Best films released in the UK this month: May 2025
Highlights include Final Destination: Bloodlines, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and The Phoenician Scheme.
May is typically the time of the year when summer blockbuster season gets underway – and that's certainly the case this year, with a jam-packed schedule of big releases in the month ahead.
The month has already enjoyed a good start with Thunderbolts* – the best-reviewed Marvel film for some time – but perhaps the blockbuster that will be causing most eager excitement among film fans is the latest entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise, which arrives on Wednesday 21st.
As if that wasn't enough, that very same week also sees a new film from the always brilliant auteur Wes Anderson, with his latest quirky confection The Phoenician Scheme set to arrive in UK cinemas fresh from a splashy premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Meanwhile, two film franchises – Final Destination and Karate Kid – get their first new entries for some time, there's the latest in Disney's ongoing live-action remake project, and there are intriguing new films featuring the likes of Nicolas Cage, Rosamund Pike, Jenna Ortega and Carey Mulligan. Plenty to be getting on with then!
To help you pick out the highlights, we've put together a selection of some of the best films to watch this month – check out the video above or read on for our choices.
Best films released in the UK this month: May 2025
Thunderbolts*
Release date: Thursday 1st May in cinemas
The latest film in the MCU, which focuses on the titular team of anti-heroes and sees Lewis Pullman join the cast as Bob/The Sentry, has been hailed as a return to form for the franchise after a string of duds, including Captain America: Brave New World.
Thunderbolts* follows events after an unlikely alliance is formed between a ragtag group whose number include Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova and Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes, and also lays the groundwork for the next phase of the MCU and the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.
The Surfer
Release date: Friday 9th May in cinemas
Nicolas Cage stars in this creepy psychological thriller from director Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium), about a man who becomes embroiled in an escalating conflict after taking his son to surf at the beach where he grew up next to.
Julian McMahon also stars in the film, which premiered at the Midnight Screenings section of last year's Cannes Film Festival and has been widely praised by critics.
Final Destination: Bloodlines
Release date: Wednesday 14th May in cinemas
The sixth instalment of the long-running horror series promises more of the franchise's trademark inventive kills, while it also marks the final screen appearance of the late Tony Todd.
The plot again revolves around a group of teens being gruesomely picked off one by one, with the narrative this time revolving around a college student (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) who experiences a recurring nightmare foretelling her family's demise, and so returns home to find the person who can prevent it.
Hurry Up Tomorrow
Release date: Friday 16th May in cinemas
This intriguing thriller serves as a companion to Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye's recent album of the same name, and stars Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan alongside Tesfaye as a fictionalised version of himself, with Trey Edward Shults (It Comes at Night) directing.
The synopsis teases that it portrays Tesfaye as an insomniac musician on the verge of a mental breakdown who is pulled into an existential odyssey by a mysterious stranger.
Hallow Road
Release date: Friday 16th May in cinemas
Rosamund Pike leads this tense thriller from director Babak Anvari (Under the Shadow, I Came By), while Matthew Rhys also stars.
Pike and Rhys play a couple who receive a distressing late-night call from their teenage daughter after she accidentally hits a pedestrian, with the parents then racing to get there before anyone else stumbles across the scene.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Release date: Wednesday 21st May in cinemas
All signs – from the title to the marketing campaign – point to this being Tom Cruise's swan song as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, so we can expect some very daring stunts and action sequences in the franchise's eighth film.
It will follow on directly from 2023's Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, with Ethan and his allies continuing their mission to stop Gabriel from obtaining the AI program known as the Entity.
The Phoenician Scheme
Release date: Friday 23rd May in cinemas
Wes Anderson returns with another typically star-studded comedy, this time tackling the espionage genre in his trademark quirky, pastel-hued style.
The mammoth cast is led by Benicio del Toro as a wealthy businessman named Zsa-zsa Korda who, along with his nun daughter Sister Leisl (Mia Threapleton), embarks on a new enterprise and becomes the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists, and determined assassins.
Lilo & Stitch
Release date: Friday 23rd May in cinemas
The 2002 animation becomes the latest Disney property to get the live-action treatment, with Marcel the Shell with Shoes On director Dean Fleischer Camp now the man behind the camera.
The plot will be familiar to most: a lonely girl in Hawaii adopts a rogue alien, unaware that he was genetically engineered to be a force of destruction, and is being pursued by aliens after making an illegal escape to Earth.
The Ballad of Wallis Island
Release date: Friday 30th May in cinemas
Tim Key and Tom Basden take on the lead roles in this charming comedy-drama they co-wrote, about an eccentric millionaire (Key) who tries to reunite his favourite folk duo at a private gig on his island
Carey Mulligan shines as the former partner –in music and life – of Basden's Herb McGwyer, while Key delivers some brilliant lines in his usual comic persona, making this a film that is both tender and hilarious.
The Salt Path
Release date: Friday 30th May in cinemas
This true-life drama starring Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson is based on Raynor Winn's 2018 memoir, following a couple who embark on a year-long coastal trek after suffering numerous setbacks.
They had been left homeless after they were evicted from their farm, while Moth (Isaacs) had been diagnosed with a rare–but–seemingly terminal condition, but they find themselves rejuvenated by their walk along England's longest uninterrupted path.
Karate Kid: Legends
Release date: Friday 30th May in cinemas
The sixth film in the Karate Kid franchise – and the first since 2010 – picks up three years after the events of TV spin-off Cobra Kai, with Ben Wang introduced as the main lead.
Franchise stars Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio both return, with the synopsis teasing that it follows kung fu prodigy Li Fong (Wang) as he learns from Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso to merge kung fu with karate for the ultimate martial arts showdown.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
