The article recommends top films from 2025 to end the year, including best movies, rewatchable favorites, and feel-good picks from critics, along with other cultural highlights.
A roundup of recommendations from our critics fStop Images - Twins / Getty
This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.
The year 2025 was hard for the film industry but good for movies. “Looking back at this turbulent year, rife with the usual industry concerns over the viability of the theatrical experience, young people’s slipping attention spans, and Hollywood’s overreliance on franchises, unearths a diverse crop of gems,” my colleague David Sims wrote this week.
Spend time with his list of the year’s 10 best films, and when you’re done reflecting on the year that was, spare a moment for some of our critics’ other recommendations. Maybe you’ll return to a beloved favorite or find something new.
On Movies
The 10 Best Movies of 2025
By David Sims
The standout films that helped cinema survive another turbulent year
The best albums of the year: Although we may be on the cusp of a major shift in how music is made, achieving excellent results will always require a human approach, our critic Spencer Kornhaber writes.
Hopeful images from 2025: Photos that recognize some of the abundant joy and kindness present in the world around us
I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. C.B., age 68, sent this photo of Vancouver, Canada.
I’ll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks.
