The Finest Cinematography of 2025

      “A cinematographer is like a visual psychiatrist—guiding an audience through a film [...] shaping their thoughts, creating images in darkness,” remarked the late and legendary Gordon Willis. As we continue our year-end reflections, it’s essential to acknowledge the contributions of various artists. From emerging talents to experienced veterans, we’ve compiled the works that have left a significant impact on us this year.

      **28 Years Later (Anthony Dod Mantle)**

      This film would deserve recognition based solely on its execution. Returning to the post-apocalyptic realm of zombies after over two decades since the groundbreaking visual style of 28 Days Later, Danny Boyle and Anthony Dod Mantle crafted a sequel that blends traditional and luxurious elements, particularly striking given that they primarily used an iPhone for much of the filming, which added a unique tessellated effect and exciting kill sequences. As Mantle shared in a detailed interview, “For Danny, the core idea was that this small device—potentially left lying in a field 28 years later in Britain—could capture powerful images.” Though I eagerly await next month’s sequel, I suspect it may not measure up. Here’s hoping Boyle and Mantle can deliver an astonishing conclusion to this innovative trilogy. – Nick N.

      **Afternoons of Solitude and Magellan (Artur Tort)**

      Artur Tort has created a powerful wave of stark yet beautiful cinematography in 2025, highlighted by the intense violence of its subjects: colonizers and murderers. Between Albert Serra’s Afternoons of Solitude, depicting the intimate and brutal realities of outdated Spanish bullfighting, and Lav Diaz’s Magellan, an ambitious epic that features extended shots with minimal camera movement, the 35-year-old filmmaker has demonstrated an exceptional talent for capturing varied styles and framing techniques. He presents each film with distinctiveness while maintaining a common thread of themes centered on brutality and humanity's relentless pursuit of power. – Luke H.

      **April (Arseni Khachaturan)**

      Using an Arricam LT and mainly an 18mm lens, cinematographer Arseni Khachaturan presents two perspectives in April—a captivating film that balances the beauty of nature with human-made horrors. One perspective resembles that of a strange, otherworldly creature discovering the world for the first time—the river in the rain, poppies in the wind, and stormy weather. The other perspective lingers on Nina’s constrained, boxed life as she explores at night. Khachaturan often adjusts the focus, creating surprising depth in each shot, whether it’s the distant glow of streetlights, the tension in her neck during an autopsy, or a car stuck in mud. In April, every frame serves as a thoughtful reminder to pay close attention. – Nirris N.

      **The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire and Peter Hujar’s Day (Alex Ashe)**

      In the experimental biopic The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire, Alex Ashe weaves rich 16mm visuals with an immersive soundscape and organic music, developing a intellectually driven exploration of Césaire’s legacy through a visual, experiential lens. Meanwhile, in Peter Hujar’s Day, Ashe skillfully prevents Linda Rosenkrantz’s apartment from feeling overly theatrical by occasionally breaking away from the standard interview format, integrating posed portraiture of Hujar (played by Ben Whishaw) and Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) that reminiscent of Hujar's photographic style. Across these two projects, Ashe establishes himself as an emerging talent in the realm of 16mm cinematography. – Caleb H.

      **Caught by the Tides (Nelson Yu Lik-wai, Éric Gautier)**

      One of the year’s most unusual and captivating films, Jia Zhangke’s Caught by the Tides merges over 20 years of footage from both completed and abandoned projects, anchored by one of the greatest actors of our time, who is also his muse and wife, Zhao Tao. With a variety of visual styles from longstanding collaborator Nelson Yu Lik-wai, who has worked with Jia since 2000, and Éric Gautier (who was the DP on Ash Is Purest White), he repurposes the cinematographic remnants of his high-profile DP colleagues as if they were always intended to lead into the main course of the film. – Luke H.

      **BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (Bradford Young and others)**

      Due to the mixed-media style of Kahlil Joseph’s vibrant and engaging debut feature, BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, the list of cinematographers featured in the film is extensive, including notable talents like Jomo Fray, who worked on Raven Jackson’s segment. However, Bradford Young is credited with much of the film’s original footage. In exploring the vast African diaspora, Joseph draws a connection with curator Funmilayo Akechukwu’s ongoing endeavor, The Resonance Field, which is vividly illustrated through Young’s lens as a journalist navigates a futuristic vessel called the Naut