18/12/2025 - The results are in for the poll of Cineuropa’s journalists. Which are the best European works of the year?

Despite everything that is going on in the world, and particularly in Europe, with freedom-annihilating, culture-asphyxiating ideologies and policies gaining traction on the political front, the illustrations of creativity, visibility, acceptance, recognition and vindication in the realm of culture and art are arguably more potent than ever. In a year marked by general turmoil, with the genocide in Gaza, the menace of ever-returning fascism, the ravages of colonialism and the fight for women’s rights standing out as some of our main concerns, several films have managed to depict them in all their facets, while digging deeper into our eternal need to heal trauma and mend broken family ties, our perennial quest for love - any kind will do - and, ultimately, our search for a meaning in all of this. With its presence all over the world growing bigger and bigger (the US awards season is no longer only “US”, thus proving this point), European cinema is firmly out there, staying strong and making statements about what is important to all of us.

The results are in for the poll of Cineuropa’s journalists. Which European (co-)produced works world-premiered this year are the best, according to our team?

25 Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk [+see also:
film review
film profile], Sepideh Farsi (France/Palestine/Iran)

"For a year, Sepideh Farsi remained in contact with 24-year old Palestinian photo-journalist Fatma Hassona with the intention of documenting daily life in Gaza under bombardment, through the woman’s eyes and voice. On 15 April 2025, Farsi tells Hassona that the film has been selected to world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, in the ACID section. The two women rejoice, both are invited to the Croisette, they will finally be able to meet in person. The next day, on 16 April, an Israeli missile hit Fatma Hassona’s house, killing at once her and six members of her family. Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk is one of those films that throws reality in your face and leaves you speechless, even after the lights of the cinema have turned back on. In her extreme simplicity (two faces on a smartphone, photographs of Fatma, some news clips), Farsi delivers a precious and heartbreaking testimony of the extermination taking place on the Gaza Strip, but also of the strength and light of people who no longer have anything but their humanity." (Vittoria Scarpa)

(Read full review)

24 The Love that Remains [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hlynur Pálmason
film profile], Hlynur Pálmason (Iceland/Denmark/Sweden/France)

"Anna and Maggi have also recently separated but spend as much time together as possible, given Maggi’s seafaring tenures and the fact that they are no longer a couple. The story follows them over a year of four changing seasons, and some things remain, including love – again, on screen and intriguingly depicted. What’s crystal clear is that The Love That Remains is a film by Hlynur Pálmason, an Icelandic directorial force who will invite you into his home, and at times pull the rug from right under your feet. But never so that it hurts; quite the contrary, in fact." (Jan Lumholdt)

(Read full review)
(Read interview with Hlynur Pálmason)

23 The Chronology of Water [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Kristen Stewart (USA/UK/France/Latvia)

"Kristen Stewart identified so deeply with Lidia Yuknavitch’s acclaimed memoir that she had to adapt and direct it, but from a certain angle, it feels like she’s present on screen, too. Although the film bends to clichés and can’t always make its unwieldy, repetitive structure an advantage, it’s an impressive expansion of what Stewart has brought to US and, indeed, international cinema (with that César sitting pretty on her mantelpiece). Her acting prowess breaks on through to the other side, falling into the director’s chair.” (David Katz)

(Read full review)

22 Yes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Nadav Lapid (France/Israel/Cyprus/Germany)

"In Nadav Lapid’s new film, perhaps stifled by the horror they see around them, characters seem robbed of the capacity – or are just unwilling – to speak. They dance with an intimidating kind of aggression; emotions that are typically verbalised, like anger, passion or love, are sung or jolted onto a piano, Thelonious Monk-like. Then, in a more relatable move, the lead character headbutts commands into his iOS keyboard. With Israel racked with trauma on the inside after 7 October, and imposing it mercilessly on Gaza themselves, Lapid has likely captured what it’s like to be a comfortable civilian existing now in Tel Aviv, the country’s signature metropolitan area – a more valuable and insightful contribution than many would concede." (David Katz)

(Read full review)

21 A Poet [+see also:
film review
interview: Simón Mesa Soto
film profile], Simón Mesa Soto (Colombia/Germany/Sweden)

"The hardships of a struggling, suffering and misunderstood artist (in his own words) and also (according to most others) a whimpering, good-for-nothing bum are richly portrayed in A Poet. In the film's string of events, Simón Mesa Soto manages – at times recalling Ken Loach – to both humorously and thoughtfully touch upon social issues, commercialism of the arts, parenting issues and, not least, hopes and dreams of getting things right for a change." (Jan Lumholdt)

(Read full review)
(Read interview with Simón Mesa Soto)

20 Nouvelle Vague [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Richard Linklater (France)

"Nouvelle Vague could be one of the first films that forces your mind to simultaneously watch another. That parallel movie is Jean Luc-Godard’s Breathless [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Linklater’s elegant and concise portrait of Breathless’s production is an “answer” film to the prior one, with the majority of its scenes having an analogue to a passage in Godard’s. A benevolent dose of fan service for cinephiles – generations of which were enraptured by Godard – Nouvelle Vague won’t trigger the same revolution as its predecessor; instead, it teaches us again that young, nonconformist minds own the future of any art form." (David Katz)

(Read full review)

19 The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo [+see also:
series review
trailer
interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
series profile], Diego Céspedes (France/Germany/Spain/Chile/Belgium)

"By infusing his film with a pre-adolescent girl's quest for explanations and truth, Diego Céspedes invents his own cinematic territory, halfway between raw realism tinged with the western atmosphere and theatrical surrealism. It's an aesthetic that adds to the appeal of a film whose allegorical dimension isn't exactly revolutionary, but which lives up to its promise as a daring crossover and a tribute to the rebellious, loving spirit (despite the suffering) of a close-knit community: 'I may be a whore, a thief, a liar, but I'll never be a deserter'." (Fabien Lemercier)

(Read full review)
(Read interview with Diego Céspedes)

18 The Ugly Stepsister [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Emilie Blichfeldt (Norway/Poland/Sweden/Denmark)

"Inspired mainly by the Brothers Grimm’s 1812 version of Cinderella, Emilie Blichfeldt has privileged the perspective of the story’s overlooked side character, and excelling in a tone of Cronenbergian body horror for its narrative arc, and 1960s-1970s Central European gothic for its atmosphere. Blichfeldt’s always steady craftsmanship offsets how she struggles investing this old bedtime-story warhorse with a novel element of surprise." (David Katz)

(Read full review)

17 The Stranger [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: François Ozon
film profile], François Ozon (France/Belgium)

"A true gem in every respect, The Stranger is undoubtedly the most artistically accomplished feature film of François Ozon's prolific career, and its combination of cinematic excellence and essential world literary heritage makes it a natural and obvious candidate for the highest honours." (Fabien Lemercier)

(Read full review)
(Read interview with François Ozon)

16 The Last Viking [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anders Thomas Jensen
film profile], Anders Thomas Jensen (Denmark/Sweden)

"It all starts as a hardened robber gets out after a 15-year prison stretch, ready to recoup a bank job loot of 20 million, hidden by his brother. Trouble aplenty indeed. All in the grandly bizarre design of this particular auteur. Like a Roy Andersson or an Aki Kaurismäki, Anders Thomas Jensen has that instant directing signature that identifies him within a minute’s screen-time. Like Thomas Vinterberg, Nicolas Winding Refn and Susanne Bier, he’s every inch as instrumental in defining the Danish cinema wave that took off in the mid-90s and still rolls on. Four decades and running, may Anders Thomas Jensen finally be ready to conquer the world?" (Jan Lumholdt)

(Read full review)
(Read interview with Anders Thomas Jensen)

15 Kika [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alexe Poukine
film profile], Alexe Poukine (Belgium/France)

"The director explores existential questions with triviality and depth in equal measure, incorporating them into a day-to-day life where reality doesn’t yield to fiction, where the story is anchored and located within real life. The film’s mise en scène gently resists the portrait format, advancing in fits and starts, and occasionally indulging in dizzying ellipses. If Kika is at the centre of it all, she’s at the centre of a human constellation where all perspectives are rich and sensitively showcased." (Aurore Engelen)

(Read full review)
(Read interview with Alexe Poukine)

14 La grazia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Paolo Sorrentino (Italy)

"While he admits to doing a take, of sorts, on Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Decalogue, Sorrentino’s handling of these existential themes becomes a work all of his own, refreshingly low-key and impeccably enhanced by his main actor from (so far) seven works of often considerable merit from the duo. Of these, La Grazia resides alongside The Great Beauty [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
film profile], regarding both the “Great” bit and certainly the “Beauty” one. Equalling Mariano De Santis’s qualities with any current high-ranking politician is a trickier task though – certainly when it comes to the “Grazia” part." (Jan Lumholdt)

(Read full review)

13 Dreams (Sex Love) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile], Dag Johan Haugerud (Norway)

"After Sex [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile] and Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile], Dreams has a significantly harder mission to fulfil as a culmination. However, what Haugerud demonstrates with this particular triptych is that hierarchies have no place in love (or sex or dreams). The films that Dag Johan Haugerud makes are love letters to Oslo, celebrating human connection: real or imagined, these encounters make us who we are and reverberate long after their original vessel has disappeared. Dreams, much like its predecessors, is a paean to the fleeting moments that bring profound change without us realising it just yet." (Savina Petkova)

(Read full review)
(Watch interview with Dag Johan Haugerud)

12 Resurrection [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Bi Gan (China/France)

"To boil Resurrection down to one factor, Bi Gan – a young man, in love with an art form that many have proclaimed dead – has reanimated what he views as cinema (indeed, no social realism is seen), perhaps to bid it one final goodbye as we move through a 21st century where, as the saying goes, the dystopia is already here. A cult of viewers are going to adore this feature, and Mulholland Drive-, Memento- and Tenet-style spatial plot diagrams will be made. Come on, discover your Bi-sexuality!" (David Katz)

(Read full review)

11 I Only Rest In The Storm [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pedro Pinho
film profile], Pedro Pinho (Portugal/France/Romania/Brazil)

"Duration is obviously key to Pinho’s artistic vision, and I Only Rest in the Storm requires its sprawl for the range of disparate themes it explores and in order to burrow deep into characterisation. It’s a hypnotic, if demanding, sit at 211 minutes, but it would feel undernourished and unfinished if it were 45 minutes shorter. You need to ease into its flow in an experiential manner and set your body clock to the well-known cultural notion of “African time”. Sérgio feels like a vague analogue for Pinho’s position in all of this, looking in from the outside, and wondering if he belongs or is overstepping various boundaries. This dynamic makes I Only Rest in the Storm feel slightly self-conscious, doubling back and circling its own themes, but there’s also beauty in its commitment to hesitance and ambivalence." (David Katz)

(Read full review)
(Read interview with Pedro Pinho)

10 Pillion [+see also:
film review
film profile], Harry Lighton (UK/Ireland)

"Pillion (a term evoking the back seat of a motorbike) is an unabashedly raw and relatively stunning film in its meticulous depiction of the banality of highly unconventional practices. Harry Lighton overcomes the pitfalls of a daring cinematic gamble thanks to the performances of his two protagonists, but above all by succeeding in giving the whole thing a highly ironic, bittersweet tone. It's a cheeky, very British sense of humour that may prove controversial, but it allows viewers to enter an ultra-codified world and project themselves." (Fabien Lemercier)

(Read full review [+see also:
film review
film profile])

9 Two Prosecutors [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sergei Loznitsa
film profile], Sergei Loznitsa (France/Germany/Romania/Latvia/Netherlands/Lithuania)

"Through his perfectly sketched characters and remarkable atmospheric rendering, Sergei Loznitsa makes an excellent film, condensed and intense in its chiselled tempo. Taking all the time he needs to study the expressions on the faces, the suggestions in the words, the heavy prison climate, the hushed, almost Kafkaesque world of the centre of power, while injecting a modicum of suspense and (very) dark humour into the tribulations of his idealistic hero on the lookout, already feeling or imagining the breath of the NKVD (now FSB) on his neck, the director delivers a pitiless picture, a striking message denouncing a corrupt Saturnian system that devours its own children, and a cinematic work of the highest order." (Fabien Lemercier)

(Read full review)
(Watch interview with Sergei Loznitsa)

8 Sound of Falling [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mascha Schilinski
film profile], Mascha Schilinski (Germany)

"For Mascha Schilinski, film is both a mirror and a portal to a world of feelings. A lot hinges on every single image in Sound of Falling, with a narrative uniting four girls across decades in a single courtyard. It is also a brilliant example of using formalistic restraint to deliver a hushed drama on an epic scale, where each scene can equally be the first and last one. Its compositions exude all the eeriness of early photographs where people could easily believe that the camera lens could imprison one’s soul. For such an assured critics’ favourite that pays so much attention to surfaces, Sound of Falling defeats the usual superficiality-related objection levelled at the extensive use of formalism, since it treats surfaces as the outer layer of a living, breathing organism – be it a woman or a house." (Savina Petkova)

(Read full review)
(Read interview with Mascha Schilinski)

7 Bugonia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Yorgos Lanthimos (Ireland/UK/USA/South Korea)

"What elevates Bugonia beyond a mere exercise in eccentricity is its sense of joy. For all its disturbing ideas, the film radiates the impression that it was made with mischief and pleasure. It is probably Yorgos Lanthimos at his most unrestrained – nihilistic yet comedic. The laughter comes easily, but so does the unease. By the end, one has the feeling of having witnessed a work that dares to be silly and profound in equal measure, revelling in contradiction while exposing hard truths about contemporary society." (Davide Abbatescianni)

(Read full review)

6 Fiume o morte! [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Igor Bezinović (Croatia/Italy/Slovenia)

"Igor Bezinović sets out on a journey to reenact the details of Gabriele D’Annunzio’s rule over the city of Rijeka, now largely forgotten. For that, he relied on rich archival material consisting of over 10,000 photos and some film footage from that period. However, this is not a simple dramatic reconstruction of a historical period, as the filmmaker gets to the meta-level of explaining his creative process, in order to replay some of the moments recorded on the photographs. Lastly, the filmmaker tries and manages to open a dialogue with our present times. Fiume o morte! is a slick piece of filmmaking that reminds us that, although the items of the “legacy” of a certain period might not always be on display, the dark or crazy past is never too far away." (Marko Stojiljković)

(Read full review)

5 The Voice of Hind Rajab [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile], Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia/France)

"Uncomfortable as it is to make cinematic comparisons, The Voice of Hind Rajab is in the vein of recent compressed accounts of rescues and heroic bravery from emergency services, although it obviously goes further by allowing in an actual record of the event (and occasional cutaways to the real people whom the actors are playing), giving a further connection to “reality”, and awkwardly rendering the acting and screenwriting broader and more melodramatic. But returning to the apt sense of distance and technological mediation that the film creates, it also emphasises that this is an unprecedented catastrophe and act of collective punishment from Israel, where, let alone Hamas, every Gazan is apparently targeted, and civil protections by intermediaries like the Red Crescent, not to mention journalists and recognised diplomatic organisations, count for nothing." (David Katz)

(Read full review)
(Read interview with Kaouther Ben Hania)

4 The Secret Agent [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Kleber Mendonça Filho (Brazil/France/Germany/Netherlands)

"An expert when it comes to cryptically preparing his playing field, Kleber Mendonça Filho makes his unique voice resonate by masterfully amalgamating all the voices of his chorus of characters. Hiding emotion for a long time under a formal mask of entertainment and homage to the heritage of the 7th art, the film reveals itself to be a choice piece in the museum to the murderous memory of Brazil." (Fabien Lemercier)

(Read full review)

3 Sentimental Value [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
film profile], Joachim Trier (Norway/France/Denmark/Germany)

"There’s arthouse, and then there’s accessible arthouse, and Norway’s Joachim Trier has become a bit of an expert at the latter. His films, especially the most recent ones, are all about that laughter through the tears. It sounds terribly sentimental, but it works. So many directors, or actors, compare creating to therapy, but Trier – on good form here – tenderly shows how it works in practice. Long-kept secrets can eat you, and your children, alive, seems to be the lesson here, so go and make some art. And be merry." (Marta Bałaga)

(Read full review)
(Read interview with Joachim Trier)

2 It Was Just an Accident [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jafar Panahi
film profile], Jafar Panahi (France/Luxembourg/Iran)

"Jafar Panahi reaffirms his place as one of the most essential filmmakers working today. His latest is not only politically potent and formally inventive, but also deeply humane – a gripping, slow-burning narrative that culminates in an unexpectedly devastating finale. It is both timely and timeless, and deeply rooted in the social and political realities of Iran." (Davide Abbatescianni)

(Read full review)
(Read interview with Jafar Panahi)

1 Sirāt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Óliver Laxe
film profile], Óliver Laxe (Spain/France)

"Recycling many genres (a touch of Mad Max, a zest of Zabriskie Point, and the Tawaf ritual at Mecca) and following the subtle thread woven in his previous works, Óliver Laxe fully carries the spectator away and masterfully succeeds in creating an unforgettable (yet absolutely not experimental) experiential film about man and the world, the collective and the individual, being and nothingness, radicality and universality, the intimate and the cosmic, that is better traversed without thinking in order to enjoy it to the fullest." (Fabien Lemercier)

(Read full review)
(Watch interview with Óliver Laxe)

Want to see our journalists' individual tops? Click here!