The ultimate films of 2025 by genre

Audiences continued to defy the critics in 2025, with two widely panned films – “A Minecraft Movie” and the live-action remake of “Lilo & Stitch” – dominating the box office. Here are some of the films the critics did like, a few of which were also commercial hits.

Drama

Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about two Black boys who meet at a brutal reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida, RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys” is a “miracle” of a movie, said Little White Lies. Shot entirely...