December 31 2025, 19:10
2025: Best films, books and music
I have never pretended to be cool, or to try and keep up with the latest this or that. But, astonishingly, I saw sixty-one films in the cinema in 2025, by far the most ever in my life. The Abertoir Horror Festival in November was a film highlight, and the habit of posting on Patreon notes on each novel I read helped me get more out of my reading experiences. I tried to watch TV (I really did), but nothing stuck (except one).
Favourite film: Black Bag
Favourite book: Fever Dream, by Samanta Schweblin
Favourite album: Moisturiser, Wet Leg
Favourite TV show: Murderbot (the only one I finished)
Favourite video game: PGA Tour Pro Golf (the only one I played, but I played it A LOT).
My TOP 9 cultural things of 2025, in order of preference:
Films of 2025
- Black Bag
- The Ballad of Wallis Island
- Complete Unknown
- The Phoenician Scheme
- The Shrouds
- My Old Ass
- A House of Dynamite
- One Battle After Another
- Jay Kelly
Film discoveries
- Phenomena
- The Old Dark House
- Caché
- Irma Vep
- Matt and Mara
- In the Mood for Love
- Velvet Buzzsaw
- Acidman
- Playtime
Books
- Fever Dream
- Picnic at Hanging Rock
- Moderation
- Businessmen as Lovers
- Fatale
- A Visit From the Goon Squad
- Gabriel’s Moon
- Lost in the Garden
- Success
Most listened-to albums
- Wet Leg, Moisturizer
- Kylie Minogue, Tension II
- HAIM, I quit
- Waxahatchee, Tigers Blood
- Charli xcx, Brat
- Stereophonics, Make ‘em Laugh, Make ‘em Cry, Make ‘em Wait
- Shanti Celeste, Romance
- Angus & Julia Stone, Cape Forester
- Dua Lipa, Radical Optimism
Previous: Velvet Buzzsaw