Here at Met Radio, we’re closing out 2025 with a new round of year-end favourites! To cap off the year, our volunteers and staff are sharing their personal top-ten lists, highlighting the music, media, and gems that defined the past twelve months. New lists to explore and enjoy will be dropping on the Met Radio website every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this December!
Hello dear reader, the time has once again come to reflect on my favourite watches of the past year! Last year, I created an all- documentaries list, but I really enjoyed some good ol’ fictional stories this year that I wanted to shout out. According to my Letterboxd logs, I watched 55 films this year (that’s 1.05769230769 movies per week in case you were wondering). While most of these movies were only okay, in no particular order, here are my favourites!
1. Dinner with Friends (2025) – dir. Sasha Leigh Henry
Starting off strong with a Toronto pick!! Dinner with Friends might be my favourite watch of TIFF 2025. It’s funny, it’s real, it’s heartfelt — what’s not to love? The film follows a group of friends in their thirties as they make an effort to reunite more frequently for dinner parties. We see their lives play out only during these dinner parties and watch their dynamics and situations change throughout the years. Keep an eye out for a wider release!
2. How Deep Is Your Love (2025) – dir. Eleanor Mortimer
This Hot Docs 2025 watch is a hot contender for my favourite documentary of all time. Truly praying this gets distribution soon so I can rewatch! We take a trip to the deep sea with a group of scientists and Mortimer, who acts as the narrator of the film. The creatures we meet are depicted with such whimsy, love and care. I absolutely love this spin on a nature documentary. Mortimer does a wonderful job of balancing the sense of discovery and adventure with the reality of this research and the deep sea mining that is impacting these animals.
3. Queer as Punk (2025) – dir. Yihwen Chen
Another amazing doc from Hot Docs! This film follows queer Malaysian band Shh…Diam through gigs, protests, travel, and daily life. This film is a window into the queer communities that form under governmental LGBTQ+ criminalization. This documentary does a lot to emphasize the joy in resistance, especially in following the lead singer, Faris Saad, who is an openly trans man. I honestly believe this film should be mandatory watching for anyone interested in queer life outside of North America.
4. Sinners (2025) – dir. Ryan Coogler
The latest addition to the Coogler-verse did not disappoint! I had a lot of fun with this film. I am the type to get really into lore/history breakdown videos and director interviews, and I definitely watched the most this year on this movie. I loved the music and was streaming “Rocky Road to Dublin”, “I Lied to You” and “Travelin’” for weeks after seeing this in theatres. Always down for a good vampire movie, and I really liked this cast!
5. Lilo & Stitch (2002) – dir. Chris Sanders and Dean DeBois
Now I know what you’re thinking… Sarra, how did you miss this Disney classic? And the truth is that I have no idea. The merch was everywhere as a kid; they just made a live action version that I did not watch. Heck, my cousins’ pet birds were even named Lilo and Stitch (RIP Lilo, Stitch is still alive and well)! Well, I finally watched it, and man was it fun! I will always love a story about a little alien guy, and I learned that ohana means family.
6. Fucktoys (2025) – dir. Annapurna Sriram
I just watched this film at Reel Asian and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it! A super destructive queer road trip movie à la The Living End by Gregg Araki. Lots of violence, sex, more violence, more sex. I’m obsessed with the look of this film, the art department killed it. The film follows AP (Annapurna Sriram) as she embarks on a journey to make $1000 to break the curse that’s on her. This film is full of unhinged behaviour in a way that I really enjoyed. Sriram wrote, directed and starred in Fucktoys, and I definitely will be following her work going forward!
7. Shifting Baselines (2025) – dir. Julien Elie
So Hot Docs picks really swept on this list, but for good reason! Shifting Baselines blew me away aesthetically. The film investigates the modern space race by taking real accounts of the people in Boca Chica, Texas, the town that is home to SpaceX launches (and has since been renamed Starbase, Texas). The entire film was in black and white in a way that is reminiscent of early science fiction. I absolutely loved the sound design and score. It is so tense and effective and is probably my favourite use of sound in a documentary film ever.
8. Flana (2025) – dir. Zahraa Ghandour
This is my favourite documentary of TIFF 2025! Flana deals with some really important but heavy subject matter. The story is so personal to Ghandour, who directs and narrates the film. In her search for her childhood neighbour, who disappeared when they were young, Ghandour uncovers the reality of the violence and abandonment of young girls in Iraq and the abuses that happen in their shelters. Through the stories of her aunt, who is a midwife and has watched parents abandon their baby girls, and Natalie, a survivor of the shelter system, this film is an account of the strength and resilience of women in a society that does not value them equally.
9. Lady Bird (2017) – dir. Greta Gerwig
Another movie that took the world by storm that I happened to miss! Finally got to watch this at the Toronto Outdoor Picture Show this summer and I understand what people were raving about back in 2017! It’s such a great coming-of-age story with relatable characters and social dynamics. Saoirse Ronan was great as Lady Bird!
10. Mysterious Skin (2004) – dir. Gregg Araki
I hate this movie. Don’t watch it. Has to be one of the most horrible, traumatic movies I’ve ever seen. Heavy trigger warnings for child sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual violence, grooming, trauma, and disturbing imagery. All that being said, it was a pretty good movie. The actors were great, their performances really stick with you. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brian Corbet bring the rawness needed to their roles. I would not recommend watching this movie, but if you have stumbled upon it in your journey, I feel like we can probably agree that it was well done.