Ben Reiser is a programmer for the Cinematheque and the Wisconsin Film Festival.
Here are my ten favorites from this past year of moviegoing, in alphabetical order:
1. BRING HER BACK (2025, Michael Philippou, Danny Philippou)
2. DANGEROUS ANIMALS (2025, Sean Byrne)
3. EDDINGTON (2025, Ari Aster)
4. IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (2025, Jafar Panahi)
5. ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL (2024, Rungano Nyoni)
6. ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (2025, Paul Thomas Anderson)
7. THE PLAGUE (2025, Charlie Polinger)
8. PREDATOR: BADLANDS (2025, Dan Trachtenberg)
9. SHORT SUMMER (2025, Nastia Korkia)
10. WEAPONS (2025, Zach Cregger)
Here are 25 more I loved almost as much, in alphabetical order:
1. 40 ACRES (2024, R.T. Thome)
2. A USEFUL GHOST (2025, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke)
3. BUGONIA (2025, Yorgos Lanthimos)
4. CELTIC UTOPIA (2025, Lars Lovén, Dennis Harvey)
5. COLOR BOOK (2024, David Fortune)
6. COMPANION (2025, Drew Hancock)
7. THE COWBOY (2025, Andre Hörmann)
8. DEAD MAIL (2024, Joe DeBoer, Kyle McConaghy)
9. FAMILIAR TOUCH (2024, Sarah Friedland)
10. THE HELSINKI EFFECT (2025, Arthur Franck)
11. IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU (2025, Mary Bronstein)
12. THE KIDNAPPING OF ARABELLA (2025, Carolina Cavalli)
13. KONTINENTAL ’25 (2025, Radu Jude)
14. THE LEFT-HANDED GIRL (2025, Tsou Shih-Ching)
15. MARTY SUPREME (2025, Josh Safdie)
16. THE MASTERMIND (2025, Kelly Reichardt)
17. ONLY HEAVEN KNOWS (2025, Nurzhamal Karamoldoeva)
18. THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME (2025, Wes Anderson)
19. PRESENCE (2025, Steven Soderbergh)
20. SECOND CHANCE (2024, Subhadra Mahajan)
21. THE SECRET AGENT (2025, Kleber Mendonca Filho)
22. THE SHROUDS (2025, David Cronenberg)
23. SORRY, BABY (2025, Eva Victor)
24. THE THREESOME (2025, Chad Hartigan)
25. UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE (2024, Matthew Rankin)