Okay, finally plowing into the Top 10 of my films seen in 2025! There are so many great films that came out last year, and all ten of these films are top-notch films. Nice mix of international productions here, with only one American film in this grouping. Another interesting detail of note is that four out of the five films in this batch are directed by women! And without further ado… here we go into the Top 10 (staring with #10 and moving down to #6)
#10) Left-Handed Girl – Maybe slightly too many storylines, but first-time director Shih-Ching Tsou manages to weave them all together nicely. Both a family drama and a look at the general changes in culture in Taiwan — as well as a vivid portrait of busy Taipei, the three lead performances really shine, particularly Nina Ye as I Jing (now 9-years-old) already having appeared in 6 feature films, who shines as the titular left-handed girl. When her grandfather, a traditionalist regarding the Taiwanese ways, instructs her not to use her left hand, because it belongs to the devil, I Jing absolves herself of any activity undertaken by that hand as it’s not her, it’s the devil doing it. The film is largely seen through her eyes, and Tsou manages to balance the lack of full understanding with a larger perspective.
Director Tsou has worked on three of Sean Baker’s features, (TANGERINE, THE FLORIDA PROJECT, RED ROCKET) and he returns the favor by co-writing and editing LEFT HANDED GIRL, and while there are some similarities, I think Tsou’s voice really shines through. The big reveal at the end of the film gets a little melodramatic, but it doesn’t really take away from the freshness and great dynamic between the three women.
#9) Next Sohee – Very powerful story about injustice and the difficulties that come with standing up to it. Quietly mixing in elements of class and shame into a scenario that leads to a criminal investigation, director July Jung manages to enrage the viewer and break their hearts. Kim Se-eun plays high school student Sohee, who loves to dance, and puts her all into a life that’s not easy coming from her family’s place in society. When she gets a coveted spot at a service call center as an extern through her school, she expects the best, but quickly finds out everything is stacked against her.
About halfway through, the film shifts focus to Chlotrudis-favorite Bae Doona, a criminal investigator who through an initial case involving Sohee, begins to uncover outrageous, if not illegal conduct all the way up the chain to the highest powers. Like Sohee’s story before, Detective Oh faces towering opposition, but she pushes on backed by a moral outrage the she usually keeps in check. We never know the end result of her investigation, but we do get to a point where we uplift the underseen and experience a catharsis that really hits home.
Both actresses are terrific in their respective roles, as are many of the many supporting roles. It’s a tough film, but one that I highly recommend.
#8) Hedda – Take that SALTBURN — this is the way to make an over-the-top, sloppy melodrama of perversity and decadence. Tessa Thompson tears up the screen, ably assisted by Nina Hoss. Writer/director Nia DaCosta adapts and updates Ibsen’s play “Hedda Gabler” in drastic, but successful ways. She moves the setting from 19th century Norway to 1950’s England. She gender-swaps one of the principal characters to introduce a queer romance. She significantly alters the ending to make things more ambiguous, which serves the characters she has created much better.
The gorgeous, lush production design, taking place entirely on an estate during a wild party is benefitted by the swooping cameras, fantastic costume design (most notably and shockingly in Nina Hoss’ Eileen Lovborg), the use of indoor and outdoor settings, and the grand musical backdrop. Her writing is deft, witty, and cutting, and brought to life magnificently by her two amazing leads. Supporting work by Imogen Poots and Tom Bateman elevate the large cast beautifully. Props to DaCosta for creating something so beautiful, fun, and devious.
#7) On Becoming a Guinea Fowl – Returning from a party in the middle of the night, Shula finds the body of her uncle on a rural street near her home village. As her family mobilizes around her to plan a traditional Zambian funeral, Shula realizes that her contemporary city-life has moved passed many of the strange, cultural traditions that not only serve to send the dead on their way, conspire to keep from coming to light the buried secrets in her family.
Writer/director Rungano Nynoi’s 2017 feature debut, I AM NOT A WITCH made a big splash among Chlotrudis members, and GUINEA FOWL, does the same, with perhaps a slightly more traditional story, that mine even darker territory. Occasional forays into magical realism enhance a friction between contemporary and traditional life. Susan Chardy makes a bold film debut as Shula, bring her pragmatism and compassion to a complex character. Her drunken cousin, Nsansa, is played by Elizabeth Chisela, her first time on the big screen, bringing both humor and warmth to a dark and sobering story.
#6) Julie Keeps Quiet – This quiet (pun intended) character study of a high school student on track to become a professional tennis player who finds herself caught between an admired coach and an investigation that gets him suspended form his job is the powerful framework for this Belgian/Swedish co-production directed and co-written (with actor and first-time screenwriter Ruth Becquart) by Leonardo van Dijl. While Julie struggles with her desire to remain separate from the scandal unfolding around her, staying silent when questioned about behaviors, Dijl focuses on the physicality of the tennis playing, and the intrusive sounds of the Julie’s practicing: the loud ‘pock’ of the ball hitting the racquet, the scuffing of sneakers on the court, the powerful exhalations when striking the ball.
Former competitive tennis player, Tessa Van den Broeck, plays the 15-year-old Julie and brings a realistic physicality, and powerful internalization of feeling to the character. I was transfixed by her mesmerizing performance. In any other year, this should have ranked much higher, but the strong films in the Top five kept this one in the lower half.