Caleb Hammond's Ten Best Films of 2025

      In line with The Film Stage's collective selection of the top 50 films of 2025 as part of our year-end features, our contributors are presenting their individual top 10 lists.

      Crafting a year-end list involves engaging with three different moments in time: first, you reflect on the same time a year prior when, filled with hopeful optimism, you looked forward to the upcoming year. Next, you consider the actual year that has passed. (Cue the Expectations vs. Reality scene from (500) Days of Summer.) Finally, you glance forward again with unrestricted enthusiasm for the coming year.

      Last year, I anticipated 2025 to be dominated by spectacle cinema. That wasn’t exactly the outcome, for various reasons, most notably highlighted by my favorite film of 2025 being a 76-minute indie shot in a single setting with just two actors. Now, as I look towards 2026, it appears I may have simply been a year ahead of the curve. This phenomenon often occurs in sports: a team acquires a superstar, and everyone immediately declares them championship contenders, but it's actually the following year when they are best situated to claim victory. Therefore, 2026 could indeed be the year for blockbusters. As I've mentioned on The Town podcast, box office totals could cross $10 billion for the first time since 2019. A quick look at the upcoming slate reveals Chris Nolan’s The Odyssey and a summer Spielberg UFO film—an impressive duo indeed. While independent films will continuously capture my interest—from James Vaughan’s Friends and Strangers to India Donaldson’s Good One to Harmony Korine’s AGGRO DR1FT—each year promises a healthy balance of both big and small, intimate and spectacular films.

      Returning to 2025, the opposite of the notorious Hamlet protest line holds true: the general absence of debate about whether it has been a good year suggests it indeed was a good one. Many films I enjoyed did not make the list below, but fortunately, they appear on this publication’s master list. Some critics suggest this year has been more about quantity, featuring a range of good titles but lacking any truly great ones. I could entertain that notion, though my top three selections could compete in any year.

      Honorable Mentions: Avatar: Fire and Ash – Although it mostly rehashes the superior Way of the Water, it benefits from being the clear standout in humor among the three. Blue Moon – I watched this late in the year; had I seen it sooner, it would likely have made my top 10. Richard Linklater should collaborate more frequently with screenwriter Robert Kaplow. The Chair Company – It gets included due to several critics placing Twin Peaks: The Return on their 2017 year-end lists. One of the more authentic Lynchian works in recent memory, I found myself in a rhythm of watching new episodes on Sunday nights and then again the following morning. Hamnet – A more unconventional film than I expected from Chloé Zhao. One Battle After Another – Similar to Anora, I loved it on the first watch and thought I would want to rewatch but haven’t gotten around to it… Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – In Rian Johnson’s work, the Reddit-driven preoccupations from the still enjoyable Glass Onion take a backseat to something of substance: Faith.

      10. 28 Years Later (Danny Boyle)

      I viewed this in the Dolby Atmos theater at the Landmark Sunset, and perhaps in an effort to showcase their new setup, the sound was turned up too loud. Besides the overwhelming sound experience, 28 Years Later features Alex Garland's tightest screenplay yet, with direction showing Boyle still has plenty of creativity to offer. Sometimes the simplest and most dated premises (a zombie-ridden Britain left for dead as a metaphor for Brexit) can result in inspiring art. I’m looking forward to the sequel, The Bone Temple, in a few weeks, which my studio friend, who read the script, says is extremely violent and bleak.

      9. After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino)

      In Los Angeles, I kept encountering friends who leaned in and asked, “It’s good, right?” puzzled by the film’s mixed-to-negative reception at first in Venice and then at NYFF. I quickly assured them that no, they weren't insane. I also appreciate how the film’s classical filmmaking intersects with its nonsensical plot. I still can’t believe Guadagnino and his crew recreated all of Yale on a sound stage in London, after similarly recreating historical Mexico City for Queer. I wonder if studios will continue to support Guadagnino’s investment in these traditional cinematic approaches, but I certainly hope they do.

      8. No Other Choice (Park Chan Wook)

      Since Gore Verbinski’s A Cure for Wellness, I haven’t felt a director showcasing such bold camerawork and editing. I enjoy Park's storytelling when he places characters, who na