My Favorite Movies of 2025

In which I host a superior Oscars ceremony

Another year, another slate of Oscar-nominated movies I’ve mostly ignored, because by and large the Academy tends not to nominate the kind of movies I actually like. I hear this time it’s going to come down to the wire between the virulently reverse racist movie with 16 nominations and [checks notes] the other virulently reverse racist movie with 13 nominations. Oh, the suspense!

The good news is, there were some good movies in 2025, and as we settle in for a winter storm, I’m helpfully putting them all in one place for you. You’re welcome. The full list is reserved for paid readers, but you can read about my personal Best Picture for free. I also wrote two pieces last year on the documentaries We Will Dance Again (about the October 7 massacre at the Nova Music Festival) and I Like Me (about John Candy). You can browse more of my film writing here. As always, thanks for visiting this corner of the Internet.

Best Picture: Homebound

Where to watch: Netflix

“Bollywood” is the popular name for Hindi cinema, a portmanteau of “Bombay” and “Hollywood.” As a genre, it’s not taken very seriously. Its chief export is kitschy song-and-dance musicals. But writer-director Neeraj Ghaywan has been quietly working to make India a contender in serious realist cinema. Homebound is not just one of the best foreign films I’ve seen in recent years, but one of the best films, period.

The script is loosely based on a true story, but I recommend going into it as cold as possible, because too much googling will spoil the ending. It’s a coming-of-age story about two best friends, both of whom are struggling to provide for their families in the face of harsh prejudice. Chandan is a Dalit, born on the lowest rung of India’s caste ladder. Shoaib is a Muslim, a distinctly unwelcome minority. Both boys dream of earning police badges and the social status that comes with them. But when dreams wither and die, they must find another way to live.

This movie doesn’t over-explain itself for a Western audience, which is refreshing but might leave viewers a bit confused at times. One running tension is Chandan’s inner struggle over how to identify himself on forms—as a member of a “scheduled” caste, which includes Dalits, or a member of a “regular” caste. Officially, the scheduled castes are eligible for affirmative action under the Indian constitution. The father of that constitution, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, hovers in the background of several scenes as families display his portrait in a place of honor. Chandan keeps checking the “regular” box, ashamed to own his identity. Yet he can’t fool the police administrator who looks right through him with a curl of the lip, casually sneering at those “quota rats.”

None other than Martin Scorsese served as the project’s executive producer and gave Ghaywan script notes, including the wise instruction to “stay with the boys” and resist the temptation to pursue too many side threads. (Watch a touching conversation between them here.) There are a few strong supporting performances, but the boys are indeed the film’s heart and soul—impulsive, imperfect, determined to cheat the hands fate has dealt them. Sometimes a door is closed in their face, sometimes they walk out, head held high. With each humbling test, we slowly begin to see the men they might become, men who might make their exhausted fathers proud.

Among many things I love about this movie is its depiction of male friendship. It’s a very physically affectionate friendship—the boys freely embrace, kiss on the head, and cry together—but there are no sexual undertones. This is increasingly rare in Western films. Maybe it’s easier to depict in a culture where the men are more naturally demonstrative. I’m dancing around spoilers, but there’s an especially pivotal moment that recalls the bond between Frodo and Sam in LOTR (except that unlike Frodo and Sam, the boys are of the same social status).

I wish I’d seen the theatrical cut of the film, which apparently had some scenes that got censored for Netflix at the whim of the Indian government. But the authorities come off looking bad enough to make the point. The final cut was shortlisted for Best International Feature at the Oscars, but it didn’t ultimately earn a nomination, which is a shame. It should have been in the conversation, for acting as well as writing. By a good margin, it’s my best picture of the year.

And now, we turn to various other movies I also liked, organized by some custom categories I just made up.