The best film of 2025 has been revealed by the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

First launched back in August 1998 by University of California, Berkeley students Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang, the idea for Rotten Tomatoes was inspired by the trio’s shared love of Jackie Chan.

Duong had been inspired to create the site after collecting reviews for each of Chan’s Hong Kong action movies as they arrived in the U.S. Inspired to create the website in anticipation of Chan’s Hollywood debut, Rush Hour, the website ultimately expanded to include other films and actors.

Today, Rotten Tomatoes is the go-to site for anyone seeking critical consensus on a particular movie. In 2018, a survey of U.S. moviegoers conducted by the market research film Morning Consult found one-third of U.S. adults check Rotten Tomatoes before seeing a film, and 63 percent opt not to see a movie depending on its scoring on the site.

Rotten Tomatoes is not just about highlighting bad movies though. Any film earning the “Certified Fresh” label for accumulating a significant number of good reviews is sure to garner interest and likely to be well worth watching. With that in mind, *Newsweek *has taken a closer look at some of the very best films of 2025. Here are the top 10 for starters.

10. Caught by the Tides

Jia Zhang‑ke’s epic love story centers on couple, Qiao Qiao (Zhao Tao) and Guao Bin (Li Zhubin), and the unexpected path their lives take over a 20-year period beginning in early 2000s China and running through to the present day.

When Guao Bin leaves their province with little explanation to seek new opportunities, Qiao Qiao decides to follow him into the unknown. Jia had earned acclaim for previous collaborations with Zhao on films like A Touch of Sin and Still Life and Caught by the Tides maintains that high standard, with the movie’s melancholic tone and focus on societal change and the passage of time garnering similar praise. Caught by the Tides has a 99 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 71 reviews.

**9. The Perfect Neighbor **

Filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir utilizes police bodycam footage and investigative interviews to create a dripping and entirely unique documentary film which, at its heart, exposes the issues around Florida’s “stand your ground” gun laws.

It’s a unique brand of expose highlighting the systemic failures and issues with America’s legal system against a backdrop of generational and racial division that continue to bubble away under the surface of society today. *The Perfect Neighbor *has a 99 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 85 reviews.

8. Left-Handed Girl

Shih-Ching Tsou’s debut feature focuses on Shu-Fen, a Taiwanese mother and her two daughters—college-aged I‑Ann and curious five-year-old I‑Jing—as they move to Taipei to launch a noodle stand in a bustling night-market.

Told from I‑Jing’s perspective, the film effectively captures her wide-eyed awe at city life as well as the family’s various struggles addressing family secrets and long-held superstition. *Left-Handed Girl *was praised for its realistic portrayal of Taipei night-market life and a string of authentic performances from the multigenerational cast. *Left-Handed Girl *has a 99 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 94 reviews.

7. No Other Choice

Park Chan-Wook enlists the talents of Lee Byung-hun to star in this darkly comedic social satire on unemployment and the perils of capitalism. An adaptation of American author Donald Westlake’s book The Ax, the story centers on Man-Su (Lee) a devoted paper‑mill manager who, after over 25 years of service, finds himself abruptly laid off after a company buyout.

Man-Su spirals embarking on a violent quest to reclaim his identity by sabotaging and murdering those he considers his competition in the workplace. A dark, comedic tale with sprinklings of pathos and moments of inspired slapstick, Park mines the bleak premise to full effect, creating the year’s best thriller in the process. No Other Choice has a 99 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 105 reviews.

6. Come See Me In The Light

This intimate documentary follows poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley as they navigate love and creativity while living with the reality of Gibson’s terminal cancer diagnosis. Ryan White’s film blends lyrical reflections with candid conversations to create something emotionally raw and authentic.

Discarding the tropes often associated with many other illness-led narratives, what makes the move special is the way it never loses sight of the warmth and humor that defines Gibson and Falley’s love. The authentically tender portrayal of queer love it offers means it somehow straddles the line between being heartbreaking and life-affirming. *Come See Me In The Light *has a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 44 reviews.

5. Deaf President Now!

*Deaf President Now! *chronicles 1988 protests at Gallaudet University where deaf students demanded and ultimately secured the appointment of a Deaf president after over a century of exclusively hearing leadership. Filmmakers Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim tell the story of those eight pivotal days through a combination of ASL-led interviews with those involved, archival footage, and a narrative structure that immerses viewers in events.

Praised for its innovative style, blending silent sequences with selective sounds to replicate the deaf experience, the film is an effective example of how the medium can give voice to those communities who might otherwise feel marginalized within society. Deaf President Now! has a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 45 reviews.

4. Souleymane’s Story

Souleymane’s Story follows Souleymane (Abou Sangaré) a Guinean immigrant working as a bike courier in Paris. The film chronicles two days in his life as he juggles preparing for an asylum application interview while also dealing with the grueling demands of gig-economy work. French filmmaker Boris Lojkine infuses proceeds with a documentary-like feel, as he charts the highs and lows of life as one of the city’s invisible workers.

An immersive tale noted for the fact Lojkine cast no-professionals in many of the key roles to add authenticity, it all adds up to a raw, realistic human drama that feels especially relevant today in countries all over the world. Souleymane’s Story has a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 59 reviews.

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3. Pillion

This unconventional romcom centers on The Queen’s Gambit star Harry Melling who plays Colin, a reserved gay man who becomes romantically entangled with charismatic biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård) and in the process opens himself up to a new world of risk and desire where power dynamics are forever shifting.

British director Harry Lighton earned plaudits for the his strikingly visual approach to an unconventional topic, while the performances of both Melling and Skarsgård have seen this daring but emotionally grounded drama tipped for several major awards. Pillion has a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 61 reviews.

2. Eephus

Arguably the most American entry on this list, *Eephus *is a bittersweet comedy about two aging rival small town New England amateur baseball teams playing out one last game before their beloved field is demolished to make way for a new development. It’s about so much more than just the game itself, of course, with friendships, rivalries and memories all coming to the fore over the course of the dark.

An ode to community and the passage of time, Carson Lund’s film is a winning blend of gentle humor and authentic small town drama. Boasting a superb ensemble cast, it captures a time and place that will be familiar to many Americans, retaining a sense of whimsical charm without slipping into oversentimentality. Eephus has a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 83 reviews.

1. On Becoming A Guinea Fowl

When Shula stumbles upon her uncle’s dead body on a deserted road, she sets off a chain of events that will see family secrets and cultural tensions come to the fore. Set against the backdrop of her uncle’s subsequent funeral in a rural Zambian village, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is somehow both an exploration of grief as well as being a surreal comedy laced with social satire.

Filmmaker Rungano Nyoni employed a strikingly inventive visual style to his film, blending elements of folklore with more modern storytelling techniques to create arguably the year’s most original film. Praise must also go to the cast and a series of nuanced performances that help ground proceedings in reality, adding emotional depth as result. On Becoming A Guinea Fowl has a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 103 reviews.