My Top 10 Films of 2025 — Horror, Dread, and the Monsters We've Become

2025 was a big year for horror. The genre finally felt comfortable sitting in the cultural spotlight. Of the films I watched this year, seven could reasonably be classified as ‘horror’, though two lean more toward dread than anything traditionally scary.

We live in a time where the idea of the monster has shifted. Dread increasingly comes from people themselves, those who feel so far removed from salvation that they register as something else entirely. Another species. Something to be wary of.

Cinema has always reflected its time. While this trend can feel pessimistic, film also offers catharsis. Movies don’t need to tell us how things will get better, or predict what comes next. What they do offer is recognition and the quiet comfort of knowing we’re not alone in our dread.

Bring Her Back

From the same directors behind Talk to Me—last year’s viral horror hit with the hand you could actually hold—comes a strong and confident follow-up. Bring Her Back is memorable in the way certain horror films are: not just scary in the moment, but sticky in the mind long after.

It gave me the same feeling I had the first time I watched The Ring. There are surprising turns, smart restraint, and shot choices that linger. The story unfolds with confidence, never overexplaining itself, and trusts the audience to sit with the unease. A very solid entry in the modern horror canon, and proof that these filmmakers weren’t a one-hit wonder.

Eddington

If existential dread (specifically around the current divide in the United States) were a movie, this would be it. Ari Aster was clearly given a large budget and complete freedom, and Eddington is the result.

The film was a box-office flop and largely disliked by American audiences, which somehow feels appropriate. Aster captures the helplessness of being trapped in a system that no longer makes sense, where no choice feels correct. The vibe is similar to Beau Is Afraid, but told in a more approachable, less aggressively surreal way. There are twists, but nothing as fantastical. Just a growing, suffocating sense that things are deeply, irreversibly broken.

One Battle After Another

I’ve long been a Paul Thomas Anderson fan, and There Will Be Blood remains one of my all-time favorite films. This is another solid outing from him: confident, kinetic, and surprisingly funny.

The performances are excellent across the board. Leonardo DiCaprio fits perfectly into this age-appropriate father role, which feels like a preview of the next decade of his career. Sean Penn is absolutely despicable in the best way. Teyana Taylor is magnetic, though I admit I might be biased by the sense that she’s just a badass in real life. Chase Infiniti makes for a striking introduction (what a Hollywood name!). And of course, Benicio del Toro was being Benicio del Toro.

This is end-to-end entertainment: action, humor, and just enough chaos in the right places. It’s likely number one on many top-10 lists this year, and for good reason.

Blue Moon

I’m a big fan of Richard Linklater, though not all of his films work for me. Blue Moon absolutely does. It’s a small, intimate story that almost feels like a stage play: contained, focused, and emotionally precise.

Ethan Hawke is extraordinary here. I forgot he was Ethan Hawke entirely and fully believed he was Lorenz Hart. I didn’t know much about Hart going in, but by the end of the film, I was rooting for him, aching for him, and carrying his sadness with me. This was my dark horse film of 2025. A quiet release, not a blockbuster, but deeply affecting and beautifully made.

28 Years Later

A brilliant third entry in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days universe. After all the missteps of 28 Weeks Later, this feels like a true successor to the original.

It’s thrilling and immersive, pulling you back into its post-apocalyptic world with confidence. The world-building works again, and the film never feels nostalgic for nostalgia’s sake. Ralph Fiennes is excellent, and his role clearly sets the stage for the next chapter, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. This refreshed take on the franchise works, and I’m genuinely excited to see where it goes next.

Bugonia

Another excellent collaboration between Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone, and Jesse Plemons. Bugonia is entertaining, funny, and just the right amount of frustrating.

The dread here is quieter than in Eddington or Beau Is Afraid, but it sits in the back of your mind. You find yourself asking, “Why are people like this?” The storytelling is sharp and deliberate, constantly encouraging you to second-guess your understanding of what’s actually happening right up until the end. As always with Lanthimos and Stone, it’s confidently strange, well-paced, and deeply controlled. I am very eager to see what they do next.

Wake Up Deadman

Rian Johnson might be the modern-day Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle. When it comes to contemporary whodunnits, he’s in a class of his own.

I’ve become a mystery-thriller fan in recent years, and I tend to judge these films by whether I can predict the plot or ending. I never can with Johnson. Wake Up Deadman is brilliantly written, with a fantastic ensemble cast, and kept me guessing until the very end. This is my favorite entry in the Knives Out trilogy so far. Please make ten more Netflix! One every year wouldn’t hurt.

Frankenstein

The magnum opus of Guillermo del Toro. This is the purest expression of his lifelong question: who is the real monster?

Not a spoiler! It’s the film’s foundation. The story is split into two acts, presenting two perspectives, and the result is deeply effective. It’s not as scary as last year’s Nosferatu, and it’s not meant to be. The adaptation stays closer to Mary Shelley’s original novel, emphasizing empathy over terror. As expected, the pacing is immaculate. A beautiful, thoughtful film, and exactly what you’d hope for from del Toro.

Sinners

Another film that could easily top many people’s lists this year. Sinners is proof that truly original stories can still break through.

It’s essentially three movies in one: a historical drama, a musical, and then, almost unexpectedly, a vampire film. Despite its length, the pacing never drags. The box office success was enormous, especially given its ambitious budget. Ryan Coogler fully commits to the format and spectacle, and the result is something bold and entertaining. Beautifully shot, excellent use of Michael B. Jordan, and absolutely worth revisiting—ideally in IMAX.

Weapons

My number one film of 2025 is a horror movie.

I became a fan of Zach Cregger with Barbarian in 2022, and Weapons is a confident, fully realized follow-up. Both films tell genuinely original stories, and I’m a sucker for that. Even if “everything is a copy of a copy of a copy,” when a film manages to feel new, it lights up parts of my brain and genuinely warms my heart.

Josh Brolin is great and very funny. Julia Garner is magnificent; you lik her and dislike her in equal measure. Amy Madigan is excellent. The scares are measured, effective, and unsettling. My wife, who is both a cinephile and a horror junkie, actually shrieked in the theater during one scene. I’ve never seen her do that in our entire relationship.

The story is well told, the mystery unfolds naturally, and when you finally figure it out, it becomes a different kind of scary. The ending is also really cathartic. An excellent film from start to finish.

Looking back, these films share a similar aftertaste: unease, recognition, catharsis. Across genres and scales, they linger in the same way: by holding up uncomfortable reflections and asking the audience to sit with them a little longer than expected.

And sometimes, that’s exactly what great cinema is supposed to do.