Films:

Sentimental Value

Joachim Trier once again paired up with Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value. This drama, also starring Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning, follows a woman whose absent filmmaker father is trying to reconnect with her through his latest film. With characters speaking both Norwegian and English, Sentimental Value closely explores familial relationships and shared grief through a script that I consider to be one of the best of the decade. Paired with Trier’s excellent use of location and stellar performances by Reinsve, Skarsgård, and Fanning, Sentimental Value was my greatest surprise of 2025. – Micah Petyt

Sorry, Baby

Eva Victor’s debut, Sorry, Baby, deals with trauma in a way few films do. It is both sensitive and comical, managing to explore the aftermath of trauma in a humanistic manner. Victor starred, wrote and directed the film that follows Agnes, a college professor navigating life after a terrible event. We follow her as she navigates friendships and romance.

What makes Sorry, Baby such a standout is Victor’s choice not to portray the traumatic event in question. Instead, they emphasise the victim and, most importantly, the human at the centre of the narrative and how they learn to heal. Whilst not the easiest watch, it is by far one of the most earnest films of 2025. – Isaac Minah

One Battle After Another

One Battle After Another arrives in a moment when American politics often feels too absurd to parody – and yet it finds a way. The film lets its anger bleed straight into action, as Leonardo DiCaprio flails through the chaos in a dressing gown: dishevelled, panicky, and perpetually out of his depth.

The film reminds us that the most effective political cinema doesn’t lecture or moralise. Taking no prisoners, it proves that film doesn’t need to explain its politics – sometimes it just needs to detonate. – Charlotte Ward

Television

Severance

Severance season 2 released in January of 2025 with high expectations as season 1 had almost won a third of the awards last year… eight out of twenty-seven to be precise. It is a very influential show and has a reason to be acknowledged as one of the best of 2025, not only for the stellar performances from Trammel Tillman, to name one of the many.

But also, for its impeccable writing and strong story in which we are ultimately left speechless at the end of the season, orbiting around our own conclusions in the windmills of our minds… if you know you know! – Will Witham

Amandaland

Cynically satirical, sarcastic and witty – what more could you want in a spin-off show? Amandaland follows the controversial character of Amanda, a hot mess mum/ “entrepreneur”/ “collaborator” who is determined to get her life together after the chaotic separation from her ex-husband Johnny.

As she moves to a new town, she faces the toughest of life’s problems: making friends, single motherhood and electric cars… This binge-watchable TV series, found on BBC iPlayer, is undoubtedly one of the best outcomes of 2025. You build parasocial connections with the characters and find relatability in every episode. A perfect watch for the household. – Poppy Ithell

Adolescence

Adolescence has ignited some of the most pressing conversations facing the UK today, reaching as far as the House of Commons. Centred on the aftermath of a 13-year-old boy’s murder of a female classmate, the series exposes the fault lines running through families, schools, and a generation raised online – shaped by Andrew Tate, the manosphere, and digital worlds their parents scarcely understand.

Bringing rare originality and authenticity to the current cultural landscape, it refuses the familiar impulse to reduce the crisis to rage alone, instead using uninterrupted one-shots to sit with the discomfort of a crime no one can fully disown. – Charlotte Ward