The year just past was, on the whole, a reasonably strong one for Hollywood. A number of quality films were released, though a high quotient of movies that excelled aesthetically were marred by problematic content when considered from a spiritual and/or moral point of view.
Productions in that category included “Wake Up Dead Man,” “Bugonia” and “Rental Family.”
Following, in alphabetical order, are capsule reviews of the Top 10 films of 2025 as assessed by the media reviewing service of OSV News. Unless otherwise noted, the OSV News classification of each is A-III – adults while their Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
“Blue Moon” (Sony Pictures Classics) is director Richard Linklater’s very loosely fact-based dramatization – tinged with comedy – of a single evening in the life of Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke). After attending the 1943 first night of the Rodgers (Andrew Scott) and Hammerstein (Simon Delaney) musical “Oklahoma!,” Hart, a chronic alcoholic, realizes the groundbreaking show may strike the death knell for his own quarter-century partnership with Rodgers. Screenwriter Robert Kaplow’s script grapples with existential issues suitable for a mature audience. The Motion Picture Association rating is R – restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
In “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” (Focus), a splendid send-off for the inhabitants of the titular stately home, its proprietors (Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern) are troubled by financial worries and by high society’s shunning of their recently divorced daughter (Michelle Dockery). Both the butler (Jim Carter) and head cook (Lesley Nicol), meanwhile, are preparing for retirement and experiencing mixed feelings about the impending change. Under the direction of Simon Curtis, the film salutes family solidarity, kindness and mutual respect across classes. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG – parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
“Eddington” (A24) is a well-crafted but bleak dark comedy from writer-director Ari Aster that uses the small fictitious New Mexico town of the title as a microcosm in which to examine the conflicts roiling contemporary American society. Central to the plot are the burg’s sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) and its mayor (Pedro Pascal) whose bid for reelection the lawman impulsively decides to challenge. As their rivalry plays out, Aster shows himself an equal opportunity satirist, skewering disease-denying right-wingers and loopy leftists alike. But the story eventually takes a profoundly disturbing turn. The OSV News classification is L – limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (R)
In director Matt Shakman’s Marvel Comics adaptation “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” (Disney), the titular quartet of astronauts (Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn), who accidentally acquired superpowers during a previous journey into space, returns to the ether to investigate a seemingly unstoppable alien being who’s threatening to destroy the Earth. Set in an alternate version of the mid-1960s, the film is a complex, layered production with an understated tone that places family solidarity front and center while also evoking nostalgia for the Apollo-era fascination with NASA’s rapid achievements and probing ethical dilemmas as well. The OSV News classification is A-II – adults and adolescents.
“John Candy: I Like Me” (Amazon MGM) is an insightful documentary profiling the Canadian actor and comedian, who died in 1994, aged only 43. Director Colin Hanks uses interviews with family members and colleagues as well as archival material to trace Candy’s life from his youth in Ontario to his sudden demise. What emerges is the portrait of a deeply loveable family man whose values helped him remain unwarped by fame. The influence of Candy’s Catholic faith is mentioned straightforwardly but not examined in detail.
In “Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning” (Paramount), Tom Cruise takes his eighth turn as infinitely resourceful spy Ethan Hunt, who continues the struggle against a rogue AI entity and the villain (Esai Morales) who would like to control it that kicked off in the last installment. Dogged pursuit is more to the fore than clever turns of the table in returning director and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie’s extension of the franchise, a grand-scale adventure that features lessons about sacrificing personal interests to the greater good, the possibility for wrongdoers to achieve a kind of civic redemption and the perils of proportionalist ethics. (A-II)
The historical drama “Nuremberg” (Sony Pictures Classics) charts the relationship between imprisoned Nazi leader Hermann Goering (Russell Crowe) and a psychiatrist (Rami Malek) serving in the U.S. Army. Swayed by his patient’s deceptive charm, the analyst wavers between tentative friendship for the wily Luftwaffe chief and the need to assist the military authorities (John Slattery plays the prison’s hard-driving commandant) and the lead American prosecutor, Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon). Crowe’s multi-faceted performance propels writer-director James Vanderbilt’s adaptation of a 2013 book by Jack El-Hai.
Eva Victor wrote, directed and stars in “Sorry, Baby” (A24), the frank account of a sexual assault and its aftermath. She plays a promising graduate student at a small, rural New England university whose apparently nurturing thesis adviser (Louis Cancelmi) turns out to be a predator. She confides in her best friend (Naomi Ackie) but gets no substantial help either from the police or the school’s administration. The picture makes for difficult viewing, yet the tale it tells is also intimate, droll and ultimately uplifting. (L, R)
“Weapons” (Warner Bros.) focuses on a caring but emotionally isolated teacher (Julia Garner). When all but one (Cary Christopher) of the students in her class mysteriously run away from home in the middle of the same night, she falls under suspicion of having had a role in their disappearance. Determined to clear herself, she embarks on an amateur investigation, eventually gaining the help of the initially hostile father (Josh Brolin) of one of the missing kids. Writer-director Zach Cregger tells his intriguing and unsettling tale of horror from a variety of perspectives, crafting an impressive narrative that convincingly weaves together its natural and supernatural elements. (L, R)
With “Wicked: For Good” (Universal), director Jon M. Chu concludes his two-part adaptation of Stephen Schwartz’s hit Broadway musical in the same luxuriant style with which he began it. As the Land of Oz languishes under the oppression of its ruling Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), the odd-couple pair of former schoolmates and friends (Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande) whose relationship was chronicled in the first installment find themselves on opposite sides of the political divide while both are also still in love with the same charming prince (Jonathan Bailey). This topsy-turvy take on the world created by author L. Frank Baum is visually and vocally delightful. (PG)
John Mulderig is media reviewer for OSV News. Follow him on Twitter @JohnMulderig1.
