What Next | Daily News and Analysis 2025: The Movie(s) of the Year
Dec 30, 2025
Dana Stevens, Slate's chief movie critic and co-host of Culture Gabfest, dives into the cinematic landscape of 2025. She shares her top picks, highlighting the complex narratives of 'Sinners' and 'One Battle After Another.' Stevens explores how 'Sinners' intertwines vampires with Jim Crow history, offering a musical meditation on cultural roots. Meanwhile, she examines 'One Battle After Another' as a prescient adaptation that melds genre and revolutionary themes. Stevens aims for big-studio risks, finding hope in ambitious storytelling.
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Choosing Films As Yearly Mirrors
- Dana Stevens says picking a single film to sum up a year forces you to capture cultural currents, not just favorites.
- She refused a single choice and instead used multiple films to represent 2025's themes.
Two Films In Conversation
- Dana pairs Sinners and One Battle After Another as complementary reflections on resistance and community.
- Both are genre crowd-pleasers that also carry big ideas without being purely cerebral.
Sinners' 24-Hour Juke Joint Story
- Dana describes Sinners as Ryan Coogler's original idea, set in 1925 Mississippi with twin brothers buying a juke joint.
- The film unfolds over 24 hours and centers on a party where vampire action erupts.