10. KPop Demon Hunters (Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song)

2025’s breakout, crossover hit came about not just because of some infectiously catchy tunes. KPop Demon Hunters features colorful animation, enthusiastic vocal performances, and a poignant message about self-confidence and overcoming shame. Unfamiliar or unwilling to engage with the KPop phenomenon? No problem; with Demon Hunters, you’ll find a film with an low barrier to access. Yes, some of that comes from the songs like “Golden” or “Soda Pop”, but the film crosses cultures without betraying its roots, paying homage to Korean traditions and specificities. Last year may have been a down year for animated films, but KPop Demon Hunters quickly became the word of mouth phenomenon that makes movies such an important pop culture touchstone.

9. Weapons (Best Supporting Actress)

The Academy’s embrace of horror films has seemingly come full circle, with the almost left-field nomination of Amy Madigan in Weapons. Zac Cregger’s twisty psychological horror-comedy shares some DNA with his previous hit, Barbarian: they both feature a potent mix of genres, but his latest is more focused and hones in on a more culturally specific message. At times a metaphor for our collective response to school shootings, and a more generalized fear of the unknown, Weapons is that rare Oscar nominee where the critical consensus mostly matched the box office enthusiasm.

8. It Was Just an Accident (Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature)

Jafar Panahi has used his personal experiences living under the Iranian regime to make some of the most thought-provoking films around the world. It Was Just an Accident continues his mission, as it recalls his time in prison, and the moral complexities of confronting his jailor. Through Panahi’s trademark observational direction, the film opens up one of the year’s most fascinating conversations around revenge in a corrupt system. To vastly over-simplify the plot, the film is about a man who comes across someone who may or may not be the man who tortured him and his friends while he was imprisoned. The rest of the film raises a number of thought-provoking questions: if he really is the guilty party, what’s the proper punishment? Is anyone entitled to vengeance, whether justified or not? Naturally Panahi provides no easy answers, and the final moments linger in the mind long after the credits roll, making one of the most interesting endings in years.

7. Sinners

While I’m slightly less enthusiastic about Sinners overall, I still greatly enjoy and admire Ryan Coogler’s original vision and celebration of Black joy. Indeed, the film is one which wouldn’t have come within a country mile of the Academy 10-15 years ago, and now it stands as the most-nominated of all time. Michael B. Jordan, Coogler’s regular collaborator, carries the film as twin brothers with a shady past, but the film is rounded out by incredible supporting turns from Delroy Lindo, Wunmi Musaku, Hailee Steinfeld, and newcomer Miles Caton. Coogler has played within the franchise sandbox throughout his career, but Sinners is a fully original statement exploring Black freedom and music, which couldn’t have been made by anyone else.

6. Hamnet (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best

It’s easy to ding Hamnet as being a kind of throwback Oscar bait, but Chloe Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel becomes something deeper and more playful. Jessie Buckley, giving one of the year’s best performances, takes center stage ahead of one of history’s most notable figures, and gives life to a woman typically reserved for a footnote. But it’s the film’s finale which brings it all together, a stunning statement on processing grief and creating something which rightfully honors a person’s memory. After Zhao’s Eternals delivered mixed results and a departure from her usual working style, Hamnet at least serves as a welcome reminder that she’s one of our best, most humanistic filmmakers, regardless of the genre.

5. The Secret Agent (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best International Feature, Best Casting)

We are what we leave behind, and when you live under an military regime known for disappearing people without ceremony, what you leave behind becomes crucial. This is the crux of The Secret Agent, a film which teases itself as an action period piece, but becomes a more nuanced story about national and personal identity in 1970s Brazil. Wagner Moura is the beating heart of Kleber Mendonça Filho’s slow-burn character study, embodying the uncertainty and fear which so many Brazilians faced during the “time of great mischief”. It would have been easy for Filho to make a straightforward spy thriller, but by taking a more personal approach, The Secret Agent becomes something deeper and more meaningful.

4. Sentimental Value (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best International Feature, Best Film Editing)

Joachim Trier’s previous film was one I respected more than I loved, but Sentimental Value brought me onboard through its thoughtful depiction of inherited trauma. The film works mostly as a character study of a difficult but celebrated filmmaker, who seeks to make amends to his children in the only way he knows: making art. That filmmaker is Gustav Borg, portrayed by Stellan Skarsgård, giving the best performance of his long career, as he manages to be both sympathetic and maddening. Perhaps the magic trick of Sentimental Value is in how Trier lets the film breathe, giving necessary weight to Gustav’s past and present and exploring his family’s complicated dynamics. Indeed, Trier takes the good bones of a story that could easily play into naked sentimentality, but makes it feel personal and lived-in.

3. Train Dreams (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Song)

There’s always one Oscar nominee which ranks high in my personal opinion, but I have to temper my excitement in the grand scheme of things. This year, it’s Train Dreams, my favorite film of 2025, and a film which hit me hard at the right time in my life and speaks to how I want to see the world. Regardless, Clint Bentley’s adaptation is full of all the requisite components to make a great film: gorgeous cinematography, a lovely, whimsical score, a subdued but strong performance from Joel Edgerton, and a thought-provoking story about one person’s place in the world. Sure, not everyone will connect as fully as I did with Train Dreams, but it still stands as a towering achievement from last year.

2. Marty Supreme (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Casting)

Josh Safdie’s first solo narrative feature without brother Benny continued the duo’s fascination with men who can’t seem to get out of their own way. But Marty Supreme may be the best of them, anchored by a magnetic, career-best turn from Timothee Chalamet. As Marty Mauser, an aspiring table tennis world champion, Chalamet teeters ever-so-close to being unlikeable, but his innate charisma ultimately saves him. Throughout all 150 minutes, it’s transfixing to simply want to know what Marty will do next. But Safdie, along with co-screenwriter Ronald Bronstein, turns the film into an understated statement on American Imperialism (and the American Dream), as Marty represents the bullheadedness with which the country operated in the wake of World War II. Those going in cold to Marty Supreme hoping for an inspirational sports story will likely leave disappointed, but the film offers a fascinating character study and a look at determinism that isn’t easily replicated.

1. One Battle After Another (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Original Score, Best Casting, Best Sound)

Who am I kidding? One Battle After Another is another undeniable masterpiece from one of the most reliable filmmakers of the modern era. Paul Thomas Anderson’s take on “Vineland” couldn’t feel more timely, and has only proven more so since its premiere last September. Through frenetic pacing and scathing social commentary, PTA’s latest feels like a bold new entry in the auteur’s already stellar filmography. From the performances from his all-star cast, to the mesmerizing action finale, One Battle After Another feels like the kind of film that will appeal to any generation – young and old – that rebels against the unjust.