2025 Festivus: Film and Television
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Four years ago, I started celebrating Festivus here on Films Fatale. Because Festivus is all about not giving a crap and being as effortless as possible, let me just unashamedly copy and paste last year’s opening paragraph.
I decided that it would be fun to start doing a Festivus celebration on Films Fatale every December 23rd (which, Happy Festivus, by the way!). For those who aren’t familiar with this holiday, it is a part of Seinfeld lore. Created by the character Frank Costanza as a way to combat against the traditions of Christmas (especially the forced cheer and capitalist rat races that he observed), Festivus is a contradiction of the typical seasonal warmth and joy. Outside of the putting up of an aluminum pole (instead of a tree) and the serving of dinner, there are two main traditions: the airing of grievances, and the feats of strength. The former is the sharing of problems one endured from loved ones and/or acquaintances that year, and the latter is a physical contest where the first person to pin the other down is the winner. We can’t really do those as-is here, but I’ll put my own spin on Festivus to detail 2025 as a year in film and television. It’ll be a quick wrap-up of the year that we just finished (almost), and it will be a good way to look ahead. Something to note is that these are not my picks of the best or worst elements of the year, rather just a fun selection of breakthrough surprises and slight disappointments (this is mainly just a means of celebrating Festivus more than anything).
Okay. Let’s continue.
THE AIRING OF GRIEVANCES
What will follow in this category are film and/or television moments or projects that I considered a letdown, or events that bothered me. I won’t just put bad films here. Let’s see what problems I had this year (and now, you’re gonna hear about them).
The Warner Bros. Dilemma
Many precious properties and studios are not succeeding after the pandemic and amidst many other terrible shifts in the industry, and one of the biggest nails in the coffin was Netflix's massive bid to successfully buy Warner Bros. and all of its subsidiaries. Despite their promises against these concerns, what many prophesy is a world where most films are shoved straight onto streaming, effectively killing the possibility of fresh, well-made, original films once and for all (or at least ones that can stand a fighting chance in a dog-eat-dog industry). Paramount tried outbidding Netflix to no avail, and Christopher Nolan and the rest of the Director's Guild of America have ordered an emergency meeting with Netflix to discuss the ramifications of what could happen, but I don't know what good this will do. With the kind of f-you money that Netflix dumped on this bid, I don't know how much can be done. Then, there's CEO Ted Sarandos' asinine comments on what cinephiles expect, including how his idiot son — who is apparently the benchmark of what film lovers should be (not if it were to save my life) — watched Lawrence of Arabia on his phone. This is who holds the future of studio films in their measly hands. It is not looking bright.
Television is Not What it Once Was
A major reason why I haven't covered much in the way of television-based content this year is because of my different prioritizations with film content on the site. The other reason is simply because not much on the small screen has impressed me this year (I will be covering my favourite series of the year in early 2026, so look forward to that). I will shout out some of the shows that did carry much of the heavy lifting, from Pluribus, Adolescence, and The Rehearsal; in that same breath, I must bring up shows that were once must-watches that have been sorely disappointing, like The Last of Us and The Bear. I don't feel like television is a dead medium, but I do feel like we are in a weird place where there are some strong projects, a few duds, and many so-so shows that feel demanding to keep up with; who wants to do a whole season of The White Lotus when it just feels like the same shtick again (but worse)?
AI Persists
As all of us could have predicted, the threat of AI continues to loom over us all. From the revelation of AI being used in many awards-season titles (from small, understandable uses, to egregious and disappointing practices), there was a sign that most of these methods went unnoticed by the general public until they were revealed. This is highly concerning to me. Then there are the festivals that have promoted AI-based events and even films made primarily or exclusively by AI (a major offender is the Tribeca Film Festival; shame on them). One the viral image of the woman in a cafe made entirely by Google's Nano Banana Pro software made its rounds, I felt my heart sink into my stomach. There are online crusaders who pick apart AI videos and images to help those who can no longer tell what is real and what isn't, but much headway has been made since AI was first even widely discussed only a couple of years ago; how much worse is AI going to be for the film industry — nay, all industries — next year? The year after? In five years? With that moron — but, apparently, a good actor — Kevin O'Leary asking Josh Safdie why he didn't replace film extras with AI during the shoot of Marty Supreme, I feel like we are terrifyingly close to this reality (note: most producers are like O'Leary, not Safdie).
The Threat of Tariffs
Speaking of rich, entitled, big-headed losers, there's Donald Trump and his year-long threats of crippling tariffs across the world. This includes what he has said about wanting to keep the American film industry local by imposing ludicrous tariffs on films made outside of the country. Despite his marginal exposure in the industry, he clearly has no idea how any of it works. Having said that, it isn't like him to give up when he is wrong, and I worry that he will only continue to double down in the future (need we forget how he treated Rob Reiner and Estelle Reiner's horrific deaths as a means to stroke his own ego, and then went ahead and did it again when the public responded poorly). I don't think this is the end of this conversation, especially given how many times he has tried to divert the public from real stories (like the release of the Epstein files; no, a 95% redacted document will not suffice, you coward). This will be a really bad blow to cinema; maybe that's what he wants in the end.
THE FEATS OF STRENGTH
Since I don’t know if there is a simple way for me to have a physical competition with anyone, I’ll change how the feats of strength function in Films Fatale’s version of the feats of strength. Here, I want to highlight the breakthrough successes of 2025. These can be the debuts of filmmakers and/or performers, or even a brand new series that came out of nowhere and shook up the year.
Let's All Go to the Movies!
A few films brought people back to the cinema in droves (and, spoiler alert, many of them were actually great). An early success is Ryan Coogler's smash hit, Sinners, which was a fresh and original idea that became a sensation that still ripples throughout film circles. On the topic of horror films, Zach Cregger's Weapons also brought many to the cinemas; it became the water cooler film during a time when water coolers don't even really exist anymore (seeing as many could not stop talking about this deeply effective work). To kick off the awards season was another 70mm epic to try and match what Sinners pulled off, in the form of Paul Thomas Anderson's riveting One Battle After Another; sure, its massive cost may not represent the greatest returns, but the fact that many are itching to rewatch the film when it returned at the end of the year is a testament to the power this film boasts. Finally, before it is even officially released, the early signs of Marty Supreme lead me to believe that this will be another Uncut Gems: a Safdie-related film that will attract the masses. There is still much work to do regarding how we can get audiences back to the cinemas excluding franchised properties and sequels/prequels/remakes, but this is a step in the right direction after the years of struggles after the pandemic.
Neon's Dominance
The 2025 Cannes Film Festival was the opportunity of a lifetime for Neon, wicho waltzed into the festival with a mission: to purchase the next Palme d'Or winner. Neon's streak at Cannes has been a hot one, starting with Parasite and proceeding with Titane, Triangle of Sadness, Anatomy of a Fall, and Anora (two of these winners also went on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, which has only happened twice before in the history of cinema and has now happened twice for Neon in five years). To try and strike gold again, Neon went shopping. Now, there are many films available in the official selection for the Palme d'Or, but Neon played it smart and picked up legitimately terrific films, including Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value (which won the Grand Prix), Kleber Mendonca Filho's The Secret Agent (which won Best Director and Best Actor), and, the eventual winner of the Palme, Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident. To add an additional sentiment here, these are three international heavyweights that may be nominated for Best Picture at the 2026 Academy Awards, which would be the first time three non-English films were nominated for that prize, and a major reason why this happens is because of Neon's purchase and push for all three to thrive.
Indie's Not Dead
This is, of course, true, but seeing quite a few projects thrive has been lovely to behold. There's Arco, the humble animated film by Ugo Bienvenu which has set film festivals ablaze and feels like a major throwback to masterworks like those of Hayao Miyazaki and, say, Fantastic Planet (albeit a far more toned down and family-friendly variant), following in the footsteps of last year's indie triumph, Flow (when independent animated films succeed, that is an ultimate win to me). A major release (on Netflix, mind you) is Clint Bentley's sublime Train Dreams, which dials down the cinematic medium to its most rudimentary and glorious elements. Mona Fastvold's answer to her husband's film The Brutalist is the equally audacious The Testament of Ann Lee: another indie juggernaut that proves that you can achieve a lot even with fewer means. Finally, there's Eva Victor and their ability to direct, write, and star in one of this year's greatest features: Sorry, Baby. In a time when the future of film is threatened, seeing these successes (amongst many others) has been a real treat. Perhaps there is a future here after all.
Richard Linklater's Double Whammy
While Richard Linklater is usually a reliable director, to see him succeed so tremendously twice in 2025 has been quite the spectacle. The runner-up here is the moving Blue Moon: a night-in-the-life of songwriter Lorenz Hart (played impeccably by Ethan Hawke) that wraps you up in the hazy, subdued moonlight of a complicated point in the lyricist's career. Then, we have a film I feel like Linklater has been gearing towards his whole life (excluding the multi-year passion projects like Boyhood, I suppose), and that's Nouvelle Vague (a highly-authentic love letter to the French New Wave movement). These two films couldn't be more different outside of placing us within the minds of two obsessives of their craft (Nouvelle Vague details the production of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless), even though they couldn't be more different from one another. This year alone was a testament to Linklater's versatility and reliability.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.