2025’s 25 best new movies - from Frankenstein to Sinners

It's been another excellent year for new film releases in the UK – and as you can see from our top 25 below, a very eclectic one too.

As ever, the year started with some great awards contenders that had debuted across the Atlantic at the tail end of 2024 – with the likes of The Brutalist, Nickel Boys and A Real Pain all featuring highly on our list.

Meanwhile, it's also been a spectacular year when it comes to horror, with first Sinners and then Weapons capturing the imaginations of the cinema-going public with bold, original takes on the genre, before Guillermo del Toro delivered his version of one of the most iconic of all horror tales: Frankenstein.

It's perhaps been a slightly less memorable year when it comes to the biggest blockbusters, but we do have at least one franchise film in our list as well: the fourth entry in the Bridget Jones franchise. Plus there are all sorts of great international films, independent gems and unexpected hits, so prepare to add a film or two to your watchlists.

But what came in at number one? Scroll down our list to find out.

25. The Seed of the Sacred Fig

This political thriller from Iranian writer/director Mohammad Rasoulof was made in secret, with its 2024 premiere leading to his arrest and eventual exile abroad. Set during the 2022 mass protests against the government, Rasoulof's impressive allegorical drama begins with Tehran lawyer Iman (Missagh Zareh) promoted to investigating judge, pleasing his loyal wife (Soheila Golestani) and two daughters.

But the violent unrest on the streets soon renders Iman little more than a rubber stamp for swift draconian punishment, demoralising him and horrifying his offspring who begin to question his actions, especially after a female friend is shot and injured by police.

The fraying of family relations is a slow-burning, claustrophobic and yet beautifully modulated affair, punctuated by visceral real-life news footage of the protests and subsequent police brutality. However, when Iman’s government handgun goes missing, suspicion, mistrust and paranoia take over, threatening the women and leading to a riveting denouement in the desert worthy of many a top thriller. – Jeremy Aspinall, Freelance Reviewer

24. Dreams (Oslo Stories Trilogy)

There’s something delicate in the craft of this unique Norwegian drama, which follows a 17-year-old girl named Johanne (Ella Øverbye) who becomes increasingly besotted with her new teacher – an experience that soon begins to disrupt the relationship between Johanne, her mother and her grandmother.

The second part of Dag Johan Haugerud’s Oslo Stories trilogy, exploring the intricacies of human relationships, Dreams is gentle-handed and non-judgmental in its examination of Johanne’s vulnerability, and in the shifting relationship dynamics that shape her throughout the course of the film. Powerful in both its writing and direction, this is a literary-infused, emotionally rich coming-of-age story that settles inside a quiet area of the human experience. – Chezelle Bingham, Sub-Editor

23. Frankenstein

"Frankenstein is a film — and a tale — that touches the very essence of what I am and all that I believe in," director Guillermo del Toro told the BFI back in 2012, with his long-awaited adaptation of Mary Shelley's gothic classic finally reaching audiences some thirteen years later. While some passion projects can be desperate vanity escapades, this one is far more triumphant, with Del Toro using his decades of genre eccentricities to create a tale as grotesque as it is poignant.

Chiseled Hollywood star Jacob Elordi dons heavy white makeup to portray Frankenstein's iconic monster and does so with enough subtlety to carry the emotional heart of the film, chasing his estranged father figure (Oscar Isaac) across the globe to demand a reason for his forsaken existence. It’s a fleshy and absorbing tale accentuated by terrific performances from a dedicated ensemble cast and an inviting world of grandeur that will have you wanting to stay for longer than just 149 minutes. – Calum Russell, Sub-Editor

22. Bring Her Back

It seems that with every year, horror films just continue to raise the bar – and with their sophomore feature Bring Her Back, directors Danny and Michael Philippou created yet another terrifying hit. Sally Hawkins is brilliant as Laura, an emotionally intense foster mother who takes on newly-orphaned kids Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong). The duo manage to settle into their new home despite Laura’s unusual, unhinged behaviours, but it doesn’t take long for Andy and Piper to discover darker secrets behind her eccentric persona, as well as the reality concerning the alarming presence of new foster brother Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips).

Certainly a film that is much more effective if you know nothing about it going in, Bring Her Back is a gory, unsettling domestic horror that successfully builds nail-biting, demonic tension and terminates in a satisfying, emotional conclusion without having to rely solely on jump scares – though of course, there are still enough of them to have you panicking. It's a film that could easily secure a place on your supernatural horror master list. – CB

21. It Was Just an Accident

Jafar Panahi continues his extraordinary career with the superb It Was Just an Accident – a film that earned him both a Palme d’Or Award in Cannes and a prison sentence in his home country of Iran. It tells the story of a mechanic who believes he has found the sadistic guard who tortured him on behalf of the Iranian regime years earlier. Or has he? What follows is an exploration of justice versus vengeance, action versus restraint, and whether you can ever outrun the trauma of the past without ending the cycle of violence for the future.

Despite the political fury, there is a searing humanity that runs through the film – the happy couple posing for their wedding photos, the young girl who just wants her father to dance with her, a surprising kindness in extreme circumstances at a hospital. It builds to a ferocious climax punctuated by a final scene that sucks all the air out of the room and leaves you frozen in your seat as the end credits roll by. – Christian Tobin, Production Editor

20. Pillion

You might think a BDSM love story in a motorcycle gang is quite niche for a romantic comedy. Still, first-time feature director Harry Leighton makes this so vividly realised and with such humour and heart that it’s possibly one of the most touching films of the year.

Adapting the much more tragic novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones, Pillion tells the story of the shy but sweet Colin (a wonderful Harry Melling) who meets the tall, handsome and mysterious biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård at his most charismatic) and from there enters into a submissive relationship with him and is introduced into a subculture where he discovers fraternity and also truths about his identity.

Also watch out for a stunning turn from Lesley Sharp as Colin’s ailing mother, who is willing to be blunt to get the best for her son. It’s also arguably another entry in the alternative Christmas film list. This is moving, hilarious, and subversive. – Lewis Knight, Trends Editor

19. Hard Truths

Throughout his career, Mike Leigh has crafted some of the best, most complex portraits of working class life in the history of British cinema, and this latest drama was another slam dunk for the veteran filmmaker.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste is in ferocious form as Pansy, a misanthropic woman whose frequent disgruntled outbursts are initially the source of great hilarity for the audience until Leigh gradually makes us feel great empathy for a complicated woman who has been pushed to breaking point.

The performances of Baptiste and Michele Austin – who plays Pansy's chipper younger sister Chantelle – complement each other perfectly, and both actors can consider themselves unfortunate not to have been rewarded with Oscar nominations earlier in the year. It's an always engaging, finely nuanced character study that reminds us we don't always know what pains people are hiding. – Patrick Cremona, Senior Film Writer

18. Nosferatu

Period horror maestro Robert Eggers returned with his chilling update on the silent movie classic Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922), itself inspired by Bram Stoker’s iconic novel Dracula. Eggers’s film centres the action very much in the psychosexual journey of the lead heroine Ellen Hutter, played by an exemplary Lily-Rose Depp, who feels a psychic connection with the monstrous count from a faraway land.

Still, their connection grows ever closer to the physical as her husband ends up in grave danger in the monster’s thrall. Embracing a gothic aesthetic, immense dread, and a truly ghoulish turn from Bill Skarsgård as the titular vampire, Nosferatu is a dark tale of identity, sin, and the pull of destiny.

The supporting players are also a treat, particularly the likes of Nicholas Hoult as Ellen’s perennially struggling husband Thomas and a suitably quirky Willem Dafoe as the vampire expert Albin Eberhart von Franz. Intoxicating, chilling, and experiential, just like any good vampire flick should be. – LK

17. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Oh Bridget! Those are the only words I could utter after watching Mad About the Boy, a beautiful fourth and final outing in the Bridget Jones’s Diary franchise.

Not only are you left in a puddle of tears upon realising Mr Darcy is no longer by Bridget’s side, but also you see yourself in Bridget as she tries to find her own feet, whether it be as a single mother juggling a job or finding romance in an unlikely suitor – there’s a version of Bridget in everyone.

While there’s a sadness to be felt as the film cements itself as the last time we’ll see our frazzled Bridget, it’s a perfect conclusion to the romantic comedy saga we’ve been treated to over the past two decades. – Katelyn Mensah, Senior Entertainment and Factual Writer

16. Die My Love

Jennifer Lawrence immaculately straddles a careful balance between heartbreak and humour in Die My Love, the latest film from Lynne Ramsay, which explores the complexities of motherhood and mental health. Based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Ariana Harwicz, Lawrence stars as Grace, a new mother who has recently moved from New York to rural Montana with her unhelpful partner Jackson (Robert Pattinson). After the birth of her son, Grace’s life begins to unravel – further catalysed by loneliness, boredom and an insufferable barking dog that idle Jackson brings into their home.

While perhaps more of a slow-burn than some of the other films on this list, it’s Lawrence's performance that makes this film so completely watchable. She’s deeply sympathetic as a woman on the edge of emotional exhaustion, and partnered with Ramsay’s intimate direction, a perfectly curated soundtrack and a powerful cast that includes the likes of Sissy Spacek and LaKeith Stanfield, Die My Love is a film that is both compelling and passionately crafted. – CB

15. Bugonia

There was likely never any doubt that the most recent collaboration between Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos would make it onto this list, with its unpredictable premise, frantic tension and superb performances. An English-language remake of the South Korean film Save the Green Planet, the black comedy sci-fi follows the events that occur when two conspiracy theorist cousins (played by Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) kidnap a pharmaceutical CEO (Emma Stone) after they become convinced that she’s a member of an alien race known as the Andromedans.

What results is 118 minutes of dark hilarity, serious tension and violent paranoia – all while confronting some unfortunately increasingly relevant questions about the state of humanity, and just how far humans will go to prove themselves right. Emma Stone remains a true powerhouse, and is ably supported by the strengths of Plemons and Delbis’s grease-covered cousins Teddy and Donny, as well as the surreal, trademark characteristics of any Lanthimos feature. With a divisive final sequence that will leave you reeling, if slightly perplexed, Bugonia warns us all of the dangers of going too far down the rabbit hole. – CB

14. On Falling

Laura Carreira captures the eroding human spirit of an exploited gig economy worker with Loachian precision in her excellent debut feature. Holding a mirror up to one of society's most forgotten realities, On Falling tells the story of Aurora (Joana Santos), a Portuguese worker in a Scottish warehouse who tries to find fulfilment and human connection in a job that strips individuals of agency.

It’s by no means an easy film to sit through, with Carreira confronting the cold realities such jobs present for their workers. Yet, amidst the haunting bleakness, a tender tale unfolds that quite beautifully illustrates the pain of quietly repressing what it means to be human. In one of the year’s most quietly devastating performances, Santos bottles a vacant anguish that is utterly heart-wrenching to see steadily surface. – CR

13. Dying

This blacky comic German melodrama explores the fraught dynamics of a dysfunctional family. Elderly parents Lissy and Gerd have been diagnosed with cancer and dementia respectively, while their adult children are too preoccupied with their own problems to offer much support.

Conductor Tom is immersed in rehearsals for the premiere of an orchestral work named Dying, and is about to become a co-parent, while his estranged sister Ellen is prone to alcohol binges. Despite its various deaths, Matthias Glasner’s powerfully acted film beautifully fuses the tragic and the comic in its engaging portrayal of characters stumbling through the messiness of their lives. – Tom Dawson, Freelance Reviewer

12. The Long Walk

Not every recent Stephen King adaptation has been especially well-received, but The Long Walk smashed all expectations. The film follows 50 boys partaking in a twisted walking marathon in which they must march at a pace of three miles per hour or die. The desperation to survive is portrayed so effortlessly by each young boy, from Arthur’s (Tut Nyuot) devastating final wish for his grandmother, to the painful loss of Hank (Ben Wang).

But the true stars of this movie are David Jonsson and Cooper Hoffman, whose characters forge an unlikely friendship which is only the more impactful upon the realisation only one of them can survive. It’s the pair’s chemistry that truly makes the film, as you find yourself rooting for both of them to succeed, and increasingly feel as if you are on this dire walk alongside them. – KM

11. Sorry, Baby

The directorial debut of comedy writer Eva Victor, this is a sensitive, melancholic but ultimately life-affirming film that finds a delicate balance between pain and humour in the aftermath of a deeply traumatic incident.

Victor stars in the lead role of Agnes, a high-achieving academic whose life is upended when she is sexually assaulted by her supervisor, with the film unfolding across various chapters as she slowly attempts to rebuild her life while confronting the numerous ways in which it has been forever changed.

The film wisely avoids showing the incident of violence – which is referred to throughout only as The Bad Thing – and is all the more powerful for it, while as the narrative progresses there are a number of beautifully written interactions as Agnes navigates the difficult emotional complexities of her new life. The supporting cast, including Naomi Ackie as Agnes's empathetic, supportive best friend and Lucas Hedges as her affable neighbour and later lover, add plenty of warmth, and the film also includes perhaps the finest cat of 2025's cinema slate. – PC

10. Nickel Boys

This audacious Oscar-nominated adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer prize-winning novel is an original work of heart-wrenching power. Adopting an innovative point-of-view visual approach, direcrer RaMell Ross telsl the story of Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse), an African-American teenager who is wrongly implicated in a car theft and sent to a racially segregated reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.

While there, he strikes up a bond with the quietly rebellious Turner (Brandon Wilson) and tries desperately to search for hope and salvation against a backdrop of unbearable brutality. The unique shooting style takes some adjusting to, but quickly draws the viewer under its spell, creating a tactile and profoundly immersive experience punctuated by some deeply harrowing scenes.

Meanwhile, Ross also adds several impressionistic flourishes and makes innovative use of archival footage and well-placed flash-forwards, leading to an astounding montage in the closing scenes. Both leads are fantastic, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is remarkable in a supporting role as Elwood's grandmother, shining in some of the film's most raw and affecting moments. – PC

9. Marty Supreme

The kinetic and chaotic Marty Supreme centres on ping pong prodigy Marty Mauser, and bounces appropriately enough back and forth from one exhilarating scene to another at a mile a minute. Small sub-plots snowball into major narrative drivers as Marty’s relentless pursuit of glory sees all those around him caught in his whirlwind – for better and (frequently) for worse.

There are standout supporting turns from Odessa A'zion and Gwyneth Paltrow who extract every last drop of screwball farce from Josh Safdie’s go-for-broke script, while a smart use of '80s music signposts that for all his faults, Marty is a man ahead of his time. Much like its central figure, the film is exhausting, provocative and undeniably brilliant.

But the real star of the show is of course Timothée Chalamet, in his best performance to date. The Dune and Wonka actor made headlines at this year’s SAG Awards when he declared that he wants to be "one of the greats". With Marty Supreme under his belt, he’s already well on his way. – CT

8. 28 Years Later

In the years since Danny Boyle and Alex Garland unleashed 28 Days Later on cinema-goers, zombies (or zombie equivalents) have become ten-a-penny, from The Walking Dead to The Last of Us. So why resurrect a franchise that looked firmly six feet under?

28 Years Later answers that question beautifully. Yes, there’s spinal cord-ripping carnage, but the focus here is on a fractured Britain looking to rebuild its identity and rewrite its own mythology in a post-post-apocalypse, where society bears more resemblance to the grotesque Slow-Lows that crawl along the ground than the imposing Alpha variants that rule the horizon.

At the heart of it is an excellent Alfie Williams as young Spike, whose notion of heroism is upended as the film moves from fantastical horror to something all the more recognisable and devastating – before pulling the rug again with a truly gonzo ending. With hotly tipped sequel The Bone Temple arriving in January, and reports of a third movie in active development, the 28 Years series still has plenty of room yet to rage against the dying of the light. – CT

7. A Real Pain

Jesse Eisenberg screenwriting and directorial debut When You Finish Saving the World may have divided audiences, but he managed to hit a home-run with this Oscar-winning comedy-drama. The script, about two cousins on a Jewish heritage tour through Poland, feels both deeply personal and also profoundly universal.

The characters, both Eisenberg’s Benji and Kieran Culkin’s David, are exceptionally well-drawn – if you don’t feel like you know one of these people, then chances are you are one of these people. David also feels like the role Culkin was born to play, and the fact that Eisenberg didn’t write it with the actor already firmly in mind is baffling.

While the film has big things on its mind, and delves into some weighty topics, the darkness never threatens to overwhelm the light and vice versa. There are some big laughs here, not just courtesy of the central duo, but also thanks to the supporting cast, including an excellent turn from Will Sharpe. – James Hibbs, Drama Writer

6. Train Dreams

Joel Edgerton is God’s Lonely Man in Clint Bentley’s adaptation of Denis Johnson’s epic novella of the same name, which delicately tells the tale of an American railroad labourer grappling with life’s most existential questions. A quiet, introspective soul, Robert Grainier (Edgerton) finds contentment when he starts a family with fellow wholesome soul Gladys (Felicity Jones), only for his life to be upended by tragedy.

What follows is an absorbing and pensive examination of what it means to be human in a world of wild devastation. Terrence Malick-like in its execution, Bentley harnesses the beauty of the natural world to punctuate his tale, coaxing you into the world of the film with some of the year’s most gorgeous cinematography. Powerful and succinct, Train Dreams is a pocket-sized ballad to the wonder of the everyday. – CR

5. The Ballad of Wallis Island

Every year, film fans prep their calendars with what they want to see, and already have in their mind’s eye an idea of what the biggest hits will be, the ones that will top their best of lists come December. Every year, those lists are upended by some true surprises, with one of 2025’s biggest being The Ballad of Wallis Island.

This charming, funny, heartfelt film written by and starring Tom Basden and Tim Key, alongside Carey Mulligan, has a simple set-up, following a lottery winner who tries to reunite his favourite folk duo for a one-off, personal concert. It's a set-up which allows the character interactions space to breathe and Key’s winning comedic performance to shine through, and despite being set entirely on one small island, and featuring only a handful of characters, it never outstays its welcome, clocking in at a perfect 100 minutes.

It also boasts one of the strongest, most ear-worm filled soundtracks of the year, meaning you will truly believe that McWyer Mortimer could have the hold on Key’s Charles that they do. Expect to laugh, well-up and tap your foot throughout, and even for long after – this is the type of film that stays with you. - JH

4. Weapons

Writer/director Zach Cregger followed up his 2022 horror hit Barbarian with this unnerving and thunderously entertaining horror epic, which follows events in the aftermath of a deeply troubling incident in a suburban US town: one night, without explanation, all but one student in the third-grade class of a new teacher (Julia Garner) vanished from their homes.

Divulging further plot details would severely dampen the viewing experience, but the non-linear structure employed by Cregger – who unspools the narrative from six different perspectives – allows the film to explore the complex ways people's psyches are affected by broken communities, traumatic events and surrounding public storms.

Each chapter gradually teases more information about the bizarre events engulfing the town, resulting in a propulsive, perfectly-paced thriller that leaves things tantalisingly mysterious until a superb late reveal that introduces an instantly iconic villain. Of course, there are frights aplenty, with Cregger tapping into nightmarish, fairytale-esque imagery, but also no shortage of evidence of the director's comedic roots. It's the deft way in which he juggles those tones that made Weapons such a refreshing triumph. – PC

3. The Brutalist

Director Brady Corbet helms another epic piece of cinema with this (ahem) brutal take on the American Dream. Anchored by a stunning turn from Adrien Brody as traumatised Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor and architect László Tóth, who comes to the US seeking a better life for himself and his family but faces trials and tribulations – mostly at the hands of self-serving industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (a brilliantly underplayed Guy Pearce).

There is absolutely moving work too from the still (somehow) criminally underrated Felicity Jones as Erzsébet Tóth, László’s wife, whom he reunites with during the film after the years of wickedness they have both experienced. This beast of a film gives scale, scope and sadness, with gorgeous cinematography from Lol Crawley and a stirring score from Daniel Blumberg.

Ultimately, Corbet remains a true auteur, and we can only wait in anticipation for what he has up his sleeve next. – LK

2. One Battle After Another

A new Paul Thomas Anderson film is always something to get excited for, yet despite the variety of the writer-director’s back catalogue, I don’t think anyone could have quite expected what he delivered here. A loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, One Battle After Another is both a incredibly specific, one-of-a-kind picture from an auteur filmmaker, yet it’s also a genuinely propulsive, thrilling action movie, able to captivate all manner of film fans.

The cast are all on top form here, whether it’s Leonardo DiCaprio carrying the weight of the narrative on his back, Chase Infiniti stealing scenes left, right and centre, Benicio Del Toro bringing the laughs or Sean Penn giving us one of the most profoundly unsettling villains of recent years.

Meanwhile, Anderson truly delivers the goods, with breathtakingly staged, pulse-racing action, visually sumptuous sequences, impressive pacing across all 162 minutes and a superb team behind him all the way, including cinematographer Michael Bauman and composer Jonny Greenwood. – JH

1. Sinners

Sinners is yet another masterful outing from Ryan Coogler, following twin brothers Smoke and Stack (Michael B Jordan) on their return to their Mississippi hometown to rebuild their lives; only, something far darker awaits them.

Shot entirely in both IMAX and Ultra Panavision cameras, the movie is spectacularly captured, particularly the Juke Joint dance scene which should rightfully go down in history as one of the most beautifully crafted scenes in cinema.

Ludwig Göransson’s score effortlessly blends Irish folk music with the blues, providing a soundtrack to oppression intertwined with freedom, as each character runs away from the troubles of their everyday lives to be free, even if it’s just for one night. – KM

The following writers submitted lists for this poll: Jeremy Aspinall, Calum Baker, Chezelle Bingham, Max Copeman, Patrick Cremona, Tom Dawson, Darcy Giles, Dave Golder, Kevin Harley, James Hibbs, Alan Jones, Lewis Knight, Sean McGeady, Katelyn Mensah, Steve Morrissey, Molly Moss, James Mottram, Jayne Nelson, David Parkinson, Emma Simmonds, Terry Staunton, Christian Tobin, Amber Wilkinson, Jamie Windust, and Josh Winning.

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