Awards season has a way of diminishing the movie year into a handful of films that are talked about ad nauseam for months. But as good as some of this year’s Oscar nominees are, you have to go outside the consensus 鈥� and the same old categories 鈥� to remember the best of 2025.
So Associated Press Film Writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle have selected their own awards, because while a movie year might be celebrated for its best film or best performances, dishing out honors for the best cat or funniest prop is just as important.
Most pure display of movie-star charisma: Keke Palmer, 鈥極ne of Them Days鈥�
has been good in many things (especially Jordan Peele鈥檚 鈥淣ope鈥�), but she鈥檚 a sensational dynamo in The movie, in the spirit of 鈥淔riday,鈥� takes place across a desperate day in Los Angeles, and Palmer carries it throughout. Theatrical studio comedies are practically extinct but Palmer in 鈥淥ne of Them Days鈥� reminds you what we鈥檝e been missing. 鈥擩.C.
Best cat: 鈥楽orry, Baby鈥�
There must be something wrong with us as a society felt the need to clarify that nothing bad happens to the tiny gray tabby on the poster for 鈥淪orry, Baby.鈥� Olga, played by Noochie, is just there for cuddles, coffee and to give Agnes, and the audience, a smile. 鈥擫.B.
Most ecstatic religious ceremony: 鈥楾he Testament of Ann Lee鈥�
In about Shaker founder Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried), nothing is more glorious than the Protestant sect鈥檚 ritual dances. In secret gatherings, bodies sway and heave 鈥� and, yes, shake 鈥� in spiritual communion, sinuously moving to Shaker hymns rearranged by Daniel Blumberg. 鈥淪tep it Up鈥� and 鈥淏ring it On鈥� have nothing on 鈥淭he Testament of Ann Lee.鈥� 鈥擩.C.
Funniest prop: The goldfish in 鈥楽plitsville鈥�
In the scope of the broad the goldfish are rather minor players. And yet their existence in a kids bedroom that gets torn apart by two men (Kyle Marvin and Michael Angelo Covino) fighting over a woman (Dakota Johnson) sets into motion one of the funniest movie scenes of the year, in which Marvin鈥檚 character makes the ill-advised decision to holding a half-dozen water-filled bags of (fake) goldfish. It is silly. It is dumb. It was not an easy sequence to film. And it works. 鈥擫.B.
Best opening: 鈥極n Becoming a Guinea Fowl鈥�
In , a woman named Shula (Susan Chardy) is driving down an empty Zambian road at night while dressed as Missy Elliott 鈥� specifically the garbage-bag Missy Elliott of the 鈥淭he Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)鈥� music video. In the middle of the road she sees a man lying down dead, and realizes it鈥檚 her uncle. 鈥淥n Becoming a Guinea Fowl鈥� goes from there, digging into a dark family past. But you鈥檇 be hard pressed to find a more beguiling start to a movie. 鈥擩.C.
Best use of a star, as a star: Gwyneth Paltrow in 鈥楳arty Supreme鈥�
Really this should be about all the extraordinary supporting cast who didn鈥檛 get their due, but let鈥檚 just appreciate the great Gwyneth Paltrow for a moment and her perfect casting as a silent-era star now in her 50s. I refuse to say 鈥渇ading鈥� because Kay is luminous other among mortals, the perfect use of a movie star as movie star. Also, she鈥檚 a witheringly wise counterpart to Marty鈥檚 delusions. Let鈥檚 hope it鈥檚 not another seven years before her next significant role. 鈥擫.B.
Best location find: 鈥極ne Battle After Another鈥�
It鈥檚 rare that a scene is so good that it gives you goose bumps as it鈥檚 happening. But the roller-coaster car-chase finale of will stand as an all-timer. Essential to that is the so-called 鈥淩iver of Hills鈥� road near Borrego Springs, California, a spot stumbled upon by location manager Michael Glaser. 鈥擩.C.
Most devastating costume: Nina Hoss in 鈥楬edda鈥�
The best kind of costumes tell a story and there was scarcely a more heartbreaking turn than Eileen Lovborg鈥檚 (Nina Hoss) in Eileen 鈥� a brilliant, proudly queer academic in a world dominated by men 鈥� is making her triumphant and sober return at a party, dressed to kill in a bust-hugging gown that will eventually be cruelly manipulated and used against her. Bravo to costume designer Lindsay Pugh. 鈥擫.B.
Best psychedelic experience: Tim Robinson in 鈥楩riendship鈥�
Think of on-screen hallucinatory trips and you probably imagine something wild and colorful, something like 鈥淎lice in Wonderland.鈥� But in a quest for enlightenment takes the most hysterically mundane turn you鈥檝e ever seen. When Tim Robinson鈥檚 suburban schlub Craig Waterman is handed an exotic frog to lick, he鈥檚 promised a mind-altering experience. What he gets, I won鈥檛 ruin, but it involves the sandwich franchise Subway. 鈥擩.C.
Best performance by a child: Lexi Venter in 鈥楧on鈥檛 Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight鈥�
A wise critic once told me that he never criticizes a child鈥檚 performance 鈥� fault lies only with the director. Does the same logic apply to a great one? Perhaps. in the non-professional star of her directorial debut. Lexi Venter was 7 when Davidtz entrusted her with the role of Bobo, smartly knowing that the best thing she could do was help create scenarios where she didn鈥檛 have to act. 鈥擫.B.
Best elevator pitch: 鈥楴o Other Choice鈥�
After 25 years at a paper mill, a man is laid off. Fretful of losing his house and his family, he analyzes his closest competition for a new job, and decides to bump off each one. Who wouldn鈥檛 want to see that movie? The source of is Donald E. Westlake鈥檚 1997 novel 鈥淭he Ax鈥� (already adapted into a 2005 film by Costa-Gavras). In the hands of Park, it鈥檚 a perfect movie concept that plays out in elegant derangement. 鈥擩.C.
Most beautifully tone-shifting scene: Bridget Everett and Josh O鈥機onnor in 鈥榃ake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery鈥�
In the middle of a hurried chase for clues, the detective trail of suddenly goes off the rails. When O鈥機onnor鈥檚 Father Jud Duplenticy calls a construction company to track something down, his conversation with a woman named Louise (Everett) turns acutely personal. Her mother is in hospice, she says, and she鈥檚 struggling. Father Jud shifts from private eye to spiritual guide, and 鈥淲ake Up Dead Man鈥� transforms from murder mystery into something more deeply empathetic. 鈥擩.C.
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