That is an version of The Surprise Reader, a publication through which our editors suggest a set of tales to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Join right here to get it each Saturday morning.
The yr 2025 was onerous for the movie trade however good for motion pictures. “Trying again at this turbulent yr, rife with the standard trade issues over the viability of the theatrical expertise, younger individuals’s slipping consideration spans, and Hollywood’s overreliance on franchises, finds a various crop of gems,” my colleague David Sims wrote this week.
Spend time along with his listing of the yr’s 10 greatest movies, and whenever you’re accomplished reflecting on the yr that was, spare a second for a few of our critics’ different suggestions. Possibly you’ll return to a beloved favourite or discover one thing new.
On Films
The ten Greatest Films of 2025
By David Sims
The standout movies that helped cinema survive one other turbulent yr
5 Films Price a Repeat Watch
By Stephanie Bai
Our writers and editors share which movies they will get pleasure from again and again.
25 Really feel-Good Movies You’ll Wish to Watch Once more—And Once more
By David Sims
Anxious? Listed below are a number of the greatest and most rewatch-friendly motion pictures to assuage your thoughts. (From 2020)
Nonetheless Curious?
- The perfect albums of the yr: Though we could also be on the cusp of a serious shift in how music is made, attaining glorious outcomes will all the time require a human strategy, our critic Spencer Kornhaber writes.
- Hopeful photos from 2025: Images that acknowledge a number of the considerable pleasure and kindness current on the planet round us
Different Diversions
- ‘Six-seven’ is six ft beneath.
- What do you consider Barry Bonds now?
- Why {couples} therapists are sick of ‘therapy-speak’
PS
I lately requested readers to share a photograph of one thing that sparks their sense of awe on the planet. C.B., age 68, despatched this picture of Vancouver, Canada.
I’ll proceed to characteristic your responses within the coming weeks.
— Isabel
