As 2025 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on the standout dialogues that have captivated audiences this year. This annual feature showcases memorable exchanges from various films, with a focus on the engaging and often provocative conversations that have resonated with viewers. The dialogue is taken directly from the films and presented without alterations, aside from necessary stage directions. Please be advised that strong language is present throughout.
The list kicks off with Companion, penned by Drew Hancock. In this early-year release, a tense moment unfolds as Josh and Kat explain to their friend Eli the complexities surrounding a USB drive linked to a deadly incident involving a sex robot.
ELI: What is that? What am I looking at?
JOSH: A mod.
ELI: A mod? And what does it mod?
JOSH: Iris. It gives me access to parts of her programming that you’re not normally given access to.
ELI: I’m sorry, did you jailbreak your sexbot? What did you do to her?
JOSH: I bumped up her aggression and her self-defense functions, and I turned off the parts of her programming that prevent her from doing harm. But she escaped before I had a chance to reset her, so if Empathix finds her before we do, then they’ll know she was tampered with, and then, then we’re fucked.
ELI: Did you kill Sergey?
JOSH: No! No, no, no. Iris killed Sergey.
ELI: Thank God.
JOSH: We just gave her a little push.
ELI (getting up from the table): Oh my God!
JOSH: You’ve got to understand, Eli, Sergey was a bad dude. He was mixed up in all kinds of fucked-up shit, like drugs and guns and, like, human trafficking.
KAT: Not to mention a terrible boyfriend.
JOSH: Yeah, just the worst.
ELI: Why?
JOSH: I don’t know. Who’s to say why people do bad things? Maybe it had something to do with his upbringing.
ELI: No, dick! Why did you do it?
JOSH: Oh. Well…
(Cut to a giant portrait of Sergey, which Kat swings back to reveal a wall safe with a keypad.)
JOSH: You still remember the code?
KAT (punching “181278” into the keypad): Stalin’s birthday. It’s his code for everything.
(She opens the safe to reveal at least 100 stacks of U.S. currency in the safe.)
ELI (subdued): I see. How much is that?
KAT: Just over 12 million.
ELI (fanning a pack of money in front of his face): Oh goddammit, that smells so fucking good.
Next, we delve into Black Bag, where spy colleagues George and Kathryn host a dinner party that spirals into chaos during a New Year’s resolution game. The dialogue, crafted by David Koepp, illustrates the tension and humor among the characters.
ZOE: My turn. I resolve to… (pointing to James) Wait, I’m speaking in his voice, yeah? (looking at him) Okay, I resolve to do my best to finish second whenever possible. Or once, even. (James laughs) Once would be a refreshing change of pace.
CLARISSA: Sing it, sister.
FREDDIE (to James): Trust me, one day you’ll be thrilled to finish at all.
CLARISSA: You are so full of shit, Freddie.
JAMES: Point taken. (to Zoe) You’ll be begging me to stop.
ZOE: Oh, what every woman longs for. An endless abrasive experience.
GEORGE: Let’s move on.
JAMES: My turn. (points to Clarissa) This one’s for you, right? Okay, I resolve to figure out this old-man obsession of mine.
CLARISSA: Oh, I figured that one out a long time ago. Young men bore the shit out of me. (to James) I mean, you know, you haven’t done anything. You haven’t been anywhere. All you want to do is invite me over to watch you play video games. (to Zoe) Oh God, did I get that one right?
ZOE: Second date, Call of Duty: Pacific Theater.
KATHRYN: Well, this has been absolutely delightful.
FREDDIE (to James): I may be old and wizened, but at least I know how to book a decent restaurant, Major.
JAMES: It’s Colonel.
FREDDIE: Colonel Xbox.
JAMES: Okay.
FREDDIE: Major Minecraft.
JAMES (smiling but annoyed): Fucking hilarious shit, mate.
FREDDIE (to Zoe): Promise you’ll go down on him while he’s playing Zelda so he can die a happy little soldier, won’t you?
CLARISSA: Shut the fuck up, Freddie.
FREDDIE (to Clarissa): What the fuck is your problem tonight?
CLARISSA: You know, the problem with old men is the miserable, suffocating fear of death. I mean, it’s there, so they can feel it, and they are literally pissing themselves with fear, which I suppose explains the pathetic priapic lunging at anything that moves.
FREDDIE: I’m wondering if perhaps you’ve had enough to drink.
CLARISSA: But it’s my turn now, right? (to everyone) I get to speak for Freddie now, right?
(silence)
CLARISSA (to Freddie): I’m going to stop fucking her.
FREDDIE: Oh, I can’t, gorgeous. I am powerless before you.
CLARISSA: Not me, her.
(pause)
FREDDIE (lightly): Is this some sort of prank? (to the table) This is why you can’t date SIGINTs, they’re all fucking insane. (pause) It would appear, it would appear my young friend and I would benefit from a private conversation.
CLARISSA: I’m not going anywhere.
FREDDIE: I am.
ZOE: You know, maybe on Monday the two of you could find a few minutes to come by my office. We could sit down and then…
CLARISSA: I’m not going anywhere.
FREDDIE: My God, you are an infant.
CLARISSA: That’s not the issue.
FREDDIE: You’re psychotic. Pathological. I have indulged your constant need for support and encouragement and reassurance and fucking paternal engagement for a year and a half now, and I’m sick to fucking death of it. (She laughs at him.) He left. I’m so sorry Daddy walked out the door, probably because he didn’t love Mummy, but maybe because he became so hopelessly bored with your needy, constant demands that maybe he figured getting out was better. (She is not laughing anymore.) And that is a shitting tragedy, but it happens! It happens, and you move on! That is what a healthy human being does.
CLARISSA (furious): You are a perversion of what a man is supposed to be.
ZOE: Stop it.
FREDDIE: You are a diseased creature who has spent the last 20 years of her life running in frantic circles trying to compensate for a so-called tragedy that is quite possibly the most boring story ever told, and I’ve had it with you.
CLARISSA: I hate you. I hate you so fucking much!
FREDDIE: I have slept with no
