Veronica’s Top lucky 13 Movies of 2025
Normally with my Best Of lists, I have trouble whittling it down to less than 15. My previous Best Of lists have been baker’s dozens of weird and sometimes upsetting, off-the-beaten-path films. This year, I hate to say it, I was let down by a good chunk of what I saw from the alternative cinema scene, and noticed while putting the list together that so many of my choices were super mainstream. I’m not entirely sure what to make of that, but here we are, so enjoy my Best of 2025: My Most Basic Year Since The Time I Picked The Substance As My Number One. Which was 2024.
Special mention to Ghoulies 3. As normal, this is a list of new to me and new releases, and you almost made this list but essentially, I realized you were a DEI hire in that I was trying to shoehorn in something that didn’t fit for the sake of diversity. I did like you a lot, Ghoulies 3, but not enough to give you a full spot.
My hope for 2026 is that I get to see more of the weird stuff that I love, and that the weird stuff I do see won’t be as disappointing as some of that ilk that came out this year. I know I sound like a crotchety old woman (because I am), but I’m crossing my fingers for some meaty, twisted, don’t-know-quite-where-it’s-going cinema this year. I’ll let you know what I find.
13. Kombucha (Dir. Jake Meyers)
The word satire is overused this day or maybe it’s an issue of satire and real life running so parallel to each other that it’s hard to tell what is and isn’t exaggerated for comedic effect, so I’d rather not refer to Kombucha as a workplace satire and just enjoy it as a comedic body horror. There’s some skin-crawling moments, some laugh out loud moments, and a few interesting takes on the “struggling artist sells out” trope. This is one of the only really alternative movies on the list for 2025 and it might be hard for people to find if they wanted to watch it, but if you do come across Kombucha, I recommend it with my whole chest for anyone who likes gross, grimy, uncomfortable, comedy-tinged body horror.
12. Friendship (dir. Andrew DeYoung)
Because I am mean spirited and cruel by nature, I love watching uncomfortable comedies and laughing at people who don’t know how to make friends. Plus, I’m a big Tim Robinson fan. His face looks like it’s melting off of his skull, but he knows how to hit my funny bone. Friendship follows his enamored yet ill-fated story of meeting a cool guy, played with perfect ease by Paul Rudd, and wanting so badly to be like and liked by him until it all unravels. I also like the movie because I enjoy scenarios where people have every chance to not blow up their lives and do it anyway. That’s essentially this entire film.
11. Final Destination Bloodlines (dir. Zach Lipovsky, Adam Stein)
Like all Millennials, I love the Final Destination movies. Except for that one… 4 maybe, or 5? It starts with a bus on a bridge and it’s got that guy from Trial and Error in it. Final Destination 6 was a magnificent return to form: gross, funny, ridiculous, sometimes eye-rolling, always entertaining. Tony Todd’s final appearance is as poignant as one would expect, and there’s a clever through line that connects this movie to all the others. Personally, I do think we can let the Final Destination franchise take a bow and exit stage right, but if number seven winds up coming out, I will also be seeing that.
10. Sinners (dir. Ryan Coogler)
This is a pretty obvious one. It’s my kind of movie all-around: style and enough substance to sustain a pretty long run-time. I’m a sucker for the dirty south aesthetic, good music, and Michael B. Jordan. And there’s two of him in this! What a time to be alive. The arrangement of Rocky Road to Dublin is one of my favorite quasi-musical moments in a film, and I loved most of the action being contained to a single night and location. I’ve seen Sinners compared to From Dusk Till Dawn, and I 100% agree. They’d make a great (but kind of long) double-feature. Maybe next Halloween…
9. Him (dir. Justin Tipping)
My thoughts on this movie have been made very clear. I am totally fine with style over substance if said style is great and less than 100 minutes long. Him hit that mark for me. I was engaged, grossed out, wincing at a few scenes (that guy getting hit in the face with those footballs would have died!), and as always, enjoy the majesty of the male form in peak condition onscreen. Marlon Wayans is an exceptional actor who I don’t think gets enough credit. He’s note-perfect in this one, keeping the balance between having control and being a puppet.
8. The Secret Agent (O Agente Secreto, dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho)
I expected a much more straightforward political thriller with this one and was caught off guard by how unusual (and funny) it was. There’s some really whacky scenes and more than a few intense ones that worked in such a quiet, almost banal way. As someone who enjoys spy and thriller movies of all stripes, I’ve seen a lot of tense moments that are twisty, sharp, meticulously art directed. Some of the most heart-pounding scenes in The Secret Agent were just a person being asked their name. There’s also a lot of humanity in this film, like when a bunch of citizens laming it are gathered in a safehouse and opening up about who they actually are. Aside from that, it looks great. It’s got that gritty, sweaty seventies feel of which myself and Lil Ipcar are quite fond.
7. Black Bag (dir. Steven Soderbergh)
Speaking of humanity in spy movies! Black Bag has been mentioned a few times already on this site. It was in Jenna’s 2025 round-up and we did a podcast about it as well so go listen to my thoughts instead of reading them, because who likes to read anyway? Black Bag reminded me of a John LeCarre novel, where the questions are only sometimes about spying and sneaking, and often about the honor among thieves. The trust among spies, as it were.
6. Die My Love (dir. Lynne Ramsay)
Forget about that couple from Black Bag who love each other. Let’s talk about a couple that kind of hate each other! Or maybe they could love each other if they didn’t have that damn baby. Die My Love, adapted from a book I am currently reading, is a Lynn Ramsey film, and like most of her work, it’s dreamlike and nonlinear. Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson play the couple at the heart of the story, slowly coming apart then reconnecting then losing the thread again. It can be hard to tell what’s really happening and what’s in the characters’ heads, making for a beautiful, haunting movie that left me feeling a little hollow. In a good way.
5. Woman of the Hour (2024, dir. Anna Kendrick)
I’ve probably mentioned that I think Anna Kendrick is adorable and talented, but if I haven’t, I’m doing it now. Woman of the Hour is her directorial debut and is a based on a true story with some details being fabricated for the sake of making an interesting movie. Remember that old tv show The Dating Game? Me neither, but one time, a literal serial killer was on it, and the woman who won a date with him (lucky girl) is who Kendrick plays in this sharp period film. The seventies. What a time…
According to the true accounts, the woman who won the date immediately backed out when she met him face-to-face and another man on the show (who in the movie whispers a warning to Kendrick’s character when they meet briefly) told the producers there was something weird about the dude. No, monsters don’t necessarily walk among us unchecked. Very often, people feel it in their gut and fortunately for some of them, they listen.
4. Teknolust (2002, dir. Lynn Hershman Leeson)
Ok, here’s a good weird one! Turn of the millennium, Tilda Swinton in a bunch of different roles, and stealing sperm to create copies of oneself. It’s also filmed in San Francisco, which gives it an extra star from me. I love seeing my city on film. If you can find a copy of Teknolust, I do recommend giving it a watch. It makes silly fun of ethical questions around technology, and Tilda is super charming the whole way through.
3. Mickey 17 (dir. Bong Joon Ho)
Weird and clones. Great segue. Mickey 17 is a futuristic comedy from Bong Joon Ho and it deals with being a cog in the machine in the worst way. Robert Pattinson shows up again with an odd voice (that I liked) and a contract that lets his employer clone him as many times as they need to for the worst jobs one can imagine. When one clone is thought to be dead, but winds up still being alive, there’s a duplicate issue and two Mickeys running around the dripping, steam-spitting space ship.
I don’t know why 2025 was the year of duplicating attractive men, but I am here for it. Let’s keep this trend going.
There’s a lot of interesting details that flesh out the world and all the characters we’re rooting for are the type of people we want to root for. I hesitate to say this is a ‘feel-good’ movie, but it kind of is. Or at least as close to ‘feel-good’ as you’re going to get out of me.
2. Bugonia (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)
Because I tend to recommend movies that are more ‘feel-weird’ like Bugonia. Two men (a marvelous Jesse Plemons and a heart-breaking Aidan Delbis) kidnap a woman (Emma Stone) they believe to be an alien. They keep her prisoner in their basement and go through all sorts of machinations that they think will dull her powers and keep her from contacting her mothership. Bugonia is a remake of a Korean movie Save The Green Planet, and while I haven’t seen it yet, I’m excited to watch it this year. Ultimately, this is a sadder film than it seems, but it’s got that type of well-done violence and dark humor that Yogos Lanthimos is famous for, and that I, for one, love so well.
1. One Battle After Another (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Alright… I know I’ve said this so many times before, but here’s yet another example of a movie that I was like, “I’m not seeing that and you can’t make me,” and then I wound up loving. It looked too long, too convoluted, and there were too many famous people in it. I incorrectly assumed it would be an airless, weightless slog like Honey Don’t or a Wes Anderson movie. Instead, One Battle After Another was tight, funny, and played interesting games with morality.
My one big critique is that too many of the women revolutionaries in the film’s version of the French 75 did not dress like they were going to be doing, ya know, revolutionary shit. Boys, we wear our hair up if we’re think we might be running from the authorities. And, uh, we’re usually not doing it in slinky skirts ala Jungle Pussy.
