My Top Ten Films of 2025 - a year of Monsters and Miracles.

Writer: Denise Breen

It's that time of the year, a time for reflection and a time for lists and if 2024 was the year of the "wait and see," 2025 was the year cinema finally exhaled. It was a year defined by the return of auteurs, the resurrection of gothic romance, and superhero blockbusters that, miraculously, remembered to bring a script along with the CGI.

From Metropolis to the Emerald City, from road movies to biopics, this year’s best films didn’t just entertain; they challenged us. We saw Guillermo del Toro perfect his lifelong obsession with monsters, Rian Johnson sharpen his knives, and Bong Joon-ho take us to the stars only to show us our own messy reflection.

My top ten is based on films released in Ireland in 2025 and, look, you will have your own favourites, you will disagree, you may even want to argue - so please let me know what your favourites were.

10. Wicked: For Good

Rating: ★★★★☆

Jon M. Chu’s finale to the saga could have easily collapsed under its own emerald-encrusted weight. Instead, it soared. While the first part was all effervescent setup, For Good delivered the emotional payload we were promised. It is a darker, richer, and ultimately satisfying conclusion that proves some intellectual properties really do deserve the two-part treatment. A defying-gravity spectacle with a heartbeat.

9. Superman

Rating: ★★★★☆

In an era of cynical deconstruction, James Gunn did the most radical thing imaginable: he made Superman nice. David Corenswet’s Man of Steel is virtuous without being boring, anchoring a film that feels like a warm hug in a cold year. It’s optimistic, colourful, and delightfully unashamed of its comic book roots. A bird, a plane, and a total triumph.

8. Predator: Badlands

Rating: ★★★★☆

Following up Prey was a tall order, but Dan Trachtenberg struck gold twice. By turning this into a "buddy movie" of sorts, he injected fresh blood into a franchise that was on life support just a few years ago. It’s visceral, tense, and features some of the best practical creature effects of the decade. The thrill of the hunt is officially back.

7. Steve

Rating: ★★★★★

Cillian Murphy delivers a career-best performance in Steve, a reimagining of Max Porter’s Shy that hits like a sledgehammer to the heart. Reuniting with director Tim Mielants, Murphy disappears into the role of a reform school headteacher battling his own demons while fighting for his students. The film is a sensory overload in the best way; the editing is frenetic, and the pulsing 90s jungle soundtrack mirrors the internal chaos of the characters perfectly.

Beyond the style, it is deeply moving. The bond between Steve and troubled teen Shy (Jay Lycurgo) is raw and unsentimental, offering a profound look at mental health and redemption. An urgent, essential watch.

6. Mickey 17

Rating: ★★★★☆

Bong Joon-ho returned with a sci-fi satire that is as funny as it is horrifying. Robert Pattinson gives a tour-de-force performance (or rather, performances) as the expendable employee who refuses to die. It’s a chaotic, biting critique of corporate culture wrapped in a visually stunning space opera. It’s weird, wonderful, and distinctly Bong.

5. The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Rating: ★★★★☆

Who knew the First Family just needed to go back to the 60s? Matt Shakman’s retro-futurist take is a stylistic joyride, blending The Jetsons aesthetics with genuine family drama. It feels less like a superhero movie and more like a high-budget sitcom about people who just happen to stretch and burn. A buoyant, joyous surprise.

4. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Rating: ★★★★★

Rian Johnson has done it again. Trading the sun-drenched locations of Glass Onion for a gothic, misty churchyard, this third Benoit Blanc mystery is his most atmospheric yet. Josh O’Connor is a revelation as the priest with a past, and the "locked room" puzzle is genuinely baffling. It’s darker, meaner, and so good. Having said that, the first film, Knives Out is arguably the best of the trilogy.

3. A Real Pain

Rating: ★★★★★

Jesse Eisenberg’s sophomore directorial effort is a small miracle of a road movie. Pairing himself with the magnetic Kieran Culkin was a stroke of casting genius. As two estranged cousins touring Poland to honour their grandmother, they create a dynamic that is excruciatingly funny and quietly devastating. It explores generational trauma without ever feeling heavy-handed, largely thanks to Culkin’s performance—a chaotic, heartbreaking tour de force that oscillates between manic energy and deep wells of sadness. It’s a film that hurts in all the right ways.

2. I Swear

​Rating: ★★★★★

Kirk Jones (Waking Ned Devine) has delivered the most profoundly human film of the year. Based on the true story of Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson, I Swear could have been standard biopic fare, but it vibrates with a raw, punk-rock energy that refuses to be pitied. Robert Aramayo is simply astonishing in the lead role, capturing the physical exhaustion of the condition without ever losing the man underneath. Supported by the always-brilliant Peter Mullan and Maxine Peake, this is a film about the terrifying, hilarious, and messy business of being yourself. Rarely has copious swearing been so incredibly sweet.

1. Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein

Rating: ★★★★★

It had to be this. Guillermo del Toro was born to adapt Mary Shelley, and his vision of the Modern Prometheus is a gothic triumph. Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi possess a tragic chemistry that elevates this beyond a mere creature feature into a profound meditation on fatherhood, rejection, and love. It is lush, terrifying, and achingly sad. As I wrote in my review, I devoured the book as a teenager, and this film felt like reading it for the first time all over again. A masterpiece reborn.