Top 10 lists are a subjective endeavor. Each person’s list is unique to their particular tastes and sensibilities. My recently published list of favorite movies of 2025 is, unsurprisingly, a very me sort of list. These are movies I treasured as a Christian seeking redemptive representations of goodness, truth, and beauty. Films like that come in many forms.

There are Iranian and Norwegian art films on my list, a Malicky tone poem (Train Dreams), but also Angel Studios’s animated David, which is far better than faith-based-film skeptics (like me) expected it would be. My list includes a high-octane contemporary war movie, a slow-burn modern “western,” a movie largely set inside a Toys ‘R’ Us, and a period heist film that captures 1970 with profound precision. My five documentary picks are an even more diverse bunch.

Because my list is eclectic and represents what resonated with me most this year, I don’t expect all my picks to interest you. But I hope the next time you’re settling in for a movie night and would rather not waste an hour in the maze of Netflix paralysis, this might provide some worthwhile ideas for edifying fare.

Now begins a new year of moviegoing. What will 2026 bring? Project Hail Mary (adapted from the popular novel) is probably my most-anticipated movie coming out the first half of this year, as well as Steven Spielberg’s mysterious Disclosure Day. But I’m most excited about Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part 3, set to release in December. Every January also brings the possibility that this might be the year Malick releases his biblical epic The Way of the Wind, which wrapped filming seven (!) years ago. But I’ve learned to not get my hopes up.

Whatever comes this year, I’ll be eager to write and think about it carefully from a Christian perspective—helping thoughtful, art-appreciating Christians like you navigate this noisy culture.