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Sunday Special: The Best Movies of 2025

As 2025 comes to an end, The Sunday Special is looking back on the year in culture. This week, on our final episode of the podcast, we’re talking about movies. The potential acquisition of Warner Brothers by Netflix has dominated entertainment news in recent weeks, but the year in movies has been about a lot more than corporate mergers. Alissa Wilkinson, a movie critic for The New York Times, and Nicole Sperling, a culture reporter based in Los Angeles, join Gilbert Cruz to talk about what really matters: the movies we loved this year. Movies discussed in this episode include: “One Battle After Another” “Sinners” “A Minecraft Movie” “Superman” “Weapons” “Wicked: For Good” “Zootopia 2” “Avatar: Fire and Ash” “Marty Supreme” “It Was Just an Accident” “The Testament of Ann Lee” “Come and See Me In the Good Light” “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning”
Duration
57m
Broadcast on
28 Dec 2025
Audio Format
other

As 2025 comes to an end, The Sunday Special is looking back on the year in culture.

This week, on our final episode of the podcast, we’re talking about movies. The potential acquisition of Warner Brothers by Netflix has dominated entertainment news in recent weeks, but the year in movies has been about a lot more than corporate mergers. Alissa Wilkinson, a movie critic for The New York Times, and Nicole Sperling, a culture reporter based in Los Angeles, join Gilbert Cruz to talk about what really matters: the movies we loved this year.

Movies discussed in this episode include:

“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”
“A Minecraft Movie”
“Superman”
“Weapons”
“Wicked: For Good”
“Zootopia 2”
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
“Marty Supreme”
“It Was Just an Accident”
“The Testament of Ann Lee”
“Come and See Me In the Good Light”
“Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning”

 

On Today’s Episode:

Alissa Wilkinson is a movie critic at The Times.

Nicole Sperling is a reporter covering Hollywood for The Times.

 

Background Reading:

Netflix vs. Paramount: Inside the Epic Battle Over Warner Brothers

The 25 Most Notable Movies of 2025

Best Movies of 2025

 

Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures; 20th Century Studios; Disney

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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This podcast is supported by TikTok. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries are the ones you weren't looking for. That happens every day on TikTok. A science experiment can spark a whole new interest. A recipe you stumble upon can become a meal you make for the people you love. And a restaurant you've never heard of might become your new favorite spot. That's the thing about TikTok. Follow your curiosity and see where it leads. Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. (upbeat music) I'm Gilbert Cruz and this is The Sunday Special. We're spending this last couple of episodes of the year looking back on some of the big cultural moments of 2025. Today, we're talking movies. I have two extremely knowledgeable colleagues here with me. Alyssa Wilkinson is a movie critic at the Times. Hello, Alyssa. Hello, Gilbert. And Nicole Spirling reports on the movie business and she joins us from Los Angeles. Very appropriately. Welcome, Nicole. Hello, how's it going guys? It is going great. So in the grand and very long tradition of movie podcasts, I am going to start with an incendiary question that probably has no clear answer. Is this the last year for movies? No, it better not be. We'll be out of it. Come on, Gilbert. Absolutely not. The pipeline is full. We have no idea what will happen when this massive deal closes, whoever becomes the buyer. And we can of course talk about all that stuff. But no, we've got movies. People go to movies. It still is a business. People love movies. People love movies. We all love movies. Nicole, you're referring to the deal. When you say the deal, you're talking about the Warner Brothers deal, who's going to end up with Warner Brothers in the end? Is it going to be Netflix?

Transcription truncated.

As 2025 comes to an end, The Sunday Special is looking back on the year in culture. This week, on our final episode of the podcast, we’re talking about movies. The potential acquisition of Warner Brothers by Netflix has dominated entertainment news in recent weeks, but the year in movies has been about a lot more than corporate mergers. Alissa Wilkinson, a movie critic for The New York Times, and Nicole Sperling, a culture reporter based in Los Angeles, join Gilbert Cruz to talk about what really matters: the movies we loved this year. Movies discussed in this episode include: “One Battle After Another” “Sinners” “A Minecraft Movie” “Superman” “Weapons” “Wicked: For Good” “Zootopia 2” “Avatar: Fire and Ash” “Marty Supreme” “It Was Just an Accident” “The Testament of Ann Lee” “Come and See Me In the Good Light” “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning”