I was lucky enough to see 323 new releases films over the course of 2025. Here is a rundown of the top 25 movies I saw between theaters, festivals and at home viewings. Check out what the Cinescape en...

A brilliant modern American epic bolstered by it’s incredible direction, incisively funny but sensitive writing and a dynamite ensemble cast, Paul Thomas Anderson’s action-thriller One Battle After An...

An ambitiously scaled and cosmically charged superhero adventure, Kevin Feige and Matt Shakman’s Fantastic Four: First Steps stumbles a bit here and there due its miscast leading man, thin writing and...

A sharp and darkly hilarious examination of the absurdity, discontent, and division of the early days of pandemic-era America, Ari Aster’s neo-western Eddington is a film that is bound to polarize aud...

A brilliant piece of absurdist comedy that manages to mine some pathos in its exploration of the desire for acceptance within relationships, Andrew DeYoung’s Friendship manages to be hilarious, distur...

A horror-thriller that is thin on storytelling but full of fun and gory thrills, Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s Final Destination Bloodlines certainly isn’t the best entry into this decades old franch...

An exhaustingly experimental and formless album companion piece in the shape of a film, Trey Edward Shults’ psychological thriller Hurry Up Tomorrow is a piece of cinema that contains multitudes, most...

Cliche ridden and empty headed fun, Clown In A Cornfield feels more suited for a direct to VHS display stand in 1999 than it does for modern theaters. Despite being poorly written, full of flat perfor...

A charming and hilarious though simply and effectively drawn story, James Griffiths’ comedy The Ballad of Wallis Island is a feel-good watch that deftly balances its quirky humor with a sincere charac...

A contrived and altogether unnecessary sequel to 2018 comic-thriller A Simple Favor, Paul Feig’s Another Simple Favor fails to improve upon its predecessor in terms of storytelling and performances de...

An imperfect though spirited action-adventure movie from Marvel Studios, Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts* works best when it’s exploring the psychological and interpersonal dynamics of its titular team, ...

A hypnotic and sun-beat psychological thriller, Lorcan Finnegan’s The Surfer is an entertainingly deranged look at one man’s obsession causing him to come unraveled. While it is a bit too intense to r...

A cold though strangely heartfelt meditation on grief from David Cronenberg, The Shrouds is a solid movie that explores the human desire to find meaning in endings and the new beginnings that spring f...

A simple but exceedingly well made adventure-fantasy, Isaiah Saxon’s The Legend of Ochi is a welcome spin on its genre that features some of the year’s best cinematography and direction of a family fi...

A southern-gothic epic that defies genre lines, Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is a bold cinematic experience that soars on the vision of the director and his collaborators both in front of and behind the cam...

A well intentioned but somewhat underwhelming melodrama, Daniel Minahan’s On Swift Horses lacks the fire and passion you might expect from a story like this. It is well made, with some decent performa...

A violent and visceral Iraq war thriller drawn from the memories of one of its co-director’s own time in combat, Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare is a gripping film that is among the most intens...

A tightly constructed and entertaining thriller, Christopher Landon’s Drop feels like a callback to simpler times with its brevity and smartly placed tonal shifts that are navigated with aplomb thanks...

A beautifully understated comic-drama about grief and companionship, Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s The Friend is a wonderfully relatable film that boasts exceptional performances from Naomi Watts, ...

Another IP misfire that forgets to tell a compelling story that allows audiences to invest in it for more than its qualities as an adaptation, Jared Hess’ A Minecraft Movie seems less interested in it...

A horror-comedy that somehow manages to be both derivative and entertaining all at once, Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard’s Hell Of A Summer takes a story that feels almost too familiar and finds ways to ...

A solid character drama with an entertaining dive into the showbiz world of daytime game shows, Samir Oliveros’ The Luckiest Man in America features a terrific cast led by a fine lead turn fromPaul Wa...

A haphazardly shaggy comic-drama, Michael Angarano’s Sacramento does a nice job of combining elements of buddy comedy and road-trip movies to deliver a quietly enjoyable watch with some solid performa...

An atmospherically melancholic mystery-noir, Duke Johnson’s live action directorial debut The Actor is a solid film thanks to the elliptical nature of its storytelling and the ensemble cast led by an ...

A disturbing horror film about the helplessness and indignities of old age, James Ashcroft’s The Rule of Jenny Pen is an often unsettling watch with its visceral cinematography and sound, but also boa...

A cliche heavy action-thriller that overstays its welcome, David Ayer’s A Working Man does little to elevate its contrived premise beyond the level of mid 2000s straight to video fare with its poor wr...

An uneven and tonally challenged exercise in comedic horror, Alex Scharfman’s Death of a Unicorn is a film whose whole is lesser than the sum of its parts. Never quite knowing what kind of movie it wa...

An effective though heavy handed and punishing thriller, David Yarovesky’s Locked is an economical low budget genre exercise that is high on masochistic storytelling, featuring a solid performance fro...

The latest in Disney’s uninspired line of live action adaptations of their classic animated films, Marc Webb’s Snow White is a cliched and mawkish effort that fails to live up to its iconic source mat...

A live wire romantic comedy-thriller that is carried by the electrifying lead performances of Ray Nicholson and Samara Weaving, Jimmy Warden’s Borderline is an unheralded charmer that manages to be hi...

A disarmingly charming romantic comic-drama, Chad Hartigan’s The Threesome is one of the most genuinely heartwarming films about unplanned pregnancies ever made. With its smartly written script, great...

An absolutely embarrassing effort in every metric for all parties involved in its production, Joe and Anthony Russo’s The Electric State is not just an early contender for worst film of 2025 but of th...

One of the best films of 2025 so far, Steven Soderbergh’s espionage thriller Black Bag is a tightly constructed, razor sharp piece of cinema that offers up a riveting story and a phenomenal ensemble c...

A grim and intense film about the self destructive nature of obsession and it’s cost, Elijah Bynum’s long delayed Magazine Dreams is a difficult watch that is carried on the broad shoulders of Jonatha...

A fascinating and darkly comic science-fiction epic, Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 is a swing for the fences experience that isn’t quite a home run but is extremely well made and entertaining in the themes...

A clever and violently funny action-comedy, Robert Olsen and Dan Berk’s Novocaine is one of 2025’s most pleasantly heartfelt surprises, featuring a solid cast led by a great leading man turn from Jack...

A slick but shallow action-thriller, Martin Campbell’s Cleaner is a thinly plotted film that may have been more compelling with a stronger lead performance and a rewrite or two. The film wastes the in...

A run of the mill and somewhat pedestrian survival thriller, Alex Parkinson’s dramatized adaptation of his 2019 documentary Last Breath is tailor made audiences that prefer agreeable cliches to more t...

An insane work of absurdist comic-horror for better or worse, Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey is one of the more interesting films of the year even if it is far from one of the best. It’s anachronistic sty...

A powerful comic-drama with an excellent ensemble about holding and moving on from grief, Kyle Haussmann-Stokes’ My Dead Friend Zoe is a moving experience that focuses on the human condition without s...

Featuring an initially interesting premise that gets bogged down by a half baked science fiction plot line, Scott Derrickson’s The Gorge is a mixed bag with an enjoyable first half that loses sight of...

A solid though imperfect return to the MCU after years of more fantastical efforts, Julius Onah’s Captain America: Brave New World plays as more of a down to earth political action-thriller. At its be...

A gorgeously shot and sun drenched Mediterranean coming-of-age drama, Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope is as beautiful as it is vapid in the exploration of its lead character. While the lead performance ...

A charmingly whimsical sequel that caps of a solid trilogy of family films, Dougal Wilson’s Paddington in Peru is a slight step down in quality from its predecessors but is nonetheless an enjoyably li...

A grim and tension filled thriller that plays with perspective, Christopher Andrews’ examination of feuding neighbors, Bring Them Down, is a gripping experience that is at times a bit stylistically ha...

An overly ironic and cliche ridden romantic-comedy slasher hybrid, Josh Ruben’s Heart Eyes has moments of charm and chemistry among its ensemble but suffers from leaning too heavily on the meta of it ...

An emotionally complex yet somehow deceptively simple family drama, Stephen Cole Webley’s Omaha is one of the most difficult watches of the year so far, finding ways to slowly break your heart over an...

A masterful suspense thriller that challenges the viewer to consider the duality that exists within human nature, Alireza Khatami’s The Things You Kill is a fascinating film that sinks its claws into ...

A gripping and creatively edited dramatic thriller that makes brilliant use of camcorder footage, Carmen Emmi’s directorial debut Plainclothes announces the arrival of an interesting new auteur and fe...

A somewhat cliched though beautifully empathetic drama centered around an incredible performance from Stephen James, Rashad Frett’s Ricky is a touching take on the struggles of adjusting to life post-...