So far, in our awards, we have looked at Action, Cinematography, Costumes, Emotion, Fun, Music, Tension, Worldbuilding, Best Animation, & Best TV of 2025
However, in this last entry into our Best of 2025 awards, we crown our Best Film of 2025.
All films are subjective, so our list might look completely different from yours. We reviewed 107 films that had their Australian Theatrical/Streaming Release in 2025. This is the list from which we draw our entries, and you can see the complete list of movies HERE.
Much like last year’s list, we have had many staggered releases towards the end of the year in Australia. So we may have films here that were released in 2024 for you but 2025 for us, and there may be some omissions here because we won’t get those films until later in 2026.
Highly Commended
A Complete Unknown, The Accountant 2, The Brutalist, Dog Man, Drop, Elio, F1, Heads of State, How to Train Your Dragon, Kangaroo, Karate Kid: Legends, KPop Demon Hunters, The Long Walk, The Lost Bus, Primitive War, Regretting You, Roofman, The Running Man & Zootopia 2
Special Awards
- Are We Sure This is the Final One? – Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
- Best Demon Hunters – Predator: Badlands
- Best Fire Simulations – The Lost Bus
- Best Gothic Romp – Frankenstein & Nosferatu (tie)
- Best I Think They Actually Played the Game – A Minecraft Movie
- Best Meat-Cube – The Gorge
- Best Moustache in Cinema – Pedro Pascal in The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Best Political Non-Political film – Conclave
- Best Overly Convoluted Backstory that Actually Kinda Worked – Fight or Flight
- Best Use of Cheese – Holy Cow
- Best Use of Dinosaurs – Primitive War
- Best Use of Hills – One Battle After Another
- Best Use of Neck Tattoo – Wake Up Dead Man
- Best Use of Train – Sisu: Road to Revenge
- Casting a Complete Known in Your Complete Unknown Film – A Complete Unknown
- Character That Most Deserved to be Killed by the Monster Hunting Them – The entire cast of Savage Hunt
- Did We All Agree What Size the Dinosaur Was Award – Jurassic World Rebirth
- The Film that We Forgot To Hold Space For in 2025 – Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning & Wicked: For Good (tie)
- The Sinners Award for Best ‘We Should Have Listened To Them’ in Cinema – Choctaw Vampire Hunters in Sinners
- The Weapons Award for Best Deserved Character Death in Cinema – [Spoiler] in WeaponsThe Tatiana Maslany Chameleon Award – Glen Powell in The Running Man
- The Third Times The Charm Award – Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
- The Third Times Was Not The Charm Award – Paddington in Peru
- The Tom Cruise Legacy Award for Best Running in Cinema – Chase Infiniti in One Battle After AnotherThe Wait is that “Blank” Again Award – Jack Quaid in Companion, Heads of State, Neighborhood Watch & Novocaine
- Wait, Can we Make a Live-Action Adaptation of a Animated Film Work? Award – How to Train Your Dragon
- Weirdest Last Five Minutes of Film Award – 28 Years Later
- Why Was This British Film Set in California? Award – The Roses
- Wildest Jumpcut – Warfare
20) 28 Years Later
Coming back from such a long hiatus, when your last entry was a bit of a miss, well, that takes a lot of gumption, and 28 Years Later has it in spades. They take big swings in this movie, sure, some like the ending don’t work. But the emotion, the action, and the zombie deaths in multiple different angles are all there.
19) The Fantastic Four: First Steps
I don’t think it is too much to say that Marvel has been struggling in the past couple of years, but the one real ray of light this year came from their first family, The Fantastic Four. A film that both cast and executed all four main characters perfectly, gave us a world that was quite fantastic, and an action narrative to boot.
18) Holy Cow
Heading over to France for a film about cheese and growing up when you were not planning on doing that anytime soon. Holy Cow is a delightful coming-of-age story because it is set in a world you don’t often see, with the pressures of the world thrust on our main character. Also, there is a lot of good cheese-making.
Well, The Life of Chuck is a fascinating film, in that it is a story in reverse, while also being a story of someone’s life going forward. That juxtaposition could have been a mess, but with some clever framing and a strong cast, it all comes together into something extraordinary. I want to talk more, but anything more would be spoilers.
16) Superman
DC’s first big stab at reinventing itself came out this year, and on the whole, I think they succeeded with Superman. Strong casting that gave both leads the same thematic weight, even though only one of them is a superhero. There was a nice tonal shift with Superman, I saw it on the internet, explained as this Superman is a firefighter, while other modern adaptations have been cops, and that fits.
15) Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
If you had told me at the start of the year that not only is a Bridget Jones film in my best of list, but also it had me weeping in the cinemas, I would have called you mad, but here we are. While the heart of the film remains the same as the previous entries, this third outing also had some maturity about it, and a focus that helped elevate what had just been silly in the past.
14) Black Bag
There are many stylish films on this list, but there is only one that is all-style, and that is Black Bag. Classy, sexy, and more than a little devious, this is a film about spies where at least one of them has done a bad, bad thing, and the rest are trying to work out who is dodgy. It keeps you on your toes and sucks you into this world of intrigue and murder.
Look, any day a surprise nuclear weapon is involved is not a good day, and the people in A House of Dynamite are having a bad one. Exploring the crisis non-linearly, the different scenarios show how the facets of government would respond in this scenario, and it is devastating at times. Add a solid cast and an ending that got people talking, and you have a tight thriller.
12) Nosferatu
The first of two gothic horror films on this list, Nosferatu gets down in the dark and dirty world of vampires crashing in the dark. A film all about control and power, and how it can be snatched away in a second. Even though it spends most of its time in the muck, it still captivates, thanks in part to impeccable production and a cast that absolutely turned up for the assignment.
11) The Bad Guys 2
In the space of animation, The Bad Guys 2 sits in this narrow space of it being profoundly silly, like people can’t tell you are a shark if you are wearing a moustache, ridiculous, yet also full of heart. This second outing ups the danger, ups the villains, ups the fun, and ups the heists. A solid film through and through.
It felt like much of the internet came away from The Phoenician Scheme feeling like this was one of Wes Anderson’s lesser outings, but I am not one of those people. I had a blast with this story about an industrialist trying to pull off the biggest deal in his life, where the only person he can trust is his estranged daughter, who is now a nun. Also, if there was ever a person to be in a Wes Anderson film, it is Michael Cera.
9) Frankenstein
Our second gothic horror film takes one of the foundations of the genre, brings it into the 21st century, without damaging what made it great in the first place. There is a reason that acting Oscars have been throwing around a horror film, and that is because Frankenstein breaks through even the overly conservative academy with a conviction that works.
8) Conclave
Well, what a delight Conclave was. It takes what could have been a simple story about picking the next Pope and fills it with life and complexity. We had discussions about what is at the heart of religion, the intersection with culture, history, politics, and faith. Also, just some old-fashioned personality conflicts. Stack it with a cast helmed by Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci & John Lithgow and dress it in some of the best production of the year, well, you get something profoundly compelling.
I am going to go on the record here and say that I didn’t think that a PG-rated Predator film could work; I didn’t think it would be able to find what has made the series so indelible. Well, I have never been happier to be proven wrong. Predator: Badlands is an action-packed explosion from start to finish. They use clever tricks to keep the PG rating without losing any of the impact, and with our two leads, we get the buddy-team-up in the cinema this year.
6) Warfare
Well, Warfare is one of those films that shows just how important authenticity is to filmmaking. Having the people who were there to help bring the story to life helps elevate what could have just been a bog-standard military flick. Add to this one of the best cast films of 2025, which must have been a handful to keep sorted out, and you get a profoundly compelling and tense outing.
5) Weapons
Weapons is one of those films where you cross your arms in a vain attempt to put a barrier between you and the screen. It is unsettling how much it can get under your skin, and I watched this film in the daylight. I don’t know what it would be like coming out at night after witnessing it. Weapons is also one of the funniest films I have watched this year, and somehow, they make that juxtaposition that should not work, shine.
The third, and maybe the best, in the Knives Out series dropped in cinemas this year, and goodness was it a delight. Wake Up Dead Man captivates the screen with its rich visuals, tight casting, and captivating narrative. Focusing our story on Josh O’Connor was an inspired choice, as he brings the character of Rev. Jud Duplenticy to life in a way that you almost forget he is not a former boxer who found faith after killing a competitor in the ring. Class all around, and I am hoping for number four.
3) Flow
I talked at length about Flow in our Best of Animation List, and I meant every praise and every accolade. You are immediately captured by its world, by its characters, and by the situation that is about to befall them. Then we have the beauty. Goodness, the beauty. Nearly every single frame of this film is a work of art, as it pulls you through the story, and more animals join our ragtag group. It is filled with such joy that I was laughing, crying, and sitting on the edge of my seat … sometimes all at the same time.
2) One Battle After Another
One Battle After Another is one of those films where lighting has to strike three or four times to let something like this work as well as it did. It was a wild rollercoaster ride from start to finish, threatening at any moment to come off the tracks and crash in an explosion. But it never did, it held onto those rails with its metaphorical fingertips and just kept all of the chaos contained right up until the credits rolled. I don’t know how they pulled it off, maybe just some magic here and there, but what a ride it was.
A strength of this film is the characters, because not a single person on the screen is wasted. There are so many named characters in this film that you could be forgiven for losing track of them all, but this is a film that cares about the people in it. That care means that everyone gets treated like they are essential, and I mean every character. Some people show up for less than a minute of screen time, who are just as valuable to the story as the main cast. There is an intentionality can be found everywhere in the movie, from the hint of drool on a character’s face, or the weave up and down of a road, or the through line of trying to charge a phone.
One Battle After Another is a film that has lived rent-free in my head all year
Our Top Film of 2025: Sinners
There are a lot of reasons why Sinners is our number one film of 2025. A film that is soulful, sanguine, sensual, and more than a little scandalous. It could be here for the production levels that were off the charts. It could be here for the intentionality to get the fundamental details correct. It could be here for its cast, who are all giving award-winning performances. It could even be here for the way it is lit in a golden light that captivates.
However, the reason why it is my number one film this year comes down to just one scene, one scene where music, history, passion, ritual, religion, blues, and danger come crashing together. It is a scene that when I watched it in a cinema, for a few minutes I was not in Brisbane, Australia, I was in Mississippi, I was on the delta feeling the music flow through and around me. It was an escalating cavalcade of brilliance, and nothing this year has come close to matching it. That is even before we touch on the technical excellence needed to pull this sequence off, which made it feel elegantly simple, when it was anything but.
Sinners is a film about excellence; it is baked into every part of the film, and more than that, it matches that very energy at every stage. Even if that is the understanding of the beauty of a sunrise.
There were so many amazing films in 2025 that I could not have watched all of them, so let us know what you would have chosen as your number one in the comments below.
By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.
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Credits – All images used were created by the respective studios and artist of each film
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