As we somersault into the bloated chaos of Oscar Season, that four-month movie dump from September to December with stragglers in January and February if you’re not in NY or LA (sorry, I’m not), here’s my Top 10 films of the year so far. I’ve seen 42 new releases, some really good, some absolute dog shit, but nothing yet that warrants an ‘All-Timer’ or ‘Best Picture’ label. It’s been a pretty soft year for movies and television overall, but hey, here we are.

10. Companion

Here’s a great example of a movie that you should know absolutely nothing about before going in. Like most of this year’s better horror films (several of which made this list), if you go in blind, you’re going to have a better time.

All I’ll say: it’s about a young couple played by Yellowjackets‘ Sophie Thatcher and Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan‘s sperm & egg combo, Jack Quaid, who go on a weekend cabin retreat with friends. That’s it. From there, shit spirals into the realm of horror/thriller/suspense.

As one of those, it’s solid. But Companion really shines as a dark comedy about sexual power dynamics. It’s not subtle or clever, a lot of it is pretty on-the-nose, but it’s relentlessly entertaining and the two leads, especially Quaid, really help elevate it into something I can see sticking around for years to come. Grade: B

Streaming on HBOMax.

9. Eddington

Extremely polarizing dark comedy about the early days of the pandemic seen through the eyes of a sleepy little fictional town in New Mexico named Eddington. At the heart of the town is a deep and decade-spanning beef between an old-school, anti-masker Sheriff (a familiarly unhinged Joaquin Phoenix) and a slick, JFK-channeling mayor (Pedro Pascal), who’s pushing for both masks and a resource-draining data center in Eddington.

Not everything works and it’s about twenty to thirty minutes overlong, but there’s so many haunting and interesting ideas here to completely ignore. The cast is uniformly excellent, but Phoenix in particular is electric. It’s an exceptionally nuanced take on a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

I’d say it’s far more interesting than great, and often dodges deeper questions with a visual gag or snarky joke. Still, as cringe-er-tainment goes, this one’s top-shelf. Flawed, fascinating, and likely one of the defining films of 2025. Grade: B

Available for digital purchase and rental.

8. Superman

I’m no die-hard Superman fan; I only watched the original Reeve films a few weeks before seeing James Gunn’s new take. From where I’m sitting, this is the best Superman movie since those first two. It’s light on its feet, full of humor, solid performances (especially from David Corenswet), and never anything less than a good time. No, it doesn’t reinvent the genre, and it’s not breaking new ground, but it’s a welcome alternative to the shapeless, self-important garbage Marvel’s been churning out lately. Read my full review. Grade: B

Available for digital purchase and rental.

7. Dangerous Animals

If you’re looking for a good time at the movies, look no further than Australian horror director Sean Byrne’s Dangerous Animals, the best shark movie since Jaws.

It follows a drifter surfer named Zephyr (a very good Hassie Harrison) caught in a cat-and-mouse game with her kidnapper: a deranged tour boat captain and serial killer who gets off on feeding women to sharks and filming it. As the killer, Jai Courtney gives an explosively good performance, balancing goofiness with menace.

What sets this apart from similar thrillers is Zephyr herself; clever, resourceful, and 100% free of dumb horror movie decisions. She’s clearly smarter than her bumbling incel captor, but she’s at a serious disadvantage.

The film is brutal but never feels indulgent or exploitative. Our sympathies stay with Zephyr the entire time, and we root for her every step of the way. I wish more thrillers were this simple, fun, and unpredictable. Grade: B

Available for digital purchase and rental.

6. Friendship

Full disclosure: I’m an enormous I Think You Should Leave fan, so I walked into this hoping not to have my expectations dashed. I have to admit, they were a bit dashed.

Friendship is not perfect, but it’s an aggressively funny, deeply disturbing piece of indie cinema. Tim Robinson plays the character he always plays, though this time it’s dialed down into the mundanity of suburban middle-class routine. Kate Mara plays his wife, and It: Chapter One standout Jack Dylan Grazer plays their teenage son.

Feeling he needs to get out of the house, his wife sets him up on an adult playdate with the new neighbor, a local weatherman played by Paul Rudd. A toxic friendship blooms, and the movie shifts gears from offbeat comedy to low-stakes thriller.

For all that it does well, and it nails a lot, Friendship never quite feels like a complete film. The performances are all solid, with Rudd ultimately acting as the film’s much-needed anchor. It’ll be interesting to see how this one ages, but for now, it’s a comedy I plan to revisit every 4–5 years. Grade: B+

Available for digital purchase and rental.

5. Bring Her Back

The most aggressively violent and nasty horror film of the year, and easily the most visually compelling and claustrophobic. Bring Her Back is the sophomore effort from the Talk to Me bros, Danny and Michael Philippou, and there’s no slump in sight.

It follows two step-siblings: Andy (Billy Barrett), a smart but angsty 17-year-old, and Piper (Sora Wong), his sweet, blind 14-year-old sister. After their dad dies horrifically in the shower, they’re placed with a foster mother, Laura, played brilliantly by Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water). Laura is happy-go-lucky on the surface, but clearly unwell, grieving her own loss while also caring for a creepy-ass mute boy (Jonah Wren Phillips, in one of the best child performances I’ve seen in years). From there, deeply disturbing shit pops off.

The story has major logic gaps, but the film is so technically strong, so relentless in its tone, that I didn’t care. This isn’t about plot; it’s about vibe, and that vibe had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Huge trigger warning, though: the violence and gore are brutal, and often involve child dismemberment. Grade: B+

Available for digital purchase and rental.

4. Black Bag

Steven Soderbergh’s best film in muthafuckin’ ages, Black Bag takes the familiar Mr.-&-Mrs.-Smith-my-wife’s-a-spy-and-so-am-I setup and uses it to explore trust in relationships. Marketed as a story about one couple, it’s actually about three: the perfect couple (Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett), the nightmare couple (Marisa Abela, Tom Burke), and the fresh new couple (Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page), all tied to MI6. Any time someone doesn’t want to answer a partner’s question, they just say “black bag,” meaning classified. Instant out.

When an agent turns up dead, Fassbender, a top MI6 spy hunter, suspects one of these couples, possibly even his own wife. So he does what anyone would: invites them all over for a dinner party. Smartly written by David Koepp and filled with great performances, Black Bag is a sharp, fun little spy thriller that’s also an effective metaphor for relationship dynamics like intimacy and secrets. Grade: B+

Streaming on Peacock.

3. Weapons

The moment Weapons opened with grainy footage of kids fleeing their homes like little airplanes while George Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness” played, I knew I was in for something special. This is the second (technically third, if you count Miss March) feature from Whitest Kids U’ Know alum Zach Cregger, who surprised us all with Barbarian three years ago, my 10th favorite film of 2022, and now he’s back with a vengeance.

Weapons is one of the most uniquely structured horror films in recent memory. Don’t let anyone spoil it. Go in cold. The less you know, the better. What can I say? Hmm. It’s wildly unpredictable, packed with fully realized characters (rare for this genre), and loaded with standout performances from Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong, Austin Abrams, Alden Ehrenreich, and Amy Madigan who is getting some Oscar buzz already. It’s hard to imagine a better horror film hitting theaters in 2025. Grade: B+

Now Playing in Theaters.

2. The Naked Gun

Sometimes a movie is so relentlessly funny it makes you just about fall out of your seat laughing. This happened a handful of times during Akiva Schaffer‘s (The Lonely Island) reboot of the classic Leslie Nielsen cop parody series The Naked Gun, easily the funniest movie I’ve seen in theaters in the past three years or so.

The ultra serious dramatic actor Liam Neeson is just about perfect to step into the role for Nielsen. His deadpan delivery is sublime, revealing new comic depths for the actor. That doesn’t happen often at age of 73. Pamela Anderson is also really funny as the romantic lead. There’s a scene involving her jazz scatting that made me choke on my popcorn.

The rest of the cast is solid but the ultimate star here is writer/director Akiva Schaffer who has managed to revive an old timey form of movie comedy, the spoof, and whittle it down to a breezy 85 minutes where only the best of the best jokes made the cut.

It can’t be overstated how stupid this movie is and if goofy humor is not your thing, then skip this. But for those looking to laugh so hard they damage their intestines, you can’t go wrong with The Naked Gun. Grade: A-

Now Playing in Theaters.

1. Sorry, Baby

This was exactly the kind of bold, fascinating indie dramedy I’d been waiting for in 2025; one that announces a strong new voice in cinema. God that sounds so pretentious, but Sorry, Baby is easily the best film of the year so far.

Eva Victor’s low-key story follows an East Coast literary grad student trying to navigate all the academic and social bullshit around her. It’s hilarious, insightful, and oddly hard to describe. On paper, it sounds like yet another “intellectual” young adult Sundance movie. But Victor, who writes, directs, and stars, strikes a unique tone that floats between comedy and tragedy without ever letting the tragedy take over, no matter how tragic.

The acting is strong, it’s shot well, but the real star is the screenplay. It’s sharp, honest, and never feels forced. Victor doesn’t give us easy answers, just a steady, confident voice telling a story that sticks with you.

That’s really all I can say. It’s great. Seriously, get the fuck offline and rent this movie already. Grade: A-

Available for digital purchase and rental.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

28 Years Later…

Way smarter and tauter than it had any right to be. Grade: B

Available for digital purchase and rental.

Final Destination: Bloodlines

One of the best of the franchise. Knows what it’s supposed to do and delivers. Grade: B

Streaming on HBOMax.

The Shrouds

Fascinating allegory on grief from David Cronenberg. Grade: B

Streaming on Criterion Channel.

The Toxic Avenger

Really fun and humorous remake of an 80s trash classic. Grade: B

Now Playing in Theaters.

BEST PERFORMANCES…so far

BEST ACTOR

Nick Offerman – Sovereign

A real mixed bag of a true crime thriller, Sovereign is exceptional only for the riveting and beautifully nuanced performance by Nick Offerman as an anti-government “Sovereign Citizen” trying to dodge taxes while raising a teenager (Jacob Tremblay). Based on a true story, expect a tragic ending. (Sovereign is available for digital rental and purchase.)

BEST ACTRESS

Sonequa Martin-Green – My Dead Friend Zoe

I had mixed feelings on this tonally all-over-the-place movie but one thing I knew for sure was that Sonequa Martin-Green delivered a fantastic performance, along with everybody, in this movie about a Iraqi war veteran trying to get over the death of her best friend. She anchors the whole thing and when the writing crosses the border into cliche town, Martin-Green sells every ham-fisted moment. It’s also a movie about two female characters in the military, and that’s super rare. (My Dead Friend Zoe is available for digital rental and purchase.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Diane Kruger – The Shrouds

Juggling three characters in Cronenberg‘s latest, Diane Kruger plays the protagonist’s dead wife, the protagonist’s dead wife’s twin sister, and the protagonist’s home operating system based on his dead wife. Reading that sentence probably clues you in to how fucking weird of a movie The Shrouds is, but Diane Kruger completely nails three different characters and has some magic comedic timing no matter what you think of the content. (The Shrouds is streaming on Criterion Channel)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Delroy Lindo – Sinners

Controversially, I was not a huge fan of Ryan Coogler‘s Sinners despite liking many things about it. I’ll do an entire article breaking down what didn’t work for me, but in the mean time I can confidently say the absolute best part for me was Delroy Lindo‘s haunting supporting turn as a brilliant musician turned self-loathing addict. Easily one of the most under appreciated character actors working in the industry for the past forty or so years, Lindo really gets some truly tremendous moments to shine in this. (Sinners is streaming on HBOMax.)