For us the Best Movies of 2025 means the best of Genredom. For more than a decade we’ve stressed what that means here: The content that leans into one or more genres–over your basic drama. There are thousands of other places that cover plain vanilla dramas and the rest of the film world, but here we’re looking for movies we want to watch and watch again–not what the multi-million dollar marketing arms of studios and other review sites (most paid by or tied to studios and networks) want you to watch. For us, great storytelling–writing–continues to be what separates good from bad.
This year the battle for the best movies came down to one key genre and a question: What makes the best superhero movie? This year the big surprise was unlikely superhero movies running circles around the standard fare: The Accountant 2, M3GAN 2.0, and Novocaine–along with a top-tier animated superhero movie, Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League, and more of the usual suspects: Captain America: Brave New World, Fantastic Four: First Steps, Superman, and Thunderbolts*.
Come back tomorrow for our Best Books picks and Friday for our annual borg Hall of Fame inductees. And if you missed it, check out the Kick-Ass Genre Heroines of 2025 here and Best TV of 2025 here. Wait no further, here are the Best Movies of 2025:
Best Sci-Fi Movie, Best Action Movie, Best Borg Movie, Best Borg (AMELIA), Best Villain (AMELIA), Runner-up for Best Superhero Movie – M3GAN 2.0 (Blumhouse). Classic science fiction themes come together in a surprise superhero origin story. Funny, clever writing, great CGI, and choreographed action sequences. Runners-Up for Best Sci-Fi Movie – Companion (New Line Cinema), Frankenstein (Netflix), a truly superb adaptation by Guillermo del Toro. Runners-Up for Best Action Movie – Play Dirty (Amazon MGM Studios), a fun and faithful adaptation of Westlake/Stark characters; Eenie Meanie (Hulu), an inspiring heroine breaks out of her old ways to move forward; Novocaine (Paramount Pictures), an unlikely hero and strange romance story.
Best Film, Best Writing, Best Mystery Movie, Best Spy-Fi Movie, Runner-Up for Best Superhero Movie, Runner-up for Best Comedy – The Accountant 2 (Amazon MGM Studios) – All the elements of the best comic book stories came together in this sequel, with Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal as brothers, one with a singular focus on getting the job done, and the other a big brother looking to re-connect. Characterization was second to none, and the mystery of what happened to a family of immigrants an intriguing journey. Runner-Up for Best Film – Saturday Night (Columbia Pictures). Movies based on real events like this seem to arrive too soon, yet this documentary-feel flick captured a single moment of time with reverence and humor.
Best Drama, Best Fantasy Film, Best Animated Film, Best Director (Gints Zilbalodis), Best Cinematography, Best Musical Score, Best Sound – Flow (Dream Well Studio). An hour and a half with no human dialogue? It’s not just good, it’s spectacular, the kind of fresh film that grabs you and doesn’t let go–a visual spectacle and emotional rollercoaster that is this century’s version of The Jungle Book. Honorable Mention for Best Animated Movie – Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Aardman Animations/BBC), a great return of favorite characters in stop motion action; Piece by Piece (Focus Features/Netflix), a novel approach to a biographical documentary full of positive energy.
Best Superhero Movie, Runner-Up for Best Animated Movie – Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League (Warner Bros. Animation/Kamikaze Douga). In a year of superhero movies cloaked as something else that were simply brilliant, and franchise superhero movies that weren’t, it was a Japanese animated movie of superheroes revisited in a new way that showed the genre can reflect the fun and spectacle of the comic book pages, delivering DC’s best Batman, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, and Justice League movie yet. Runners-Up for Best Superhero Movie – The Accountant 2 (Amazon MGM Studios), one of the best ever takes on Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark, Oracle, Professor X, The X-Men, and The Punisher; Novocaine (Paramount Pictures), one of the best ever Spider-Man, Plastic-Man, and invincible hero movies, complete with the most interesting Mary Jane and the Guy in the Chair; M3GAN 2.0 (Blumhouse), a great origin story for the unstoppable AMELIA. Honorable mention for Best Superhero Movie – Thunderbolts* (Marvel/Disney), a solid beginning for the New Avengers.
Best Suspense/Thriller, Best Horror Movie, Best Retro Fix, Best Makeup/Effects – Final Destination: Bloodlines (New Line Cinema). Every bit as thrilling, exciting, and fun as the best of the franchise, this is horror with some thought and effort in the writing. For fans of the series it brought the stories full circle, and the rollercoaster ride kept us leaning forward for the entire trip. Runner-Up for Best Horror – Frankenstein (Netflix). Although the horror took a surprising back seat to the drama and science fiction, Guillermo de Toro provided ample bits of creepiness to this adaptation.
Best Comedy Movie, Runner-Up for Best Drama – The Phoenician Scheme (Focus Features). Another great story from Wes Anderson, this time with a poignant and unusual relationship between a father and daughter. Runner-Up for Best Comedy – Saturday Night (Columbia Pictures), The Accountant 2 (Amazon MGM Studios).
Best Retro Fix, Best Costumes – Fantastic Four: First Steps (Marvel Studios). It wasn’t a great superhero story, and the characters weren’t as interesting as any others in superhero movies this year. But the movie looked great. Not quite authentic vintage, but evoking enough in this alternate version of the 1960s Atomic Era space race world. The result was something unique, a visual spectacle, and the visuals became the best reason to see the movie.
Best Documentary – The Cinema Within (First Run Features). An enlightening look at something we see every day but don’t think about, this peek into film editing is an eye-opening look at cinema and storytelling presented in a fun and smart way.
Best Actress –Samara Weaving – Eenie Meanie (Hulu). Weaving is completely immersed in her role as a put-upon woman trying to move on from a tough background of foster homes and crime, and leave behind a guy who keeps holding her back. Runner-Up – Sophie Thatcher – Companion (New Line Cinema).
Best Supporting Actress – Rachel Sennott – Saturday Night (Columbia Pictures). Chaotic, serious, goofy, and in charge, her Rosie Shuster was believable and brilliant. Runner-Up – Daniella Pineda – The Accountant 2 (Amazon MGM Studios), Amber Midthunder – Novocaine (Paramount Pictures).
Best Actor – Ben Affleck – The Accountant 2 (Amazon MGM Studios). Affleck returned to perfect his singular hero for neurodivergents everywhere, while showing how that same persona could be a superhero, benefactor, and philanthoprist, saving the world one family at a time. Runners-up – Benicio Del Toro – The Phoenician Scheme (Focus Features), Gabriel LaBelle – Saturday Night (Columbia Pictures), Jack Quaid –Novocaine (Paramount Pictures).
Best Supporting Actor – Jon Bernthal – The Accountant 2 (Amazon MGM Studios). Nobody in the history of cinema better defended their relationship with a dog or a cat than Bernthal in this role. He also showed the potential of his Punisher character with a better script, and deserves consideration for all the big acting awards. Runner-up – Andy Garcia – Eenie Meanie (Hulu).
Best Cameo – J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle – Saturday Night (Columbia Pictures). Who knew Simmons could sink into such an iconic celebrity persona as Mr. Television? Runner-Up: Nicholas Braun as both Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson – Saturday Night (Columbia Pictures).
Note: Movies eligible were streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Vudu/Fandango, Disney, Paramount, Peacock, HBO Max, BritBox, Acorn, Apple TV, and Hulu, after January 1, 2025, and prior to December 15, 2025.
Come back tomorrow as we reveal more of the borg Best of 2025! And don’t forget to check out the Kick-Ass Genre Heroines of 2025 here and Best TV of 2025 here.
C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg
