2025 is shaping up to be a cinematic feast, with silver-screen gems ready to dazzle audiences. From pulse-pounding blockbusters to thought-provoking indie films, this year’s releases promise something for every movie lover.
Whether you’re itching for high-octane action, heartwarming dramas or laugh-out-loud comedies, the lineup is packed with unforgettable stories and star-studded casts.
Here’s your guide to the best new films of 2025.
A Complete Unknown
17 January
The year in film begins and ends with a Chalamet biopic, with Timothee kicking things off as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Bob’s apparently given it the big thumbs up, praising Chalamet, the film and the book it’s based on, Elijah Wald’s ‘Dylan Goes Electric’.
Edward Norton and Elle Fanning also star in the sixties-set film putting Chalamet firmly in Academy Awards contention.
The Brutalist
24 January
Also in the running, presumably, will be Adrien Brody in the lengthy post-war architecture epic, The Brutalist. Despite its massive three-and-a-half-hour run time, initial reviews have been extremely positive.
Brody plays a holocaust surviving architect who moves to the US to begin a distinguished career under Guy Pearce’s rich man tutelage.
The Phoenician Scheme
TBD
The year’s slice of Andersonian caper is expected to come in the form of The Phoenician Scheme, a father-and-daughter espionage comedy drama co-written with Roman Coppola.
Details are muted but as is tradition, expect an ensemble cast of familiar names, with a few newbies for good measure.
The Monkey
21 February
Last year’s horror of the year contender Longlegs – the highest-grossing indie of 2024, as well as studio Neon’s highest-grossing ever – means incoming Oz Perkins joint The Monkey will arrive this year with serious hype.
Based on a Stephen King story, the film sees a toy monkey wreaking gruesome havoc.
Mickey 17
April 18
Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up on 2019’s Parasite has taken a while. Plenty of rumours are circulating as to why, but hopefully, come April, we’ll be able to dig into some oddball Pattinson space satire.
Bong described the film to Empire magazine: “Ultimately, the story is about how pathetic humans can be.” We’re here for it.
Warfare
TBD
Alex Garland is doing war for A24 again after last year’s dystopian Civil War, and they’re saying it will be the studio’s most expensive one yet. Set during the most recent Iraq war, the film follows US soldiers embedded with an Iraqi family.
Like many war films that become actor launchpads, Warfare will feature a rising star-studded cast including Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Michael Gandolfini, Joseph Quinn and comparable old-timer Will Poulter.
Golden
May 15
Not content with watching Pharrell’s life told through the medium of Lego? How about a dramatised real-life ode to the place where he grew up, visualised by music video extraordinaire Michel Gondry? Sounds good.
Following the animated biopic Piece by Piece, Golden will be a coming-of-age comedy-drama musical depicting the magical Virginia neighbourhood in which Pharrell Williams grew up.
28 Years Later
June 20
Danny Boyle (directing) and Alex Garland (writing) have joined forces again for the sake of zombie films with a third instalment of the 28 franchise. The film continues where the previous left off with a group of survivors living in a fortified island compound amid an extreme quarantine. What could possibly go wrong?
Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and Aaron Taylor-Johnson star.
F1
27 June
Described by Little White Lies as a ‘blockbuster brainiac’ (kudos), Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski returns in 2025 with a Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem-helmed racing drama. I mean, yes, we’re sold, sign us up and melt our brain.
Pitt’s aged F1 driver comes out of retirement to mentor a young driver, presumably Mr Miyagi style, and well, yeah. Top Gun: Maverick but with cars. Say no more.
Superman: Legacy
11 July
We’ve quietly protested against superhero films on this list due to the now fatiguing levels of relentless tedium (sorry, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four and new Captain America). Still, despite the huge pressure and jeopardy, we’d quite like the new Superman to work.
James Gunn is the latest ringer in the DC hot seat tasked with making something good. David Corenswet is the man of steel, and Nicholas Hoult is Lex Luther. Let’s see how it goes.
The Battle of Baktan Cross
August 8
Surely not Paul Thomas Anderson adapting Thomas Pynchon again? Yep, he is. If you didn’t like Inherent Vice, maybe give this one a swerve. That said, it’s PTA working with Leonardo DiCaprio, so it’s worth holding that thought.
Rumoured to be based on Pynchon’s Vineland, a postmodern novel based around people in Regan’s 80s reminiscing about their free-wheeling ’60s youth, anything attached to PTA is worth checking out.
Bugonia
November 7
Surely one of the most prolific filmmakers of recent times, not to mention one of the weirdest, Yorgos Lanthimos is yet again leading with Emma Stone front and centre (Jesse Plemons also on board) at the end of 2025, with a Korean horror comedy.
Bugonia is a remake of Save The Green Planet! based around a man kidnapping another man, convinced he’s an alien sent to destroy Earth. Reading up on the original’s plot suggests another suitably oddball trip to the cinema.
Marty Supreme
Late 2025 / early 2026
It’s a big year for the Safdie brothers, even if they’re not working together like they did for Uncut Gems. Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine will see Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in a biopic of UFC fighter Mark Kerr, while Josh will round the year off with Timothee Chalamet in Marty Supreme.
The latter is the one we’re most looking forward to, with Chalamet playing the 1950s table tennis pro Marty Reisman alongside an intriguing cast including Gwyneth Paltrow, Tyler, The Creator, Abel Ferrara and Fran Drescher.
