But KPop Demon Hunters wasn’t the streamer’s only quality offering this year. Here’s a list of Netflix’s best of 2025.
Sean Combs: The Reckoning
The documentary features new interviews from former associates, employees, and friends who allege everything from cheating business partners out of their share to having knowledge of if not outright arranging the hit that took Tupac Shakur’s life. This is not a “fun” watch, so heed the content warnings, but if you want a succinct accounting of where Combs came from and how the business of hip-hop can turn men into monsters, this is an informative overview.
KPop Demon Hunters
There is vanishingly little I can say about KPop Demon Hunters’ brilliance that hasn’t already been said. So I’ll let what has been said speak for it:
Rian Johnson’s Knives Out series has once again delivered a sharply funny, intensely moving whodunit. Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc drips southern charm, aided by an ensemble cast featuring Josh Brolin as a fiery Catholic priest and Glenn Close as his secretary. Josh O’Connor delivers some beautiful moments as a junior priest struggling to find meaning in his faith, creating interesting tension against Blanc’s cold, grim logic. With them working together, Wake Up Dead Man becomes a fun story that examines the purpose faith can have in our lives.
One thing director Guillermo del Toro is gonna do is make a luxurious, sumptuous-ass movie with over-the-top sets and costuming. But Frankenstein is not just a visual delight. Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as his monster give incredible performances that are both grounded in the movie’s late Victorian aesthetic while resonating with the stories of today. A quote unquote learned man irresponsibly using technology to create something he doesn’t understand and in his arrogance tries to control that winds up destroying his life and others? It’s not that Frankenstein is any one allegory for today, it has multiple applications.
And while we have numerous Frankenstein adaptations, there’s nothing quite like watching GDT do it. You just know that man is gonna grab all the production designers, make-up artists, and costumers, give them some cash, and say essentially “Cook,” and damn if they didn’t do exactly that.
The Great British Baking Show
I live for The Great British Baking Show (known as The Great British Bake Off outside the US). When the sun starts setting at 4:30PM and seasonal affect starts disordering my life, I’m okay because I know that means it’s Baking Show season. This year, the show has done some interesting things with the format, trying new variations on the show’s technical challenge where bakers are tasked with making something with stripped-down directions. I wish the challenges weren’t so overly focused on sweets, but it’s always fun learning the absolutely bonkers names the Brits have for their pastries. There is no way in a logical world that an oatmeal bar like this should be called a flapjack — it doesn’t even flap! Honestly, yelling about how British English is Wrong is just as much fun as watching the amateur bakers themselves.
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