The Best Films of 2025 (So Far)
“Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan have done it again. Their latest collaboration is a bold (and surprisingly sexy) film that transcends genres and generations, mixing vampire lore with the rich history of blues music in the Black American south. Jordan plays double duty as twins Smoke and Stack, who, after some time working for mobsters in Chicago, return home to Mississippi to open a juke joint in the sweltering heat. But things get bloody when some unwanted visitors show up. With stellar supporting performances from Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo, and newcomer Miles Caton (who boasts some serious pipes), Sinners is campy, pulpy, and one of a kind. The way Coogler got people to flock to the theaters to watch IMAX 70mm showings? That’s a feat in and of itself.”—Erica Gonzales, deputy editor, culture
“Can we please give Robert Pattinson two Oscars for his dual performance in Bong Joon Ho’s hilarious and oddly hopeful anti-capitalist sci-fi film, Mickey 17? Pattinson is masterful in the role(s) of Mickey—a human so deeply in debt he agrees to be an ‘expendable’ aboard a spaceship just to escape Earth. The catch is that the position requires him to do dangerous, painful jobs that cause him to die and be ‘reprinted’ again and again. When the space scientists accidentally reprint him while he’s still alive, Mickey 17 and Mickey 18 come face to face, inciting chaos and giving Pattinson the opportunity to truly stretch his legs. Come for the actor’s accent and the adorable Creeper creatures; stay for Bong’s analysis of our current political climate.”—Madison Feller, digital deputy editor
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“A solid buddy comedy just hits different, especially if it’s led by women. Following in the footsteps of Bridesmaids, Booksmart, and Girls Trip, One of Them Days centers on two best friends, Alyssa (SZA) and Dreux (Keke Palmer), who are on a frenzied quest to earn back the rent money Alyssa’s boyfriend squandered so they don’t get evicted. Their laugh-out-loud romp around Los Angeles is packed with cameos (watch out for Janelle James and Keyla Monterroso Mejia), a biscuit thief, and even a tumbleweave. Palmer and SZA’s chemistry is electric, and it sure helps that the screenplay was penned by Insecure writer Syreeta Singleton and produced by Issa Rae herself. It made me miss the bestie antics of Rae’s HBO series and even Broad City. Thankfully, a sequel is already in the works.”—EG
“Companion is what you’d get if M3GAN took a philosophy class and came back with an existential crisis—it’s smart, unsettling, and far more layered than it first lets on. Instead of jump scares, it builds a slow-burn tension that hits hard, especially in a world increasingly shaped by AI. And Sophie Thatcher cements her status as this generation’s scream queen. It’s the kind of thriller that stays with you—and prompts just the right amount of late-night overthinking.”—Claire Stern Milch, digital director
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“Oh, Bowen Yang, you never fail to pull at my heartstrings. The Wedding Banquet, the 2025 remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 film of the same name, is a heartfelt, meaningful cryfest. This modernized version from Andrew Ahn includes a powerhouse cast with Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Youn Yuh-jung, and Yang, and centers on a two-couple friend group. When Min (Han Gi-chan) needs to get married to appease his grandmother (Youn), who does not yet know he’s gay, Min has to marry Angela (Tran) instead of his true love, Chris (Yang), who isn’t quite ready for commitment. What results is an infectious romp that investigates the idea of a modern family.”—Samuel Maude, content strategy manager
“There is nothing I love more than a tight 90-minute feature. Black Bag, the spy thriller starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, is quick, smart, and incredibly entertaining. Fassbender plays George Woodhouse, who is set to investigate a leak in his British intelligence department. His wife, Kathryn (Blanchett), is a suspect, turning their relationship into a cat-and-mouse chase. But the best part of the film? Marisa Abela, who plays suspect Clarissa Dubose. Her funny quips and smart choices really make the movie exceptional.”—SM
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“Celine Song’s latest romance has a lot going for it: a heavy-hitting trio of actors at its core (Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal); an envy-inducing wardrobe; and a zeitgeist-y premise in which a professional matchmaker faces an Austenian conundrum: Is marriage about love or class, chemistry or compatibility? While not nearly as gut-wrenching and nuanced as Song’s Academy Award-nominated Past Lives, Materialists is nevertheless a fascinating peek into the modern marriage market—and a reminder that, as Jane Austen herself put it, ‘There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.’”—Lauren Puckett-Pope, staff culture writer
“Thunderbolts* is far from a perfect movie. It’s not even a perfect Marvel movie. But in an era when Marvel Studios has, unfortunately, been churning out more misses than hits, Thunderbolts* stands out as a fun, provocative take on the superhero team-up saga. It helps that Florence Pugh is such a magnetic actress, leading her band of misfit Thunderbolts as the depressed assassin Yelena Belova, who joins forces with Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Bob Reynolds/The Sentry/Void (Lewis Pullman), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell) to save Manhattan... and advocate for mental health along the way. Endearing and zippy—but still smart—Thunderbolts* (a.k.a. *The New Avengers) is Marvel’s most compelling film in some time.”—LPP
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“Fernanda Torres hive, rise up. Months after watching, I’m still thinking about her Oscar-nominated performance in I’m Still Here, the incredible Brazilian film about Eunice Pavia coping with the disappearance of her husband, Rubens, during Brazil’s military dictatorship. Torres commands the screen, and her mother, the only other Academy Award Best Actress nominee from Brazil, Fernanda Montenegro, also makes an appearance. It’s a moving and incredible film that rightfully won Best International Feature at the 2025 Oscars.”—SM
“I'll always appreciate a genre film that knows exactly what its audience expects from it and delivers, no more and no less. Drop isn’t groundbreaking, but it is a lot of fun. Lead actress Meghann Fahy, in particular, is a treasure to behold in this locked-room heart-pounder, in which her protagonist must successfully navigate a first date, even as the random ‘drops’ on her phone grow increasingly ominous—and violent. Director Christopher Landon keeps the tension taut throughout the hour-and-40-minute runtime, and I didn’t find myself guessing the culprit until moments before they were revealed. This popcorn thriller is certainly absurd, but nevertheless a pleasure to watch.”—LPP
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As featured in our best films of NYFF 2024, before its theatrical release in March 2025:
“Shula (Susan Chardy) is driving home from a party (and dressed like Missy Elliott) when she finds her uncle lying dead in the road. Though she’s surprisingly apathetic to the loss, the ensuing funeral services and family gatherings slowly reveal why. Despite her uncle’s dark history, and the trauma Shula shares with her cousins Bupe and Nsansa, their family still remembers him as an honorable man, in fear of tarnishing his reputation, even in death. Zambian-Welsh director and screenwriter Rungano Nyoni, who won a Cannes prize [in 2024], shows the harm that kind of secrecy can do to a family, especially to young women. She also challenges that blind loyalty: What if we didn’t ignore the things someone has done just because we’re kin? What if we held them accountable? Nyoni’s film is surreal yet relatable, infuriating yet inspiring.”—EG
As featured in our best films of TIFF 2024, before its theatrical release in March 2025: “Despite its familiar sci-fi set-up—a couple in a climate-ravaged dystopian future seek to have a child—Fleur Fortuné’s The Assessment is a deftly surprising take on the twin instincts of parental anxiety and species survival. With gorgeous cinematography from Magnus Nordenhof Jønck, the film introduces hopeful parents Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) to their so-called ‘assessor,’ Virginia (Alicia Vikander). She has arrived as a government representative to determine whether Mia and Aaryan are fit to have a child, but as her own behavior becomes increasingly bizarre—and childlike—Mia and Aaryan realize that the world outside their own four walls is even darker than it seems.”—LPP
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