These are the editorial team's favourite films of 2025

Luca Fontana

26.12.2025

Translation: machine translated

The editorial team rarely agrees on anything - and certainly not on films. Nevertheless, we've put together our favourites for 2025. Have fun with it.

2025 pushed me to my limits in terms of film. No sooner had I chosen a favourite film than the next one came out in the cinema or on a streaming service and threw me over the edge again. The editorial team? Even worse. From «Masterpiece!» to «How could you like that?!», it was all there.

In short: we're a chaotic but honest bunch with very strong opinions and an even stronger popcorn addiction. So here - without any claim to reason or objectivity - are our editorial team's favourite 2025 films.

Luca: «Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle»

Anime is no longer a niche phenomenon - and «Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle» impressively shows why. The film picks up immediately after the final season of the series and throws Tanjiro, the demon hunters and the pillars into the eponymous Infinity Castle: a constantly reshaping labyrinth that defies all rules of space and reality. This is where the final, all-decisive battle against demon lord Muzan begins.

As is so often the case with «Demon Slayer», it's not so much the what that counts as the how. Ufotable once again demonstrates why the studio is one of the absolute world leaders: the fusion of 2D animation, 3D spaces and digital tracking shots creates images of almost surreal beauty. The Infinity Castle looks like an anime version of the «Mirror Dimension» from «Doctor Strange» - only wilder, more colourful and more uncompromising.

Yet for all its visual power, the film never forgets its emotional basis. It takes time for the tragedies behind the demons and lends humanity to even the most brutal battles. Bombastic, brutal and surprisingly compassionate - for me, the most impressive cinema experience of 2025.

Where: Not yet available to stream

Debbie: «A House of Dynamite»

I had never heard of this film until it popped up in my Netflix feed. I watched it straight away with no expectations and was blown away. The plot is a fictionalised mind game: on an ordinary day, a nuclear missile appears over the Pacific heading for the USA. There are 19 minutes until impact. What now?

I watch in suspense and horror as response and defence protocols are activated and fail. How individuals have to make completely unprepared decisions that could affect the fate of the entire planet. I tremble with fear, can hardly breathe - and am just glad to be an editor at Galaxus without responsibility for life and death.

At the end, I feel empty because the scenario doesn't feel so unrealistic. I realise that maybe there really are only a few minutes between everyday life and nuclear war. Thanks to this realisation, no film has reached me like this for a long time.

Where: Netflix

Anika:: «Frankenstein»

We all know this story: a monster patched together from body parts runs around murdering people.

Guillermo del Toro's remake paints a different picture. It is not the monster that is the monster, but the creator behind the monster that is the monster. The scientist Victor Frankenstein is so obsessed with cheating death that he completely overlooks what a sensitive creature he has created. Instead, he locks his creation in the cellar and puts chains on it.

Nowadays, we would probably speak of childhood trauma. And without wanting to psychologise too much here - that's exactly what I like about the film: the message behind it. Not everything is always as it seems at first glance. Just because someone «looks bad» or perhaps acts stupid doesn't mean he or she is inferior.

It takes patience and courage to see a person - or even an undead person - for what they are: a being that carries scars with them. And ultimately, you have no choice but to look forward in life anyway.

Where: Netflix

Kim: «The Change» (Org.: «Anniversary»)

«Anniversary» - originally «The Change» - is the strongest film of 2025 for me because it achieves something that many current films fail to do: it doesn't think of the private and the political separately, but lets the two inexorably crash into each other.

The starting point is an actually harmless occasion - the 25th wedding anniversary of Ellen, a progressive politics professor, and Paul, a successful restaurant owner. But then Liz appears on the scene, a former student of Ellen's, politically right-wing - and now, of all things, the new partner of Ellen's son Josh. With her, something creeps into the house that can no longer be controlled: an authoritarian movement. What begins as a family friction turns into an unsparing appraisal of a society that has become alien to itself.

At the same time, «Anniversary» remains remarkably subtle. The calm camerawork, the deliberately placed pauses and the minimalist staging create moments in which closeness, alienation and unspoken accusations become almost tangible. The film shows the fine cracks in relationships before they become ruptures and this is precisely where its greatest strength lies. The interplay with the political tensions in particular creates an emotional density that many louder productions of this year fail to achieve.

All of this is carried by great actors: Diane Lane, Kyle Chandler and, above all, Phoebe Dynevor lend the film a credibility that makes its topics - loyalty, moral struggle, the loss of certainties - immediately tangible. «Anniversary» is not a grand spectacle, but a drama that slowly sinks in and forces the viewer to reflect on family, convictions and responsibility. This mixture of quiet nuances, social relevance and cinematic elegance makes it the most impressive film of the year for me.

Where: currently showing in cinemas

Stefanie: «Friendship»

Fun, discomfort and alien shame are just a fraction of the emotions that ran through me when I watched this A24 masterpiece by Andrew DeYoung. «Friendship» tackles an almost too commonplace topic and opens up the big questions: How quickly can you open up to new acquaintances? What should you do if the new friendship turns out to be a complete flop? And what if you hold on to something that you have long since lost?

The story revolves around Craig, played by comedian Tim Robinson, a quirky and awkward marketing manager who is involved in a meeting with his new neighbour by his wife. After some initial scepticism, he soon realises that TV meteorologist Austin, played by Paul Rudd, is a breath of fresh air in his life. Craig blossoms - I'm rooting for him. It seems as if he is experiencing true friendship for the first time. But this high doesn't last long.

The more the quirky bird opens up, the more daunting he becomes for his new-found mates. But everything tightens up inside me too. The film takes on a dark tone - not only because from this point onwards I no longer have any sense of the direction the story is taking, but also because it opens up conflicts that everyone can relate to at first hand. And all of this in such a crazy way that for 101 minutes I am constantly in a mode between laughing out loud, gnashing my teeth and holding my eyes. Grandiose.

Where: Apple TV

Michelle: «Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere»

Surprisingly different: this biopic about the living legend Bruce Springsteen is not a two-hour feel-good concert. On the contrary: Springsteen struggled with severe depression between the release of the album «The River» and the masterpiece «Born in the USA». The result: «Nebraska». A heavy album. Gloomy. Profound. Full of emotion.

The film is a mirror of this and shows the vulnerable, torn side of Springsteen in his younger years. Jeremy Allen White's («The Bear») portrayal of the rock star is not only Oscar-worthy, the actor was even suggested for the role by Springsteen himself.

Where: currently showing in cinemas

Simon: «One Battle After Another»

Director Paul Thomas Anderson is back on top form. I already loved the 70s coming-of-age drama «Licorice Pizza» from 2021. Now Anderson is directing the present day.

Bob Ferguson, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, was once a big shot in the underground organisation French 75. Now, 16 years later, he is enjoying retirement in the witness protection programme and spends his days smoking weed. Suddenly, the right-wing extremist Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn), once Bob's greatest adversary, turns up and wants to kidnap Bob's daughter Willa. With the help of the karate master Sergio (Benicio del Toro), Bob tries to reconnect with his revolutionary life and save his daughter.

The film looks as if someone had found the scripts for «Star Wars» and «The Big Lebowski» in the shredder and used the snippets to build a film set in the year 2025. Dude Skywalker, Obi-san Kenobi and Colonel Vader. It's nihilistic, paranoid and at some point the supposed good and evil are no longer so important. Bob has done his bit for the revolution, but nothing has changed. It's as if Luke Skywalker will retire as soon as the Death Star is blown up and then break off contact with the rebellion. But Rob and the rebels no longer speak the same language, he forgets the secret code and goes berserk. Fortunately, Sensei Sergio pretends to be a kind of Obi-Wan and mediates between the generations to put a stop to the limping Lockjaw.

Great images, a great story and the most thrilling chase in a long time, without any twists or turns. Definitely watch it in the cinema!

Where: Cinema / VoD

Flo: «Weapons»

In the middle of the night, at exactly 2:17 a.m., all the children in a class at Maybrook Elementary School wake up and leave their homes as if remotely controlled. A mysterious force seems to be driving them, but nobody knows where they are heading. They all disappear without a trace - except for one: Alex is the only child left behind. Filled with fear, the desperate parents turn their suspicions to teacher Justine Gandy, whom they suspect of sinister intentions.

«Weapons» is a double-edged sword (pun intended). At first, the film is captivating: the atmosphere is oppressive, suspenseful and offers many perspectives - the teacher, the parents, a policeman, an estranged ex. All of this leads step by step into an opaque web of fear, paranoia and hopelessness.

The actors deliver strong, credible performances: The dynamic between the distraught teacher, the desperate parents and the insecure only child in particular generates real emotion. I often got palpitations. And goosebumps too. The mixture of horror, mystery and dark family drama is captivating and depressing. Much better than any splatter effects.

But unfortunately it also has its downsides: The plot is given plenty of time to build up, which increases the tension. However, many of the events are initially staged with a heavy emphasis on meaning, but then turn out to be purely atmospheric elements. That wouldn't be a bad thing in itself if the film didn't constantly suggest that the whole thing will lead to something bigger - which it simply doesn't in the end.

But honestly, fuck it. Sometimes you don't need so much meaning, depth, blatant plot twists and furious showdowns, but simply two hours of strong entertainment, suspense, horror and a light and airy low-brainer finale.

Where: Prime Video

We also discussed our favourite series and films at length in our digitec podcast «Tech Affair»:

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

Follow

---

Movies and series

Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest

Follow topic

---

Opinion

This is a subjective opinion of the editorial team. It doesn't necessarily reflect the position of the company.

Show all

These articles might also interest you