Jan 2, 2026 10:45am PT Directors on Their Favorite Films of 2025: From Janicza Bravo to Paul Thomas Anderson to Barry Jenkins and More By William Earl Plus Icon William Earl @beautifulbill Latest 'Stranger Things' Finale Breakdown: How Does it End, Who Dies and What Happens to Hawkins? 2 days ago Variety's Directors on Directors Returns With Guillermo del Toro, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Coogler, Chloe Zhao and More 3 days ago Director of Explosive Corey Feldman Doc Refutes Claim He Didn't Know About Footage With New Clip of Them Discussing Project Together (EXCLUSIVE) 3 days ago See All Bravo: Michael Buckner; Getty Images Acclaimed filmmakers pen essays on the current movies that left them inspired - and sometimes envious. Avatar: Fire and Ash Image Credit: Art Streiber for Variety By Michael Mann Jim Cameron's third "Avatar," "Fire and Ash," is a massive achievement. The towering originality of Jim's visualization is a given; what makes "Fire and Ash" so potent is its believability. After the first two installments, the world knows the origin story of "Avatar." Jake and Neytiri's family - including Spider, Quaritch's son - are refugees sheltering among the Metkayina Reef People with their Maori tattooing and anthropologically complete belief system and pacifist politics. For "Fire and Ash," Jim added the apostate Ash Clan - Na'vi raiders led by the lethal and seductive Varang (Oona Chaplin). Resources Development Administration is pursuing its imperative of colonization and has Quaritch (Stephen Lang) on point, now reappearing in recombinant form. But there's dissent within RDA, and Quaritch has a side agenda to regain his son. As with Pandora's biodiversity, Jim has architected different cultures that resonate with authenticity. From the thesis that there are standard patterns within diverse human cultures, Cameron has applied structure principles in building Pandora's people with the erudition of an anthropologist. Each has rituals, value systems and sympathetic magic with which they interconnect with nature to influence outcomes. Their tribal aesthetics of wardrobe, tattooing and habitation is so specific, you feel these people dress themselves. For the assault of RDA's colonization, he may have mined patterns from the rape of the Congo by Belgium's King Leopold or the plight of Brazilian rainforest peoples. These contexts that Jim has built envelop his characters' rage, frustration, tragedy, aspirations, ambivalence, moments of rapture and vengeance with authenticity. That authenticity amplifies the visceral power of his storytelling. Throughout Jim's propulsive narrative, we experience the Na'vi and humans as more complex people caught in a dire conflict zone in an alien future. And the authenticity of what he's built makes it resonate with even more visceral power. Jim's artistry, intellect and heavy lifting creates diverse alien biology, anthropology, mechanical engineering, politics, visualization and taut storytelling. It's extraordinary. Jim began with a blank piece of paper. No writer-director I can think of has invented as large a three-dimensional world of his own imagining as has Jim. "Fire and Ash" on its own is an incredible achievement. There are two more installments to come. From some point in the future, when regarded historically, the whole of "Avatar" will be seen as the magnum opus it truly is. All That's Left of You Image Credit: Michael Buckner By Janicza Bravo A family is uprooted from the place they have always called home and is forced to rebuild elsewhere. "All That's Left of You" is a timely, multigenerational chronicle of a family amid the backdrop of occupation that seamlessly unfolds with an eye that is unflinching but vulnerable. The work in front of and behind the camera is elegant and urgent. It takes the audience on a journey to define and redefine what home can look like. If we're lucky, there are a handful of films that come out every year that that leave you breathless. Cherien Dabis' film has done just that. There is one scene that is particularly unshakable. On the heels of a sudden curfew, a father is forced to choose what feels like life or death in front of his son. He chooses life to protect his son, but it looks like humiliation, and it forever changes their relationship. The work underlines connection and resilience in the face of injustice. And though my heart was shattered over and over again, I was still left with a sense of hope. A door was opened to a dialogue and a language many of us have struggled to put into words. Award-winning filmmaker Janicza Bravo is best known for "Zola," as well as her work on series suchas "The Bear," "Too Much," "Dear White People" and "Poker Face." Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague Image Credit: Variety via Getty Images By Taylor Hackford Most directors achieve a career-defining moment when they create a film that puts them in Oscar contention. This year, Richard Linklater has done it twice. His delightful tribute to the French New