December 24th 2025
My Brother's Band
The Housemaid
Urchin
Sentimental Value
Hurstos Top Films of 2025
And so the year closes, with only the Boxing Day films yet to release. And they are such winners, as you will see from my high scores here. I've still to catch one more, and will be unable to review the New Year's Day films until after their release, so for now I'll take a short break of a couple of weeks and be back with you in 2026. Meantime have a wonderful festive season, enjoy whatever you are celebrating, and watch a lot of good movies. Here's to another year of terrific films, and hopefully more peace and harmony in the world.
My Brother's Band
Dir: Emmanuel Courcol
Length: 103 mins
 |
© Palace - love, kindness and music -
a powerful combo in a gorgeous French film |
Thibaut (Benjamin Lavernhe) is a world-renowned orchestra conductor. When he is diagnosed with leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant, he learns that he was adopted and has a brother, Jimmy (Pierre Lottin). The two are chalk and cheese - Thibaut was adopted into an upper class family, while Jimmy was raised in humbler surrounds, and is now trombone player in a community brass band. This film received many nominations in the French Cesars and had the most ever votes as audience favorite at the San Sebastian film festival. I can totally see why. There is a tenderness to this story that is executed so well, avoiding formulaic schmaltzy dialogue, and yet bringing me to floods of tears with its humanity, kindness and optimism. The contrast is ever-present between Thibaut's priveleged world of refined classical music, and Jimmy's working class town where workers are striking against the eventual closure of their factory. But it's the relationship that slowly develops between two strangers that is so deeply emotional. I guess if I'm honest there is a soupcon of emotional manipulation, but with the beautifully drawn characters, the lovely music, and the uplifting message, for me it's a total winner.4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended
The Housemaid
Dir: Paul Feig
Length: 131 mins
 |
© StudioCanal - what secrets lurk in the
homes of the rich?! |
Millie (Sydney Sweeney) is interviewing for a job as a housemaid at the opulent home of Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried). The women are seemingly polar opposites; Millie has been sleeping rough, while Nina is groomed and very upper-crust. Surprisingly, Millie gets the job and discovers her quarters will be in a spartan attic, which only locks from the outside. Enter the rest of the Winchester family: spoilt brat Cece (Indiana Elle) and handsome hubby Andrew (Brandon Sklenar). The scene is set for conflict, thrills and unexpected revelations, with neither Nina nor Andrew being what they initially appear to be. What starts out as a conventional thriller eventually veers off into something quite different, keeping the tension but heading into moments of deliciously black comedy, inviting us to gasp in horror and laugh at the same time. Seyfried and Sweeney are fabulous in the thrust and parry of their complex relationship, with Nina's psychological shenanigans being at times over the top, all in the service of an excellent plot (based upon a best-selling novel). While some of the underlying themes are in fact to be taken very seriously, this is a film to simply surrender to and enjoy as a shock-schlock, gasp-inducing entertainment.4 - highly recommended
Sentimental Value
Dir: Joachim Trier
Length: 133 mins
 |
© Madman - family relations and artistic ambitions
combine, in a deeply moving film |
Here's a statistic for you: so far 22 wins and another 143 nominations, including for the upcoming Golden Globes. So it seems that this film is serious contender. It's the story of Norwegian film director Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgaard), and his two estranged daughters, Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inge Ibbsdotter Lilleaas). The family's history is full of trauma, over two generations, among them Nazi persecution; suicide, and the absent father in the form of Gustav. He turns up again when the sisters' mother dies. He has come back to filmmaking after 15 years to write a script based around his own mother, and wants Nora, a theatre actress, to star in it. When she declines, he engages upcoming American actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) for the role (an inappropriate choice). This film contains deeply interwoven thematic and emotional intricacies, and it is impressive to see the way that the three leads embody these emotions, often wordlessly, with subtle facial gestures alone. Less is more in this style of acting, and these are strong, honest and deeply moving performances. Sentimental Value also examines the role of using art to resolve personal issues, and the significance of the family home (almost a character in itself) as a repository of events and memories. Certain scenes are a little too long, but overall this is an insightful and challenging look at how families and their fraught histories can make or break us.4 - highly recommended
Urchin
Dir: Harris Dickinson
Length: 100 mins
 |
© Rialto - trying to make a new life
can be near impossible for addicts |
Yet another highly-lauded film, this has won the prestigious critics prize for Best Film and Best actor at Cannes. Mike (Frank Dillane) sleeps rough on the streets of London and is addicted to drugs. After he assaults a man who tries to help him, he serves a few months in jail, and upon his release social services give him a chance at a new life - temporary housing, and a job cooking in a hotel restaurant. Can Mike turn his life around? Dillane's stunning performance brings an empathy and likeability to Mike, and yet we sense the demons that constantly lure him back to self-destruct mode. The film doesn't seek to judge Mike, but does portray the childishness and unrealistic attitude he has to life, blaming others and being unable to grasp the opportunitiy to break the vicious cycle of dependence. Urchin is not an easy film to watch, although the director brings lighter moments, such as Mike going to karaoke with his new friends, and other times retreating in his head to some visually interesting places - deep caves and forests, suggesting either his feeling of despair and being trapped, or perhaps a richer inner life than his exterior aimlessness. This is a solid directorial debut, with Ken Loach and Mike Leigh slice-of-life overtones, and a determination to never give the audience feel-good easy solutions to a problem that afflicts inviduals and society at large. And Dillane is just superb!4 - highly recommended
Link for updated index
I promised to regularly update the index of all the films I've reviewed on this site over the past ten year. This update is to mid-December this year.
Hurstos top films for 2025
It's always a tough decision to choose my top films each year. Here they are, not in any particular order:
Flow
Life of Chuck
Sinners
A Complete Unknown
Hans Zimmer and Friends: Diamonds in the Desert
Frankenstein (Netflix)
Train Dreams (Netflix)
My Brother's Band
Before What Comes After
One Shot with Ed Sheeran (Netflix)
Honorable Mentions:
Bob Trevino Likes It
Emilia Perez
One Battle After Another
The Story of Souleymane
The Brutalist
The Count of Monte Cristo
Sadly not too many Aussie films caught my attention (though I certainly missed quite a few), but notable were:
Kangaroo
Kangaroo Island
Top documentaries:
Billy Joel: And So It Goes
Put Your Soul in Your Hand and Walk
Signorinella Little Miss (Aussie doco)
But Also John Clarke (Aussie doco)
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