Paul Schrader names the best movie of 2025: “The miracle is already there”
Paul Schrader can be a very difficult character.
On one hand, his body of work is indisputable. As one of Martin Scorsese’s premiere writing partners, he is at least partly responsible for some of the auteur’s greatest hits, such as Taxi Driver or Raging Bull. He’s also directed his own share of great films. On the other hand, his personal life has thrown up many issues over the years.
He’s been a loud critic of cancel culture, which can sometimes make it seem like he’s got skeletons in the cupboard. That idea gained serious traction in 2025 when he was accused of sexually assaulting a former assistant, then backing out of a deal to pay hush money. Schrader has denied the claims, but the whole mess left a dark stain on the legacy of one of Hollywood’s true heavyweights.
While that situation rumbles on, Variety clearly felt comfortable enough promoting Schrader’s views, for better or worse. To round out 2025, the publication gathered several high-profile directors and asked them to name their favourite films of the year. Paul Thomas Anderson chose Sentimental Value, Karyn Kusama opted for Wake Up Dead Man, while Michael Mann inexplicably chose Avatar: Fire and Ash. As for Schrader, he went for Scott Cooper’s Bruce Springsteen biopic, Deliver Me from Nowhere.
“When I first heard about the film, I thought it was a fool’s errand,” he said. “How can you ‘capture’ Bruce Springsteen? I knew I couldn’t. But what Cooper understands is that Nebraska isn’t a period piece or a myth – it’s a confession… That is Cooper’s gift – the strength to hold the camera steady, to let silence speak, to trust that truth doesn’t need to be underlined”.
“It’s the confidence of a filmmaker who knows the miracle is already there, if you have the patience – and the courage – to watch.”
Starring Jeremy Allen White as the titular musician, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (to give it its full title) focuses on a very specific period of the star’s career. It centres on the writing of the album Nebraska, a raw and personal piece on which Springsteen played and sang everything himself. The film also dives into Bruce’s relationship with his father, Douglas, as played by Stephen Graham.
Deliver Me from Nowhere is the latest in a long, long line of musical biopics. While many of them have done well with critics in recent years, this one fell a little short of the mark. While White’s lead performance was almost universally praised, most reviewers disagreed with Schrader and claimed that the movie fell into many of the clichéd traps of its peers. Perhaps these remarks are symptomatic of a culture overexposed to the genre. ‘The Boss’ himself was a big fan, though, which has got to count for something.
How much stock you put into Schrader’s opinion is entirely up to you, but it’s certainly intriguing that he went to bat for a film like this. At least he didn’t totally embarrass himself like JJ Abrams, who inexplicably used his platform to sing the praise of Wicked: For Good.
