My Top 20 Films of 2025

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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The Works of 2025 That Emotionally Wrecked Us

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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The Life of Chuck – Movie Review

TL;DR – A profoundly weird film, steeped in sadness, leaving you disconnected, right up until the moment you find yourself captured by the story.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Chuck with hands on either side of his head.

The Life of Chuck Review

When I walked into the cinema last night, I had no idea what I was expecting. I knew that Tom Hiddleston was in the film because that was the only thing of note on the posters. But I was not prepared for what I was going to see, a feeling that was confirmed the second the ‘Act 3’ appeared in the opening moment.   

So, to set the scene, we open as Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is desperately trying to get his students interested in Walt Whitman. However, the class is disrupted by the news that an earthquake has struck Los Angeles and California is slipping into the ocean, which is when the internet fails for the final time. In the past 14 months, the world has degraded after wave after wave of disasters have stretched everything to breaking. But amongst all the disasters, something odd is happening. Throughout the town, signs bearing “Charles Krantz: 39 Great Years! Thanks, Chuck!” begin appearing in honour of Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston). But no one knows who Chuck is.   

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