2025 Favorites: Film 

Henry T

The Pitt

The Pitt was probably your parent or grandparent’s favorite show from this past year, and for once, they’re right. It combines the melodrama inherent in any medical-focused cable show (think House, Grey’s Anatomy, etc.) with the gimmicky pacing of 24 (another classic parent show), but supersedes its genre through thoughtful acting and nuanced depictions of very (very) American issues. It also has so much blood, and so much gore, that your partner will probably have to turn away every few seconds. You have been warned.

Gigi S

Sorry, Baby

Eva Victor’s deeply personal debut has the power to make one smile through their tears without ever speaking over the experience at its center. It is compassionate, sharp, and so deeply human that I kept catching myself wishing for a magical best friend like Victor’s Agnes has (and then immediately, unfairly, blaming my own friends for not being that emotionally literate). The film never sensationalizes what Agnes is going through. It simply meets her exactly where she is: sharing a sandwich with a stranger after a panic attack, adopting a stray cat because the universe said so, and holding on to all those oddly tender and bittersweet moments that life throws into the most disarming aftermaths.

Taylor S

It Was Just an Accident 

From Iranian director Jafar Panahi, an excellent blending of humor and horror that reminded me of Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying: a motley cast of characters drowning in their own interior darknesses are brought together in a ramshackle truck on an absurd odyssey to close the door on their harrowing pasts. I felt like I was holding my breath during the climactic, taillight-lit close-up shot.

The Lowdown

Thank goodness for shows that have fun. In this one, Ethan Hawke (soul of a poet, for richer or for poorer) plays a self-proclaimed “truthstorian” (like come on) who works at an independent newspaper in Tulsa (indie media!) writing hit pieces against a corrupt wealthy family (anticapitalism!). But I soon realized I was experiencing something deeper than just a rollicking noir. What I love about The Lowdown and creator Sterlin Harjo’s earlier series, Reservation Dogs, is the way he weaves history and place into the antics of flawed, frustrating, and deeply lovable characters. Joan Didion wrote, “A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image.” Harjo does that in his work for Oklahoma, interrogating and illuminating threads of so-called American history. A show that could simply be a fun crime caper is made richer by Harjo’s radical love for his home.

Lily C

Now You See Me: Now You Don't

I had so much fun and I hope they make one hundred more.

Georgina B

The Phoenician Scheme

The thing about Wes Anderson is that I will keep watching his movies and I will keep being charmed by them and I will keep telling everyone I know to watch them. On repeat. I shan’t listen to the naysayers because there is literally only one Wes Anderson and one day he won’t be making movies anymore.

Amelia O

The Residence

Knives Out but in show form, set in the White House, and produced by Shonda Rhimes. This is quite possibly the perfect thing to watch with your family during the week between Christmas and New Years when reality melts. Happy sleuthing!

Sasha M

The Encampments

For me, this was a standout film for its sheer timeliness. I watched this in the cinema shortly after the illegal detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, a key figure in the documentary and a leading force in negotiations between the encampment protestors and Columbia University. This was a reminder that protest action is alive and kicking, even when it feels like governments are pushing back. Shot in a true reportage style, the film takes you right into the heart of the encampments and the flash points between students, administrators, and the police, charting the history of protest at Columbia along the way. 

Philip K

Weapons

Terrifying. Campy. Political. Some horror movies have it all without sacrificing pure entertainment value. Zach Cregger’s summer horror romp will have you laughing and shivering and hiding your face. This club has everything: a sinister red wig! Possessed, murderous Disney gays! Josh Brolin painting a car and Julia Garner with a drinking problem! Weapons embraces sheer hilarity while boasting the same narrative heft as everyone’s favorite accidentally LGBTQ classic, The Babadook.

Lizzie R

Sorry, Baby

I expected this movie to move me, but not to impact me so deeply. Eva Victor created such a finely wrought world that is, yes, filled with pain, but also offers tenderness to those who need it most. The final scene conveys a message that I’ve never seen captured on film, or really anywhere, save for a teenage diary or a heartbroken conversation with a very close friend. Sorry, Baby was a welcome reminder that film can feel personal and affecting, and I am especially thankful for this movie’s ability to hold the audience as they cry.

Mickey G 

Sentimental Value

I cried throughout the entirety of this film. Director Joachim Trier quietly interrogates generational trauma, depression, and the ever-present question between siblings: if we both grew up the same, how did we turn out so different?

Nun’s Beach
Kate Dirienzi’s short beautifully blends emotion and reflection, offering a quiet study of the parallel devotions of love and faith.”

JoliAmour D

The Long Walk

When you look at the poster, you’re almost completely sure it’s going to be one of those Purge-adjacent films with dramatic kill-offs and possessive founding-father Americana rhetoric. Just look at how deeply orange the typeface is; you’d surely think it was a meta-campy blockbuster. But then you’re me, sitting alone in a Regal with crumbs on your mouth and tears under your eyes, Garraty begging his mother to give him just one hug, his soul-sunken face in complete disaster. And she can’t hug him, because he’ll die. Or when Olson creates a codependent relationship with a small stick of gum as a reminder of his fight to stay alive and then, at his breaking point, takes the gum out and stops. Apologies, I know I’m spoiling the film, but as someone who watched it three times, I don’t think that should really stop anyone from watching it.

“Just walk with me for a while.” This quote is a sure catalyst in the increase of my weekly walking count.

Theodora L

KPop Demon Hunters

What a brilliant idea to use the obsessive pull of k-pop fandom for evil. In another world, this could have been a searing critique of modern celebrity culture and capitalism. I see potential.

Adam P

One Battle After Another

Paul Thomas Anderson has been talked to death. There’s nothing much new to say about his work. It’s captivated me several times, at different stages in my life. They’re movies that feel like they change every time you see them, something I love in my favorite works of art. I saw this at Williamsburg Cinemas on one of those days in the Northeast when autumn starts to creep in and movies start gettin’ great. I had a great time when the thrill of it made three hours feel like 30 minutes. But recently, I realized I could love the film even more. My mom came to visit New York, and I wanted to show her this movie because its protagonists reminded me of all the leftists I got raised around in a tight community in a blue-collar city. We started watching it at night, and she worried about having to stay awake through the daunting runtime. After about halfway through, I asked if she thought she wanted to finish it, and she reassured me that there was no way she was not going to see what was gonna happen. There are many great films, but every now and then, there are those special ones that can’t help but excite. I saw the look of wonder on my mom’s face as Leo scaled the rooftops and Chase Infiniti sped along the highway. Any time the Christmas Adventurers appeared on screen, she had a deep look of disgust. Sitting there and seeing how this film enraptured us reminded me of why I love the art form and why I’ve dedicated so much of my life to it. It’s the only thing that can bring me that certain enthralling feeling that the greatest films stir up.

Auveen D

It Was Just an Accident

A masterfully rich portrait of courage, morality, and the harsh realities of political oppression in modern-day Iran. An ex-convict bumps into the man he believes was his primary torturer during his time in prison and wants to retaliate—until doubt creeps in. Writer/director Jafar Panahi is a true artist, as he risks his life to ensure this story is told. As a result, Panahi has been sentenced to prison in Iran for “spreading propaganda”—all the more reason to see this film and support the bravery of Iranian artists.

Dancing with the Stars (Season 34)

The epitome of joy. Dylan to 21523