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10. Sorry, Baby
The fact that Sorry, Baby was Eva Victor’s directorial debut adds an extra layer of pressure on myself as a filmmaker for my own. With just a few simple locations and characters, Victor brought herself up among some of the great writers and directors this year with an extremely compelling film. The performances were strong and the cinematography was effective, creating for another of this years’ most underrated films.
Marty Supreme was a very entertaining and stress-inducing film with a cast that was probably far more star-studded than necessary. Despite its similarities to Uncut Gems, the film exceeded my expectations, which were already set fairly high after its ambitious marketing campaign. Before its release, I started to worry that Marty Supreme would follow the typical sports biopic formula. Luckily, that couldn’t have been further from the case. Jennifer Venditti always seems to scout the perfect mix of actors and non-actors to build an elaborate world within the film.
8. Sinners
Sinners was probably the second biggest contender for Best Picture this year, and seeing its record-breaking number of nominations only further confirms how great of a movie it was. What I saw as Sinners’ biggest success was how it simultaneously acted as a period piece, horror, musical, drama, cultural and spiritual film and still managed to be the best it possibly could at all of its genres. Not to mention, Sinners also contained an amazing award-winning performance by Michael B. Jordan, and contained one of the best music sequences in a 2025 film.
7. If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You
I got the chance to meet Conan O’Brien in December of 2025, and I’m slightly embarrassed to admit I didn’t know much of his work at the time. To remedy this, I chose to watch If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You, which funnily is likely his one performance that represents him the least. Regardless, the film was one of my favorites this year, and of course Rose Byrne’s performance elevated an already interesting and experimental film to another level. If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You feels like the maternal companion to Uncut Gems (2019), which just proves that Mary and Ronald Bronstein are perfect for one another. Also, A$AP Rocky is in this movie, which was pretty fun.
6. Weapons
Weapons was not exactly what I (and likely many audiences) expected from Barbarian (2022) director Zach Cregger, but the comedy elements of the film were a welcome surprise. The film also seemed to have opened doors for more studios to lean into the horror genre, allowing for several exciting horror films to line up their release dates in May of 2026. I was also a fan of Cregger’s use of shifting perspectives in Barbarian, which I appreciated him sticking to in Weapons. The film was also a tribute to the late Trevor Moore, a friend and sketch-comedy-troupe partner of Cregger’s, adding further value to its success.
5. Train Dreams
Train Dreams, apart from creating a compelling story adaptation, blew it out of the water in terms of cinematography. By not following the typical rule-of-thirds framing and instead splitting the frame in a cross, Train Dreams gave us some of the best visuals of the year. The film’s color grading was beautiful and served as the perfect palette for the moving story.
4. Wake Up Dead Man
Rian Johnson’s third installment in the Knives Out series, Wake Up Dead Man, was definitely my favorite of the trilogy. The film was beautifully shot and the story was compelling as usual with Johnson’s films, but what really drew me to it was its portrayal of religion. The contrast between priest Jud Duplenticy’s unwavering faith and detective Benoit Blanc’s stoic atheism created a nuanced take on religion, proving that grounded principles of doing good for the world are what truly bring good people together.
3. Hamnet
Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet was a film I had to sit back and take in for a second when the credits started rolling. With such great source material and such strong control over its story, Hamnet made for an extremely compelling movie. Knowing that this was Zhao’s comeback as a director after the unsuccessful release of Eternals (2021), her role as a strong director was proven by simply putting all of her care into a work. This film also has great performances, but I would say that the story itself and the way Zhao chose to tell it was what elevated it so much.
2. Bugonia
I do understand why Bugonia lacked the recognition I and many others felt it deserved, since it is a polarizing film in many ways. Still, I’d consider it my favorite release from last year, considering I was hooked from the trailer alone. The film greatly exceeded my expectations and had such strong control over both its tone and its story, and each of its performances were some of the best this year.
1. One Battle After Another
It may be hypocritical of me to begin by saying I wanted to shine a spotlight on underrated films only to put Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another at the top spot of this list, but there is clearly a reason the film won Best Picture. Blending unexpected comedy with the expected drama within the film significantly worked in its favor, and the car chase sequence over the hills was just awesome.
