Going into 2025, it looked like it was going to be a hell of a year for movies. A combination of the residual effects of delays from COVID and the SAG/WGA strikes (mostly) coming to an end and the good fortune of having a ton of great directors with films on the release calendar provided a level of excitement that arguably hasn't been seen since 2019. While the next six months will determine whether or not the slate lived up to the hope and hype that surrounded it, it's definitely off to a pretty strong start.
Ryan Coogler hit a towering home run with his first ever original movie (Sinners). The Philippou Brothers followed up Talk to Me with the bleak, grisly and surprisingly emotional Bring Her Back. Just over 7 months after Longlegs became the biggest hit of his career thus far, Osgood Perkins showed there's another register to his signature darkness with the hilariously morbid mediation on the cruel randomness of death that is The Monkey. Marvel popped out one of its best movies in a good long while with the scrappy teamup movie Thunderbolts*. Newcomers Drew Hancock (Companion), Lawrence Lamont (One of Them Days) and Andrew DeYoung (Friendship) authored the kinds of strong directorial debuts that will be hailed for years to come. Given that many of the heaviest hitters slated for this year have yet to release, having this many gems in the opening portion of the calendar is a great sign of things to come as we officially enter the back half of the 2025 calendar today. Below, you'll find a complete list of every 2025 movie I've seen so far ranked from worst to best alongside some awards and other stuff that I felt like putting into the ether right now. Hope you enjoy.
Stil need to watch:
28 Years Later
The Alto Knights
The Assessment
Baby Invasion
Becoming Led Zeppelin
Bob Trevino Likes It
Borderline
Cleaner
The Damned
Demon City
Eephus
Eric LaRue
F1
The Friend
G20
Holland
I Don't Understand You
Inheritance
In the Lost Lands
Karate Kid: Legends
The Legend of Ochi
Locked
The Luckiest Man in America
M3GAN 2.0
Neighborhood Watch
A Nice Indian Boy
Nonnas
O'Dessa
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
On Swift Horses
Opus
The Parenting
Parthenope
Ponyboi
Queen of the Ring
Riff Raff
Sacramento
Sharp Corner
The Shrouds
Sister Midnight
Sorry, Baby
Summer of 69
The Ugly Stepsister
The Wedding Banquet
51.The Electric State (D)
50.Back in Action (D+)
49.Hurry Up Tomorrow (C-)
48.You're Cordially Invited (C)
47.Snow White (C)
46.The Woman in the Yard (C)
45.Shadow Force (C)
44.Clown in a Cornfield (C)
43.The Amateur (C+)
42.Captain America: Brave New World (C+)
41.Final Destination Bloodlines (C+)
40.Wolf Man (B-)
39.Dog Man (B-)
38.Black Bag (B-)
37.My Dead Friend Zoe (B-)
36.The Accountant 2 (B-)
35.Dangerous Animals (B-)
34.Another Simple Favor (B-)
33.Presence (B-)
32.Death of a Unicorn (B-)
31.Until Dawn (B-)
30.The Phoenician Scheme (B-)
29.Hell of a Summer (B)
28.Heart Eyes (B)
27.A Working Man (B)
26.Predator: Killer of Killers (B)
25.Havoc (B)
24.The Ballad of Wallis Island (B)
23.Last Breath (B)
22.Fight or Flight (B)
21.The Surfer (B)
20.Elio (B)
19.Freaky Tales (B)
18.Ash (B)
17.Novocaine (B)
16.Drop (B)
15.Love Hurts (B)
14.Mission-Impossible: The Final Reckoning (B)
13.One of Them Days (B)
12.Mickey 17 (B)
11.The Life of Chuck (B+)
10.Warfare (B+)
9.The Monkey (B+)
8.Ballerina (B+)
7.Thunderbolts* (B+)
6.Materialists (B+)
5.Companion (B+)
4.Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (B+)
3.Bring Her Back (A-)
2.Friendship (A)
1.Sinners (A)
Awards:
Top Movie: Sinners
Top Director: Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Top Lead Performance (Male): Tim Robinson, Friendship
Top Lead Performance (Female): Sophie Thatcher, Companion
Top Supporting Performance (Male): Delroy Lindo, Sinners
Top Supporting Performance (Female): Sally Hawkins, Bring Her Back
Top Breakthrough Performance: Sora Wong, Bring Her Back
Top Script: Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Top Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sinners
Top Editing: Michael P. Shawver, Sinners
Top Score: Ludwig Goransson, Sinners
Top Visual Effects: Thunderbolts*
Top Sound: Ballerina
Top Villian: Laura (Sally Hawkins), Bring Her Back
Worst Villian: The Evil Queen (Gal Gadot), Snow White
Best Performance in a Bad Movie: Jenna Ortega, Hurry Up Tomorrow
Worst Performance in a Good Movie: Normani, Freaky Tales
Top Piece of Overacting: Jai Courtney, Dangerous Animals
Worst Piece of Overacting: Gal Gadot, Snow White
Top Action Sequence: "Flamethrower Fight", Ballerina
Worst Action Sequence: "Car vs. Speedboat with Turret on It", The Amateur
Top Performances:
1.Tim Robinson, Friendship
2.Delroy Lindo, Sinners
3.Sally Hawkins, Bring Her Back
4.Sophie Thatcher, Companion
5.Sora Wong, Bring Her Back
6.Billy Barratt, Bring Her Back
7.Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
8.Gerard Butler, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
9.Meghann Fahy, Drop
10.Keke Palmer, One of Them Days
Most Underrated:
1.Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
2.The Monkey
3.Love Hurts
Most Overrated:
1.Black Bag
2.Final Destination Bloodlines
3.The Accountant 2
Biggest Surprises:
1.Thunderbolts*
2.Ash
3.Fight or Flight
Biggest Letdowns:
1.Wolf Man
2.Final Destination Bloodlines
3.Death of a Unicorn
Top Acting Ensembles:
1.Sinners
2.Bring Her Back
3.Companion
4.Materialists
5.Thunderbolts*
July-December Releases I'm Most Excited to See:
1.Superman
2.Marty Supreme
3.The Running Man
4.The Naked Gun
5.Bugonia
Top Miscellaneous Things I Couldn't Praise Above:
1.The goopy gore, eerie score and psychedelic cinematography that powered the disorienting, visceral atmosphere of Ash.
2.The consistently inventive ways the main character's inability to feel pain was worked into Novocaine's bone-crunching fight scenes.
3.Kate Mara being able to hang with the unpredictable comedic force of nature that is Tim Robinson and delivering some of the biggest laughs in all of Friendship.
4.The strong hangout movie vibe of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera that separated from its grizzled predecessor without removing the unapologetic grime that made it a standout heist movie.
5.Jay Ellis demanding to get an action movie of his own with his badass action hero turn in the final chapter of Freaky Tales.
6.The beautifully cartoonish costuming of every villain and lighting choices of the various places they gather in A Working Man.
7.Love Hurts bringing back the playful silliness and energetic, creative fight choreography of Jackie Chan's pre-Rush Hour ventures in the US.
8.Celine Song baiting people into thinking they were going to see a cutesy love triangle romantic dramedy with Materialists and instead giving them a deeply cynical look at how the superficial commodification of modern dating has taught people to devalue themselves and the humanity of the others, which in turn has made the rare miracle that is real love even harder to find.
9.Havoc shaking off its pretty rough, needlessly convoluted start with a final hour that is full of some of the most relentlessly brutal carnage to appear in any film in the past decade.
10.The perfect needle drops in Companion that elevate several of the funniest moments in the movie.
