“Intimate yet vast…”

2025’s best, highlighted by movies that stepped up to meet our precarious political moment.

“… shows off in a way that begins to feel needy.”

“Byrne’s tiny touches that reverberate with recognizability.”

“… like watching the problems of a pillow.”

“… lures us in with a swooning romance, then lowers the hammer.”

“The filmmaking is hypnotic…”

“Seyfried has the big eyes of belief and brings a level of tremulous conviction to match.”

“Time takes on a different tenor in Train Dreams . . .”

“O’Connor’s J.B. registers as a particularly American fraud.”