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Sinners, accidents and battles: Here are the best movies of 2025
Join us for Euronews Culture's countdown to our favourite film of the year. How many have you seen?
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/12/22/sinners-accidents-and-battles-here-are-the-best-movies-of-2025
Spark your senses, wake your wonder. Euronews Culture seeks to show creativity in action and inspire our audience to explore the world through the five senses. Start your journey through the best of Europe's arts, gastronomy, traditions and high-end craftsmanship.
Join us for Euronews Culture's countdown to our favourite film of the year. How many have you seen?
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/12/22/sinners-accidents-and-battles-here-are-the-best-movies-of-2025
Spark your senses, wake your wonder. Euronews Culture seeks to show creativity in action and inspire our audience to explore the world through the five senses. Start your journey through the best of Europe's arts, gastronomy, traditions and high-end craftsmanship.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to Euronews Culture's Look Back at Film.
00:04In 2025, David Morricone joins me for what has been, for me, an incredible year in cinema.
00:12Yeah, it's been good. It's also been challenging.
00:15I haven't been able to get over the death of David Lynch at the beginning of the year
00:19and I'm trying to stay positive, but, you know, we're ending the year on news
00:25that studios in the U.S. are consolidating with Warner Brothers and Netflix
00:30and what that might mean for cinema goers and the theatrical experience.
00:36But there have been some really, really great films,
00:39whether it's really entertaining ones and bold ones like Weapons or Sinners,
00:46a great year for horror as well.
00:48We had Frankenstein 28 years later and even Alpha, the third film by Juliette Corneau,
00:54which I think is one of the most underrated and underappreciated films of the year.
00:58Divisive, certainly.
01:00But, yeah, it's been a really good year.
01:03Indeed, and it's been a quite remarkable year too for some films which we have mentioned.
01:07It would be a remiss of us not to mention them here.
01:09Things like K-pop Demon Hunters changing, perhaps, the face of what we might see in the future.
01:17I know you weren't a big fan of Mission Impossible as well.
01:21So, yeah, a lot going on in front of the camera, a lot going on,
01:24an enormous amount going on behind the cameras.
01:27We've been looking at the 20 best films of this year.
01:31Don't have time, unfortunately, to talk about all of them, David,
01:34but we have whittled it down to five.
01:37Five.
01:37And there's a lot to say about those.
01:39So, take us in.
01:41Well, our number five spot is Nickel Boys, the film by Ramel Ross, who adapts the 2019 novel of the same name by Colin Whitehead.
01:53And it's based on the real-life horrors of the Dozier School for Boys in Florida in the 1960s
02:02and follows, during the Jim Crow era, these two boys, Elwood and Turner,
02:09who are sent to a very brutal reform school.
02:13And what Ramel Ross has done with this film is remarkable and very devastating.
02:20It's a portrait of systemic abuse, of institutionalized racism, of injustice,
02:28but also a very moving film about empathy and the perseverance of friendship.
02:35And more than that, it's also a very formally daring film,
02:39because Ramel Ross and his cinematographer, Joe Moffrey,
02:42have chosen to shoot a lot of it from the first-person point of view.
02:47And it's quite a destabilizing effect at first, but it's incredibly immersive and incredibly raw.
02:55And I think the best encapsulation that I've heard about this film was by Barry Jenkins,
03:02the director of Moonlight, who said that it was medium-defying work
03:07and a film to make one humbled and filled with gratitude.
03:12And I really can't top that.
03:14Well, that is high praise indeed.
03:16And here's a film that's been widely praised by so many critics.
03:19Is it perhaps surprising that it's not mentioned amongst the Oscar contenders?
03:23I think it's also something to do with its release date,
03:26purely because it was released last year in the US.
03:31It came to Europe this year.
03:33So sometimes there are films that are lost in the shuffle,
03:36and it's a real shame.
03:38But it is really, really one worth seeking out.
03:42Yeah, well, that's certainly why we're here,
03:44to shine a light on those things which some people may have missed.
03:47David, let's talk about film number four.
03:49What's on the list?
03:50Film number four.
03:52Film number four is this year's Palma Dore winner.
03:55It was just an accident by Jafar Panahi.
03:59It's really difficult not to talk about this film without talking about its context.
04:05Jafar Panahi is one of Iran's foremost film directors, dissident film directors,
04:10who has clashed on many occasions with the repressive Iranian government.
04:17And it was just an accident.
04:19It's his first film since being released from prison for what was deemed endangering national security.
04:30And it's really one of this year's most urgent films.
04:34It follows a group of former political prisoners who seek confirmation that the man they've abducted,
04:43one of them abducted rather impulsively, is the sadist who tortured them in jail.
04:51And it's a film that really works on so many levels.
04:56It's thrilling as a hostage drama.
04:59It's also really, really surprisingly funny as this satire and this really odd road trip movie.
05:10And it's about so many things.
05:12It's about the price of revenge, about trauma, about the possibility of mercy and forgiveness.
05:20And it does all of this while critiquing, obviously, the Islamic Republic's repression,
05:27but also functions as this timeless commentary on the sins of despotism.
05:36It's remarkable.
05:38And what makes it remarkable as well is, to my mind,
05:43the most harrowing and the most memorable final shot of a film that I've seen this year,
05:50this breathtaking, jaw-dropping one-take,
05:55which will have you coming out of the cinema completely rattled.
05:59And, yeah, it shows once again that Iranian films are really worth seeking out.
06:07You say, indeed, last year we spoke enormously about the seed of the sacred fig.
06:13And, you know, despite all what's happening there and the repression of the government,
06:18the industry itself seems to be thriving.
06:20Thriving under very difficult circumstances and thriving on an international market
06:27because you have, like you said, filmmakers like, well, Jafar Panahi, but also Mohamed Razalov.
06:33And, yes, the seed of the sacred film.
06:35I'm thinking also about My Favourite Cake, which was one of our favourite films of last year as well.
06:40And, yeah, these are filmmakers who are working in unbelievably difficult circumstances.
06:49And yet, for the sake of their art, for the love that they have of cinema,
06:54they have something to say and they find ways of doing it.
06:59And it is up to international film festivals to select them, to give them a platform
07:06to support these filmmakers who are working under incredibly harsh circumstances.
07:13But it is also up to an audience to realise quite how privileged we are to be able to see these films in the first place
07:20and to not only champion them and, you know, clue ourselves up about the context of what's happening,
07:26but just realise that, yes, Iranian film is just, there is so much to learn, to be curious about,
07:32but also just to celebrate people who really literally put it all on the line for the sake of their craft.
07:40And Jafar Panahi may still go to prison for making this very film.
07:46He was recently condemned to another year in prison for endangering national security.
07:54And if he returns to Iran, he will be imprisoned for his art.
07:58And one can only hope that, you know, because this is a film that will represent France at the Oscars,
08:04that it will be seen by more people and that the situation in Iran will be appreciated
08:12in the sense that people will clue themselves up and recognised.
08:17Certainly.
08:17Well, now that it is on the enormous stage of world cinema, let's hope that message does go across.
08:23David, we're closing in on those, we are at the podium places now,
08:27the top three, what is in the third spot?
08:31I'm going to tell you, I'm going to look at my notes.
08:32Ah, yes, this one.
08:34Ah, this one's really, really special.
08:37It was at the number one spot at our Midway report.
08:42And unfortunately it has, I don't want to say tumbled,
08:46but we've had to make some choices and we've put it on number three.
08:49It's a Spanish film called Sorda, or Deaf.
08:53And it is one of my favourite films of this year.
08:59It's the second feature by Spanish filmmaker Eva Libertad.
09:04And it's the story of an interabled couple,
09:07Angela, who is deaf, and her partner Hector, who is hearing.
09:12And they're expecting a baby and they don't know whether that child will be born hearing or deaf.
09:20And this will obviously impact them as a couple, as parents, as members of a community,
09:26but also as individuals who really want to share their unique perspective on the world.
09:33And it's such a subtly powerful film, and a film which at the end of the day is about love.
09:43And the way Eva Libertad manages to do this so beautifully, so deftly,
09:49is that she takes the time to establish the couple,
09:52to make you feel for this couple and root for them,
09:56so that when they do hit upon complications, it hits harder.
10:01And you are really rooting for it to work.
10:06And more impressively, Sorda just tackles a lot of topics, very layered emotions.
10:12It depicts a certain isolation that can decry from institutional discrimination
10:19with regards to a certain community.
10:22And it does justice to that very specific community.
10:24But the film feels very universal in the emotions that it depicts.
10:30And as I said in my review at the midway point,
10:34it is no other film this year has done it in three distinct steps.
10:42It fills your heart up.
10:44It breaks it into a million fleshy pieces.
10:48And then it just picks them all up and just ties it back together again.
10:53And I have not been as, I think, emotional in a film as I was in Sorda.
11:00And it is really a remarkable piece of work.
11:04And I cannot wait to see what Eva Libertad does next.
11:09That sounds like a remarkable film.
11:11Certainly a very, very strong recommendation for anyone who's not seen it there.
11:14David, given what you've just said about that film,
11:17I can't imagine what could possibly top that.
11:20I remember when we spoke about it a few months ago.
11:23Yeah.
11:24What have you seen in the last six months that's better than that?
11:26Well, again, we've had to reach a consensus.
11:29And one of our consensus picks is for the number two spot is a film called Sirat
11:35by a French-born Spanish director called Olivier Lax.
11:40And this one's a difficult one to talk about without spoiling.
11:44And I want to be very careful here because it really is a film that is bold and very surprising.
11:51So I'm going to tread lightly.
11:54But essentially, I think it's safe to say that it's a very ambitious film, a very bleak film.
12:00And a film that starts off very, very simply as a missing person story.
12:04You have the character of Luis, plays by Sergi Lopez, and his 12-year-old son Esteban,
12:11who go out in search of Ma, their missing daughter and sister, respectively.
12:18And they go to this off-grid rave in the remote mountains of Morocco.
12:23And they can't find her.
12:26And they stumble across a group of misfits, of ravers.
12:30And they embark on this road trip to seemingly find Ma.
12:36And all of this takes place against the backdrop of maybe the end of time.
12:43It's very subtle.
12:45You have radios announcing what could be World War III.
12:49And that's worth keeping in mind.
12:51And the film's title, I won't go into it, if anyone's curious, they can read my review,
12:56in which I delve a little deeper into what the word Serrat means and how it's relevant to the film.
13:01But what Olivier Lacs does so well is that he pulls the comfort blanket of essentially what is a very simple starting point
13:11and transforms it into this descent into oblivion.
13:15And to my reading, it may be a reworking of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
13:24And it's political, it's poetic, it's existential, it's very, very hard-hitting.
13:32And it's an absolute triumph because it's a film that will really reverberate in your mind, but also in your bones.
13:40And the second road movie in our top five, a coincidence?
13:43Maybe not, but yeah, the second road movie in our top five.
13:48Okay, now just before we get to number one, you know, the number of European selections in there,
13:53let's just briefly look at European cinema now.
13:55How would you describe the state of it?
13:58It's doing well.
13:59It's doing very well.
14:00And you can tell by the diversity of the nominees, for example, for the European Film Awards, which happen early next year.
14:09When you look at the state of it, it is, I mean, there is some really good cinema and some fantastic voices being heard there.
14:17And also when you look at the Golden Globes recently, whether it's the best director categories or even the best film,
14:26a lot of European films are managing to clinch those spots.
14:29I'm thinking of Sentimental Value, for example, or It Was Just An Accident.
14:35Jafar Panahi has been nominated for best director.
14:38So it really goes to show that this is a film industry that is thriving and it will continue to thrive,
14:45but only if studios and the money men take risks and trust the filmmakers to go with their vision and give them a little bit of creative freedom.
14:57Well, talking of creative freedom and visionary filmmakers, that takes us to number one.
15:03Yeah.
15:04I know who it is.
15:05I know, you know who it is.
15:06And I don't think this will come off as too much of a surprise, but it is, I think, the most, yeah, it's a lot of cinema in this film.
15:17It's one battle after another, which is our number one pick of the year.
15:21The 10th film, I believe, by Paul Thomas Anderson.
15:26I mean, where to begin with this?
15:28It's, it's, um, it's brilliant.
15:32It's, uh, at, at, at its, at its basis, it's, it's essentially, it answers the question, what happens if you give one of the best directors currently working a sizable budget and allow him just to shoot whatever he wants?
15:49And at the same time, that takes the form of what if you merged the Big Lebowski with Taken, essentially, because this film is, is, is essentially at its, you know, at its core that it is an, uh, it tells the story of an aging revolutionary played by Leonardo DiCaprio,
16:09who is essentially forced out of retirement and out of a drug-fueled haze, um, by a former enemy, uh, brilliantly played by Sean Penn, because this former enemy is hell-bent on reviving an old grudge, and that includes kidnapping, uh, his, uh, daughter, uh, played by a newcomer called Chase Infinity, brilliant name, and she is really one to look out for in the future.
16:36And it starts off like that, and, and again, it's, what makes this film so wonderful is that it's so unclassifiable.
16:46It works on so many levels. It's, uh, a paranoid thriller. It's a stoner adventure. Uh, there's so much slapstick and comedy in there as well.
16:57It's a, it's a satire, a farce, uh, about power structures, about, uh, extremism and radicalization.
17:04And it's also a very timely film because it really looks at divided America and is bold enough to be political and to, to talk and to, to allude to these supremacist excesses that the country currently is in.
17:19And it, uh, it's more timeless as well because it's a rallying cry against dogmatism.
17:25But at the heart of it, and this is what's, what's, what's great, and which is why I use that maybe a little bit insulting or maybe reducing Big Lemowski made me to take him,
17:35because at the heart of it really is, it's just a tale about a really burnt out dad in a bathrobe with oversized glasses doing his level best to protect his daughter from the world turning to shit.
17:49And beyond that, leaving a better world for your child, which is what every parent really should, should really aspire to.
18:00Um, I think it's a, it's, it's really a modern classic. And like I said, there's a lot of cinema in there.
18:05You, you leave the cinema having seen this film just filled with so much and it all works.
18:11And, and like I said, it's really heartening that studios are bankrolling films as ambitious as this.
18:18And, and it's, it's really, really great.
18:23Rise and shine.
18:24Uh, pat an eyelash.
18:28Good morning.
18:29There are no hands on the clock.
18:31Why?
18:33Because they're not needed.
18:35What time is it?
18:37Uh, you know, I don't, I don't, I don't remember that part.
18:41All right, let, let, let's just not nitpick over the passwords.
18:45This is Bob Ferguson.
18:47I was a part of the French 75.
18:51This shot felt like Tony Martin.
18:54Steve Lockjaw just attacked my home.
18:56And I cannot remember, for the life of my only child, the answer to your question.
19:03Maybe you should have studied the rebellion text a little harder.
19:07I need to find my daughter.
19:09Well then call us back when you have the time.
19:11What?
19:12Did you, you just, you just.
19:22You know, you are so unsuitable for my daughter.
19:27My child comes from a whole line of revolutionaries.
19:31And you look so lost.
19:33What are you going to do about this baby?
19:36You know what freedom is?
19:38What?
19:38No fear.
19:40Go.
19:40Go.
19:40There's four more three out there.
19:55Not one thing, it's another.
20:03Find that to be true.
20:04I need you, brother.
20:08Sensei, sensei, sensei, please.
20:10Courage, Bob.
20:11Courage.
20:13That's it.
20:15Courage.
20:16Yeah.
20:17Yes.
20:19Hey.
20:20Thank you, sensei.
20:22Thank you, sensei.
20:24God damn it.
20:25Now, Leonardo DiCaprio, you know, you mentioned he's the lead main character, and he doesn't
20:35do that many films per year.
20:37Is that down to the fact of his choice, or is it, do you think, because it's Paul Thomas
20:42Anderson?
20:43I, both.
20:44I mean, he has the luxury of picking, and Paul Thomas Anderson is, I mean, you know, it's
20:48no hot take to say that he's not really released a bad film.
20:52When you look at it, everything from Boogie Nights to Magnolia to There Will Be Blood, Phantom
20:57Thread, one of my favourites, and even the ones that you don't particularly enjoy.
21:01Personally, I wasn't a huge fan of Licorice Pizza, his previous film.
21:06I know I'm in the minority there, but you can't, even his weakest films, for personal
21:12appreciation, dwarf the competition.
21:16So when you get a call from Paul Thomas Anderson, you answer, and whatever you want, and this
21:22proves it.
21:23It's a film that works, like I said, on so many levels.
21:27It's entertaining.
21:28It's political.
21:29It's politically charged, and it's brilliant.
21:33And as we've seen, also at the Golden Globe nominations.
21:37Indeed, I was about to say, you know, sometimes your views can be a bit divisive, but it seems
21:41as if there's a sea of people who agree with you.
21:44I mean, yeah, it's the frontrunner for the Golden Globes.
21:47I would not be surprised if next year it won a lot of the categories it's nominated for.
21:56And if I were a betting man, I can just about guarantee that it will sweep the Oscars.
22:03It deserves best screenplay.
22:05It deserves best score for Johnny Greenwood, who I think signs, I think it's his fifth score
22:10for Paul Thomas Anderson, and he is unparalleled in his ability to make a score that is jittery
22:17and makes you feel uncomfortable, but that is also propulsive.
22:20It's incredible.
22:22And I think Sean Penn is an absolute shoe-in for best supporting actor, and I really wouldn't
22:29be surprised if Paul Thomas Anderson gets best director, and I'm calling it, I think,
22:34one battle after another will get best film at the Oscars next year.
22:38Well, you've heard it here first, David Morricone, with that fantastic prediction and a wonderful
22:42review there again.
22:44If you want to read more from what David has to think about that film, do look at our website,
22:49euronews.com, and the culture section.
22:52There's more on cinema, more on film, and of course you can read more about the top 20.
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