2025 delivered many exceptional genre films and television shows that surprised us with their quality and pushed boundaries. Many of them will be remembered for quite some time and others set the standards for existing franchises. Here are the ten best films and TV shows of 2025.

Films

10. Good Boy

Indy the dog stole the show in this inventive supernatural horror film told from the point of view of a good dog trying to protect his owner from a supernatural threat. What added to the suspense was the vulnerability of the dog and the fact that only he could sense the danger threatening his owner.

9. The Life of Chuck

2025 was a banner year for good to great Stephen King adaptations, and The Life of Chuck was the best of them as this heartfelt fantasy film explored themes dealing with loss, sadness, endings, and the wondrous joy of simple everyday things and relationships.

8. Jurassic World: Rebirth

Despite many criticisms made about the latest Jurassic World entry, it was unexpectedly thrilling and engaging. Sure, some of the plotlines were rethreads, but they were presented well and the film delivered some great dinosaur action.  

7. How to Train Your Dragon

This live-action remake of the classic DreamWorks animated film about a Viking teen and his pet dragon proved that it is possible to produce a topnotch live-action film based animated classics. This is something Disney sorely needs to study going forward with their endless remakes.

6. The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Finally, a quality film about Marvel Comics’ first family has been done. Great performances, production and special effects are the highlights of this charming film about family and facing cosmic horror. The film gets extra points just for not depicting Galactus as a giant space cloud!

5. Sinners

Michael B. Jordan is at the top of his acting game playing dual roles in Ryan Coogler’s haunting vampire film. What could have been a simple vampire tale was instead of tour de force from Coogler that explored America’s cultural and racial divide with exceptional visual storytelling.

4. Predator: Badlands

Just like last year’s Alien: Romulus reinvigorated that franchise, so too does Predator: Badlands with its own franchise about alien hunters. This time, the eponymous alien hunter is shown in a heroic light in this imaginative sci-fi action/adventure romp that fleshes out the species of the Predator as it skillfully blends with the Alien franchise.

3. Frankenstein

Guillermo Del Toro wowed audiences once again with his vivid imaginative storytelling skills. The latest adaptation of Mary Shelly’s literary masterpiece follows the essence of the book while veering off into unique directions that explore the father and son dynamic between the title character and his monstrous yet sympathetic creation.

2. Superman

Director and head of DC Studios James Gunn successfully launched the new DC Universe (DCU) with a fresh and interpretation of the Man of Steel. Superman and his colorful superhero world is rightfully depicted in a bright, hopeful light that cleverly raises questions about our current events and society. Superman is a very promising start to the DCU and we can’t wait for the latest entry.

1. TIE: Avatar: Fire and Ash/Thunderbolts*

This is a first for this blog, the two best films of 2025 were that great but so close in quality for different reasons that it was too hard to choose one above the other. So the two best films of 2025 are a tie.

Once again James Cameron proves why he is one of our greatest filmmakers with Avatar: Fire and Ash. The visuals and worldbuilding in this sci-fi epic are jaw dropping and must be seen in large screens. Some of the set pieces are too familiar but Avatar: Fire and Ash does develop many characters and kept us engaged with the plight of the moon Pandora as it faced evil human colonists.

Thunderbolts* aka The New Avengers was unexpectedly the best superhero film of 2025 thanks to heartfelt performances and chemistry among its cast and an emotional story of misfit mercenaries who become unlikely superheroes. Unlike the typical superhero romp, Thunderbolts* focused on characters and explored adult themes of mental and emotional health, loneliness, addiction and depression. We’ll be rooting for these underdogs when they return in Avengers: Doomsday.

Honorable Mentions:

28 Years Later, Bring Her Back, Bugonia, Captain America: Brave New World, Companion, The Electric State, The Gorge, The Great Flood, It Ends, The Long Walk, Predator: Killer of Killers, Primitive War, Weapons, Zootopia 2

Television

10. Paradise

This murder mystery that took place in a post-apocalyptic underground town shelter was elevated by great performances by Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden and an engrossing storyline that kept viewers guessing about what happened to the world and who murdered the U.S. president.

9. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

The third season of the only remaining Star Trek show (for now) had its problems such as its uneven tone and showcasing too much of James T. Kirk (the show is supposed to be about Captain Pike). Still, some of the episodes were true standouts that proved there were still great Star Trek episodes to be presented.

8. Marvel Zombies

Put together classic characters from the MCU and zombie horror and what do you get? A terrifically gory and fast-moving series with some outrageous zombie action that demands a second season! Hopefully there will be more than four episodes.

7. Peacemaker

While the season finale dropped the ball as it turned out to be a drawn-out coda with concert footage, the second season of Peacemaker was for the most part a captivating look exploration of the title character’s wounded psyche as he second guessed his place in the DCU.

6. Stranger Things 5

The final season of Netflix’s breakout sci-fi/horror show was a bit all over the place with multiple characters and such, but it was still a solid sendoff to our favorite young residents of Hawkins as they had their final confrontations with the extra-dimensional horrors of the Upside Down realm.

5. Daredevil: Born Again

Marvel’s premier superhero TV show had a solid comeback in this sequel to the original Netflix show. Even though Daredevil and his crime-ridden world are now firmly part of the MCU, the TV show was just as gritty and grounded as the original. Stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio turn in some of the best performances of their careers as they reprised their roles as Daredevil and Wilson Fisk, respectively.

4. Severance

The sophomore season of this dark psychological workplace thriller threw audiences for a loop with many unexpected plot twists and character developments. It was very easy to relate to the plight of the office worker drones forced to have their out-of-work identities and memories erased and their efforts to fight the cold company they work for.

3. Pluribus

Vince Gilligan (famous for his TV shows Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul) returned to his sci-fi roots with this quietly disturbing slow-burn TV show about a disgruntled novelist (Rhea Seehorn in one of the year’s best performances) forced to fight isolation, her inner demons, and to save humanity after an extra-terrestrial signal transforms nearly everyone into a global hive mind.

2. It: Welcome to Derry

Part sequel, part prequel to the It films from a few years ago, It: Welcome to Derry was one of the best surprises when it came to TV shows. Each episode was horrifying with macabre set pieces and featured rich character development that fleshed out Stephen King’s fictional town. In addition to the characters, the TV show also had many unexpected twists and fleshed out the expansive King multiverse in an organic manner that made us want to further explore it, no pun intended.

1. Andor

No other TV show came close to matching the artistry of Andor, which is easily the best Star Wars television show of all time and one of the best TV shows of any genre. The second and final season was a tense spy thriller set in the Star Wars universe with many brutal and heart wrenching political storylines that echoed our own civil strife as it chronicled the death of democracy and the bitter origins of the resistance to stand against tyranny. Andor also engaged audiences with thought-out character development which showcased their ambivalent nature in their fight for and against the Galactic Empire.

Honorable Mentions:

Alien: Earth, Black Mirror, Doctor Who, The Eternaut, Eyes of Wakanda, Fallout, Foundation, Gen V, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Institute, Invincible, Ironheart, The Last of Us, Murderbot, Wednesday, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man