By Epigram Film and TV writers and editors, curated by Felix Glanville, Film and TV Editor
At a time where the fate of cinema has never seemed in greater danger, these films offer a quiet confidence that moviemaking is still alive and well, despite the looming shadow of Netflix dulling that cinematic sparkle.
With biopics galore, haunting thrillers, and blockbusters for the ages, this year did show that audiences aren’t quite ready for a full AI takeover of the silver screen. A surge of new talent broke through at the box office, alongside rumblings that signify the age of the live action-remake and cheap sequel may have finally be over. Except, of course, Mission Impossible which refuses to die.
With words from our talented Film and TV writers and editors, explore the year’s top films – and see how many you agree with, have already watched, or are now tempted to finally press play on.
10. Thunderbolts* (Dir. Jake Scherier)
The 36th film in what is becoming an increasingly exhaustive Marvel catalogue, Thunderbolts, is a welcome respite following seven antiheroes who find themselves at odds with one another, forced to assemble and overcome their dark pasts.
From Felix Glanville, Film and TV Editor
‘I can already hear the scoffs at a Marvel addition in the mix – particularly from the editor himself – but Thunderbolts genuinely manages to inject some life into a franchise in dangerous need of recovery. It is gritty, grounded, and free of the MCU’s overdone formula. The film strikes a perfect balance between high-stakes action and a solid emotional core – taking a ragtag group of otherwise unremarkable Marvel characters and making them vulnerable, relatable, and simply human. Florence Pugh has taken Yelena Belova to far more intriguing and layered heights than we last saw in Black Widow (2021) with a performance far too under the radar.’
You can watch Thunderbolts on Disney+
9. The Shrouds (Dir. David Cronenberg)
A sinister thriller which straddles the worlds of the living and the dead, tech innovator Karsh (Vincent Cassel) sets up a luxury cemetery where you can watch your loved one as it disintegrates into the earth – joyous stuff, eh.
From Erik Roderick, First Year, Mathematics and Economics
‘Cronenberg's clearest elucidation of a predominant preoccupation: the intersection of the ontology of social behaviour and the body. The film's ensemble constitutes characters having undergone different extents of cultural assimilation, epitomised in Jewish sisters Becca and Terry, Diane Kruger in a dual role. Becca, taken by cancer before the beginning of the film, appears only in dreams of her husband Karsh, played by Cassel. We see her body weaken chronologically with the amputations she had undergone in her treatment. Terry on the other hand is paranoid, as watching her sister and identical body deteriorate has revived collective cultural memory. Both performances greatly attuned to the physics of the human body, animate Cronenberg's dialectic on the body and the global politik.’
You can watch The Shrouds on Amazon Prime.
8. Companion (Drew Hancock)
Another unsettling entry on the list, Companion marks the directorial debut of Drew Hancock and centres a highly advanced sentient AI ‘companion’ that gains complete agency and complicates the weekend getaway of a friendship group.
From Leah Pollard, Third Year, Politics and Sociology
‘Companion is one of 2025’s most underrated films - campy, sharp and unexpectedly profound. Anchored by rising scream-queen Sophie Thatcher, the film expertly balances dark humour, tension, and pointed feminist commentary: confronting the all-too-familiar threats of incel culture and artificial intelligence.’
You can watch on Companion SkyGo and Now TV.
7. Sorry, Baby (Dir. Eva Victor)
Spanning five chapters over five years, Sorry, Baby follows a young woman as she attempts to heal from a personal betrayal, with the film’s fondness for small animals serving as a recurring comfort.
From Eliza Murphy, Second Year, Comparative Literatures and German
‘Eva Victor’s directorial debut, Sorry, Baby, is a moving exploration of the effects of sexual assault and abuses of power, presenting the experience of a woman falling apart in her personal life while succeeding in her professional life. This is not a sanitised ‘healing narrative’ that promotes spiritual realignment and ‘overcoming’ trauma, but a darkly comic and realistic portrait of the complexities of sexual assault and the non-linearity of recovery. The protagonist does not heal through romantic love, discovering an idealised new-found trust in men in the process, but through her resilience and the support of old friends. A moving reflection on how sexual abuse can derail a woman’s life without defining it.’
You can watch Sorry, Baby on Amazon Prime
6. The Ballad of Wallis Island (Dir. James Griffiths)
Eccentric millionaire, Charles (Tim Key at his most comfortable) convinces his favourite disbanded folk-pop duo, ‘Mortimer-McGwyer’, to perform a private concert just for him. Nostalgia and lost love serenade the film as Charles finds new possibilities of connection.
From Sophie Scannell, Music Editor
‘I love Tim Key and I love this film. It's so simple and yet has made me cry all three times I went to see it in the cinema. The visuals are beautiful and the music is gorgeous and balmy, and so fitting! The cast are talented beyond belief (Tim Key, Tom Basden, Carey Mulligan (!!!!)), and James Griffiths directing is especially special as he directed the film as a short seventeen years before making it into this feature. A story as outlandish and unrelatable about winning the lottery is somehow made to feel so homely, it will never fail to make me happy because it's cool to watch someone make a film because they love doing it and having it become as hugely successful as this one was! Getting their deserved flowers to say the least.’
You can watch The Ballad of Wallis Island on Amazon Prime and Now TV
5. Superman (Dir. James Gunn)
James Gunn’s Superman was one of the most anticipated films of the summer – with a recharged DCU (DC Universe) spearheaded by Gunn and Peter Safran, and a fresh Clark Kent and Lois Lane that felt as chemistry-driven as the original Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder pair in 1978. Krypto too shone on the big screen.
From Charles Hubbard, Second Year, Theatre
‘Superman! Such a perfect representation of the character and one that combines everything great about the Richard Donner, Brian Singer and Zach Snyder entries. A superhero movie hasn’t felt this personal and idiosyncratic to its director since Black Panther (2018). It might not be the best film of the year, but no other film got me that excited about the future of Hollywood cinema.’
You can watch Superman on Apple TV, Sky Go, and Sky
4. Sentimental Value (Dir. Joachim Trier)
Falling short of the podium is Joachim Trier’s cinematically beautiful, musically nostalgic, and homely Scandinavian film, telling the story of a dysfunctional family on a journey to enter one another’s lives through repair and renewal.
From Betsan Branson William, First Year, French and German
‘Immediately, you can tell that Joachim Trier, director of the film, known best for The Worst Person in the World (2021), had planned the film to every last detail. The film has an incredible ensemble cast, comprised of Stellan Skarsgård, Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and others, with each part being so intentionally cast. This captures the film’s aims of combining the idea of a Nordic drama with the accessibility of Hollywood, where Trier now finds himself, being a well-known name to the Academy, but with roots in Norwegian cinema.’
From Harry Gillingham, Second Year, Politics and International Relations
‘There is a specific scene, where a monologue previously given to and performed by a different character is finally taken on by Renate Reinsve’s character. There is such subtlety in the acting. The character’s eyes throughout this entire film are on a different level of emotional performance.’
You can watch Sentimental Value on Mubi
3. Marty Supreme (Dir. Josh Safdie)
Marty Supreme is about far more than ping-pong. Much like the juggernaut of a marketing campaign that Timothée Chalamet rode with confidence, Safdie’s mad, high-octane, and addictive drama follows Marty Mauser in 1950s New York City as he chases the dream of ping-pong perfection.
From Harry Gillingham, Second Year, Politics and International Relations
‘Marty Supreme: the modern great American epic. A distilled, maximalist piece of film making, stylishly flourishing and deconstructing capitalistic ambition. The dream to craft an intense image of himself, as a matter of self-preservation, that is bigger than one’s own finite mortality. Yet, in the end, it is this immortalisation of the self that blinds us to the fruits that grow from the very morality we run from.’
You can watch Marty Supreme in cinemas
2. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Dir. Rian Johnson)
We are close to that coveted winning spot and the final two went down to the wire. The runner-up is Rian Johnson’s third whodunnit, with a wonderfully easy-to-love Josh O’Connor playing a priest entangled in a radical and toxic congregation.
From Janine Tan, First Year, Law
‘Knives Out was never really about murder. This third instalment plays like a reverent, playful manifesto on religion. Of course, the best part is that the film’s concern with religious sincerity is matched by a sincerity of its own. You feel it in Rian Johnson’s fingerprints on the script, dense with his own personal convictions shining through trademark jabs at neo-conservative rot. You feel it in the visual heaven that is the cinematography. How the church floods with golden light as Father Jud counters Blanc’s religious cynicism; how the crows circle a rageful priest beneath a fractious, darkening sky. With this entry, it’s clear that this franchise will most certainly continue to breathe new life into the whodunnit genre.’
From Sophia Izwan, Second Year, Mathematics and Computer Science
‘I’ll just say this: Jud Duplenticy is so earnest a character that I can do nothing but root for him. Also, he’s pretty – woah, who said that? I really liked how they handled the question of faith with the juxtaposing views of Father Jud and Benoit Blanc. Very good soup indeed.’
You can watch Wake Up Dead Man on Netflix
1. Sinners (Dir. Ryan Coogler)
And now we reach the glory of number one with the indomitable Sinners. A genre-bending, acting mastery, and box-office demon – released thrice in cinemas: April, October, and December – a feat that recently stunned critics at the Golden Globes, winning ‘Outstanding Box Office Achievement’. Twin brothers, played by a marvellous Michael B. Jordan, build a new life after leaving Chicago, but encounter vampires representing a false promise of eternal life. Racism and blaxploitation is not the only danger in 1930s Mississippi but a supernatural evil looms large.
From Emma Coleman, Film and TV Subeditor
‘It was genuinely a masterpiece. The music, blend of genres, and racial themes that are extremely prevalent, yet don’t feel like they dominate the entire film. It felt so original and unique, like nothing that has ever been done before, tapping so heavily into the supernatural, religious, racial, romantic, etc. The messages beneath the aesthetic beauty of the film are not lost in its fast pace and background of blues music.’
From Beth Nugent, Third Year, Film and Television
‘Sinners is the amalgamation of passionate artists coming together to expertly craft a perfect cinematic experience. In isolation, all the components of the film are masterful and spellbinding. Whether it’s the haunting yet beautiful score, the thoughtful shot composition or the deceptively clever writing, all these elements are some of the best we’ve seen in the industry for a long time. But what makes Sinners so special is how they all work in harmony; each department spills over into one another to create an enchantingly horror-filled film that you can tell was made by people who love movies. It’s one you can watch over and over again and still find new details each time.’
From Eleanor Bate, Film and TV Deputy Editor
‘Sinners. Cinematic masterpiece!!!!! From the soundtrack to cinematography, absolute magic.’
There we have it, Sinners, rising above the rest by quite a margin too. Were there some on this list that surprised you? Any unheard of flicks? Well, here is a good excuse to put off doing some academic work. What films are you most anticipated for in 2026: Wuthering Heights? The Odyssey? 'Dunesday' in December? Oh it's going to be a fun year for film.
You can watch Sinners on Sky Cinema and Now TV
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Featured Image: Epigram / Romina Treviño
How many of these did you manage to watch in 2025?
