Former President Barack Obama has shared his top picks of the best movies in 2025 in what is becoming an annual tradition.
However, it’s not just movies, as Obama has also shared his favorite books and musical performers of this year. Naturally, the former president didn’t disappoint with his latest list of top films for 2025. Among his choices are several high-profile picks that dominated the mainstream international market. According to Deadline, these include Ryan Coogler’s horror/musical mashup, Sinners, and the Leonardo DiCaprio-led film One Battle After Another.
However, Obama, 64, was also quick to heap praise on relatively lesser-known independent movies from around the world, including the Norwegian movie Sentimental Value and the Brazilian political thriller The Secret Agent. Read on to see the former president’s full list of his choice of top movies.
The full list of favored movies and their lead actors includes:
- One Battle After Another (Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn)
- Sinners (Hailee Steinfeld, Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku)
- It Was Just An Accident (Mariam Adshan Shiva, Hadis Pakbatem, Vahid Mobasseri
- Hamnet (Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Joe Alwyn)
- Sentimental Value (Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning, Stellan Skarsgård)
- No Other Choice (Son Ye-jin, Lee Byung-hun, Park Hee-soon)
- The Secret Agent (Wagner Moura, Udo Kier, Maria Fernanda Candido)
- Train Dreams (Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon, William H. Macy)
- Jay Kelly (George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Riley Keough)
- Good Fortune (Keanu Reeves, Aziz Ansari, Seth Rogen)
- Orwell: 2+2=5 (Documentary)
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Naturally, Obama was quick to recommend a healthy mix of different written genres and authors, including his wife, Michelle’s recent book, The Look. The full list is included here:
- Paper Girl by Beth Macy
- Flashlight by Susan Choi
- We the People by Jill Lepore
- The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy
- There Is No Place for Us by Brian Goldstone
- North Sun by Ethan Rutherford
- 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin
- The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
- Dead And Alive by Zadie Smith
- What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
- The Look by Michelle Obama
Additionally, Barack Obama has once again revealed his taste for a wide array of music genres with his list of favorite songs for 2025, including:
- Nice To Each Other by Olivia Dean
- Luther by SZA and Kendrick Lamar
- Tatata by Burna Boy ft. Travis Scott
- Jump by BLACKPINK
- Faithless by Bruce Springsteen
- Pasayadan by Ganavya
- 99 by Olamidé ft. Daecolm, Seyi Vibez, Asake & Young John
- Pending by Lil Naay & Myke Towers
- Sexo, Violencia Y Llantas by Rosalía
- Metal by The Beths
- Abracadabra by Lady Gaga
- Just Say Dat by Gunna
- The Giver by Chappell Roan
- Aurora by Mora & De La Rose
- Silver Lining by Laufey
- No More Old Men by Chance the Rapper & Jamila Woods
- Bury Me by Jason Isbell
- I Wish I Could Go Travelling Again by Stacey Kent
- Please Don’t Cry by Kacy Hill
- Stay by Roe
- Never Felt Better by Everything is Recorded ft. Sampha & Florence Welch
- In the Name of Love by Victoria Noelle
With the holidays this week, it is the perfect time to explore the movies and music recommended by Barack Obama, or snuggle on the sofa in front of the fire for a great read.
