29 h. ago ‘I’ve waited for this movie my whole life’: Guardian readers’ best films of 2025

From the surreal fairytale The Ice Tower to the revenge western Tornado, our readers share the films that had the biggest impact on them this yearThe 50 best films of 2025Peter Bradshaw’s film picks of the yearMore on the best culture of 2025I still can’t get over Sinners. It’s what the cinema was made for. It looked amazing; its sound was so rich and textured; and the juke joint dance sequence was a genuine WTF surprise that could have been grim but was utter genius. And if you haven’t seen it, please stay for the scene that comes mid-credits: it has to be my favourite five minutes of film all year. Michael, Manchester Continue reading...

Culture

4 d. ago ‘There’s a sense of our freedoms becoming vulnerable’: novelist Alan Hollinghurst

A knighthood, a lifetime achievement award and a hit theatre production of The Line of Beauty the author on a year of personal success and political changeIf there can be a downside to receiving a lifetime achievement award, it can surely only be the hint of closure it evokes. I put this as tactfully as I can to Alan Hollinghurst, this year’s winner of the David Cohen prize, which has previously recognised the contribution to literature of, among others, VS Naipaul, Doris Lessing and Edna O’Brien. It does have “a certain hint of the obituary about it”, he concedes, laughing. “So I’m very much doing what I can to take it as an incentive rather than a reward.”But there have been plenty of rewards recently. Hollinghurst was knighted in this year’s New Year honours list, a couple of months after the publication of his novel Our Evenings, the story of actor Dave Win’s journey from boarding school to the end of his life, which received rave reviews. In the Guardian, critic Alexandra ...

Politics

5 d. ago At the dark end of a brutal year, I’m grateful to these heroes for showing us the light | Jonathan Freedland

From Palestinians standing up to Hamas to the Bondi beach rescuers, great acts of courage offer hope even in the bleakest timesSome traditions are getting harder to maintain. Among them, my own custom of devoting the last column before Christmas to reasons to be hopeful. In recent years, amid war and bloodshed, that task has been especially challenging – and this week was no exception.It began with the news from Bondi beach, where 15 people were gunned down and dozens more injured, most of them Jews celebrating the festival of Hanukah. That came just two-and-a-half months after the deadly attack on Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester, on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. To be a Jew at the end of 2025 is to fear that to gather together, whether at moments of joy or sorrow, is to take a mortal risk. That even to do relatively ordinary things together has become a matter of life and death.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist and the author of The Traitors Circl...

Politics

6 d. ago ‘Criminally below the radar’: readers on their best underrated Christmas films

After Guardian writers picked their favourite lesser-known festive movies, readers shoutout Klaus, The Ref and moreI thought a real modern hidden gem is All Is Bright starring Paul Rudd and Paul Giamatti as two down-on-their-luck Christmas tree sellers. It’s perfectly played by both, with Rudd putting in, not his usual “puppy dog everyone wants to be your mate” role but a sarcastic turn, complementing Giamatti’s Christmas grinch. More a black comedy (by Hollywood standards), it’s an excellent film. Andyouwillknowme Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago How Israel's 'yellow line' is dividing Gaza with deadly consequences – video explainer

Israel military chief, Eyal Zamir, announced on Monday that the 'yellow line', drawn up by the October ceasefire plan, was a 'new border' for Israel. This line has become a lethal boundary, preventing Palestinians entering an area representing 58% of their territory. The Guardian's chief Middle East correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison, describes life on the ground for those forced on an ever-smaller part of their land. Israeli officials claim forces are being 'deployed in Gaza in accordance with the ceasefire outline'‘Yellow line’ that divides Gaza under Trump plan is ‘new border’ for Israel, says military chief‘Bloodshed was supposed to stop’: no sign of normal life as Gaza’s killing and misery grind on Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy review – life gets gamified in one

Big K-pop stars and a teen-skewed subtext aims this squarely at a particular audience but this fantasy never really levels upStarring the actor (Ahn Hyo-seop) who voiced the lead boy-band bad guy in KPop Demon Hunters, and one of the singers (Kim Ji-soo, also known mononymically as Jisoo) from real-world girl-band Blackpink, this Korean sci-fi-fantasy feature feels very skewed towards the young on all counts. Superficially, it appears to be about a guy named Kim Dok-ja (Ahn) who finds that the web novel he’s been following for years is turning into reality. That means the whole world becomes gamified, as if everyone has been turned into players compelled to kill to survive, while plagued by CGI monsters and puckish digital dokkaebi (demons) which explain things when the rules change.But under the surface, this film is really about being popular, coping with traumatic childhood experiences such as being forced to beat up your best friend, getting a pimple, and building up enough gump...

Politics

2 w. ago Joyful, irreverent, endlessly quotable: why Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the perfect holiday movie

Taika Waititi’s quirky family caper has no explicit mention of Christmas – but that doesn’t stop it from being the best Christmas viewingPicking a Christmas movie is hard work. It needs to be suitable for the entire family, which rules out Die Hard, and entertaining for the whole family, which rules out It’s a Wonderful Life. It has to be good, which rules out Love Actually, and it has to suit distracted viewing, which rules out Muppet Christmas Carol, of which it’s a sin to miss a single second.There is, however, no rule that says Christmas movies must include Christmas. Which is why Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the perfect Christmas movie. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Man suffers potentially life changing injuries in Walthamstow 'assault'

Man suffers potentially life changing injuries in Walthamstow 'assault'  Guardian Series

Events

3 w. ago New Zealand man accused of eating Faberge pendant inspired by Bond movie as police wait for evidence

Police in New Zealand are monitoring a man accused of swallowing a $19,000 pendant with the intention of smuggling it out of a jewelry store

Events