25 Movies On My 2025 Watchlist
New, old, abstract, popular, and everything in-between.
Movies are my favorite form of escapism.
I’m a devoted and active consumer of video games, books, and music, but film holds a very special place in my heart. Its ability to take me out of my current life circumstances and transport me into the mind and life of someone (or something) else keeps me hungry for more. It’s my favorite topic of conversation with friends, and I categorize my monthly Alamo Drafthouse movie pass as an “essential” expense when budgeting.
There are SO many incredible, culturally significant movies that I have yet to watch. Every time I doom scroll on my phone or lay static on the couch afterwork, my Letterboxd Watchlist is silently screaming at me to take action. When putting my 2025 Goals in writing, I confidently typed ‘Watch 2-3 movies a month’ in my notes app. This article is a follow-up to that declared goal and is a resource to future me as I progress through this year.
25 Moves On My 2025 Watchlist, In No Particular Order
1. Mind Game (2004)
Nishi is a loser who has a crush on his childhood girlfriend. After an encounter with the Japanese mafia, he journeys to heaven and back, and ends up trapped in an even more unlikely place.
2. The Brutalist (2024)
Escaping post-war Europe, visionary architect László Tóth arrives in America to rebuild his life, his work, and his marriage to his wife Erzsébet after being forced apart during wartime by shifting borders and regimes.
3. At Eternity’s Gate (2018)
Famed but tormented artist Vincent van Gogh spends his final years in Arles, France, painting masterworks of the natural world that surrounds him.
4. Shoplifters (2018)
Middle-aged and marginally employed, the Shibata couple is crammed into a ramshackle apartment on the outskirts of Tokyo, along with a pre-teen son named Shota, Nobuyo's younger sister, and the frail grandmother whose monthly pension keeps everything from falling apart.
5. We’re All Going To The World’s Fair (2021)
Reality and fantasy begin to blur when a teenager, alone in her attic bedroom, immerses herself in a role-playing horror game online.
6. Fallen Angels (1995)
An assassin goes through obstacles as he attempts to escape his violent lifestyle despite the opposition of his partner, who is secretly attracted to him.
7. Titane (2021)
A woman with a titanium plate fitted in her head and murderous intent on her mind embarks on a bizarre journey of identity and unconditional love when she's forced to go on the run.
8. Chungking Express (1994)
Every day, Cop 223 buys a can of pineapple with an expiration date of May 1, symbolizing the day he'll get over his lost love. He's also got his eye on a mysterious woman in a blond wig, oblivious of the fact she's a drug dealer. Cop 663 is distraught with heartbreak over a breakup. But when his ex drops a spare set of his keys at a local cafe, a waitress lets herself into his apartment and spruces up his life.
9. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
An imposing black structure provides a connection between the past and the future in this enigmatic adaptation of a short story by revered sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke. When Dr. Dave Bowman and other astronauts are sent on a mysterious mission, their ship's computer system, HAL, begins to display increasingly strange behavior, leading up to a tense showdown between man and machine that results in a mind-bending trek through space and time.
10. Triangle of Sadness (2022)
Carl and Yaya, a couple of influencers, are invited to a luxury cruise ship alongside a group of out of touch wealthy people. The situation takes an unexpected turn when a brutal storm hits the ship.
11. Dead Poet’s Society (1989)
A new English teacher, John Keating (Robin Williams), is introduced to an all-boys preparatory school that is known for its ancient traditions and high standards. He uses unorthodox methods to reach out to his students, who face enormous pressures from their parents and the school. With Keating's help, students Neil Perry, Todd Anderson and others learn to break out of their shells, pursue their dreams and seize the day.
12. Yi Yi (2000)
Set in Taiwan, the film follows the lives of the Jian family from the alternating perspectives of the three main family members: father N.J., teenage daughter Ting-Ting and young son Yang-Yang. N.J., disgruntled with his current job, attempts to court the favor of a prominent video game company while Ting-Ting and Yang-Yang contend with the various trials of youth, all while caring for N.J.'s mother-in-law, who lies in a coma.
13. Malcolm X (1992)
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
14. Oldboy (2003)
Dae-Su is an obnoxious drunk bailed from the police station yet again by a friend. However, he's abducted from the street and wakes up in a cell, where he remains for the next 15 years, drugged unconscious when human contact is unavoidable, otherwise with only the television as company. And then, suddenly released, he is invited to track down his jailor with a denouement that is simply stunning.
15. Fantastic Planet (1973)
This animated tale follows the relationship between the small human-like Oms and their much larger blue-skinned oppressors, the Draags, who rule the planet of Ygam. While the Draags have long kept Oms as illiterate pets, this hierarchy shifts after an Om boy becomes educated, thanks to a young female Draag. This leads to an Om rebellion, which weakens the Draag control over their race. Will the Oms and the Draags find a way to coexist? Or will they destroy each other?
16. Angel’s Egg (1985)
In an underwater city, a young girl takes care of a large egg she holds carefully in her arms – a treasure that she believes is an angel's egg. A boy with a gun arrives in search of a bird he saw in his dream. At first it seems as if feelings of sympathy are developing between the two. Then, one night, the boy crushes her precious egg.
17. The Beaches of Agnès (2008)
In this autobiographical documentary, celebrated French filmmaker Agnes Varda provides a window into her eventful life as she revisits various locales that have been important to her. Interspersed between these trips are interviews with Varda's collaborators and family members, as well as archive footage and still photographs. This eclectic mix provides both a history of the subject and an illuminating tour of an artist's mind and creative process.
18. The Lobster (2015)
In a dystopian society, single people must enter into a romantic relationship within a strict time limit of 45 days or be transformed into an animal of their choice.
19. Suspiria (1977)
Young American dancer Susie Bannion arrives in 1970s Berlin to audition for the world-renowned Helena Markos Dance Co. When she vaults to the role of lead dancer, the woman she replaces breaks down and accuses the company's female directors of witchcraft. Meanwhile, an inquisitive psychotherapist and a member of the troupe uncover dark and sinister secrets as they probe the depths of the studio's hidden underground chambers.
20. Good Morning (1959)
Two boys in 1950s Japan vow to remain completely silent until their parents buy them a television set.
21. Summer of Soul (2021)
Over the course of six weeks during the summer of 1969, thousands of people attend the Harlem Cultural Festival to celebrate Black history, culture, music, and fashion.
22. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
An Iranian vampire Western film about a vampire who stalks the streets of a fictional Iranian ghost town. The movie is a love story between the vampire and a young man who is trying to care for his drug-addicted father.
23. Pig (2021)
Living alone in the Oregon wilderness, a truffle hunter returns to Portland to find the person who stole his beloved pig.
24. Aftersun (2022)
Twenty years after their last holiday at a fading vacation resort, Sophie reflects on the rare time spent with her loving and idealistic father Calum. At 11-years-old, as the world of adolescence creeps into Sophie's view, Calum struggles under the weight of life outside of fatherhood. Sophie's recollections become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship, as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn't.
25. The Wicker Man (1973)
Sergeant Howie arrives on the small Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the report of a missing child. A conservative Christian, the policeman observes the residents' frivolous sexual displays and strange pagan rituals, particularly the temptations of Willow, daughter of the island magistrate, Lord Summerisle. The more Sergeant Howie learns about the islanders' strange practices, the closer he gets to tracking down the missing child.