2025 Year in Review

Happy New Year! I always look forward to my Letterboxd Wrapped stats every year. But I have the poor-man’s version of Letterboxd, which means I only get certain stats in my yearly “Wrapped.” So I thought I’d DIY my own little “year in review!”

According to Letterboxd, I logged 78 new films, which is a lot for me considering that just a handful of years ago, I felt like I was just watching the same things over and over. And I enjoyed many of those 78 - in fact, I gave 25 of them a ranking of four or five stars!

Letterboxd has also listed Desmond Llewelyn as my most watched actor, which makes sense given how many James Bond movies I watched! I had fun rediscovering ones I'd seen before, as well as ones I hadn't. I even started reviewing each film individually, but I've only published one of those reviews. Perhaps that'll be a New Year's resolution: to finally get more Bond reviews published!

To no one’s surprise, my most watched director was Jacques Tati. In fact, if I had to choose any films that really defined 2025, it would be Tati’s movies. I rewatched almost all of them several times, and had the film's soundtracks on repeat for much of the year as well. You can read through my full ranking of his movies here. Basically, I'm a Tati Girl now. Can I have that on a sticker?

There were some excellent films released this year, and I had the privilege of seeing a couple of those in theaters. My top movies in this category are Nouvelle Vague; Bau, Artist at War; and The Life of Chuck. My favorite of those three was The Life of Chuck - an absolute marvel. (In fact, as I write this, I’m wearing my “I contain multitudes” shirt my sister got me for Christmas!) If you didn’t get around to seeing it this year, it would be a great film to start 2026 with. Just sayin’.

This was also probably my most foreign-film-heavy year to date! I’m already making plans that involve more Ozu, Kurosawa, and Godard this year; but in the meantime, I’ve boiled down my favorite foreign films I saw in 2025:

The Baker’s Wife (1938)

Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953)

Mon Oncle (1958)

A Woman Is a Woman (1961)

In the Mood for Love (2000)

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (2024)

(I tried very hard to narrow it down to five, but I really loved all of these and couldn’t get rid of any! So as Max Detweiler might say, I’m making it an uneven [even] six.)

I was apparently more drawn to French and Asian cinema this year (or rather, last year), but I hope to expand my horizons in 2026. I’m already eyeing El bolero de Raquel (1957), a DVD of which I found at the thrift store; and Cinema Paradiso (1988).

I made a couple Instagram posts about all my favorite films of the year - some of which I did not rate four or five stars, but were favorites nonetheless. You can see those posts here and here!

I’m very excited to see what 2026 will hold. I’ve got 528 films on my Letterboxd watchlist, but I always like to go with the flow and see what happens, rather than just ticking them off in order. But at least I know I have some options!

What are you looking forward to seeing this year? What were some of your favorite movies of 2025? Let me know in the comments!

Wishing you all a blessed 2026!

Becca