As noted last year, after the Golden Age of Streaming, Hollywood is now in a depression. And so am I. The administration of #DasFuror has weighed me down with constant stories of corruption, cutbacks, incompetence, climate change denial, and cult of personality.
For a long time I stopped reading the newspaper. But now, to support journalism, our pillar of democracy, I subscribe to 5 major newspapers around the world.
But I can’t stand reading the news.
Every story that reflects the political problems of our times, hurts me to read it. I can’t even turn to soccer for solace anymore, because the horribly unethical Gianni Infantino has made FIFA even more corrupt than was revealed in 2015. His sycophantic Peace Prize to #DasFuror, sellout to Arab states, and exorbitant World Cup 2026 ticket pricing are so infuriating, I am now numb to soccer. I’ve stopped caring about the game at all levels. I may even boycott watching WC 2026.
I didn’t realize how depressed I was with soccer until I looked at my Letterboxd stats. I only reviewed 15 movies and series in 2025, and I even watched 1 movie (Nadia), where I neglected to write a review. Besides my being depressed, there was also a lot less production. Or, too much soccer content was issued as a series, and I don’t have the energy to watch a particular piece of content for more than 90 minutes.
It’s too bad I got to this point in the same year that I wrote my 500th review.
Instead of watching soccer movies this year, I watched a ton of Christmas movies. Thank gawd for Hallmark.
2025 Best and Worst Soccer Films:
For the first time, I am not listing and Best or Worst Films for the year. Unbelievably (or maybe, believably), I did not rate any soccer movies I watched this year as 9 or 10. However, everything I watched was in the range of 6-8. So you can’t really go wrong watching any of the movies/series that I reviewed in 2025.
Well, the fact is I rated Dear England a 10, but that was not a movie, it was a theatrical production I saw in London.
Soccer Movies reviewed in 2025
This table lists all the football films reviewed this year. Within a numerical Rating, movies are sorted by release year and then by title.
| Title | Rating | Year | Category | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dear England (the play) | 10 | 2025 | drama | British |
| Maximum Penalty 2 (La pena Maxima 2) | 8 | 2024 | comedy | Colombia |
| Maidaan | 8 | 2024 | drama | IND |
| Luva de Pedreiro: Viral Moves | 8 | 2024 | docuseries | BRA |
| Las Leonas | 8 | 2022 | docu | ITA |
| Crazy for Football | 8 | 2017 | docu | ITA |
| In Oranje | 8 | 2004 | kids | NED |
| The Golden Ball (Le Ballon d’Or) | 8 | 1994 | drama,kids | Africa,Guinea |
| Fantasy Football Ruined Our Lives | 7 | 2025 | comedy | ITA |
| #SheBelongs | 7 | 2024 | docu | USA |
| Copa 71 | 7 | 2023 | docu | USA |
| Beast Mode On | 7 | 2022 | docu | British |
| Home Games | 7 | 2018 | docu | UKR |
| Back in Action | 6 | 2025 | comedy | USA,Netflix |
| Football Parents | 6 | 2025 | comedy, series | NED |
