ZekeFilm Writers Pick the Top Movies at Mid-Year
They used to say going to the movies was a sin. Heck, some even say that now. If that’s the case, I suppose that’d make us cinephiles sinners. That, however, would also put us in good company with the runaway favorite film of 2025 (so far) for this site’s participating contributors. (Eight, count ’em eight, participants reporting). In true 2025 fashion, Sinners are winners. Only in this unique case, that’s a good thing.
The fact of the matter is, in a movie year that’s box office has so far been dominated by live-action remakes of past animated favorites (or in the case of Disney’s Snow White, successfully targeted and taken down by bored edgelords), a film with a corrective take on the vampiric nature of pop culture feels all too apropos. And rightly so. Congratulations to filmmaker Ryan Coogler on his finest film to date, one that will no doubt have a long, long life… if not an immortal one.
But, we’re only halfway through this God forsaken year. Here’s hoping that as the madness of the world continues literally unabated, there will be good, authentic, fun, challenging, and wondrous new films to help us along. Based on previous experience, I’d say that this is assured. And while not every new movie will be virtuous to everyone, it’d be an actual sin to target them sight-unseen. So go see movies. Lots of them. It’s what smart people do. You’ll be better for it. Then have the conversations.
But first, check out our lists of The Best Films of 2025 (So Far)…
– Jim Tudor
ZekeFilm’s Best of 2025 (So Far)
1. Sinners
2. Materialists
3. (Tie) Black Bag
3. (Tie) The Phoenician Scheme
5. 28 Years Later
These are ZekeFilm contributors’ individually submitted Top Fives (Or More) of 2025 (So Far)…
Jim Tudor‘s Best of 2024 (So Far)
1. The Phoenician Scheme
2. Materialists
3. Presence
4. Warfare
5. Sinners
Honorable Mentions: Caught by the Tides, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, One of Them Days, Black Bag
Max Foizey‘s Best of 2025 (So Far)
1. Companion
There are plenty of stories that grapple with how humans will use and inevitably misuse artificial intelligence, but few are as smart and surprising as Drew Hancock’s Companion, a film that knows that some of us will be as cruel to our robotic creations in the future as we have been to our fellow humans throughout history.
2. The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson continues to show new depth with each outing, and his latest, a farce concerning shady land development deals, is no exception. In addition to the striking art direction, costume design, and 1960s needle drops his fans (and detractors) have come to expect, The Phoenician Scheme features a flirtation with (an absurd) spirituality that has been relatively unseen in Anderson’s work thus far.
3. The Life of Chuck
I truly loved reading Stephen King’s short story The Life of Chuck, but was surprised to hear that the talented writer/director Mike Flanagan was set to adapt the sentimental story for the big screen. Flanagan preserves the tale’s challenging non-linear structure, which may prove confusing for viewers who are not familiar with the source material, but his delicate adaptation boasts a pitch-perfect cast and is packed with enough heart and soul to enrapture the curious.
4. Ballerina
Who knew a spin-off could be this much fun? If you’re a fan of John Wick‘s brand of Ultra Violence, then Ballerina has a flamethrower with your name on it. And grenades. Lots of grenades. Keanu Reeves makes an extended cameo, but this is Ana de Armas’s explosive show, and she kills it. With grenades.
5. The Friend
I am not a dog person, so I was unprepared to be as emotionally moved by The Friend as I was by its conclusion. Based on Sigrid Nunez’s novel of the same name, David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s film chronicles a writer dealing with the unexpected death of her mentor, who, also unexpectedly, left her his dog. A talented cast, including Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Carla Gugino, and Constance Wu, are all upstaged by an impressive Great Dane named Bing.
Claire Meisch‘s Best of 2025 (So Far)
1. 28 Years Later
2. Sinners
3. Thunderbolts*
4. Mickey 17
5. The Ballad of Wallis Island
Scott Montgomery‘s Best of 2025 (So Far)
1. Sinners
2. Warfare
3. The Life of Chuck
4. Materialists
5. 28 Years Later
Madeline Brophy’s Best of 2025 (So Far)
1. Black Bag
Want a thriller? Or a married couple you’re not so sure is on the same side? A sly could-it-be or would-it-have-been or are-they or aren’t-they? This is it, folks. This is as clever of a drama-romance as it gets. Better and arguably sleeker than the Mr. and Mrs. Smith movie, though the Amazon TV show is exquisite, Black Bag takes audiences on a will-they, won’t-they, what’s-going-on-eh mission that spirals into a spectacular and satisfying conclusion. 5 stars.
2. Sinners
I’m not sure where to begin—this movie SOARS. It’s emotional. Breathtaking. Heartbreaking. Mood-evoking. There’s a scene in the middle where I levitated out of my seat. Truly incredible. You have to see it to believe it. I can’t say more. 5 stars.
3. Materialists
I am obsessed with this film. No, it’s not perfect. No, I don’t know what Dakota Johnson’s doing exactly (though yes, she can act). She’s just fine alongside Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal, and the film eclipses to the top of love interests battling not each other but the constraints of reality and capitalism. Every breath in the screenplay is purposeful. Every speech rang true, even when anticlimactic. I still think of each beat as a play, like much of Past Lives intended. 4 stars.
4. Fear Street: Prom Queen
A fun time! Nothing over the top, nothing new, yet something so fun and wholesome lies beneath. If you’re looking for a fun movie night at home, even if you’re not sure if mystery or horror is for you, this is a nice and light Halloween-esque nightmare-fueled prom that defies old expectations and norms and brings a new fire to the Carrie high school night. 3 stars.
5. Companion
Honorable Mentions: Death of a Unicorn, Mickey 17, Friendship, Clown in a Cornfield
Upcoming theatrical excitement: 28 Years Later; Wicked: For Good; Bring Her Back; Sorry, Baby; Freakier Friday; Weapons; The Roses; Him; Good Fortune; Frankenstein; Die My Love; Avatar: Fire and Ash; Superman; The Phoenician Scheme; Together; Eddington; The Naked Gun
Erik Yates’s Best of 2025 (So Far)
1. Sinners
2. F1: The Movie
3. Ballerina
4. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
5. The Accountant 2
Paul Hibbard‘s Best of 2025 (So Far)
1. Sinners
2. Materialists
3. 28 Years Later
4. Black Bag
5. Warfare
Taylor Blake‘s Best of 2025 (So Far)
1. Materialists
Materialists fits in within canonized romantic comedies like Broadcast News, His Girl Friday, Pride & Prejudice, Working Girl, and You’ve Got Mail because of its depth of insight into the overlap between romance and money—and because it’s just such a darn pleasure to watch. Its candor on modern dating and its flawed heroine at the center are a breath of fresh air. As it skewers the shallowness of modern dating, it also explores the basic human need beneath the class satire: our desire to be valued. If she wants it, Celine Song could fill the vacuum left by Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers.
2. Black Bag
If a Best Director Oscar winner can make 16 of his 35 films in 100 minutes or less, it begs the question: Why does the standard blockbuster need more time than that? And why don’t more of them feel as fun as Steven Soderbergh’s newest? Taking inspiration from ‘70s paranoia thrillers like The Conversation, Klute, The Parallax View, and especially Three Days of the Condor, this 93-minute espionage thriller feels like a spiritual sequel to Out of Sight. Time will tell if Black Bag will rank among Soderbergh’s most-loved works, but who can complain when it gives Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender opportunities to thrive?
3. F1: The Movie
Joseph Kosinski’s new sports drama borrows quite a bit of its structure and ideas from Top Gun: Maverick, but hey, didn’t every single person on planet Earth like that movie? Kosinski is establishing himself as one of our greatest modern thrill makers, this time by giving the audience an authentic experience behind the wheel. Though Javier Bardem, Kerry Condon, Sarah Niles, and (especially) Damson Idris are scene-stealers, Brad Pitt is reminding us why he’s been a star for so long. His performance is one part Moneyball, one part commentary on his own celebrity, and one part Paul Newman homage, and it’s just the center of gravity this film needs to prevent skidding into melodrama or self-seriousness.
4. The Phoenician Scheme
Can I explain the financial scheme motivating and structuring this father-daughter road (and air and sea and underground) trip? Goodness, no. But even if I still prefer The French Dispatchand Asteroid City to Wes Anderson’s newest, it’s no end to his hot streak of projects set atop divine patterns. Michael Cera is hopefully a new permanent addition to his troupe of players, Benedict Cumberbatch’s eyebrows are perfection, and it’s a perfect use of a small dose of Tom Hanks. The latter’s basketball game delivered some of the biggest laughs of the year so far.
5. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
After dropping us onto a road with a dead body in the middle of the night, this Zambian drama continues to subvert audience expectations. Newcomer Susan Chardy develops an excellent, restrained lead performance in just 99 minutes as Shula, letting us know what she’s thinking even as Shula can’t say it to her family as they plan her uncle’s funeral. As the layers of family history are revealed, writer/director Rungano Nyoni’s second feature never veers into sensationalism or ranting and never pulls punches, finding dark comedy instead of a jerking out tears.
Honorable Mentions (in order of release and at varying levels of fun and artistry): Presence, Companion, Novocaine, A Working Man, Warfare, The Ballad of Wallis Island, The Accountant 2, Thunderbolts*, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Karate Kid: Legends, The Life of Chuck
My big glaring viewing gap I plan to correct shortly: Sinners