Best First Watches: January 2025
It has been a slow start to 2025 for me. The year began on a cruise (humans were not meant to be able to watch the hit Broadway musical Mamma Mia! while on open water), and I’ve been playing catch-up ever since. Can you believe I’ve only seen 22 movies so far this year? I’m deeply embarrassed and I promise to do better. Last year’s movie total was 380 and I strive to beat that in 2025!
netflix
Nothing humbles you like spending a day at your parents’ house because your place is getting work done and having your dad walk in on you silently sobbing as you watch a documentary. Daughters is gorgeous and infuriating. The film follows four daughters as they get ready for a dance with their incarcerated fathers. It’s hard to watch this film and not become a believer in prison reform. The remarkable revelation of Daughters comes at the end: 95% of fathers who participated in the program never returned to prison.
a24
I love watching a movie and thinking to myself, “well, that looks like a tiny little lesbian,” and then having the movie prove me right. That happened with Aftersun, and again this month with Janet Planet. It takes a former tiny little lesbian to spot a tiny little lesbian. Anyway, Janet Planet follows a mother and daughter over the course of a summer. It’s languid, lazy, and hazy, the way all summer films should be. An aching reminder of a childhood that can no longer exist.
mubi
If you ever thought Shakespeare was dull, then you need to see it performed in Grand Theft Auto Online. It’s utter madness to consider doing Hamlet in an online video game, but it’s also the sort of idea that could only come about during the isolation of Covid. At times immensely goofy and at others deeply emotional, Grand Theft Hamlet is a unique reminder that art has the power to heal.
New Line Cinema
Sometimes, however rarely it might be, I like to have a good time. Companion is just that. It’s the story of a young woman realizing that her relationship may not be as perfect as she thinks it is and her fight to finally live for herself. Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher are such a fun leading duo, and the supporting cast makes for a genuinely fun, yet bloody, romp at the theater.
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