York City... albeit in some alternate universe where it's both now and also the 1960s. Aside from those detours and contemporary peaks at life and lives in the US, UK, and Norway, this list runs through a bustling night market in Taiwan, and holds tight to a dream home in South Korea that is really far more than its owners can responsibly afford. Let's go to the movies...