Barack Obama names his favourite movies of 2025
As is annual tradition, Barack Obama is ending the year with a list of his favourite movies from the past 12 months.
Obama started with his cultural recommendations in 2009 and has now come to be expected from the former President of the United States every December.
Notably, since leaving office in 2016, one of his many ventures has been his production company Higher Ground, which has been responsible for films such as the 2019 documentary American Factory, the 2023 biopic Rustin, and the sci-fi thriller Leave the World Behind.
Therefore, Obama does know what he’s talking about when it comes to films, and his list of 2025 picks overlaps significantly with the most-nominated movies at the Golden Globe nominations, which were revealed last week.
While his list is in no particular order, first up is Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, which is expected to dominate awards season in 2026.
Next up is Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which was the box office sensation of the summer, and saw Michael B Jordan put in an unforgettable performance as two twins. Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident, which secured four Golden Globe nominations, also featured in Obama’s list.
Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, which isn’t out in cinemas in the UK until January 9th, 2026, was next in the list, followed by Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value and Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice.
Obama then gave love to the critically acclaimed Brazilian movie, The Secret Agent, directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams, and Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly.
The list was then rounded out by the Aziz Ansari-directed comedy, Good Fortune, starring Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen, as well as Raoul Peck’s George Orwell documentary, Orwell: 2+2=5.
Additonally, Obama has also revealed his favourite books and songs of 2025, which can be seen below.
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