From newish faces to veterans treading fresh ground, acting craft was on glorious display in 2025. For every commanding lead performance — Rose Byrne, Timothée Chalamet, Wagner Moura, Toni Servillo — there was equally striking ensemble work and many sublime pas de deux, among them Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgard, Keke Palmer and SZA, Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone.

The year was so flush with great screen acting that some of our favorites, regrettably, had to be left out. But that doesn’t mean we weren’t awed by performances like Sergi López in Sirāt , Amanda Seyfried in The Testament of Ann Lee , Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams , Vicky Krieps in Father Mother Sister Brother , Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein or Eva Victor in Sorry, Baby . Read on for the 25 turns that stayed wit

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