10 Best Movies of 2025

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Years ago, going to the movies was a big event — a date night or family excursion. Movies offered dazzling delight, a shared communal experience. Ticket sales were once the major source of revenue for these extravaganzas, particularly franchises.

Now, while many of the year’s most memorable movies open briefly in theaters, they’re soon — sometimes simultaneously — available for home viewing. Plus, the gap between what gets nominated for awards and what people actually want to watch gets bigger. Which is a shame.

In alphabetical order …

Movies

“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
“Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale”
“Frankenstein”
“Hamnet”
“Jay Kelly”
“Marty Supreme”
“Nuremberg”
“Rental Family”
“Song Sung Blue”
“Train Dreams”

Directors

Clint Bentley for “Train Dreams”
Craig Brewer for “Song Sung Blue”
James Cameron for “Avatar: Fire and Ash”
James Vanderbilt for “Nuremberg”
Chloe Zhao for “Hamnet”

Actors

Timothy Chalamet in “Marty Supreme”
George Clooney in “Jay Kelly”
Russell Crowe in “Nuremberg”
Joel Edgerton in “Train Dreams”
Ethan Hawke in “Blue Moon”

Actresses

Maggie Buckley in “Hamnet”
Rose Byrne for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
Kate Hudson in “Song Sung Blue”
June Squibb in “Eleanor the Great”
Emma Stone in “Bugonia”

Supporting Actors

Billy Crudup in “Jay Kelly”
Jacob Elordi in “Frankenstein”
Rami Malek in “Nuremberg”
Paul Mescal in “Hamnet”
Adam Sandler in “Jay Kelly”

Supporting Actresses

Odessa A’zion in “Marty Supreme”
Oona Chaplin in “Avatar: Fire and Ash”
Ariana Grande in “Wicked: For Good”
Felicity Jones in “Train Dreams”
Gwyneth Paltrow in “Marty Supreme”

Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures. Her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M.

As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O’Brien, and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism.