TAGGED AS: Golden Tomato, Rotten Tomatoes Awards
The Golden Year Award honors the people who created, worked on, or starred in some of the year’s best movies and TV shows, based on their achievements. This could mean anything from big awards to zeitgeist-capturing moments to hugely successful projects — and in some cases, multiple successful projects. The Rotten Tomatoes staff and editorial team got together and whittled down a massive list of folks who impressed us in 2025, debating the merits of over 50 big names until we arrived at our consensus picks in three categories: Actor/Actress, Filmmaker, and Fresh Talent, the latter of which celebrates an emerging voice (this year, quite literally).
It was not an easy task, but we think the winners we’ve selected are not only unquestionably worthy of the recognition, but they also represent a nice intersection of film, television, and streaming. Congratulations to all of our Golden Year Award winners!
Return to the Rotten Tomatoes Awards Winners Page
Boy, did Seth Rogen have a year, especially on TV. The one film we did get featuring him in 2025 was Aziz Ansari’s Certified Fresh Good Fortune, but he also continued his voice work on shows like Sausage Party: Foodtopia, Invincible, and an episode of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, while his lead role on the Apple TV comedy Platonic helped earned the show’s second season a Certified Fresh 100% on the Tomatometer. He even popped in for a couple episodes on Netflix’s Nobody Wants This. But Rogen’s biggest achievement of the year was The Studio, another Apple TV comedy he co-created, co-directed, co-executive produced, co-wrote, and starred in, which absolutely dominated the Emmys with a record 13 wins, including one for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Rogen himself. Oh, and lest we forget, he also showed up as a playable character in Call of Duty: Warzone and Black Ops 6. Does this man ever sleep?
Ryan Coogler does not miss. After stunning Sundance and Cannes with his 2013 debut Fruitvale Station, he was handed the keys to two franchises — Creed and Black Panther — and proved he was equally capable of handling tentpole titles, cranking out Certified Fresh hit after Certified Fresh hit. Then came 2025 and Sinners. This was no mere vampire flick; it was a spiritual awakening, a celebration of music and cultural traditions, and a creative exploration of generational injustice, all powered by incredible performances and a fantastic score. Sinners was a deeply personal project for Coogler, who managed to weave heady themes into a crowd-pleasing romp of a genre flick, and not only did it earn him the best reviews of his already phenomenal career, but it also became a box office juggernaut (over $368 million worldwide), the most nominated film in Oscar history (with 16), and a pop culture touchstone throughout the year.
Look, we know: The “Golden” pun is right there. But we promise that was not our motivation for making this choice. Anyone who’s seen KPop Demon Hunters — or, at the very least, sung along to its ubiquitous and highly catchy soundtrack — knows why this was an easy call to make. Kim Eun-jae — better known as EJAE — was once an aspiring K-pop idol herself, but the ruthless Korean music industry never gave her a chance, so she turned to songwriting instead. She had been active in that capacity since the late 2010s, but 2025’s Kpop Demon Hunters brought her the kind of immense breakout success that few are lucky to experience. Her songwriting and impressive vocals on tracks like “How It’s Done”, “Your Idol”, and the aforementioned “Golden” helped propel the soundtrack to double Platinum status, making history as the first movie soundtrack to chart four top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. “Golden” in particular became a global sensation, hitting No. 1 in more than 30 countries and setting the stage for the hotly anticipated live debut of the voices behind Huntrix, the film’s protagonist K-pop group, and especially EJAE. The song ended up winning multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe, a Critics Choice Award, and, most recently, a Grammy. In October, EJAE released her first solo single, “In Another World”, and we can’t wait to see what she does next.
