Schmear's Best Movies of 2025: #20-11
Some of these WOULD be top 10 films most any other year...
In an honestly brilliant movie year, new films from Danny Boyle, Chloe Zhao, and Zach Cregger very narrowly missed my top 10.
Let’s get into those and more.
#20 — Friendship
Where to watch? HBO Max
Tim Robinson’s The Chair Company rightly got a lot of attention this fall for its bizarre, Lynchian exploration of male ego and self-worth. But the ur-text from the same director, Andrew DeYoung, actually came a few months earlier with Friendship. It plays like a dark, looking-glass version of I Love You, Man, even starring Paul Rudd again, but here in the reverse role. Friendship is funny, horrifying, and strange. It’s a little underbaked, but it ultimately hits on an undercurrent of loneliness that’s especially rampant among men in America right now.
#19 — Lurker
Where to watch? Mubi
Alex Russell’s debut plays like The Talented Mr. Ripley set inside the Gen Z LA music scene. In a relatively short runtime, Russell establishes the subculture and its vibe exceptionally well. Théodore Pellerin is sickeningly good as the Tom Ripley stand-in, and Archie Madekwe impresses as the pop star at the center of his fixation. Kenny Beats’ score is on point. Lurker is cool, upsetting, and thrilling, and it feels like a signal of great things to come from Russell.
#18 — Hamnet
Where to watch? Theaters
I was absolutely shattered by Hamnet when I saw it—bawling my eyes out, ugly crying like a baby. In the moment, I thought it was extremely effective. With each passing day, the film receded from my mind. Jesse Buckley and Paul Mescal are strong, but what stuck with me most were the Jupe brothers, especially Jacobi Jupe as the cherubic young Hamnet. Chloé Zhao does marvelous work here, and it’s encouraging to see her back in the saddle after Eternals, though this lacked staying power after initially bowling me over.
#17 — Warfare
Where to watch? Rent on Prime or Apple TV
Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare is a harrowing, near-verité portrayal not of the Iraq War at large, but of a single microcosmic event within it. The film is shot through with intensity, confusion, and real fear. It puts you directly into a specific time, place, and moment, and then uses that as a stand-in for the larger confusion of the war itself. This was mired in the “is there such a thing as an anti-war war movie?” debate, though to my mind this comes pretty close to the descriptor. It’s that while also being honest and moving about the importance of stepping up for your brothers in arms, even when what’s being fought over is unknown or futile.
#16 — 28 Years Later
Where to watch? Netflix
Alex Garland here again, this time writing for Danny Boyle, who comes back to the 28 zombie franchise and proves it’s still very much alive. This is surprisingly more of an adventure film than a horror film, explored through the eyes of the young, exceptional Alfie Williams. Jodie Comer’s character confused me, but when the filmmaking—courtesy of Boyle and DP Anthony Dod Mantle—is this electrifying, with so much life force present, it’s hard not to fall under the movie’s spell. The final act, in particular, reveals a more sensitive side, thanks to Ralph Fiennes and a deeply felt performance.
#15 — Peter Hujar’s Day
Where to watch? Theaters
This one flew way under the radar, but it shouldn’t have. Ira Sachs’s Peter Hujar’s Day is a 72-minute movie about a real day in the life of downtown New York photographer Hujar, played by Ben Whishaw. Whishaw is always amazing, but this might be his best performance yet. This works as a wonderful New York City movie and a beautiful portrait of friendship, especially watching Whishaw and Rebecca Hall play off each other. It’s about art and artists without being preachy, because it’s pulled directly from Hujar’s actual diaristic record. There’s also something very melancholy about experiencing the vibrancy of downtown New York’s queer scene (even if it’s only told to us) as the specter of AIDS looms.
#14 — The Perfect Neighbor
Where to watch? Netflix
This is the highest-ranking documentary on my list, a genuinely horrifying film uniquely constructed using only dash-cam and police body-cam footage. Set in a Florida suburb, Geeta Patel documents a racist woman and her increasingly dangerous fixation on the young Black community she lives among. It’s a bleak but honest portrait of American racial sentiments and community breakdown. It also functions as a true-crime account of escalations toward the killing of unarmed, innocent Black people, while touching on controversial stand-your-ground laws without being overtly didactic. The Perfect Neighbor demonstrates real life being scarier than nightmares.
#13 — Weapons
Where to watch? HBO Max
This might have been my favorite in-theater experience of the year. Zach Cregger’s Weapons clearly borrows a Magnolia-style format, but it still feels fresh, exciting, and imaginative. Detractors believed its ideas were unformed, but I suspect Cregger knew—consciously or subconsciously, it doesnt matter — what was brewing inside him and wasn’t interested in being obvious about it. The movie could have easily collapsed under the weight of its setup or expectations, but it doesn’t—largely because of how strong the performances are. Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Amy Madigan, and Austin Abrams all transcend familiar character types. It builds to a cathartic, hysterical ending that had me and my fellow audience members cheering out loud.
Interview with Production Designer Tom Hammock
#12 — Cloud
Where to watch? Criterion Channel
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud is a Hitchcockian techno-thriller that feels perfectly tuned to the present day. It’s about a reseller whose chickens come home to roost after he spends the first half of the movie ripping people off. It works as a strong allegory for how transactional the online world is today and how we’re only a few small steps (or clicks) away from full-blown horror. What I really love about the movie, especially in its second half, is how ugly it gets—there’s a lot of clumsy gunfighting that feels almost Call of Duty-esque, yet it is a little too real and close for comfort. Kurosawa collapses the boundary between the online and the real world in a way that’s funny but also genuinely upsetting.
#11 — The Ballad of Wallis Island
Where to Watch? Prime
The most heartwarming movie of the year is about a wealthy recluse who pays for a broken-up folk duo to reunite and play a concert for him. Tim Key gives one of my favorite performances of late —very Nick Frost-esque, full of sweetness and good humor. He’s a little annoying, sure, but genuinely lovely. If a movie is going to tug at your heartstrings, it has to back that up with the right performances, setting, story, and music, and this has all of it. The original folk soundtrack is special. I haven’t recommended this to anyone without them loving it—that’s a promise.
Top 10 Coming Soon…
