Movie List 2025

Every year, I try to compile a list of games, books, and movies I experienced. For the complete list, check the Ratings. Here we go (sorted by rating then alphabetically)!

NOTE: I believe this list is the one that is mostly incomplete. I will probably make additions to it time to time.

1. Anora (9★★★★★★★★★): My pick for the best movie of the year. The actress shows drama, comedy and sexuality.
2. Conclave (8★★★★★★★★): Superb performances. Tense with a plot twist.
3. I'm Still Here (8★★★★★★★★): The Brazilian movie about dictatorship from 70s. In other words: modern as ever.
4. Im not a Robot (8★★★★★★★★): Amazing short movie about the consequences of a CAPTCHA.
5. Prisoners (8★★★★★★★★): A dark and haunting exploration of morality and justice, with powerhouse performances and a gripping narrative
6. Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back (8★★★★★★★★): The only movie from the saga that I did not have a VHS to watch 1000 times. It’s really good, even for today’s standards.
7. The Brutalist (8★★★★★★★★): A visually stunning drama. An intersection of architecture, history, and personal resilience. Brody is Oscar-worthy.
8. The Day the Earth Stood Still (8★★★★★★★★): Cold War sci-fi at its most elegant. A film that trusts its message enough not to shout it.
9. The Princess Bride (8★★★★★★★★): I was told time after time that is goofy but memorable movie. I cannot agree more.
10. The Skin I Live In (8★★★★★★★★): Almodovar delivers one plot twist after another.
11. What We Do in the Shadows (8★★★★★★★★): A group of vampire friends with humor and absurdity in the best Monty Python style. I always like Taika Waititi’s directing and acting style.
12. A Quiet Place Day One (7★★★★★★★): The origins story.
13. After Hours (7★★★★★★★): One of the earlier Martin Scorsese movies, it’s a darkly comedic odyssey of unpredictability of a single chaotic night.
14. Dredd (7★★★★★★★): Lean, mean, and criminally underrated. Karl Urban never lifts the helmet and never needs to. The platonic ideal of a B-movie that knows exactly what it is.
15. Full Metal Jacket (7★★★★★★★): I’m definitively not a fan of Kubrick style.
16. Identity (7★★★★★★★): A psychological thriller filled with plot twists.
17. Scarface (7★★★★★★★): Excess, ambition, and violence in pure De Palma style. Iconic, but its length and melodrama can test patience.
18. The Apprentice (7★★★★★★★): If you already dislike Donald, it will just reinforce your vision. If you like him, it’s time to change sides.
19. The Substance (7★★★★★★★): Its visuals insist on sensations: desire, disgust, wants. It’s a mix of social criticism and B-movie horror.
20. Thief 1981 (7★★★★★★★): A gritty heist drama with existential undertones
21. Wicked (7★★★★★★★): Ariana Grande is really well. All the rest, passable.
22. Déjà Vu (6★★★★★★): The premise of seeing the past “in real time” is interesting. Once you get past that, it gets silly.
23. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (6★★★★★★): Sharp, self-aware neo-noir with crackling dialogue. Underrated at the time, still a fun ride.
24. You Were Never Really Here (6★★★★★★): The film itself is more mood than movie.
25. Emilia Pérez (5★★★★★): 13 nominations? It’s a boring movie, the songs are bad and forgettable (not to mention the ASMR presence). Unfortunately, it was caught in pointless controversies.
26. Ghost In The Shell (2017) (5★★★★★): Scarlett’s version is substantially more confusing and less engaging than the original animation. Only worth it if you’re marathoning both.
27. Mountainhead (5★★★★★): Ambitious ideas buried under murky execution.
28. The Day the Earth Stood Still 2010 (5★★★★★): A fraction from the original.
29. Crimes of Future 1958 (4★★★★): Cronenberg’s embryonic vision, interesting only as an artifact.

Documentaries

1. Incident (7★★★★★★★): A tense, meticulously assembled account that lets footage speak louder than commentary. Unsettling in the best documentary tradition.
2. The Elephant Whisperers (7★★★★★★★): Quietly beautiful. It says more about humanity than wildlife.
3. I am Ready Warden (7★★★★★★★)I am Ready Warden (6★★★★★★): Sobering and humane, but struggles to find a fresh angle on familiar ground.
4. The Only Girl in the Orchestra (5★★★★★)The Only Girl in the Orchestra (5★★★★★): You leave admiring the film, not the subject.

Animations

1. Robot Dreams (10★★★★★★★★★★): Beautiful, interesting, and moving.
2. Wander to Wonder (9★★★★★★★★★): 9 great short stop motion animation.
3. Ghost In The Shell (8★★★★★★★★): Visual and thought-provoking spectacle. But it’s not easy to understand everything it proposes. A classic I had already watched in 2009.
4. In the Shadow of the Cypress (8★★★★★★★★): 8 post-traumatic stress disorder

TV Shows

1. Adolescence (10★★★★★★★★★★): Four single-take episodes that hit like a gut punch. Devastating, precise, and impossible to shake.
2. The Last of Us (S1) (9★★★★★★★★★): Faithful where it matters, inventive where it dares. Episode 3 alone justifies the whole season.
3. 24 (S1) (8★★★★★★★★): Real-time tension that still holds up. Jack Bauer’s first day remains a masterclass in procedural propulsion.
4. Murderbot (S1) (7★★★★★★★): A lovably anxious killing machine just wants to watch TV shows. Charming adaptation that nails the voice if not always the pace.
5. Senna (2024) (7★★★★★★★): A series that is neither a documentary nor a work of fiction. And it’s average at both. Entire plots of no importance.
6. Severance (S2) (6★★★★★★): The mystery deepens but the momentum stalls. Gorgeous and maddening in equal measure — not always intentionally.
7. The Last of Us (S2) (6★★★★★★): Ambitious but overstretched. Loses the intimate focus that made S1 special, trading earned emotion for sprawling setup.