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As we struggle with the fourth snowstorm this winter already here in Provincetown, Queerguru Senior Contributing  Editor Ris Fatah is lying on a beach in Ibiza. Talkabout unfair!!  So rather than let him get sunburned and bored, we asked him to get his laptop out and do some work.  Nothing too tough, but as our most prolific film reviewer, he probably sat through more movies last year than any of us, so we asked him to give us his personal TOP TEN MOVIES OF 2025.

With After the Hunt  Luca Guadagnino has created a movie of our times. Written by first-time screenwriter Nora Garrett, and set in 2019, and is a detailed character study of the different reactions to the assault allegation. Echoes of #MeToo, cancel culture and the current political environment fuse together with an ambiguous, at times uncomfortable, narrative to highlight the imperfection and brutality of humanity. (Julia Roberts) is exceptional in this thought-provoking, psychological drama in a star studded cast that includes Michael Stuhlbarg, Andrew Garfield,  and Chloe Sevigny 

Block Pass is a beautifully-shot, stylish coming-of-age drama that treads an unpredictable path. Directed by Antoine Chevrollier, anyone who grew up queer in the closet in a semi-rural environment without allies will connect to the angst felt as those around you explore their youthful sexuality without constraints. Themes include love, loss, friendship, small town life, masculinity, parental expectations, coming-of-age and coming out. Alicia Cadot’s excellent casting brings together the chemistry between Willy and Jojo. Alami and Faucher portray their friendship wonderfully. A great film where everything comes together.

Breaking up is hard to do, romantically or otherwise, especially in a very public scenario, and where alcohol is involved. Director Richard Linklater’s latest film, Blue Moon, examines the tragic 1940s professional break-up between Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) and his composing partner Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott). The duo, America’s Gilbert and Sullivan, were responsible for twenty years of musical classics such as My Funny Valentine, The Lady is a Tramp and Blue Moon. Seemingly unstoppable, behind the scenes their partnership gradually disintegrated due to Hart’s alcoholism, which led to unreliable and erratic behaviour and depression. This steered Rodgers to working with Oscar Hammerstein instead and the legendary Rodgers and Hammerstein alliance hit the ground running with.

Toxic relationships seem to be on the rise, whether romantic, friendship or employer relationships, or maybe we are just better at identifying toxicity these days. Departures, a fantastic new UK indie comedy-drama based in Manchester, takes a deep, brutal dive into the causes and effects of a toxic queer romantic relationship between charity worker Benji (Lloyd Eyre-Morgan) and personal trainer to footballers, Jake (David Tag – Hollyoaks).  There’s humour in the darkest moments. It’s a queer story but anyone who’s ever dealt with any kind of toxic relationship will be able to relate to it. Messy and real, love and loss. Highly recommended.

The raw brutality of a vicious child custody battle is laid bare in Love Me Tender, director Anna Cazenave Cambert’s adaptation of Constance Debre’s 2020 novel. Premiering at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Love Me Tender is based on Debre’s real-life experiences of being a French lawyer turned bohemian author who loses custody of her child when her ex-husband objects to her new sexual relationships with women.  An unmissable masterpiece.

It’s very surprising that, being 6.5 tall and with his matinee idol looks, the Australian actor Jacob Elordi didn’t register on our horizon until 2023.  Up until then, he had an impressive body of work that included the Eurphora TV series and The Kissing Booth series of films.  But then he portrayed a controlling Elvis Presley in the Sofia Coppola–directed Priscilla Presley biopic, for which he received some heady reviews for his rendition of the King, includung the BBC’s Nicholas Barber calling him ‘a relevation‘  Coppola said that she chose Elordi for the role partially because of his effect on women, but in his next performance in Saltburn, he played a rather grand Oxford University student who was the object of another male student’s lust. For that role, he earned a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Peter Hujar is having another moment. The American photographer is best known for his iconic, raw black-and-white photographs of the who’s who of 1970s and 80s downtown New York. He was part of the East Village art scene and was very close to legends such as Nan Goldin, Susan Sontag and David Wojnarowicz. This group was subsequently devastated by the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, which also claimed Hujar in 1987.  There’s a quiet stillness to this serene film, best to be in the same kind of mood when you watch it. Fans of Peter Hujar would probably like to experience more of Hujar’s amazing life than just one day so hopefully Sachs and Whishaw can give us more of this – they are the two to do it – the 80s East Village art scene needs a film. A beautiful piece of work.

Produced and directed by the multi-award-winning Onir, We are Faheem and Karun is the first Kashmiri queer film. Shot in the stunning alpine-like mountain border area between India and Pakistan, this gently-paced romantic drama is unpredictable and combines stunning cinematography with a handsome cast and a subtle yet powerful soundtrack. The backing sound effortlessly combines the noise of running rivers, lullabies, gun-shot and traditional music to set the scenes. The cast gel well together, particularly the romantic chemistry between Faheem and Karun. Mir grew up in Kashmir, so his casting as Faheem in particular seems very relevant.

Who Killed Teddy Bear? is the 1965 queer-ish neo-noir cult classic film you’ve never seen. Directed by Joseph Cates, and starring bisexual Hollywood beefcake legend Sal Mineo, the beautiful Juliet Prowse and the legendary Elaine Stritch, the psycho-drama Who Killed Teddy Bear? has now been digitally remastered and is due for general release to a new generation of appreciative queer audiences.  Who Killed Teddy Bear? is a brilliantly art-directed black and white time-capsule of mid-sixties New York City nightlife, louche vibes, fashion, urban living and personal relationships. The angst of the era, the difficulties in communicating desire and the lack of understanding regarding mental health issues and different sexualities give the film an undercurrent of unspoken drama.

South Korea has a vibrant queer scene, particularly in buzzing Seoul. The mainstream society remains fairly conservative, though, and many queer people remain in the closet there. 3670, a new drama by director Joonho Park, explores this from the perspective of Kim Cheol-jun (You-hyun Cho), a handsome North Korean defector who escaped to South Korea a couple of years earlier.  Park has created a realistic drama about the lonely journey millions of people across the world make as they arrive in big cities as a stranger without social networks. It’s obviously tougher for Cheol-jun as he’s both unfamiliar with social customs and a gay man in the closet in a conservative society. This makes his journey all the more interesting

For full reviews on RIS FATAH’S SELECTIONS  +  over 2000 queer films check out www.queerguru.com and whilst you are there be sure to subscribe to get all the latest raves and rants on queer cinema ….  BEST OF ALL : IT”S FREE