Sunday Special: The Best Movies of 2025

The gist

2025 was a paradoxical year for cinema: while major studios like Warner Brothers achieved remarkable success with ambitious original films, the broader industry struggled with marketing saturation and audience fragmentation. The looming sale of Warner Brothers—potentially to Netflix or Paramount—threatens to reshape how movies are made and distributed, even as this year demonstrated that taking creative risks on original IP can pay off commercially and critically.

Key takeaways

• One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson's film starring Leonardo DiCaprio) topped critics' lists despite making only $200 million worldwide against high production costs; it exemplifies original filmmaking that will have long-term cultural value through streaming and awards runs

• Sinners (Ryan Coogler's vampire film with Michael B. Jordan playing dual roles) became a shocking top-10 box office hit, earning $280 million domestically and proving audiences want fresh, auteur-driven content over formulaic franchises

• Superman (James Gunn's reboot) succeeded by prioritizing screenplay readiness over production schedules, contrasting with Marvel's assembly-line approach and signaling serious creative direction for DC's future

• Minecraft became the year's highest-grossing film, validating family film demand and proving video game adaptations can work with the right execution

• October was catastrophic: major star vehicles (Tron, Springsteen biopic, films with Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, Austin Butler) all flopped due to social media spoilers spreading instantly and audience attention becoming harder to capture

• Wicked for Good and Zootopia 2 demonstrated sustained hunger for sequels to beloved properties and family entertainment, earning $300 million and benefiting from previous marketing efforts

• Avatar: Fire and Ash continued James Cameron's dominance in theatrical spectacle, proving 3D IMAX experiences remain culturally essential alongside champions like Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible)

• International cinema thrived: Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident (shot undercover in Iran) won Palme d'Or; documentaries like Come See Me in the Good Light showed diverse storytelling resonating at festivals and with audiences

Notable quotes

• Benicio del Toro character, One Battle After Another: "I've had a few small beers"—became the year's most quotable line, organically generating marketing memes

• Nicole Sperling on consolidation: "The biggest concern right now for the industry is what is going to happen with Warner Brothers...consolidation is not good for any industry...we're gonna see a business that has already contracted keep contracting"

• Alyssa Wilkinson on risk-taking: "If we are just dealing with strictly art, we'd be in such a better place. But instead, the commerce has really taken over"

Worth a full listen?

Listen if you want detailed discussions of specific films' craftsmanship, box office context, and how Warner Brothers' sale could reshape theatrical cinema—the TLDR captures the main arguments but misses nuanced film analysis and the trivia game finale.