I watched 70 films in 2025. These 10 hit the hardest—some like a gut-punch, some like a mirror, and a few like a chaotic little group chat that accidentally tells the truth.
I’m not ranking these by “objective greatness” because I’m not a robot (and even robots have Letterboxd opinions now). This is about impact: the movies that stayed in my head after the credits, the ones that made me rethink how we love, cope, deny, perform, survive—especially under systems that profit from our confusion.
1) Anora — the “funny-thriller” that turns into a spiritual audit
My notes were: powerful, funny, engaging—then boom: self-denial, losing yourself, materialism as emotional Novocain. That’s still the best summary.
Sean Baker takes what looks like a chaotic modern Cinderella setup—Brooklyn sex worker meets rich kid, sudden marriage—and uses it to expose the soft, seductive violence of money and fantasy. It’s fast, entertaining, and lowkey terrifying because it’s not about villains twirling mustaches. It’s about how easy it is to trade pieces of yourself for a story that “sounds” like winning. And then realizing you sold the wrong parts. Wikipedia+2IMDb+2
2) I’m Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui) — grief as resistance
This one is a true-story gut-check: a family living under Brazil’s military dictatorship, and the mother—Eunice Paiva—having to rebuild reality after the forced disappearance of her husband. It’s not just “sad.” It’s that specific suffering families carry when the state disappears people and then tries to disappear the truth too.
What hit me: the film doesn’t treat survival like a motivational poster. It treats survival like work—like courage you don’t get credit for until decades later (if you’re lucky). And it lands even harder knowing it’s adapted from Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s memoir, meaning this is literally memory fighting back. Wikipedia+2AP News+2
3) Babygirl — desire, denial, and the chaos of not knowing yourself
This movie is a psychological maze about sex drive and fantasy—especially that maddening human thing where we want what we deny we want… and we also don’t want it to be clear, because clarity comes with consequences.
Halina Reijn builds it as an erotic thriller where a powerful CEO risks everything in an affair with a younger intern, but the real thriller is internal: the tug-of-war between identity, control, shame, and impulse. It’s messy in a way that feels honest—because humans are messy, and pretending otherwise is how we end up emotionally illiterate with good lighting. Wikipedia+1
4) The Hypnosis (Hypnosen) — cringe comedy with a philosophy degree
A couple building a women’s health app goes to pitch it at a fancy startup competition… and then hypnosis cracks the “normal person” mask right off. Watching it felt like being trapped at a networking retreat where everyone is performing “purpose,” and then one person accidentally becomes real.
It’s funny, but it’s also a sharp little satire on conformity: the way “professionalism” becomes a cage, and how quickly society punishes anyone—especially women—for stepping outside approved behavior. Also: it premiered at Karlovy Vary and cleaned up attention back home in Sweden (major Guldbagge love). Wikipedia+2kviff.com+2
5) Sick of Myself — body horror, attention economy, and the saddest laugh
This is an absurdist black comedy that’s shockingly deep about self-hate, image, and attention as a survival strategy—until it becomes a trap.
The story is basically: a woman spirals into increasingly extreme behavior to become the center of attention, and the film dares you to ask whether you’re judging her… or recognizing the culture that taught her attention equals worth. It premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, which makes sense because it’s both hilarious and psychologically rude (compliment). Wikipedia+1
2025 watchlist truth: A lot of “mental health” discourse is really just people trying to name the pain caused by systems that monetize insecurity.
6) A House on Fire (Casa en flames) — family love, but make it explosive
I went in expecting “family drama,” and got a sharply funny, painfully real pressure-cooker: a divorced mom drags the whole family to a Costa Brava house weekend while everything simmering underneath finally boils over.
It’s the kind of movie that understands a brutal truth: family can be the source of your deepest wounds and the last thing standing when the world collapses. Also, quick correction to my own brain: it’s Catalan/Spanish (not French), and it skewers bourgeois hypocrisy with a smile that shows teeth. Wikipedia+1
7) Soul Kitchen — joy as a serious human need
This is the “simple but happy” pick, and I mean that with full respect. Fatih Akin gives us Hamburg life, a chaotic restaurant, friendship, music, and a kind of grounded optimism that doesn’t feel fake.
In a year where so much cinema (and reality) is about collapse, Soul Kitchen is a reminder that joy isn’t a distraction—it’s fuel. It even snagged major Venice love back in 2009, which is wild for a crowd-pleasing comedy. Wikipedia+2Wexner Center for the Arts+2
8) Happening (L’Événement) — a necessary reminder in a rollback era
Set in 1963 France, a student tries to obtain an abortion when it’s illegal—meaning the state forces her into danger, isolation, and humiliation, then pretends it’s “morality.”
This film is intense because it refuses to look away. It’s based on Annie Ernaux’s memoir and it won the Golden Lion at Venice, which tells you how hard it hit. Watching it now—while women’s rights are openly under attack again—lands like a warning flare. Wikipedia+2Vanity Fair+2
9) The Encampments — student courage vs. the crackdown machine
This documentary is painfully relevant: it tracks the student encampment movement that ignited at Columbia and spread across campuses, as students protested their universities’ ties to the war on Gaza and faced escalating repression.
It features Mahmoud Khalil—who later became a symbol of the U.S. crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism when he was detained by immigration authorities, and then released months later after a judge’s ruling. Whatever your politics, that sequence should set off every civil-liberties alarm bell you own. AP News+3Wikipedia+3Watermelon Pictures+3
10) The Charmer (Charmøren) — immigration, desperation, and moral weather
Set in Denmark, this is a tough, realistic story about an Iranian man racing against time to secure legal stay—trying to find a woman to marry, and slowly revealing how love, manipulation, fear, and trauma can tangle together.
It’s not interested in easy moral judgment. It’s interested in the psychological cost of borders—how immigration systems turn relationships into survival math. The film premiered at San Sebastián in the New Directors program, which fits: it’s controlled, smart, and emotionally sharp. DFI+2Film Forum+2
Honorable mentions (aka: the bench was stacked)
- Emilia Pérez
- The Brutalist
- The Seed of the Sacred Fig
- No Other Land
- The Idiots
- Certified Copy
- The Delinquents
- Passages
- Lurker
- The Bests
- Die My Love
- Harvest
- Moon
- Non-fiction
- Yannick
- The History of Sound
The pattern I didn’t expect
A lot of my “best of 2025” ended up being about denial—personal denial, family denial, state denial, cultural denial—and the moment it cracks. That’s not just cinema. That’s the world. And from Dearborn to anywhere else, we know what it’s like to live with big narratives forced onto real human lives—and still insist on being human anyway.
Disclaimer: This list reflects personal viewing and opinion, not medical/legal advice or official endorsements. Film availability, versions, and release dates may vary by region and platform.
Sources (for the factual film details)
- Anora — Wikipedia (release, Cannes, awards). Wikipedia
- Anora — IMDb / Rotten Tomatoes (synopsis). IMDb+1
- I’m Still Here — Wikipedia (story basis, credits). Wikipedia
- I’m Still Here — AP / Reuters (Oscar win). AP News+1
- Babygirl — Wikipedia / Rotten Tomatoes (premise, release). Wikipedia+1
- The Hypnosis — Wikipedia / KVIFF (premise, premiere). Wikipedia+1
- The Hypnosis — Guldbagge Awards page (nominations/wins context). Wikipedia
- Sick of Myself — Wikipedia / Cannes (premiere context). Wikipedia+1
- A House on Fire (Casa en flames) — Wikipedia (plot/setup). Wikipedia
- Soul Kitchen — Wikipedia / Wex Arts (Venice prizes). Wikipedia+1
- Happening — Wikipedia / Venice coverage (premise, Golden Lion). Wikipedia+1
- The Encampments — Watermelon Pictures / Wikipedia / coverage (film description). The Washington Post+3Watermelon Pictures+3Wikipedia+3
- Mahmoud Khalil release — AP (timeline detail). AP News
- The Charmer — Danish Film Institute / Film Forum / Wikipedia (premise + premiere). DFI+2Film Forum+2
Wissam Charafeddine 