I Saw 420 New Movies in ’25. Here are the Best and the Worst

By Roger Costa

• 1 – YOUNG MOTHERS

Looking at the struggle of a group of teenage mothers living at a Belgium shelter and compassionately supporting each other, The Dardenne Brothers crafts one of their most humane works ever. As they continue to portray the working class through their lenses and sensibility, the process feels like it’s God’s messages through the screen. Somehow, through the hopelessness depicted here and the search for enlightenment, one can feel God’s presence. It traverses storms and tragedies, sorrows and disappointments, but it comes in the form of hope and support, no matter what. Winner of the Best Screenplay Award in Cannes, it observes life itself through these premature lives forced to become adults and their relationships to estranged parents, lovers and caretakers, each of them facing life-changing decisions while trying to understand their own condition (abandonment, addiction, abuse, prejudice), while providing a mirror to society allowing us to face our own inner and social conflicts, but always reminding that hope can change things. Aware of the upside-down world where we live nowadays, The Dardennes provide an honest, raw and thoughtful look at such crisis. And they will always try to find a light at the end of the tunnel, holding on to compassion, hope, dignity and humanitarian values. I stand with them.

• 2 – KONTINENTAL ’25

Radu Jude continues to provoke and satirize modern society’s behavior and excesses with this hilarious and bizarre moral twist tale. A spectacle in debauchery, the film explores the socioeconomic tensions of Romania through the moral crisis of a bailiff who evicts a homeless man from a cellar, resulting in his suicide. As she examines the meaning of existence within herself, questioning an inevitable guilty, Jude throws in some critical meditation on our inconsistent human values and the weight of empathy, travelling through history, religion, politics and manners to show where we are going now as a modern society.

• 3 – HIGHEST TO LOWEST

Master of Black identity, Spike Lee conceives an elegant, profoundly touching and vibrant portrait of fame, glory and capitalism all being tested by the limits of the human condition. Denzel Washington delivers a standout performance, one that deserves the Oscars had he cared about it. Reimagining Kurosawa’s classic, Lee makes a powerful statement on the manipulation of capitalism and the banality of fame. As his son gets abducted and then exchanged for his nephew, the magnate music producer played by Denzel delves into a journey of family and business disintegrations, moral and materialist dilemmas. The process is extraordinarily immersive in this passionate homage to Black music, the frenetic vibes found in NYC, its architecture, cultural landscapes and diversity in voices and sounds.

• 4 – HOLY COW

Here is one of those cases of a memorable, unforgettable troubled character: Totone. But he is not just a rebel teen: he’s grieving the sudden death of his father and left alone to take care of his little sister; he’s forced to grow up and face the realities of survival. First time actor Clément Faveau won the 2025 Lumiere Award for Best Promising Actor as Totone, revealing to be a promising talent. Though he is sexually impotent, he is strong and smart and plots a scheme to sell cheese and make a profit to survive. Louise Courvoisier’s accomplished directorial debut paints a delicate canvas of the French rural youth life of secret affairs, unusual mourning, excessive habits, family bond, sibling devotion, nature connection and virtues. It’s a tragic, heart rendering and compassionate coming of age tale.

• 5 – GRAND TOUR

Portuguese auteur Miguel Gomes’ exquisite and exotic Asian tour is a lyrical cinematic adventure through history, civilization, geography and the misunderstandings of unrequited love. Shot in gorgeous B&W (eventually switching to color) and structured as an absurdist romantic comedy, the film follows a mysterious runaway groom in the move, as his fiancé is desperately seeking for him in the exotic Asian oceans while politics and the advance of colonization take over the backdrop.

• 6 – GHOST TRAIL + IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT

Two sensational, extremely urgent and politically resonant avenging thrillers. The first is a propulsive and tense French drama starring an outstanding Adam Bessa as a Syrian refugee tracking the steps of his torturer while debating what his next move will be. Then, there’s Iranian hero of cinema Jafar Panahi’s agonizing memories as a recently released political prisoner kidnaps a man believed to be responsible for his traumas. Winner of the Top Prize in Cannes and told with hints of a slapstick comedy turned darkly tragic, Panahi deserves all praises as Best Director of the year, not only for his bravery and commitment to the art and beliefs, but for this is revolutionary art, it’s explicit passion and timely protest cinema of its highest quality.

• 7 – BLUE SUN PALACE

Tackling the flaws and imminent threat of the American Dream, this is a winning and charming immigrant tale set at a massage spa in Queens, New York City. Deeply sensitive and intimate, Constance Tsang’s assured directorial debut draws from neo-realism influence to discuss the communal contrasts of loneliness and the eagerness to thrive in America. Tsang crafts a visually and sensorially appealing slowburn gem centered on the strong bond between four female co-workers. Naturally capturing these relationships (between co-workers, clients, lovers) with incredible honesty and empathy, Tsang paints a modern portrait about chosen families, an off-key dramatic gem that plays like a melancholic jazz song encapsulated by gorgeous, meditative imagery.

• 8 – SIRAT

Get ready for something devastating. It will shatter you in pieces. Oliver Laxe’s transcendental, essentially trippy sci-fi road movie is an exquisitely inventive and authentic desert journey about a father seeking his missing daughter throughout the rave-gathering scenario. In this mysterious and dystopian atmosphere, a group of road pirates lead the path to the search, while preparing for their next rave. Unpredictably, Laxe twists the plot midway into the film, offering one of the most emotionally devastating situations ever seen in cinema history. Addressing an era of intolerance and resistance, not too far from our current reality, unpredictable and vibrant, Laxe crafts a mind-bending sensorial tale about compassion, human instincts and surviving the extremes.

• 9 – MANAS

Featuring a breakthrough, star-in-the-making performance by Jamilli Correa as a 13-year-old Amazon girl enduring domestic abuse, Brazilian director Marianna Brennand’s fictional feature debut announces herself as major female filmmaker, one who’s aware of her times’ need for justice and repair. What she does here, besides extracting powerful performances from an unbelievably perfect cast of amateur actors, is a masterwork in drama, suspense and naturalism rarely seen in cinema, something in the level of the giants. It’s harsh, polemic and very difficult to discuss but it is necessary, urgent. It’s a film that serves as a vehicle of reparation. It’s a courageous cinematic voice, giving voice to the silenced women who need to set themselves free from both system and society and find human dignity. It will encourage you to believe in the collective power to change the world with the talents one is given. It encourages you to stand up for righteousness and justice.

• 10 – MISSION IMPOSSIBLE + WEAPONS + GOOD FORTUNE + MATERIALISTS + WEDDING BANQUET

The Hollywood affair. The industry is facing challenges and transformations but continues to stand out as the major factory of dreams, fantasy, adventures and romance. That said, these films prove the undeniably entertaining power of Hollywood to masterfully deliver pleasure through its creativeness and delightful fantasies. I had a blast watching Tom Cruise’s playing the daredevil 5 times this past Summer. It was the best way to cool off after walking the jammed streets of Manhattan. That submarine sequence just hypnotized me over and over. Same happened with the orgasmic trio Dakota/Chris/Pedro making me believe in romance again, or the distinguished villain and serial killer played by Amy Madigan whom everyone became a fan of; I also loved reflecting on economic divisions and the broken American dream while Keanu Reeves was an angel trying to fix up things, and the delightful multi-racial Queer remake of Ang Lee’s classic was utterly satisfying, funny and touching. Hollywood still rules!

ANOTHER RESPECTFUL SET:

• 11 – The irresistible saga of a devoted girl and her pet rooster THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE (Iraq)
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• 12 – A kid and his relationship to God in NEITHER DAY NOR NIGHT (Israel)
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• 13 – The devastating truth behind the concentration camps in NUREMBERG (US/UK)
• 14 – The funniest and most subversive film of the year MISERICORDIA (France)
• 15 – An immigrant just trying to survive harsh economics SOULEMAYNE’S STORY (France)
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• 16 – Urgent tale against war and human violence THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB (Palestine/Tunisia)
• 17 – The mesmerizing Brazilian duo THE SECRET AGENT + NIGHT STAGE (Brazil)
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• 18 – Magical realism at its best in MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO (Chile)
• 19 – A triple Japanese feast MY SUNSHINE + CLOUD + HAPPYENDS (Japan)
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• 20 – A cute homage to Cinema NOUVELLE VAGUE (France)
• 21 – The year’s most satisfying guilty pleasure THE SHROUDS (Canada)
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• 22 – The Psychedelic mind of FRANZ (Poland)
• 23 – Dangerous passionate games in LURKER (Canada)
• 24 – Love at its purest in YOUNG HEARTS (Belgium)
• 25 – Well, all my memories are movies…JAY KELLY (USA)

AND THE WORST FILMS ARE:

1. ANEMONE (Love Daniel, and his son would be a better painter).
2. APRIL (Unnecessarily shocking and boring).
3. NO OTHER CHOICE (Didn’t we just watch this a few years ago? Parasite 2 perhaps?).
4. A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE (Could have been better as a play).
5. BONE LAKE (I couldn’t buy none of it).
6. THE ELECTRIC STATE (Trash and Trasher).
7. HIM (Dull and completely disposable).
8. HOUSE OF EDEN (For a world without influencers).
9. FRANKENSTEIN (Crafting boredom).
10. DROP + MEGAN 2.0 + I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER + LOVE ME + WOLF MAN + HURRY UP TOMORROW + KEEPER

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A HEALTHY 2026!

GO TO THE MOVIES!