Streamers and horror rise as 2025’s big tentpoles wobble, Ars Technica editors pick standout films

It was an odd year for movies: many major tentpoles and superhero sagas underperformed while smaller streaming releases and horror films made strong showings on Ars Technica’s year-end list. The site notes a possible shift as streamers move into small- and midbudget features—projects that once populated theatrical slates but had been squeezed out by blockbusters and franchise filmmaking.

Lingering superhero fatigue and industry moves, including Netflix’s bid for Warner Bros., could further reshape how films are made and distributed. Ars Technica published an unranked list of favorites from 2025 (with a three-way tie named as the year’s best). The roundup mixes genre pictures, literary adaptations, documentaries, and studio fare.

Ballerina (From the World of John Wick: Ballerina) stars Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro, a ballerina-trained assassin seeking revenge; the piece praises its visuals, inventive stuntwork and tight plotting within the John Wick universe. Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme reunites his signature visual whimsy with Benicio del Toro as arms dealer Zsa-Zsa Korda and Mia Theapleton and Michael Cera in supporting roles, delivering Anderson’s familiar blend of eccentricity and deadpan performances.

Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is described as possibly the most faithful screen adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel, framed through an Arctic rescue and anchored by Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi in an atmosphere of lush, Gothic production design.

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