The Best Movie Of Each Year From 1925-2025

Honourable Mentions: The Green Knight, The Power of the Dog, West Side Story

The reemergence of Nicolas Cage as a serious acting force has made for one of the best movie developments of the last decade. Following years spent in the direct-to-video wilderness in the 2010s, Cage garnered critical and cult acclaim with two key turns in 2018 - as the lead of the bizarre horror revenge flick Mandy, directed by Panos Cosmatos, and as Spider-Man Noir in the aforementioned Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, with the actor following that up with highly rated performances in Dream Scenario, Longlegs, and The Surfer.

Cage's talent has long been apparent, albeit widely dismissed as part of his assimilation into meme culture across the 2000s, which is perhaps why the performance of his career in Michael Sarnoski's Pig was so painfully snubbed when it premiered in 2021.

Marketed in part as a quasi-John Wick revenge thriller in which reclusive truffle pig farmer Robin Feld (Cage) must track down those responsible for stealing his beloved farm animal and exact sweet, succulent justice, Sarnoski's film is actually anything but. What it is is something much more contemplative and introspective - an emotionally wrought reckoning with unfulfilled dreams, betrayal, and the slow death of compromise, with Cage giving it both barrels as he returns from the wilderness to confront those who stole his peace.

Cage's career has been one of distinct eras. There was indie darling Cage, action virtuoso Cage, and schlocky misfire Cage. This latest one, however, has cast him in a much more complex and multifaceted light: as an intrepid performer reasserting his talent, and one who is finally being recognised for being so much more than the sum of his internet celebrity.