Rolling Stone Dragged For Leaving Sinners Off It's Top 20 Films of 2025 List
- Kris Avalon
- Dec 3
- 2 min read
Rolling Stone released its annual list of the “Top 20 Movies of 2025”, but fans were left baffled after they discovered blockbuster film Sinners was noticeably missing from the ranking.
via: World of Reel
Rolling Stone’s list, written and assembled by David Fear, dropped yesterday, and while it contained a strong mix of indies, international and big-studio plays, many fans were somehow outraged that “Sinners” was nowhere to be found. Social-media threads erupted with accusations that the omission was “racist,” “criminal,” or proof that the magazine “doesn’t get movies anymore.”
The bigger picture for me is what this blowback says more about the current state of film discourse than it does “Sinners” — the increasingly rigid hive-mind dominating the field. What this controversy really tells me is that film criticism is now one big echo chamber: either you’re with us, or you’re against us.
These days, conformity is rewarded. Once a film is deemed essential by the online communists, any dissent — even a simple omission from a list — is treated as sacrilege. Critics who fail to align with the consensus are assumed to be wrong, or worse, have ulterior motives.
This is how hive mind works:
A film is declared a masterpiece by a dominant segment of online fandom.
Any deviation from that viewpoint becomes suspicious.
Critics who don’t echo the group’s sentiment risk being attacked, dismissed, or dogpiled.
It has reached the point where some critics have privately told me they hesitate to rank or review certain films honestly because they fear the online reaction. The field has basically turned into a culture of enforcement.
Demanding that every respected outlet must include one particular film — no matter how acclaimed — is antithetical to the entire idea of criticism. There has always been disagreement in film culture. There has always been debate. However, what we’re seeing now is something different: a demand for ideological alignment, enforced via public shaming.
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I truly believe that art is subjective, and the critics of Rolling Stone are entitled to like what they like. However, I think they're rage baiting with this list. Sinners doesn't have to be in your top 10, but the film appearing nowhere on your list is just wild to me.
So now that we're on the subject, I thought I would compile my own personal top 30 list of films that I enjoyed this year.
Weapons
Sinners
Companion
Good Boy
The Long Walk
Ballerina
Frankenstein
F1: The Movie
One Battle After Another
Thunderbolts
Drop
Lilo & Stitch
Warfare
Final Destination: Bloodlines
Predator: Badlands
Heart Eyes
Queens of the Dead
Dangerous Animals
Nobody 2
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Fight or Flight
Clown in a Cornfield
Bring Her Back
28 Years Later
The Ugly Stepsister
Novocaine
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
The Accountant 2
Superman
The Black Phone 2
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