John Waters Declares 'Eddington' the Top Film of 2025: 'If You Dislike this Movie, I Despise You'

The holiday season brings with it the annual list from John Waters, the self-proclaimed Pope of Trash, highlighting his favorite films of the year. For 2025, Waters has chosen Ari Asters COVID-era Western Eddington as his number one pick.

Waters described the film as a disagreeable yet wildly entertaining story as exhausting as contemporary politics, with characters impossible to root for. Its so absurdly funny, paradoxically chaste yet kinky, that viewers will leave feeling delightfully unhinged and culturally enriched. The movie features Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal in a quirky small-town mayoral contest. Waters bluntly added, If you dont like this film, I hate you.

This admiration for Aster continues a pattern, reminiscent of Waters praise for Asters 2023 release Beau Is Afraid, which he celebrated for its long, chaotic, and comically intense exploration of a mans mental unraveling. Both filmmakers share a taste for characters teetering on the brink, though the outcomes differ.

Waters list also includes films that dont necessarily embrace extreme absurdity. His second choice, Final Destination: Bloodlines, embodies some of these traits, while other entries display subtler forms of eccentricity. Alain Guiraudies Misericordia is called an impossibly perverse thriller where murder, hidden incest, and illicit desire intersect, and Franois Ozons When Fall Is Coming offers a darkly comic narrative in a compact format. Dag Johan Haugeruds Oslo Trilogycomprising Sex, Love, and Golden Bear winner Dreamsoffers a humanist perspective on relationships, requiring more emotional investment from viewers.

Waters complete list of 2025 favorites, which he terms his fucked-up favorites, includes:

• Eddington (Ari Aster)
• Final Destination: Bloodlines (Adam B. Stein and Zach Lipovsky)
• Oslo Trilogy (Dag Johan Haugerud)
• Sirt (Oliver Laxe)
• Sauna (Mathias Broe)
• Room Temperature (Dennis Cooper and Zac Farley)
• Misericordia (Alain Guiraudie)
• When Fall Is Coming (Franois Ozon)
• My Mom Jayne (Mariska Hargitay)
• The Empire (Bruno Dumont)

These selections blend queer themes, unsettling atmospheres, and occasional moments of tenderness, reflecting Waters signature taste for films that challenge and entertain in equal measure.

Author: Ava Mitchell