A List to Save: Empire’s Best Films of 2025 — Forget the Rest
These are the movies you can’t afford to miss.
Somehow, Hollywood finally remembered why we love going to the movies. With 2025 already halfway through, Empire magazine has revealed its picks for the year’s best films — and this list feels like pure cinema magic: adrenaline, spectacle, and that heart-stopping thrill when the credits roll.
The Black Bag
Steven Soderbergh returns with a glossy, witty spy thriller. Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett are married super-agents — until he’s tasked with exposing a traitor in his own family. Intrigue, truth serums, satellites, and Soderbergh’s trademark sarcasm keep it sharp.
The Brutalist
Brady Corbet delivers a three-hour cinematic monument about an immigrant architect tasked with creating a grand building for a wealthy patron. Adrien Brody is mesmerizing as Laszlo Toth, in a film that feels as cold as concrete yet ends on a surprisingly warm note. Epic, heavy, unforgettable.
F1
Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) straps cameras onto real race cars and lets Brad Pitt tear through the track at 300 km/h. For two hours you feel like you’re in the driver’s seat — a pure movie ride that reminds you why the big screen matters.
Nosferatu
Robert Eggers reinvents the vampire classic with chilling beauty. Gothic realism, painterly frames, and Bill Skarsgård in terrifying makeup — every scene feels like an old master’s canvas soaked in darkness. It’s horror that makes your heart skip with both fear and awe.
The Sinners & More Surprises
Ryan Coogler fuses 1930s blues with vampire horror in The Sinners, a film begging to be discussed long after the credits. The Stream turns the story of a cat into a meditative journey. And 28 Years Later pulls us back into the zombie world with fresh emotion.
2025 might just be the year Hollywood remembered how to take risks — and hit straight at the heart of audiences.
