“Hamnet,” “One Battle After Another,” “Sinners,” “Frankenstein” and “Marty Supreme” were named to the American Film Institute’s list of the 10 best films of 2025, the AFI announced on Thursday.
Also on the list: “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” “Bugonia,” “Jay Kelly,” “Train Dreams” and “Wicked: For Good.”
The list is a solid roundup of the movies widely expected to compete for awards leading up to the Oscars on March 15, mixing big-budget extravaganzas like “Sinners,” the third “Avatar” and the second “Wicked” film with critics’ favorites (“One Battle After Another” and “Marty Supreme”) and intimate dramas (“Train Dreams”).
Three Netflix titles made the organization’s list: “Frankenstein,” “Jay Kelly” and “Train Dreams,” while high profile films missing from the list include “F1,” “Weapons,” “A House of Dynamite,” “Wake Up Dead Man” and “Sentimental Value.”
The AFI’s special award was given to Jafar Panahi’s acclaimed thriller “It Was Just an Accident.” Panahi, who won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May, also collected prizes this week from the Gotham Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle. (In addition to a new prison sentence in abstentia from the government of Iran.)
The AFI announcement marks a boost for “Hamnet,” the Toronto Film Festival People’s Choice winner from Oscar winner Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”), which had been snubbed in recent days, receiving no mentions from the New York Film Critics Circle or the National Board of Review.
The AFI’s list of the year’s top television programs included “Adolescence,” “Andor,” “Death by Lightning,” “The Diplomat,” “The Lowdown,” “The Pitt,” “Pluribus,” “Severance,” “The Studio” and “Task.”
“For more than a quarter of a century, AFI Awards has held the flag high for
community without competition,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president & CEO. “It is AFI’s honor to celebrate these creative ensembles as one, as together they have proved the power of art in challenging times.”
The American Film Institute has been giving out annual awards since 2000, with the current format of 10 films and 10 television shows beginning in 2002.
Since the Academy Awards expanded from five to 10 nominees in 2009, a little less than 80% of AFI Top 10 honorees have gone on to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture. The two groups have never matched completely, though nine of the 10 Oscar nominees in 2010 were on the AFI list, with the 10th, “The King’s Speech,” receiving a special award.
Last year, eight of the AFI honorees were nominated for Best Picture, with the exceptions being “A Real Pain” and “Sing Sing,” which Academy voters bypassed in favor of “I’m Still Here” and “The Substance.”
In 2023, AFI honorees also included eight titles that were nominated for Best Picture. “May December” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” were snubbed and replaced with “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest.”
The AFI lists are chosen by juries made up of academics, filmmakers, actors, historians, journalists and critics. Member this year included actors Lily Gladstone and Patton Oswalt, director Thomas Schlamme, and writers Mark Harris, Leonard Maltin, Janet Maslin and Peter Travers.
The honorees will be saluted at a luncheon on Friday, Jan. 9.
The full list:
AFI Motion Pictures of the Year
“Bugonia”
“Hamnet”
“Train Dreams”
“Wicked: For Good”
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
“F1”
“Frankenstein”
“Jay Kelly”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle”
“Rental Family”
“Sinners”
“Wake Up Dead Man”
AFI Television Programs of the Year
“Adolescence”
“Andor”
“Death by Lightning”
“The Diplomat”
“The Lowdown”
“The Pitt”
“Pluribus”
“Severance”
“The Studio”
“Task”
AFI Special Award
“It Was Just an Accident”
