Ellen's Year in Film: 2025
- Ellen Cheshire
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
As we step into 2026 it feels like the perfect moment to reflect on the films that shaped my year. Huge thanks to Letterboxd for making year end film navel gazing such a pleasure.
In 2025 I logged 941 films, 733 first time watches, with the rest revisits. Some were seen in cinemas and at festivals while many were enjoyed at home. If you are curious about everything I watched you can find it all over on Letterboxd at cheshellen.
This year was packed with memorable cinema moments, themed watch alongs with online film communities and personal projects. Supporting independent cinemas and film festivals continued to be a huge joy and a big thank you goes to the venues and programmers who keep film culture thriving.
Viewing habits and obsessions
My most watched director overall was George Albert Smith, thanks entirely to a special Brighton CineCity event where we watched twenty of his shorts in a single evening.
My most watched feature film directors were Vincente Minnelli and Jacques Demy with nine films each. Jan Švankmajer and Peter Greenaway were also high with 10 and 9 respectively, but those viewings were made up entirely of shorts.
My most logged actor of the year was Jennifer Jones, which is entirely explained by a month long deep dive into her work. You can read more about that project under #JenniferJonesJune.
I gave 44 films five stars this year and most of those were rewatches.
Top 4 Favourite Films released in cinemas in 2025
Hedda, directed by Nia DaCosta
It Was Just an Accident, directed by Jafar Panahi
Rental Family, directed by Hikari
Top 4 Event Cinema experiences
National Theatre Live: The Importance of Being Earnest
Ballet to Broadway: Wheeldon Works (Royal Ballet)
National Theatre Live: Inter Alia
La Sonnambula (Met Opera)
Top 4 Cinema Events of the Year
Bognor Picturedrome’s monthly Film and Fizz events, this year saw featuring Pretty Woman, Grease, Mamma Mia and The Holiday back on the big screen!
The Film Factory: Bertie and Laura’s Films 1898 to 1903, a curated programme hosted by Dr Frank Gray as part of Brighton CineCity
Méliès Presents Méliès at The Cinema Museum with live narration and piano accompaniment from Alex Kirstukas, Colin Sell and John Sweeney, organised by Kennington Bioscope
Top 4 First Time Watches released before 2025
The Long Day Closes 1992, directed by Terence Davies
A Face in the Crowd 1957, directed by Elia Kazan
The Little Match Girl 1928, directed by Jean Renoir
The Swallows of Kabul 2019, directed by Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobbé Mévellec
The Swallows of Kabul
Top 4 Performances from 2025 releases
Male
Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon
Ralph Fiennes in 28 Years Later
Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein
Robert Aramayo in I Swear
Female
Tessa Thompson in Hedda
Jodie Comer in 28 Years Later
Hafsia Herzi in Borgo, also known as The Wrong Place
Elizabeth Olsen in Eternity
Top 4 Scene Stealers
Benicio Del Toro in One Battle After Another
Bowen Yang in The Wedding Banquet
Steve Pemberton in Better Man
Nina Hoss in Hedda
Top 4 Criminally Underused Actors
Bowen Yang in Wicked: For Good
Charlotte Gainsbourg in The Phoenician Scheme
Kevin Kline in A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
Arty Froushan in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Top 4 LGBTQ+ Highlights from New Releases
Blue Moon
The Wedding Banquet
Hedda
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Top 4 Feature Films Directed by Women released in 2025
The Ice Tower, directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović
K Pop Demon Hunters, directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans
Rental Family, directed by Hikari
Hedda, directed by Nia DaCosta
The Ice Tower, directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović
Top 4 Feature Films Directed by Women discovered in 2025
The Swallows of Kabul 2019, directed by Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobbé Mévellec
The Basilisks 1963, directed by Lina Wertmüller
Seven Beauties 1975, directed by Lina Wertmüller
The Fallout 2021, directed by Megan Park
Top 4 Flamboyant Villains of the Year
Jinu, voiced by Ahn Hyo seop and Andrew Choi in K Pop Demon Hunters
The Wizard, played by Jeff Goldblum in Wicked: For Good
Bobby T, played by Colman Domingo in The Running Man
Edward Elgar, played by Simon Russell Beale in The Choral
Top 4 Most Imaginative Effing and Jeffing of the Year
I Swear
The Roses
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
Black Bag
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