Politics, Horror, Political Horror…and Jonathan Bailey
Last year’s movies were a mixed bag at the box office. There were blockbusters, notably the latest Jurassic World adventure, a revamped Superman, and several Disney sequels/reboots. But there were also some big-budget flops: Mickey 17, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere and Disney’s less successful Snow White and Tron: Ares. In hindsight, such unpredictability seems reflective of our national political and economic uncertainty these past 12 months. I was hoping/praying for a more stable 2026...and then the USA attacked Venezuela and kidnapped its president! God help us.
Despite
an increase in anti-DEI and anti-LGBTQ sentiment in the US, we can take some
comfort in the fact that two out entertainers went down in history by the end
of 2025. That both are alumna of the hit Wicked
movies seems purely coincidental.
Jonathan Bailey, who played the ultimately heroic Fiyero in the two-part musical adaptation, was named 2025’s highest-grossing actor thanks to his roles in Wicked: For Good and Jurassic World: Rebirth. He is the first openly gay actor ever to top the box office charts in a given year. Bailey was also the first openly gay contender to be named “Sexiest Man Alive” by People magazine in 2025.
Meanwhile, queer actor-comedian Bowen Yang not only reprised his supporting role as Pfannee in Wicked: For Good but played one of the lead roles in last year’s excellent reimagining of 1993’s The Wedding Banquet. Yang made Emmy Award history in 2025 by becoming the awards’ most-nominated Asian male performer to date, thanks to his work on Saturday Night Live. He surprised everyone when he resigned from SNL after six years shortly before Christmas. I’m sure--to paraphrase Yang’s hero, Cher—we haven’t seen the last of him.
There has been more consensus than usual regarding the best films
of 2025 among critics and critic groups. Several of them deal with timely
political themes, and an unusually high number of selections sit squarely in
the horror genre.
Here are my personal choices. As is my custom, I have joined together movies of equal quality that also share themes, genres and/or talent. And, as usual, there were a few end-of-the-year releases I wasn’t able to watch before my deadline. Chief among these are the acclaimed Marty Supreme and James Cameron’s latest, Avatar: Fire and Ash.
2. Eddington (A24). Dark auteur Ari Aster’s latest garnered as many detractors as admirers, and possibly more detractors. Similar in some ways to One Battle After Another, this is an even more satirical depiction of COVID-era divisions in our country. I greatly appreciated how Aster succeeds in making both far right and far left extremists look equally insane.
3. Hamnet (Focus
Features). I’ve never seen a movie reduce an audience to sobs, myself included,
as this lovely exploration of loss and grief did. Inspired by an incident in
the lives of William Shakespeare and his wife, it is ultimately a cathartic
take on how we all strive to find meaning in the wake of death. Jessie Buckley
is exquisite in what I consider the year’s best female performance as Agnes, with
queer-friendly Paul Mescal playing opposite her as Will.
4. Sinners (Warner Bros). While this is best or most simply defined as a vampire-filled horror movie, there is a lot more going on beneath its surface. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan in dual roles, it also deals with racism, enculturation, sibling love, and the enduring power of music.
5. A House of Dynamite (Netflix). Arguably the most intense 112 cinematic minutes of last year. Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow and an impressive all-star cast count down to an anticipated nuclear attack on Chicago from different perspectives. Something of a pre-disaster disaster movie, one can’t help but think “What would I do?” in such a frightening scenario.
6. The History of Sound (MUBI) and On Swift Horses (Sony Pictures Classics). The two best gay-themed movies of 2025. These sexy, achingly beautiful tales of gay longing are set in different time periods but share several dramatic similarities. They also boast gorgeous leading men Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva, Josh O’Connor and Paul Mescal (again), all of whom are beautifully photographed.
7. Companion (Warner Bros), Good Boy (IFC & Shudder) and Weapons (Warner Bros). After Sinners, these are the next best out of a very strong year for horror films. Each has a unique premise and is told from an unusual perspective, with a dog playing the lead in Good Boy! While they have necessary unsettling moments, these movies are cleverly written and completely engrossing. And all hail the big- screen return of Amy Madigan as instant camp icon Aunt Gladys!
8. I Was Born This Way (Jungefilm & W/Love Productions). The best documentary I saw last year celebrates the life, music and ministry of Bishop Carl Bean. He journeyed from disco-era singer of the title song to founder of both the Minority AIDS Project in LA and the Unity Fellowship Church. Revealing and inspiring.
9. The Life of Chuck (NEON). 2025 was a big year for Stephen King stories on the big screen. We got The Last Walk, The Monkey and a new version of The Running Man, as well as TV’s It-inspired series Welcome to Derry. The best of them all--and one of the best Stephen King adaptations ever--was this metaphysical, mathematical, and genuinely moving tale illustrating how each of our lives “contain multitudes,” to quote the movie’s potent citation of queer poet Walt Whitman.
10. Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics) and Nouvelle Vague (Netflix). Has director Richard Linklater made a bad movie yet? He turned out not just one but two great period pieces/character studies last year alone. Linklater’s longtime muse Ethan Hawke is astonishing and currently my pick for best male performance of 2025 as the real life, sexually conflicted composer Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon. In his Nouvelle Vague, Linklater playfully recreates the filmmaking architects of the French “new wave” of the 1950s-60s, and appropriately does so in both French and black & white.
Honorable mentions, in alphabetical order: Aichaku, Chainsaws Were Singing, Dust Bunny, Frankenstein, Griffin in Summer, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Roofman, Train Dreams, 28 Years Later, The Wedding Banquet and Wicked: For Good.
At the bottom of my list are these 2025 movies that, even if
they aren’t absolutely awful, nonetheless fell short of expectations:
1. The Conjuring: Last Rites (Warner Bros). This spooky franchise hit its artistic bottom here, but inexplicably became its most financially successful entry. I doubt it will be the last in the series as intended, which is truly scary.
2. Night Always Comes (Netflix). I love actress Vanessa Kirby, and she made a fine Sue Storm in last year’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. While she’s typically good in this, the plot is a dreary exercise in self-perpetuating dysfunction with Kirby’s character making one frustratingly bad decision after another.
3. Wolf Man (Universal Pictures). The title character has long been my favorite old-school movie monster so I was really looking forward to a modern-day take on him/it. Needless to say I was disappointed. Not only does the creature bear little resemblance to the original, the movie is just plain boring.
4. Mission: Impossible-The Final Reckoning (Paramount Pictures). I was also looking forward to this closing chapter of the Tom Cruise-led series since the last film, 2023’s Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning, was thrilling. While not without some exciting set pieces, this was essentially a 3-hour vanity project for Cruise. I won’t complain about the two extended sequences in which the admittedly in-shape star is clad only in boxer briefs (one of which I've lovingly featured above) but it all seemed narcissistic.
5. Captain America: Brave New World (Disney/Marvel Studios). Marvel did well artistically with the aforementioned Fantastic Four: First Steps as well as Thunderbolts*. However, this was a strange entry in the Captain America canon because it served more as an overdue sequel to 2008’s largely forgotten The Incredible Hulk. And not to sound ageist, but Harrison Ford came across as too old and feeble to play the Commander in Chief. Yes, even older and more feeble—but at least saner—than his real-life counterpart.
Happy New Year!
The Most Reverend Chris Carpenter is editor of Movie Dearest and chief contributor. He has been reviewing movies and theatre since 1996 and also contributes to Rage Monthly magazine (ragemonthly.com). He is a founding member and former Vice President of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Critics (galeca.com) and currently serves as a nominating/voting member of its New York-based Theatre Wing. Reverend Carpenter has been an ordained minister since 1995.
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