2025 saw the return of some of cinema’s biggest voices, and most of them delivered. Jafar Panahi, Joachim Trier, and Kaouther Ben Hania all came back with hits, while Bong Joon-ho’s divisive follow-up to Parasite and Abderrahmane Sissako’s Black Tea were notable exceptions. Cannes continued to be a strong predictor of the Academy’s International Feature Film nominees as It Was Just an Accident, The Secret Agent, and Sirât all earned prizes in France.
Speaking of the Academy, they picked a strong 5 international features this year – the only film we’re missing is Sirât which I am yet to see. Surprisingly, despite the presence of 5 highly celebrated filmmakers on the nominee list, only 2 of them have been nominated before!
So go and watch the Academy nominees where you can and use our list below to broaden your horizons and discover films beyond the recognized names. As always, please reach out to us with your thoughts. We’re always eager to find out what we’ve overlooked or missed!
20 Best International Films of 2025
20. Belen (Argentina)
A surprise inclusion on the International Feature Film shortlist for the Academy Awards, Belen is a gripping activist movie that highlights and challenges the abortion laws of Argentina. If you’re a fan of court-room thrillers that take on injustice, give Belen a watch.
19. We Believe You (Belgium)
Tensions rise and family secrets unravel over the course of a crucial day in a cleverly crafted court-room drama. The director’s choice to shoot this entire film in tightly framed close-ups keeps the full-picture deliberately hidden from us. In a narrative influenced by Kurosawa great Rashomon, we have to make a leap of faith to believe the words of a strained mother fighting for her children.
18. The Tale of Silyan (North Macedonia)
This is Kotevska’s follow up to her brilliant debut documentary Honeyland. Whilst it’s missing the brilliantly unbelievable singular narrative of her debut, this admirable follow up has a range of beautiful landscape shots and an interesting anti-capitalist thread that makes it a highly interesting watch.
17. Misericordia (France)
This is French slow-burn mystery at its best. Jeremie returns to his hometown for the funeral of his former boss, the village baker. Whilst there, he picks up old rivalries and new friends with dubious intentions. If you like movies that look normal and familiar, but take you on queer and unexpected paths, this film is for you.
16. The Voice of Hind Rajab (Palestine)
Kaouther Ben Hania is no stranger to making polarizing, emotion filled films or breaking the fourth wall; she has done it well in her previous films (see Beauty and the Dogs and Four Daughters). In The Voice of Hind Rajab, Hania blends the real voice recording of a five-year old girl trapped in a car under fire in Gaza into the narrative to create an emotionally fierce critique of the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
15. Caught by the Tides (China)
Two Chinese films in 2025 time-traveled through the 20th and 21st Century to paint pictures of the recent changes in China. Whilst the experimentation in Bi Gan’s Resurrection is more inventive, Jia Zhangke’s Caught By The Tides is more complete. Zhangke depicts two experiences of the country’s dramatic transformation through a pair of estranged lovers: one evolving with modernity, and another caught by the tides.
14. Stranger Eyes (Singapore)
The more you watch someone, the more of a criminal they become. This unnerving film captures loneliness brilliantly. Like Michael Jackson’s ‘Stranger in Moscow’, no matter how much you’re filmed or sharing space with other people, the close proximity to others does not rid yourself of loneliness. Watch this film if you enjoy feeling uneasy.
13. Don’t You Let Me Go (Uruguay)
Trauma affects everyone differently. In Don’t You Let Me Go, Adela takes a comforting, nostalgic journey back in time to re-live the good times with her best friend. The weight of the present is whisked away by whimsical dream-scapes and the warmth of the past, allowing Adela and the audience find a semblance of peace and happiness.
12. We Shall Not Be Moved (Mexico)
First time feature length director, Pierre Saint Martin Castellanos, leans into the black and white Mexico City aesthetic familiar from Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Gueros to interrogate a historically sensitive topic in Mexican film: the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre. Unlike other films which cover the massacre, Castellanos skips the violence to bring plenty of dark humor to the lasting trauma. Luisa Huertas is the star of the show, bringing plenty of life and bite to an aging woman after vengeance.
11. Universal Language (Canada)
Ever wondered how Winnipeg would look in Iran? Here’s your golden chance. Universal Language delivers a vivid mash-up of two contrasting cultures brought to life through carefully crafted production design. The quirky quests, intersecting ‘side-quests’ merge into a loose singular narrative, making the film feel less like traditional art-house cinema, and more like an intriguing open-world video game. It’s fresh, playful, and unlike anything else released in the last few years.
10. Magellan (Philippines)
Lav Diaz is back with another slow film! This one moves like a Paul Greengrass thriller relative to the ultra slow pace that defines much of his oeuvre, but it’s still beautifully and patiently crafted. In Magellan, Diaz casts Mexican super-star Gael Garcia Bernal as a deeply narcissistic explorer, stripping him completely of his heroic historical aura. Rather than reinforcing the myth that permeates Filipino culture, Diaz dismantles it, shifting focus to Enrique and Humabon – two Malay figures largely erased from Western history. By restoring their presence, the film re-frames the Magellan narrative and challenges the colonial lens through which this history has been told in the West and the Philippines.
9. Romeria (Spain)
Carla Simon is establishing herself as one of the top filmmakers in Spain. This is just her third feature, but watching it feels like she has been making movies for decades. Just like in her Golden Bear winner Alcarràs, Simon creates a incredibly strong sense of setting and fully fleshed characters in such a short time. In Romería, we swing across Spain, displacing the hot summer of Catalonia’s peach harvest for the grey buildings, overcast skies, and frigid Atlantic seas of Vigo. The setting works to hide family secrets as Marina returns to the city in search of her lost past.
8. My Armenian Phantoms (Armenia)
When I think of compilation films, I think of Los Angeles Plays Itself, and the diary films of Jonas Mekas. The first uses archival clips from a wide range of films set in Los Angeles to show how the city has changed alongside Hollywood, whilst Jonas Mekas uses raw personal footage to document his experiences in a diary format. My Armenian Phantoms borrows from both of these styles to take you on a journey through Armenian film history – spinning you onto a bunch of Armenian films to watch next – whilst writing a moving love letter to her father and Armenia itself.
7. 2000 Meters to Andriivka (Ukraine)
As shown in the image above, this war documentary places you directly in the action. Body-cam footage looks like a first-person shooter as a group of soldiers inch forward through trench warfare. However, this is a far bleaker reality. We’re introduced to soldiers minutes before they become lifeless bodies on screen, and for what? To re-conquer a few meters of what was once forest and move closer to Andriivka. Both the land and the town are now stripped of life. This is an unflinchingly real anti-war film.
6. Afternoons of Solitude (Spain)
Afternoons of Solitude is not a film which takes a stance on the controversy of bull-fighting. Instead, it’s a mesmerizing portrait of cherub-faced matador, Andres Roca Rey, and the choreographed routines he shares with his loyal team. It captures the banal in the car rides from fight to fight, and the rituals of dressing and undressing between the violence of the arena itself. By mixing the mundane routines with the brutal fights, the film invites you to sit with the compelling absurdity (or beauty depending on the eye of the beholder) of this age-old spectacle.
5. On Becoming A Guinea Fowl (Zambia)
After breaking onto the art-house scene with I Am Not A Witch in 2017, director Rungano Nyoni returned with On Becoming A Guinea Fowl, a bold second feature that puts Zambia on the global film map. Grounded in place and culture, this film offers an exploration of inter-generational trauma and the culture of silence which sustains it through an anti-patriarchal lens.
4. Sentimental Value (Norway)
If you’re experiencing an early mid-life crisis, or examining your relationship with your parents (or elder kids), this film is for you. In his follow up to The Worst Person in the World, Joachim Trier turns to the next chapter in life, once again led by Renate Reinsve, as her character experiences an existential crisis triggered by the return of her father. As with his previous films, Trier’s strength lies in his dialogue – he somehow manages to capture family dynamics that feel natural and familiar. Some of the moments will affect you long after the final scene.
3. A Poet (Colombia)
Imagine a tragicomic white-savior movie with the energy of Uncut Gems and you’ll find yourself close to A Poet. Oscar Restrepo, a proud poet fails to recapture his former success in the empty bottles that leave him shouting drunken verses at transients in the middle of the night. To try and reconnect with his teenage daughter, he turns to teaching, and finds an unpolished gem in one of his students to live his dreams through. However, not everyone understands his intentions. Class and race collide in this roller-coaster tragicomedy powered by an anxious, always moving camera, sudden cuts, and Oscar’s winning smile.
2. IT Was Just An Accident (Iran)
Panahi is just playing now. Still officially banned from film-making, Panahi delivers a surprisingly traditional thriller that shows no signs of restriction. Its unambiguous critique of power in Iran places this one alongside the recent, acclaimed works of Asgari and Rasoulof. The film’s genius lies in its construction: Panahi gradually assembles the narrative with each new character he introduces, creating a Russian-doll script that deepens with every layer.
1. The Secret Agent (Brazil)
Kleber Mendonca Filho is back with another hit which blends the slow, patient pace Aquarius with flashes of violence a la Bacurau. This is by no means a spy film, but a portrait of Brazil in the 1970’s; a turbulent moment in which anyone could fall foul of a government aligned with capitalists and control. The film’s beauty lies in its warm tone, which conveys the sweltering heat of Recife, and in the small communities of resistance that offer glimmers of hope. The archivists that uncover Armando’s story expose the danger of forgetting history, and how easily it repeats itself.
HONORABLE MENTIONS FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL FILMS OF 2025:
Ghost Trail (France), Meeting with Pol Pot (Cambodia), Young Mothers (Belgium), Black Tea (Mauritania/China), Resurrection (China)
If you think we’ve missed a film from a list that you think is one of the best international films of 2025, please get in touch by email.
','' ); } ?>