Why 2025 felt like a trip down memory lane

As 2025 draws to a close, we will all reflect on the year gone by- the highs, the lows and what to hope for in 2026. For me this year was marked by finding comfort in nostalgia. I can’t say 2025 has been a bad year for me personally but there were immense moments of stress. And for most of us, what is happening in the world around us also has an impact, directly or indirectly, on our lives and our moods.

It isn’t difficult to fall into a deep hole of pessimism but I found that old TV shows, music and movies took me back to a happier, simpler time. In a world unsettled by political turbulence, economic anxiety, and technological disruption, nostalgia quietly became one of the most reassuring forces of the year.

How many of you have watched ‘Friends’ yet again this year? The hugely popular 90’s TV show is still one of the most streamed programmes on Netflix. A whole new generation has discovered Chandler, Monica, Ross, Rachel and Phoebe. It wasn’t a perfect TV show and there are so many issues I pick at when I see it now (lack of diversity for starters) and yet I watched it all over again - yet again- because it’s like a nice bowl of soup - warm, comforting and familiar.

Another early 2000s favourite, ‘Gilmore Girls’, also saw a huge surge in interest and streaming views this year. One of my younger cousins in America messaged me to say she had never watched the show when it originally ran on TV but was going to see it now after all the buzz. ‘The Office’ is another fan favourite that I binge watched. Michael Scott was a genius. It’s hard to find a TV show character like him today.

In the cinema, Tom Cruise was back as Ethan Hunt for the last time in the final ‘Mission Impossible’ movie, while ‘Freakier Friday’ came as a long delayed sequel to the 2003 original .

Why did this year lean so heavily on the past? To be honest, for me it started with the pandemic. When we were all locked inside our homes, it gave so many of us a chance to rediscover a simpler time. Psychologists argue that in moments of instability, nostalgia becomes a grounding force.

This year certainly offered no shortage of volatility. From polarised elections and geopolitical uncertainty to economic stress and the dizzying rise of artificial intelligence, people reached for emotional anchors. A familiar movie theme or a sitcom they once watched with family offered reassurance in a world that felt increasingly unpredictable. Nostalgia, in this sense, functioned as a coping mechanism — a way to slow down the pace of life when everything else seemed to accelerate.

There was also a generational dimension to this trend. Millennials — now major creators in film, publishing, and music — naturally drew from their own cultural memory. They grew up in a time of relative stability and analogue warmth; as adults navigating complex digital lives, they used their art to return to emotional landscapes that felt safer. Gen Z, facing a relentless stream of global crises, adopted nostalgia differently: as a form of aesthetic rebellion against overstimulation. Y2K fashion, cassette-themed playlists, photo dumps that mimic disposable cameras — all were part of the same yearning for simplicity.

So yes, 2025 was the year of nostalgia. But nostalgia does not signal cultural stagnation. It signals cultural grounding. In revisiting the past, we were not resisting the future; we were preparing for it. Nostalgia reminded us that comfort, continuity, and connection are not luxuries but necessities — especially in times of uncertainty. Looking back was not an escape. It was a way of finding balance.

And perhaps, in that sense, rediscovering yesterday was the most forward-looking thing we did all year.

Nidhi Razdan is an award-winning journalist. She has extensively reported on politics and diplomacy