Tag Archives: Countdown

My Top 20 Films of 2025

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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

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My Top 10 TV Shows of 2025

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This was an odd year for TV for me because I found myself going back to shows from my youth rather than exploring as much of the year as I would typically do. So this year, we will look at all the shows we reviewed in 2025 and pick our Top 10 of the 35 shows we reviewed. For a show to count, it needed to end its run or season in 2025.  

Highly Commended – Foundation, The Last of Us, NCIS: Sydney, Peacemaker, Rick and Morty, Sunny Nights & Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Special Awards:

  • Best Adaptation of a Beautiful Moment from the Source Material: The Last of Us’s The Price
  • Best Crash Out at a Wedding: Mon Mothma in Andor
  • Best Eagle: Eagly in Peacemaker
  • Best Present Given: An [Explosive Spoiler] in PLUR1BUS
  • Best Under the Influence of a Narcotic: Shane Hollander in Heated Rivalry
  • Best You Should Have Listened to Me About the UK PM: Kate in The Diplomat
  • Most Frustrating Retcon from the Source Material: Bayta Mallow in Foundation
  • Unfortunately, Wasted Casting: Ncuti Gatwa in Doctor Who
  • Wildest Twist: The start and end of the first episode of Paradise

So, without further ado, these are our Top 10 TV Shows of 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers for the shows in question.

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The Works from 2025 That Showed Off the Wonderful Glory of Animation

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Animation is a form of filmmaking that is often related to second-tier status, something just for kids. This is oddly undertaken by both the organisations giving out awards and the guilds promoting their members’ work. However, they are not second-tier films; in many ways, animated films push the frontiers of filmmaking and what is possible, and they should be championed for their work.     

Animated films can be hand-drawn, stop/clay motion, or computer-generated; it does not matter, but all of them show the unique techniques of hundreds of artists that bring the work to life. And in a world full of AI slop, they should be celebrated.

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: The Bad Guys: Little Lies and Alibis, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Elio, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 – Lost in New Jersey & Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Creature Commandos & Rick and Morty

So, without further ado, these animated films showed us the glory of animation in 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.

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Cinematography That Made You Go Wow in 2025!

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Cinematography is an art form that can be as bold as a gong crashing after a moment of silence or as subtle as the tide coming in. It elevates a film to the heights of accolades or becomes frustrating when it misfires.

While at the heart of cinematography is the Director of Photography or Cinematographer, to get something from the script to the final shot takes a whole team of professionals, and it is their talent that we champion today.

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: The Brutalist, Frankenstein, KPop Demon Hunters, Nosferatu, The Phoenician Scheme, Warfare & Weapons

Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Andor, The Diplomat, Peacemaker & PLUR1BUS

So, without further ado, these moments of cinematography took our breaths away in 2025. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead.

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Worldbuilding that Astounded Us in 2025

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One of the benefits of film and television as a visual medium is that you can do in a single frame what it might take a book several pages of description to pull off. We see this the most in its ability to build worlds in front of our eyes.

These worlds could be great space operas exploring galaxies, a small period piece that looks back in time, or anything. But when every part of the film is used to tell a story, you know it is good. It must be more than just what someone sticks in an opening scrawl, though it is also what someone sticks in an opening scrawl.    

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: Companion, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, KPop Demon Hunters, Predator: Badlands, Primitive War, Sinners, Superman & Wake Up Dead Man
 Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Andor, Foundation, Heated Rivalry, Murderbot, Paradise, Peacemaker, Silo & Skeleton Crew

So, without further ado, these films showed excellence in Worldbuilding 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.

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The Costumes of 2025 That Made Us Say ‘Hot Damn’

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You can use many techniques to help build your world, ground your setting, or give dimensions to your characters. You can use music and create elaborate sets, but one of the many ways, and often the first way, is through the costumes you make.

People instantly judge a character within moments on the screen, and the outfits are essential to that first impression. More than this, you can also use costumes as a way of storytelling. What do they say about this world? What do they say about how a character is progressing? 

Costumes can build worlds and tell us details we can only see, but also, they can make us say, ‘Hot Damn’, look at that beading on that dress. That must have taken hours to do!

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, KPop Demon Hunters, Nosferatu, Wake Up Dead Man & Wicked: For Good

Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: The Diplomat, Foundation, The Residence, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds & Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

So, without further ado, these costumes made us say ‘hot damn’ in 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.

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The Musical Scores of 2025 That Wowed Us

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One factor that I will always look out for in a film or tv show is the musical score. When a musical score is transcendent it can get caught in my soul in the days, weeks, months, and even the years that come. There is immense artistry in weaving emotions from music, having us slip into the world that is created, fear the oncoming dread even if we do not know why, or rejoice in the triumph of that final victory.

Music charts the cinematic world as it guides us, lifts us up, and yet it can also crush our souls with a couple of notes on a piano. This is its power.

Also, a reminder that this award is for Musical Scores and Original Songs only, so no needle drops or non-original songs.

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: The Brutalist, Conclave, F1, How to Train Your Dragon, One Battle After Another, Thunderbolts* &Tron: Ares


Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Doctor Who, Murderbot, Paradise & The Residence

So, without further ado, these are the musical scores that moved us in 2025. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead.

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Tension That Kept You On The Edge Of Your Seat In 2025!

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Well, we have looked at Action, then Emotion and swung wildly across the spectrum to Fun, and now we are completing that series by looking at Tension. Tension is one of the most challenging facets of filmmaking because it requires the script, direction, acting, and editing to all work in tandem to evoke the perfect pace. If just one part of that group misses, then an essential part of the film falls apart.

In 2025, we continued to see some excellent use of tension to build mystery, to be the harbinger of the coming dread, or even to tick the clock of inevitability.   

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: 28 Years Later, Drop, The Long Walk, The Lost Bus, Nosferatu & Sinners
Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Andor, The Diplomat, Paradise & Silo

So, without further ado, these moments of tension kept us on the edge of our seats in 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.

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The Works from 2025 That Put Some Fun Into Our Lives

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We looked at the works of film and television that hit us in the feels with emotions in our last awards. Now it is time to pivot hard to the other side of the spectrum and look at the films that were a riot of fun. So today, I take a moment to champion those works that brought joy, whether through upbeat action, one laugh after another, or that silliness that brings a smile to your face.

However, I note that this might be the most subjective of all the lists because what people think is funny can vary drastically.

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: A Minecraft Movie, The Bad Guys 2, Companion, M3GAN 2.0, Paddington in Peru, Regretting You, Superman & Wake Up Dead Man

Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Murderbot, The Recruit, The Residence &  Twisted Metal

So, without further ado, these are the works of film and television that brought the fun in 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.

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The Works of 2025 That Emotionally Wrecked Us

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As I have gotten older, I am not afraid of having a good old-fashioned ugly cry in the cinemas when the time calls for it, and hell, I probably got emotional just writing this list (Spoiler: I did, and Hamnet isn’t even on this list because it’s 2026). Sometimes, they are tears of grief or tears of joy, and even still, sometimes, they are tears of anger. Okay, and sometimes they are all of those tears and more at the same time.  

Emotion is a core part of the cinema experience. If you can’t get us to respond emotionally to your characters and/or the situation, I am sorry you failed to make a great work of art.

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: Elio, The History of Sound, Holy Cow, Kangaroo, The Last Journey, The Lost Bus, Nuremberg, Regretting You & Wake Up Dead Man

Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: The Last of Us, Paradise, PLUR1BUS & Star Trek: Strange New Worlds


So, without further ado, these are the works of film and television of 2025 that emotionally wrecked us. Be warned that there will be significant spoilers ahead.

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