THE BEST PERFORMANCES OF 2025

A visual graphic of fireworks, stars, and lights, with the year 2025 written in the center of it.

“I am your way out. This world already left you for dead. Won't let you build. Won't let you fellowship. We will do just that. Together. Forever.” - Jack O’Connell (as Remmick) in Sinners.

Through that bleak depiction of what is offered by folk-singing vampire Remmick in Ryan Coogler’s genre-defying Sinners, we find ourselves in a familiar place: one where the art we consume and the world we exist in are often moving in vastly different directions.

In music for example, escape has rarely seemed easier. And while Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show made direct, pointed political statements about ongoing inequities, his December 2024 album GNX may be best remembered for a moment of manic comedy - Lamar bellowing his producer’s name. “Mustaaaaaaaarrrrrdddd” not only become a meme and joke for the first few months of 2025, but the album’s biggest hit is a tender ballad featuring SZA, inspired by a classic Luther Vandross/Cheryl Lynn song from the 1980s.

If Bad Bunny can educate us on the history of Puerto Rico, Lady Gaga can pull us into a magical world of MAYHEM and “Abracadabra,” and everyone can form an opinion on Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl, then what did movies offer us in 2025?

As it turns out: quite a lot.

Movies have always reflected the times we live in. When we look at the most impactful films and performances of the past year, we see recurring themes of gentrification, racial inequality, immigration, radicalization and violence, sexual assault and recovery, institutional racism, police brutality, income disparity, desperation, hopelessness, a longing for what once was. There is a shared anxiety across countless films we watched in 2025, a persistent worry that no matter how much we offer the world, we may not matter and we may go unseen.

Fun! Pass the popcorn!

For those who believe movies should exist as a form of escapism, 2025 did offer plenty of opportunities to shut the world off and be entertained for a while. But increasingly, we find ourselves struggling to separate reality from fiction. Not just because of the onset of AI, but because of the stories we choose to tell and those we choose to consume.

I am often asked why there are so many horror movies in the marketplace right now. Once we move past the fact that they are relatively inexpensive to produce, can often turn an easy profit, and follow predictable formulas, the truth is that horror, when done well, reflects the world back at us. Not every slasher flick accomplishes this. However, in 2025, movies like Weapons, Sinners, Together, The Long Walk, 28 Years Later, The Ugly Stepsister, and even the horror-through-the-viewpoint-of-a-dog storytelling in Good Boy forces us see the world in a way that makes us confront uncomfortable truths. Horror movies thrive when people are trying to make sense of the world they find themselves in. That’s true for moviegoers and the talent behind the camera producing those stories. When life feels unkind, unjust, and indifferent to people’s struggles, movies and television, to a lesser extent, show us those truths.

The annual Best Performance List at Should I See It exists to shine a spotlight on those moments, in front of or behind the camera, that mattered most. This is work that cut through the noise. That found a way to be seen and heard amid stressful times, fear, and an uncertainty of the reality surrounding us. These artists take risks. They are bold, vulnerable, and deeply human. Their work deserves attention, not just because it exists on a “Best Of” list, but because it helps us understand ourselves and those around us just a little bit better.

As a reviewer, I know I seek connection with this particular art form. The older I get, the more I push back against spoon-fed emotion or heavy-handed dialogue. Movies should make us feel something. The good ones should challenge us. And at their best, movies offer a glimpse into discoveries we otherwise would not understand or be ready to face on our own.

With that in mind, here is our annual look at 20 performances that left a lasting impression on not just me, but audiences from all walks of life in 2025. Fifteen Honorable Mentions follow, each worth exploring. As expansive as this list is, I think it only scratches the surface. They are so many performances worthy of recognition. Here’s hoping you find this an invitation to seek out more stories, listen to new voices, and make moments of connection with these films.

Below are the Top 20 Performances of 2025 (in alphabetical order), presented with the words of the artists themselves, or those who helped bring them to life.

Let’s begin…

**1. A$AP ROCKY | as Yung Felon | HIGHEST 2 LOWEST**
In addition to his supporting turn in Mary Bronstein’s *If I Had Legs I’d Kick You*, rapper A$AP Rocky emerged as an impressive acting talent, dominating his screen time in Spike Lee’s music industry thriller *Highest 2 Lowest*. As aspiring hip-hop star Yung Felon, Rocky finds his character squarely in the crosshairs of Denzel Washington’s aging music mogul David King.

When an attempted kidnapping and ransom of King’s son leads to a case of mistaken identity and fractured friendships and emotions result from King’s decisions around how to respond to the request for $17.5 million and a Cartier bracelet, Lee brings his film to a powerful moment where King and Felon square off in a music studio, engaging in an impromptu confrontation/rap battle for the ages. Rocky more than holds his own opposite Washington and asserts himself with one of 2025’s most impressive movie moments.
**(Spike Lee**): “Don’t sleep on A$AP. I’ve done five films with Denzel, and a lot of times when he’s in a scene with somebody, they just get overwhelmed. He’s one of the greatest living actors today, but A$AP wasn’t having that. Toe-to-toe, I mean, they were going at it.” - *Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, July 31, 2025*
(**A$AP Rocky):** “As a New Yorker, it was a dream come true to be between Denzel and Spike Lee. Their dynamic alone is just historical. So I’m honoured (sic) to be an honorary member of their legacy. (Lee) let me develop my character full throttle. They put me in the right environment that was familiar with a little nostalgia, and it allowed me to take the character to different places, and borrow stories from the people I was around growing up, and their circumstances. I appreciate that he was receptive to all my changes for my personal character.” - *Perfect Magazine, October 29, 2025*
*Highest 2 Lowest* is available for streaming on Apple TV+.

**2. JESSIE BUCKLEY | Agnes | HAMNET**
For a film indirectly focused on William Shakespeare’s dedication to creating art from traumatic loss, *Hamnet* does not work without the stunning, grounded performance from Jessie Buckley, who portrays the Bard’s wife, Agnes, as a woman of strength and resilience.
When we first meet her, she is deeply connected to nature and soon thereafter she falls for William and raises their two children while William becomes enamored with writing and theater. When their son Hamnet falls ill, Buckley’s performance hits extraordinary depth, and power, delivering a range of emotional responses that takes your breath away.
**(Buckley):** "She was the full story of what I understand a woman to be. And their capacity as women, and as mothers, and as lovers, and as people who have a language unto their own beside gigantic men of literature like Shakespeare.

Having not been a mother at the time, and having not lost a child … I know love, I know great love. And I think like with anything and with any of the women that I play or in any of the roles and the worlds that I enter I'm just trying to get a little bit more human in what I understand of being alive." - *BBC, January 2, 2026*
(**Director Chloé Zhao, on casting Buckley):** “I’m never looking for the actor, I’m looking for the humanity underneath the acting. Fearlessness, and a lack of vanity, and a person willing to take off their mask. Plus, when I went to Jessie’s house, she has a kitchen just like Agnes.” - *The Hollywood Reporter, December 15, 2025*
*Hamnet* is currently playing in theaters.

**3. ROSE BYRNE | Linda | IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU**
Rose Byrne’s talent is unmistakable, but the places she goes in Mary Bronstein’s *If I Had Legs I’d Kick You* is unlike anything we have seen from her previously. Brilliant comedic timing and an ability to cut people down with one dismissive line, Byrne’s performance as Linda is a searing, visceral response to a woman constantly being silenced, while facing insurmountable challenges as a mother of a child with a mysterious illness that requires a feeding tube and near round-the-clock care.
As a therapist, Linda advises patients while seeking advice herself from a colleague, played by Conan O’Brien. Her unraveling is difficult and mesmerizing to watch, creating a sort of anti-hero that we root for, admire, am shocked by, and hope can find a way out of the expanding hole that she feels stuck in.
**(Byrne, on Mary Bronstein’s insistence on extreme close-ups for most of the film):** “(The movie) stretched me, technically, to a place that I’ve never been before. It really has sort of changed me as an actor, because of that language with the camera and how I had to adjust and figure out what Mary needed. But really, more importantly, what she didn’t need in certain close-ups, because it was so, so, so, so close to my face.” - *Backstage, December 12, 2025*

**(Bronstein on casting Rose Byrne):** “Rose was actually always at the top of my list because she has this innate comedic understanding and ability and can understand how to play even the most subtle comedy beats that are in my script. And the tone of my script is really, and the film itself as it came out is really a tightrope. If you fall too much into the comedy, you can lose the serious themes. And then if you fall too over to the other side, it can’t sustain itself. It’s too dark. And so I needed somebody who could walk that tightrope, the very smallest of actresses.
And then I also wanted somebody who people would look at when her face comes on the screen, would have a kindness towards just innately because that would allow me as a tool, to take the audience further. And Rose has all those things. And so I was lucky enough that she wanted to do it because it was a very big ask.” - *AwardsWatch, November 6, 2025*
*If I Had Legs I’d Kick You* is available for purchase on VOD.

**4. THE CAST OF “SENTIMENTAL VALUE” | (From L-R): Elle Fanning (Rachel), Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Agnes), Renate Reinsve (Nora), and Stellan Skarsgård (Gustav)**
Family dynamics are explored deeply in Joachim Trier’s drama *Sentimental Value*, exploring the complicated relationship between a movie director father and his two adult daughters. When patriarch Gustav decides to make a movie documenting his mother’s life during World War II, and offers it to his daughter Nora, she bristles and declines. American actress Rachel Kemp then steps in to portray the character, exploring and learning about Gustav’s strained connection to his daughters.
This moving story explores the notion of art as a healing mechanism and digs into the tenuous relationships that can fray when one eschews responsibility for personal gain. Centered around a house that serves almost as a character in its own right, Trier and screenwriter Eskil Vogt explore the unspoken and suppressed emotions that build up over time. Trier’s film soars with an ensemble cast who draw us into a complicated world and allow us to explore our own relationships and family connections.
**(Director Joachim Trier):** “I tried to be clear. I dared to be clear. We shot on 35mm, and the colors — if you use that as a metaphor — are more saturated, clear and well-balanced. It’s risky to balance colors on this level; it’s hard. That’s a metaphor for the emotions we wanted.
I knew I had great actors; I’m very privileged. The challenge of the film for me was how do we let that clarity and honesty come through when the film talks about the opposite: Our avoidance, our family’s inability to speak, the roles we give each other unconsciously. So much of the movie is about things that are unclear. So how does one tell that story in a straightforward way?” - *The Hollywood Reporter, September 9, 2025.*
**(Reinsve, on exploring her character):** “I really love the launch of the character in *Sentimental Value* because you see her core problem through this very comedic setup that is very physical. You also see all the emotional weight that she’s carrying, unable to process, unable to communicate with the people around her in her real life. And she runs away panicking… because to be a good performer, you have to access everything inside of you. Also, on the subconscious level, you kind of have to have a contact with that and let anything come up. And she physically tries to run away, but when in the end she’s pushed on stage, you can also see where she gets her force as an actor. And you also see the similarity with Gustav, her father, that they are kind of the same, that the only place they can be really sensitive and present with other people is on stage because he also lacks that ability in his life with his daughters.” - *Deadline, December 7, 2025*
*Sentimental Value* is available for purchase on VOD.

**5. TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET | as Marty Mauser | MARTY SUPREME**
In what may not only the performance of the year, but a career-defining milestone for the just-turned 30-year-old Chalamet, *Marty Supreme* finds the gifted actor as narcissist - diabolical, hilarious, insufferable, and unrelenting in his push to achieve a dream he believes people think he will never see come to reality.
That drive, that determination is embodied in a wild, careening 160-minute whirlwind of a film that sees Marty pursue his desires in becoming the most famous table tennis star in the world, while also rubbing up alongside mobsters, having affairs with a married Hollywood starlet (Gwyneth Paltrow), a married friend from his hometown (Odessa A’zion), and playing every angle he can to make himself famous.
**What Chalamet creates on screen is unforgettable - a manchild we love to hate (and kind of love), unable to get out of his own way, annoying and exhausting, but with a hustle unlike any other.**
**(Chalamet):** “The confidence in the character, that ebbs and flows … and certainly within the scope of the film, too, you see Marty doubt (himself). But he has no one believing in him. He’s his only supporter. He’s his only dreamer. Rachel, played beautifully, played wonderfully, by Odessa (A’zion), is in his corner. But otherwise, it’s him against the world, and that does something to a man, which is one of the lines in the movie. So, I could relate to that deeply, and I tried to bring that spirit to the movie.” - *Forbes, December 16, 2025*
**(director Josh Safdie, on casting Chalamet):** “This young man and his youth were going to be very important, too. You have very little knowledge of consequence when you’re young, because the world is so big and there are so many opportunities. I think youth is quite romantic and him chasing love, adoration is also a great grounding agent. They never were worried about it, and never asked me to dull the edges because they knew that was going to be an interesting thing for audiences. I don’t believe in anti-heroes. That’s the only way you can write a character like that.” - *ScreenDaily, January 6, 2026*
*Marty Supreme* is currently playing in theaters.

**6. RYAN COOGLER | as Writer, Director, and Producer | SINNERS**
*Sinners* defies categorization. If you haven’t seen it, buckle up:

Yes, it’s a horror film where vampires descend on a group of unsuspecting people. It’s a gangster epic, as twin brothers run from mob ties and try to create a new life in Clarksdale, Mississippi in the 1930s. The movie is also a drama, where past tragedies are revisited and the desire to run from life’s obstacles becomes a complicated, but very real emotional response. *Sinners* is also a cultural essay on the history of Black culture - how influential it has been to mainstream culture, the ease with which others appropriate Black innovation and creativity and call it their own, and the ways with which Black contributions are marginalized, ignored, snuffed out, or ripped away from those who create it.
Managing and navigating all of this feels daunting and impossible, but the incredible talents of Ryan Coogler makes *Sinners* a mesmerizing, one-of-a-kind viewing experience. Sure, it is bloody and does not skirt away from violence as a means with which people react to one another. But, there is a tenderness and respect that hangs around even the most shocking of moments.
Coogler’s film, before it becomes a horror-adjacent survival story, builds around community. Twin brothers “Smoke” and “Stack,” played by a fantastic Michael B. Jordan have returned home to open a juke joint where they hastily arrange a celebration. In a day’s time, they bring community together and unbeknownst to them, a vampire named Remmick has arrived in town, looking for a way to be let in. Seeing it four times as of this writing, *Sinners* continues to amaze me and provide details I missed in previous viewings. This is cinema at its most alive and Coogler’s film is one we will be talking about for decades.
**(Coogler on the vision for the film):** “I mean … to me, allegory, metaphor, all these things, I'm not going to tell you that they're not present in my work - right? - but I was not - in this case, with this project, I was not being conscious of it. You know, like, I was trying to - you know, I was trying to communicate a feeling through cinematic language. And the reality is, as I've gotten older in this business and in this craft, you know, I realized that if I can make something true, it's up to the viewer to draw those parallels. You take the thing, and you analyze it. And with - and in your analysis, you might project your own experiences, your own knowledge. You know what I'm saying? And you might draw certain parallels that weren't the parallels I always intend, you know?”

**(Why he chose vampires):** “When the idea came to me for this movie, I thought about other supernatural creatures as the thing that they confront at the juke joint. I went down the line. You know, like, I thought about werewolves. I thought about zombies. You know, I thought about shape-shifters, which, in some Indigenous cultures, might be referred to as skinwalkers. I went through the whole Rolodex, you know, and I kept coming back to vampires because of everything that the vampire implies in public consciousness. Vampires are expected to be sexy, usually expected to be fashionable, usually expected to be knowledgeable, usually expected to be very powerful. It's not thought of as wrong if a vampire is converted to vampirism, but they maintain their human personality - you know, their human memories. It's a fascinating premise. If I'm trying to have a conversation about our common humanity … what better to contrast, you know? The other piece that the vampire evolved (to) is the Faustian deal. I was very interested in that.”
*Sinners* is streaming on HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, the Roku Channel and for purchase on VOD.

**7. JOEL EDGERTON | Robert Grainier | TRAIN DREAMS**
As a laborer in the Pacific Northwest, at the turn of the 20th century, Joel Edgerton moves from well-respected and recognizable character actor to a full-fledged leading man, carrying the somber, beautiful, and meditative *Train Dreams* into an immersive and memorable movie experience.
Covering the span of 80 years in the life of Grainier, director Clint Bentley clearly trusts the veteran actor to hold our gaze and connect to his journey. We see Robert as a dedicated worker and family man, determined to make things better for those around him. Everything he does is in the best interests of his family. When tragedy strikes, Edgerton’s most powerful moments in the film are showing us how Robert seeks to find a reason to keep living, working, and maximizing what he can with the one life he has been given.
In addition to being one of the most beautifully shot films of the year, Bentley’s detail-driven emphasis on placing the viewer in the time period of the film, and having Robert be our guide through simple and unforgiving moments, makes Edgerton’s performance even more haunting, authentic, and powerful.
**(Edgerton, on how a small film like this can exist within the Netflix platform):** “An artist could make something in their bedroom with one or two instruments, and it can sit alongside the most highly produced, expensive album. Movies are the same because the one ingredient that a big or small budget movie can have that will make it resound is story and character, and those are cheap. They’re not easy to craft, but they’re the common thing between any story on film that’s successful. *Train Dreams* trades in a good story and good character in a way that it can still sit alongside movies that seem bigger and louder. The success of the film on a business level struck me at Sundance when Netflix became so deeply interested in taking it on and their plan for rolling it out and putting a lot of care and attention into a campaign. The thing about Netflix, it’s like plugging into a louder amplifier. But again, none of that would matter if it wasn’t for the fact that (writer/director) Clint (Bentley) had crafted something that was a good story with good character.” - *Interview, December 18, 2025*
*Train Dreams* is now available on Netflix.

**8. ETHAN HAWKE | Lorenz Hart | BLUE MOON**
Perhaps it can be a cliche to say that “you’ve never seen (actor) quite like this!” - but I am not sure how else to describe the ferocity and anxious enthusiasm that Ethan Hawke brings to his portrayal of legendary Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart. Working for a ninth time with director Richard Linklater, Hawke transforms into the diminutive firebrand, landing at a local watering hole ahead of his former composing partner Richard Rodgers, who is set to celebrate his new Broadway play, “Oklahoma!” written, for the first time, by someone other than Hart.
Hawke talks a mile a minute, seemingly full of boundless energy and endless things to discuss. However, we soon see a fear within Hart - a slow, growing realization that perhaps his work will be supplanted by someone else. In this instance, Rodgers, played by Andrew Scott, tore the house down with his new production, collaborating with Oscar Hammerstein. Even as Hart acknowledges that its Rodgers’ best work, he clings to a hopeless crush on a young actor (Margaret Qualley), desperately tries to stay at the center of everyone’s conversation, and wrestles with the reality that the spotlight he has grown accustomed to, may be pivoting and shining on someone else.
As the dialogue-heavy film goes on, Hawke becomes less of an annoyance and more of a desperately sympathetic figure. We study him. His small stature, increasingly raspy voice, and receding hairline provide the shell with which Hart seeks connection anywhere and everywhere he can find it. Hawke has arguably never been better and the awards buzz he is receiving is absolutely well earned and deserved.
**(Linklater, on who Lorenz Hart truly was):** “People loved Larry Hart. You don’t hear bad things about him. The Mabel Mercer quote is getting one aspect of him: ‘He was the saddest man I ever knew.’ I’m sure she saw the exuberant side, too. He was sitting on this bedrock of forlorn sadness. His sexuality was against the law. He was such an unusual physical specimen. We came to the conclusion that he never had the adult relationship that he dreamed of. It was never his to have – a loving, supportive relationship. He didn’t have that, and yet he wrote about it. It’s tragic. But he’s so witty, so smart, so biting. That’s what gives those songs their heft forever. Even if you’ve had the best life, you remember the ones that got away. You remember the rejections and the sadness. Those stay with you emotionally.
**(Hawke, discussing Hart facing rejection from several individuals in the film):** “That’s where the writing gets really excellent. It’s really complicated and messy, like real life. On a very simple level, yeah, this is a breakup film between Rodgers and Hart, but the pain of that breakup is so intense that he’s distracting himself with a new pain. He’s creating a pain that is lesser, so that it can be managed at all. There was something about it that just feels deeply human and strange to me.”
**( Linklater)**: “We have this young co-ed, this Yale 20-year-old who has her own life. She has her own passions, her own dreams. It’s the only time Larry shuts up. He gives her a lot of space. He’s truly intrigued by this young woman. He’s infatuated. It’s fun to feel like what it must have felt like to be her in that moment.”
**(Hawke)**: It’s funny, structurally, as a film, that the biggest, most difficult scene I have in the movie is when he finally stops talking, and he’s forced to listen. That’s when he gets shattered.” - *Dazed, December 2, 2025*
*Blue Moon* is available for purchase on VOD.

**9. INDY | as Indy | GOOD BOY**
Yes, an animal has made the list of the Best Performances. And also yes, I wish *Good Boy* was a better overall movie. However, what cannot be denied is how Indy, a Nova Scotia Duck Trolling Retriever, has earned nearly a dozen awards, special citations, and recognition for his performance in Ben Leonberg’s debut film. Indy, as it turns out, is a really good boy, indeed.
**For Leonberg, his casting search was easy. Indy is his own dog.**
It might be the expressiveness. It might be his presence. Or the way the camera loves filming his loving, curious demeanor. Perhaps, better than some human actors, Indy might somehow understand precisely what his director needs and wants in each scene. No matter the “why” of it all, you simply cannot take your eyes off of him. The premise of a horror film, told from the standpoint of an observant dog, is clever. Then, when you find a dog like Indy, who can convey authentic fear and anxiety or seem genuine as he reacts to seeing ghostly apparitions, hearing strange noises, and peering into darkened hallways and corners, make no mistake … we must protect Indy at all costs.
**(Leonberg on Indy not dying in the movie):** “Well, I knew I wasn’t going to kill the dog. I started with the idea that in the first act of every horror movie, there’s this dog who knows what’s going on before anybody else does. Usually, he ends up in pieces in front of the family at the break into Act Two. See: *The Conjuring*, any number of films. What if you just told the story of the dog who doesn’t end up dying but experiences the haunting? He’s the only one who really knows what’s going on thanks to his canine senses. How far could you push that?”
**(Leonberg, on challenges with Indy):** “Pretty consistently, the things that seemed like they should have been hard were pretty easy, and the things that should have been easy were incredibly hard. This is part of the reason why all the sets were closed sets, because they needed to be as distraction-free as possible. We’d be so close to getting the shot. He’d walk in, you’d have the right eyeline, and then he’d be like, ‘Look, a butterfly.’ Mitigating little distractions was, if not the biggest challenge, a constant challenge.”
*Good Boy* is available for streaming on AMC+, Shudder, Roku, Philo, and DirectTV Stream and available for purchase on VOD.

**10. ANDREW JARECKI and CHARLOTTE KAUFMAN | as Directors and Co-Writers | THE ALABAMA SOLUTION**
Other, more showier documentaries may have garnered a ton of attention, but one of the most powerful, haunting, and important films of 2025 is *The Alabama Solution*, a devastating look at the abuse, suffering, and, in some instances, murder which inmates experienced in Alabama’s state prison systems. Sympathies and empathy for inmates can vary for a variety of reasons, but since 2019, nearly 1,400 inmates have died or been killed while in state custody.
Near the beginning of filming, one inmate - Stephen Davis - was found dead. Davis’ story serves as a centerpiece for the film, exploring how, despite an investigation and lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department, the neglect, harm, and death of incarcerated individuals seemingly goes unpunished in Alabama’s prisons.
Jarecki and Kaufman utilize cell phone footage shot secretly by inmates, documenting the awful conditions and treatment they experience. And even if you are someone with little empathy for the incarcerated in this country, you cannot help but become upset when you see instances of inmates abiding by the rules, trying to better themselves for a potential return home, and being abused or seeing their deaths covered up and elected officials and those in charge seemingly without any remorse, concern, or care over the conditions within the prison system.

(Jarecki): “Because of the secrecy of prisons and because the public is sort of willing to drive by that little sign on the road that says, you know, ‘XYZ Correctional Facility’ and think, ‘Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on back there but it is probably all right,’ I think that the system actors very often just don’t go visit the prisons. They don’t ask the questions even though they’re in charge. You want people, and also I think it’s a non-partisan issue, when people get to the end of the film, they say, ‘Hey, that’s not what I meant when I said tough on crime.’ This is a whole other dimension. I just didn’t know what it meant when those guys went behind bars.” - *IndieWire, November 12, 2025*
**(Kaufman):** “When you’re taking on subject matter like this and people are giving you the responsibility for telling their stories, the stakes are really high. And I think Andrew and I both feel we thus have to be experts on the subject material; and not just in a solely story-driven away, but to really understand all the ins and outs. We have to speak to as many people as possible, take as much time as needed. It’s a sacred responsibility, especially when it’s a story that is being withheld from the public.
In many ways we’re following a civil rights history of the (prison reform) movement that we don’t usually get to see. There was this tear in the fabric of secrecy that usually exists throughout prisons, and we got access to it. We didn’t want to rush the process because it has to be right, because the stakes are so high.” - *Filmmaker, November 12, 2025*
*The Alabama Solution* is currently streaming on HBO Max.

**11. MAGGIE KANG and CHRIS APPLEHANS | as Directors and Co-Writers | KPOP DEMON HUNTERS**
Find me a mainstream movie as ambitious as *KPop Demon Hunters*. It’s okay, you probably can’t. With the confident directing of Maggie Kang and Chris Applehans, this animated mixtape of a film blends science fiction, action, comedy, and musical elements into something that, in lesser hands, could have felt nonsensical and rudderless. Instead, *KPop Demon Hunters* feels purposeful and cohesive, delivering a story that embraces difference, celebrates heritage, and leans into the idea of “otherness” as a strength rather than a liability. Oh and also, our female protagonists HUNTR/X (pronounced Hun-Trix) slay a whole bunch of demons along the way.
Kang, who developed the concept for the story, and Applehans never lose sight of the film’s big, beating heart beneath its pop culture wrapping. Themes of acceptance and inclusivity are woven organically into the story, and the film’s messages feel genuine and not on-the-nose. *KPop Demon Hunters* understands that identity can be deeply personal and expressive, and relays those notions exceptionally well, alongside stunning visuals, thrilling action, interesting characters, and one banger of a soundtrack.
That soundtrack was everywhere in 2025. Going 9-times platinum around the world and topping album charts in 15 countries so far, *KPop Demon Hunters* could have Grammys and Oscars to celebrate by the spring of 2026. The cultural impact Kang and Applehans created cannot be ignored. “Golden” spend eight weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the soundtrack became the first in history to place four songs in the Top 10 at the same time. And regarding “Golden,” you know you have tried hitting that note. Maybe you were alone or in the car, certainly in the shower. But, you tried. And you’re not alone. By the end of summer, *KPop Demon Hunters* became the most watched Netflix film of all time. All in all, Kang and Applehans delivered one of 2025’s most memorable and improbable cinematic performances.
**(Kang):** “I’ve always wanted to see an animated film set in Korean culture. As a Korean person who was born in Korea but grew up in North America, it’s been surreal but also incredible to see our culture just become… so cool? It’s cheesy but I think it’s true. Growing up everyone knew Chinese and Japanese culture well but Koreans were not even on the map. Now that we are, I feel so much pride and I just wanted to express this pride through a film that celebrated our culture, all aspects of it. So my biggest inspiration for this film is my culture.” - *Geeks Out, July 16, 2025*
**(Applehans):** “... Everybody wants unconditional love, you know. So I think the fact you have somebody chasing that in a flawed way and then finding the right way … whatever your particular inner demons or your shame, your powers are, that could take so many forms, but the journey is pretty accessible, I think. It reminds me when we were writing the last song, the breakthrough it was. Basically talking to the songwriters and saying, ‘This isn’t like a song about just a happy ending.’ Actually, it’s about continuing a kind of struggle. And like, you’re gonna carry pain with you forever. Like, it’s not like ooh, all done now. And I think there’s sort of an honesty about that that’s not a perfect tidy thing that people take with them rather than just being like, ‘Yay, we’re done here. Life is fixed.’” - *AwardsWatch, October 8, 2025*
*KPop Demon Hunters* is currently streaming on Netflix.

**12. AMY MADIGAN | as Aunt Gladys | WEAPONS**
Warner Bros. kept the marketing for Zach Cregger’s *Weapons* frustratingly vague. Rather than conventional trailers, we saw teasers and a viral social media campaign utilizing grainy, low-resolution footage of young children running out of their houses in the middle of the night, their arms held in a deeply unsettling position. Eerie, intriguing, and bizarre, those videos didn’t even come close to what was waiting for us. Nothing, and I mean nothing, properly prepared audiences for what Amy Madigan does as Aunt Gladys.
Madigan’s performance is strange and unsettling at first. A bit funny and almost a novelty or stunt when you first see Aunt Gladys’ persona. However, there’s this charisma that pulls you in before you realize how unhinged Gladys happens to be and how inviting you have become in accepting her. A look lingers a beat too long. A reaction feels just slightly off. What begins as a strange curiosity turns into someone you genuinely dread seeing return. But you also love when she returns, because Madigan keeps you on edge. Though her makeup and hairstyling is severe and over-the-top, Madigan’s piercing, frightening performance is not because of her look. Rather, it is how in control and unpredictable she is.
By the time *Weapons* reaches its final act, it’s impossible not to think about the all-time great villains. Alongside performances like Heath Ledger’s The Joker, Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh, Anthony Hopkins’s Hannibal Lecter, and Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber, Madigan and Gladys feel like a new inductee in the Villain’s Hall of Fame. Intense, fascinating, dangerous, and iconic, Amy Madigan’s performance is something you will never forget.
**(Madigan):** “Per the script, I’m the antagonist. I’m supposed to be the bad guy, but Gladys doesn’t think she is. Gladys is someone who’s doing exactly what she needs to do to survive. Her back is pushed against the wall. I think that she’s been doing this for a while. She comes to town, you see her doing okay, then you see her not doing well at all. She gets other people to do things for her, so she has a remove, in a way, from what the end result is and her actual participation.
She’s very confident in what she’s doing. She has great follow-through. You know, it’s like the adage: A woman’s gotta do what she’s gotta do. And this woman does.” - *Backstage, December 15, 2025*
“Her back is against the wall. She was in desperate circumstances, and it was a heightened way to deal with something which I thought was rather unique. Yes, she is scary. She can turn on you, and you don’t want that to happen. But the movie is funny. Zach is smart because he melded those two things. But when she’s bad, she’s really bad.” - *IndieWire, December 17, 2025*
*Weapons* is streaming on HBO Max and Roku and available for purchase on VOD.

**13. DYLAN O’BRIEN | as Roman and Rocky | TWINLESS**
We have come a long, long way from *The Maze Runner* movies. Not that those are to be disparaged, but the Dylan O’Brien who broke out in those movies feels like a completely different individual than we see in James Sweeney’s shocking and yet, still endearing comedy/drama *Twinless*.
O’Brien portrays twin brothers Roman and Rocky and Roman is mourning the recent death of his brother. Reeling, lost, and unable to manage his emotions, Roman joins a support group for people who have recently lost a twin. Roman stumbles upon a fellow support group attendee, Dennis (Sweeney), and the two become fast friends. Being gay, Dennis provides a window into Rocky’s world that Roman did not fully understand while he was alive. And for Dennis, he has never quite met someone as interesting and unique as Roman.
This balancing act is brilliantly written and directed by Sweeney, a surefire movie-making talent to keep an eye on in years to come. However, O’Brien gives a career-best performance as a brother almost too proud to admit how fragile he is, yet looking to Dennis to not help him crack. He’s alone. Lonely. He needs a friend. And isn’t always the best at making and keeping them. It’s a stunning performance, densely layered, beautifully vulnerable, and someone who, somewhat like a puppy dog, simply wants to matter in a world he has never experienced without a twin brother by his side.
**(O’Brien on playing twins with completely different personalities):** “They’re both different humans. They ultimately become surrounded by different people. One kind of stays at home. The other sort of expands beyond and experiences new and different environments. And it’s like the thing that I can most compare it to in my own experience growing up with friends in a small town. And then I was a kid who moved in seventh grade. So, even just on that, it’s not a big city or anything, but all of a sudden, you’re in a new environment. You’re enduring being surrounded by a whole new reset. You’re all of a sudden going from being comfortable to surviving, so you’re automatically implementing these sorts of adaptive instincts and things like that, and in a way that friends of yours who’ve grown up in the same town didn’t have to.”
**(On Sweeney giving him space in a highly emotional scene):** “... You’re sort of learning what you need … in these moments ... I guess I’ve been through this enough to know that I wouldn’t necessarily know what was going to come out or how it was going to happen, but I knew how to approach it and get myself ready for that moment, and then to just let it go. It was kind of a really special moment for me in my career, to still, I don’t know, at age 33, to still have these moments of evolution as an actor. It’s nice. It feels good.” - *The Playlist, August 26, 2025*
*Twinless* is available for purchase on VOD and will be available for streaming on Hulu and Disney+ beginning January 16.

**14. KEKE PALMER and SZA | as Dreux (Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA) | ONE OF THEM DAYS**
Movies released early in the year run the risk of being forgotten, and though it grossed $51 million at the box office, tripling its production budget, people seemed to forget about Laurence Lamont’s *One of Them Days*. As best friends Dreux and Alyssa, Palmer and SZA make a tremendous duo together, cutting one-liners at will, playing off of one another’s reactions in a genuine and authentic way and making the movie feel, at times, like these weren’t actors playing roles - just two best friends vibing, living their lives, and just existing in South Los Angeles.
Though the premise is a familiar one: two friends, barely making enough to live or much less pay their rent on time, face eviction from their landlord if they don’t have money paid to him by 6:00 p.m. on the first of the month. Believing rent is paid, they learn that Alyssa’s boyfriend Keshawn (Joshua Neal) actually used the money for a personal matter. He’s also cheating on Alyssa, which sends both women into a spiral and a series of situations that threaten to change their lives forever.
Light on its feet, Palmer and SZA make the film an absolute joy to watch. We look past the formulaic moments because they are clearly having a ball working together. SZA, a multi-platinum R&B superstar, makes her acting debut and is a natural alongside her veteran co-star. No matter how ridiculous this day gets for Dreux and Alyssa, we are convinced that they have each other’s backs. That friendship, that affection for one another is as pure and real as anything we saw on the big screen in 2025. Their comedic timing, humorous interactions, and effortless chemistry helped make *One of Them Days* a wonderful surprise of 2025.
**(Palmer, on her chemistry with SZA):** “We were allowed to really improv and play around with lines and the crew encouraged it. A lot of the things that were chosen for the movie are things that we improvised. When we started working together for this film, that was when we got to spend more time with each other outside of just being peers in our industry. And the chemistry was immediately there. SZA was just so open and she’s a person that’s very hard not to love because she lays it all out there. We went all-in together and very much supported each other throughout the whole film.” - *Stylist, February 2025*
**(Director Laurence Lamont on casting SZA):** “We had so many people audition for the Alyssa role, and … the studio had the idea for SZA. I wondered how it would be because her and Keke were on [Saturday Night Live] together, so they already had a little bit of chemistry. It was just clear as day that she was Alyssa. Even on set sometimes I would say cut and try to go in and give notes and they would still be laughing and enjoying themselves. I'm like, ‘We shouldn't even cut the cameras.’ We might as well roll on all the behind-the-scenes stuff that they're doing because the bestie vibes were strong and their chemistry is one of a kind.” - *The Fader, January 16, 2026*
*One of Them Days* is streaming on Netflix and available for purchase on VOD.

**15. JAFAR PANAHI | as Writer, Director, and Producer | IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT**
A Jafar Panahi film feels like a minor miracle, and *It Was Just an Accident* is no exception. Perhaps his most accessible film for mainstream audiences, Panahi shot the film in secret, given his continued persecution and the Iranian government’s efforts to silence him for creating “propaganda against the system.”
Suspenseful and emotional, Panahi’s film focuses on a group of former Iranian political prisoners who come together when one man believes he has found his former tormentor. As Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), an auto mechanic, recognizes a distinctive trait from his captor, present in a man who comes to him for help, he is convinced that their paths have crossed. Reaching out to others, there is an initial belief, than uncertainty that they have found a man they called Eghbal (“Peg Leg”), since they were bound and blindfolded while in detainment.
Panahi looks at revenge and retribution as a human emotion, but also explores the trauma and pain that can cripple someone as they grapple with the requisite fear, anger, and unresolved grief which accompanies those feelings. Panahi asks us to consider what justice looks like, and who has the right to enact it, leading his film to open up deeply thoughtful discussion around questions that do not offer simple or easy answers.To even discuss this is an act of protest and Panahi’s bravery in telling this story resonates as one of 2025’s most powerful cinematic moments.
**(Panahi):** “Any film that’s made that doesn’t exactly fit what the government wants will run into the same problems. It’s like that famous saying: ‘You’re either with us or you’re against us.’ There’s nothing in between, so everyone has to find their own way. When I received a heavy prison sentence, I asked myself what I could do. You can find a thousand reasons not to succeed when creating a cinema. Anyone in my circumstances could probably think this would be the ultimate reason not to create.
There was a time when my students would come to me, complain about the circumstances they were facing, and say that they could not make films as a result. But when my team and I made films such as “This Is Not A Film” or “Taxi,” students were not complaining anymore. They realized that there’s nothing that completely closes all the doors to creating. In suppressing authoritarian systems, 50% of the creativity comes from the director’s energy, while the other 50% is dedicated to finding a way to make the film.” - *RogerEbert.com - October 15, 2025*
*It Was Just an Accident* is now playing in theaters and available for purchase on VOD.

**16. PARK CHAN-WOOK | as Writer, Director, Producer | NO OTHER CHOICE**
One of the reasons a number of international films have generated awards season buzz and the potential for numerous Oscar nominations this year is that they explore topical, real-world issues in a way that is fearless, bold, and welcoming of debate. Park Chan-wook’s extraordinary *No Other Choice* precisely locks in on the dire nature of the global economy, by focusing on one man’s desperation to find a solution - any solution - after unexpectedly losing his job.
Park is a master storyteller who can blend genres with the ease of a Michelin cook. He has made films with extreme violence, labyrinthine mystery, and unflinching, sorrowful drama. Here, Park finds dark, bleak humor in his adaptation of the 2005 Costa-Gravas film *The Ax.* In this version of the story, an American corporation buys out the paper company where Man-su, a husband and father of two, works and is widely revered. After his unexpected termination, he takes odd jobs until an opportunity leads him down a road of contemplating what he is willing to do to eliminate the competition and re-establish his place within his family and in his career path.
Everything clicks here. The performances are terrific, the pacing balances tension, suspense, and, again, this is one unexpectedly funny movie. Something of a satire, we may be laughing as we wonder what Man-su is capable of, but we are also wondering about the world in which this film exists. There is an unyielding pressure to provide and the pressure to mean something in this world that does not always fit with the expectation of being “successful.” That pressure can push people to their breaking point, and the irony of all of this is that there really isn’t anything all that funny about that realization.
**(Park):** “The audience desperately wants to cheer him (Man-su) on and for him to find a job, but at other times, they realise that his choices are wrong. Those two feelings coexist, and the audience switches between them. That was the goal behind the making of this film.” - *The Guardian, January 9, 2026*
**(On incorporating comedy into the film):** “I would say that I always work with the same ingredients; I’ve just mixed them up differently for this recipe. I’ve always liked having dark humor in my stories, but with this film, the humor stands out much more. That was very important from the beginning. The book isn’t in-your-face comedic, but I thought that by exaggerating Man-su’s foolishness, I could deepen the message. I wanted to really highlight the tragic absurdity of his ideas and how he puts them into action. The solution to our problems can only be found by fighting the system. But very foolishly, before long, he’s targeting his fellow colleagues. This leads him to commit terribly immoral acts, all the while telling himself he has no other choice — that he’s doing it all for his family. It’s tragic, but there’s also such absurdity to it.” - *The Hollywood Reporter, October 10, 2025*
*No Other Choice* is now playing in theaters.

**17. SEAN PENN | as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw | ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER**
There are no shortage of amazing moments and performances in Paul Thomas Anderson’s *One Battle After Another*. The tenderness of Regina Hall. The ferociousness of Teyana Taylor. The thoughtful, calm demeanor of Benicio del Toro. The comedic unraveling of Leonardo DiCaprio. The wise-beyond-her-years breakout by Chase Infiniti. Any of them, and Paul Thomas Anderson, deserve a spot on this list. However, I would argue, nothing comes together in Anderson’s Thomas Pynchon adaptation without a terrific villain to shake up and destroy the world these characters exist in.
Enter: Sean Penn. The two-time Oscar winner hardly needs more accolades. However, he taps into something unlike any character we have seen from him before, as the rugged, vicious, racist, dogged Col. Lockjaw - the human embodiment of a wind-up G.I. Joe toy, whose whole mission in life is to find DiCaprio and Infiniti’s characters and exact revenge for a humiliation he endures at the beginning of the film.
*One Battle After Another* offers a harsh, frank analysis of our political opposition to one another, and Col. Lockjaw certainly rests on the far-right of our political discourse. However, he is as diabolical, dangerous and frightening as he is absurd, ridiculous and vain. Penn captures not only Lockjaw’s ability to present as a tough, unbreakable beast of a man, but also shows us a vulnerable, stunted manchild who is reduced to little else when his firepower gets taken away. Just when you think you’ve seen the depth and breadth of what Penn can do as an actor, he gives us an unforgettable, abhorrent character that is the glue that binds everything together in the extraordinary *One Battle After Another*.
**(Penn):** “Eighteen years ago, when I did *Milk*, was the last time that I enjoyed the work. But you want to be participating in something that is of your current interest, and with people who are surprising. Because of Paul’s movie, I’m in a stage of liking acting. But I’ve always got carpentry to fall back on. And surfing.
**(On working with Paul Thomas Anderson a second time):** “I thought I looked a bit bloated (in *Licorice Pizza)*. It was a charming movie. Bradley Cooper makes me giggle in that film. And I started hearing that Paul was going to send me another script. When he finally sent it to me, I was traveling and I took it with me. Late at night, still dripping wet from a shower, I grabbed it just to taste the opening pages. I sat there naked, laughing and really excited because Paul is always in totally different worlds. I thought to myself, Okay, he’s going there!” - *W Magazine, January 6, 2026*
*One Battle After Another* is playing in theaters, streaming on HBO Max, and available for purchase on VOD.

**18. ABOU SANGARÉ | as Souleymane | SOULEYMANE’S STORY**
Among the best films of 2025 that you missed is the pulsing, suspenseful *Souleymane’s Story,* a four-time Cesar Award winner (think the French Oscars) and a film with a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and “Universal Acclaim” status on Metacritic.
A quiet, urgent film from French director Boris Lojkine, we are embedded alongside our title character, a Guinean immigrant in Paris, who works as a meal service courier while waiting for his asylum application to be approved. Lojkine embeds us alongside Souleymane, beautifully played by Abou Sangaré in his acting debut, and brings us into his daily routine of working, hustling, and trying to survive from one day to the next.
Sangaré’s warm demeanor makes Souleymane easy to root for, but increasingly, we see that his decisions often come with greater consequence. For example, we don’t really love Emmanuel, the man he works for, who forces his couriers to use his name for deliveries, allowing him to reap most of the profits he then peacemeals out to his delivery staff. Souleymane has to remain positive, smile and stay polite, as the people he encounters, mostly white, see him as beneath them - relegating him to a need to belong in a country that sees him as a lesser human being.
At times, *Souleymane’s Story* has the look and feel of a documentary at times. Lojkine keeps us close with Souleymane as often as he can and we begin to see and understand him in ways no one else around him truly does. It’s a remarkable performance from a first-time actor that we need to see more from.
**(Sangaré):** “When I see Souleymane sitting in the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons, I put myself in his place, because I know what it’s like to wait for your (identification) papers here in France, to be in this situation – the stress, the anxiety … Like me, Souleymane finds himself in an environment that he doesn’t know.” - *EuroNews, October 14, 2024*
“You wouldn’t see a French person waking up early to collect rubbish. Someone needs to do these jobs. And the people who are willing aren’t asking for anything more than papers so that they can work. One of the goals of the film is to ask: what do we do with people that have spent years on French territory and haven’t been granted asylum? These are people without papers but who work every day and contribute to the good of the country.” - *The Guardian, October 29, 2024*
*Souleymane’s Story* is streaming on Roku and Kanopy, through your public library, and available to purchase on VOD.

**19. AMANDA SEYFRIED | as Ann Lee | THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE**
Mona Fastvold’s polarizing musical, *The Testament of Ann Lee*,will find wider audiences in January 2026, after its limited release and Oscar qualifying run in the fall of 2025. It’s ambitious and unique, a 140-minute film documenting how Ann Lee came to be known as a female Christ-like leader and founder of the Shaker movement in the 18th century. Told through percussive song, somber dialogue, and an increasingly analytical look at religious fervor and persecution, the performance by a fearless Amanda Seyfried anchors the entire film into an engrossing cinematic experience.
Seyfried carries nearly the entire film, a Herculean task for the actor who sings and dances, while also giving us the complexities of a woman who comes through unthinkable tragedy to become the leader of a religious movement that preaches equality between men and women, but doesn’t exactly, in the end, make her the most sympathetic of individuals. It is a punishing performance, with Seyfried pushing her body and physicality to places we have never seen from her before. We can feel every movement, every note, and the pain and anguish that she tries to suppress to enlighten those who see her as strong, infallible, and powerful.
Because the film is not going to play easy for audiences, *The Testament of Ann Lee* may lose some people with its odd approach at conveying a really interesting story. The songs, of which there are many, may not be catchy, radio-friendly chart-toppers, but they gain their voice and power from a committed Seyfried, who gives everything she has to the role.
**(Fastvold, on convincing Seyfried to make the film):** “I felt like I was anti-selling her … It was more like, ‘This is my obsession. This is the wild thing that I want to dedicate years of my life to. I think it would be amazing if you would do that with me, but it also really has to be something that you have an appetite for.’ You can’t really sell someone on something like this.” - *The Ankler, January 3, 2026*
**(Seyfried, on her previous experience with musicals helping her with this film):** “In ‘Mamma Mia!,’ everything’s pre-recorded, so I’m not really singing so much as I am just, you know, lip-synching my own voice. With Ann Lee, it’s both. I’m in the studio, and I’m singing live, and it’s being mixed in post.
I just realized, like, I don’t have to listen to myself anymore. I just have to sing from my gut. I just have to sing from my own lived experience. And that sounds different, and it feels different, and you breathe differently, so you become a different animal in a way. And whatever was created while I was singing from that place of my own truth and molding that together with Ann Lee’s truth… it was incredibly fulfilling and revolutionary for me.” - *AV Club, January 9, 2026*
*The Testament of Ann Lee* will return to theaters, beginning January 23.

**20. EVA VICTOR | as Agnes and as Writer, Director | SORRY, BABY**
Few films in 2025 were as vulnerable and honest as *Sorry, Baby*, the feature film debut of filmmaker and actor Eva Victor. Victor, who uses she/they pronouns, has drawn from their own personal experiences with sexual assault to create a powerful, potent, and observant exploration of how trauma does not define someone but is likewise not something that can ever be truly forgotten.
Starring as Agnes, Victor plays a literary professor who endures a “really bad thing that happened” after visiting a doctorate study group professor at his home. Traumatized, Agnes confides in her best friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie) and struggles with panic attacks, depression, and the trust that comes in connecting with and engaging with people. Victor’s screenplay is brave and uncompromising, a film that not only understands life goes on after a traumatic event, but gives space for a person to unwind and process everything on their terms.
Victor’s film may feel cynical at times, but also exhibits tremendous restraint. They create a film that says everything without *saying everything* and forces the viewers to react and understand and process the impact of what Agnes endures in a deeply personal way. *Sorry, Baby* is a small film, in terms of its $1.5 million production budget, but it speaks volumes. The film is honest, touching, maddening, and real - a film of profound power and remarkable insight into our ability to withstand whatever comes our way.
**(Victor):** “I don't really know how to write a straight drama. I think this kind of experience is so surreal and bizarre, and so many things do become really funny. The world just becomes sort of a place that feels so absurd. Some of the laughter happens, I think, because we're just watching two best friends have an amazing time together, and that's just joyful. And then some of the humor is more Agnes, sort of fish out of water, trying to make sense of this world and feeling awkward in it. And there's some comedy in the weirdness of that. And then also, I think, in a more heightened way, the film points a finger in moments at people who are in power, who are being either cruel or just careless.
I tried to create a film that I feel like I needed, and I couldn't find a film that didn't freak me out to watch. I wanted us to not know what she went through until she decides to tell us. I also wanted the film to believe her words. Because we never get to be behind the door in real life. We hear about people's experiences, and it feels like we only really know about what happens behind closed doors in movies. And in real life, we hear people talk about what they went through, and I wanted the film to not question her words. I wanted the film to just believe her. And that's not even a question in the film of whether it happened or not.” - *NPR Morning Edition, July 23, 2025*
*Sorry, Baby* is now streaming on HBO Max and Roku and available for purchase on VOD.

AND 15 MORE PERFORMANCES
WORTH SEEING FROM 2025

The Cast of “Black Bag” | Marisa Abela (Clarissa), Cate Blanchett (Kathryn), Pierce Brosnan (Arthur), Tom Burke (Freddie), Michael Fassbender (George), Naomie Harris (Zoe), Regé-Jean Page (James)
Mystyslav Chernov | as Director | 2000 Meters to Andriivka
Tom Cruise | Ethan Hunt | Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
Barbie Ferreira, John Leguizamo | Lily (Ferreira) and Bob (Leguizamo) | Bob Trevino Likes It
Geeta Gandbhir | as Director and Producer | The Perfect Neighbor
Ariana Grande | Glinda | Wicked: For Good
Chase Infiniti | Willa/Charlene | One Battle After Another
Jennifer Lawrence | Grace | Die My Love
Carson Lund | as Director, Co-Writer, Co-Producer, Editor, Sound Designer, and Casting Director | Eephus
Liam Neeson | Lt. Frank Drebin, Jr. | The Naked Gun
Josh O’Connor | Jud Duplenticy | Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons | Michelle (Stone) and Teddy (Plemons) | Bugnonia
Kelsey Taylor | as Director, Writer, and Co-Producer | To Kill A Wolf
Tessa Thompson | Hedda Gabler | Hedda
Naomi Watts, Bing | Iris (Watts) and Bing

THE CAST OF "BLACK BAG" | Marisa Abela (Clarissa), Cate Blanchett (Kathryn), Pierce Brosnan (Arthur), Tom Burke (Freddie), Michael Fassbender (George), Naomie Harris (Zoe), Regé-Jean Page (James)