Category: 2025 Movie Reviews
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The 25 Best Horror Films of 2025 — Ranked
Fear, flesh, and feeling collide in 2025’s most unforgettable horror films. From intimate character studies to blood-soaked spectacles, this year’s genre offerings pushed boundaries, challenged expectations, and proved once again why horror remains one of cinema’s most vital storytelling spaces. Here are my 25 favorite horror films of 2025 — ranked, reflected on, and celebrated…
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Arco Is a Future You Want to Get Lost In — Here’s Why
Release Date: limited U.S. release November 14, 2025 (Neon) Runtime: 89 minutes (1h 29m) Rated: PG Production Companies: Remembers, MountainA, France 3 Cinéma, Fit Via Vi Film Productions, Sons of Rigor Producers: Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman, Ugo (Ugo/Ugo Bienvenu) Bienvenu (producer credits) Animation/Visual leads: Adam Sillard (animation lead) and Fabio Besse (production design)…
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Sirāt Is the Bad-Feel Movie of the Year — And It Hurts to Look Away
Release Date: November 14, 2025 (U.S. Release) Runtime: 115 minutes (1h 55m) Rated: R Production Companies: Los Desertores Films AIE, Telefónica Audiovisual Digital, Filmes da Ermida, El Deseo, Uri Films, 4A4 Productions Producers: Domingo Corral, Óliver Laxe, Xavi Font, Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar, Esther García, Oriol Maymó, Mani Mortazavi, Andrea Queralt Cinematography: Mauro Herce Editing: Cristóbal…
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“Sentimental Value”: Joachim Trier’s Most Tender Exploration of Family, Art, and Memory
Release Date: November 7, 2025 (Limited) Runtime: 133 minutes (2h 14m) Rated: R — some language, a sexual reference, and brief nudity Production Companies: Mer Film, Eye Eye Pictures, MK Productions, BBC Film, Lumen Production, Komplizen Film, Zentropa, Zentropa Sweden, Film i Väst, Alaz Film Producers: Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar Cinematography: Kasper Tuxen Editing: Olivier…
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It Was Just an Accident: Jafar Panahi’s Defiant Masterwork of Vengeance and Forgiveness
Release Date: US theatrical release began Oct 15, 2025 Runtime: 104 minutes (1h 44m) Rated: PG-13 — violence, smoking, thematic elements, strong language Production Companies: Jafar Panahi Productions, Les Films Pelléas, Bidibul Productions, Pio & Co, Arte France Cinéma Producers: Jafar Panahi, Philippe Martin Cinematography: Amin Jafari Editing: Amir Etminan Music / Composer: Abdorreza Heidari It…
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Terror Through the Lens: 2025’s Most Ambitious Found Footage Films
Since its horror inception with a film like Cannibal Holocaust (1980), the found footage genre has long found a welcoming and supportive home within horror itself. From there, we can trace clever and tactical marketing strategies that paved the way for The Blair Witch Project (1999), whose success relied on the persuasive and deceiving nature…
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After the Hunt Review: Julia Roberts and Luca Guadagnino Deliver a Morally Complex Academic Thriller
Release Date: Wide/US theatrical release began Oct 10, 2025 Runtime: 139 minutes (2h 19m) Rated: R — for language and sexual content / mature themes Production Companies: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Amazon MGM Studios, Imagine Entertainment, Frenesy Film Company, Big Indie Pictures Producers: Brian Grazer, Luca Guadagnino, Allan Mandelbaum Cinematography: Malik Hassan Sayeed Editing: Marco Costa Music /…
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The Black Phone 2 Review — A Haunting Return to Trauma, Faith, and Fear
Release Date: October 17, 2025 (USA) Runtime: 114 minutes (1h 54m) Rated: R — for strong violent content, gore, teen drug use, language Production Companies: Blumhouse Productions and Crooked Highway Producers: Jason Blum, Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill Cinematography: Pär M. Ekberg Editing: Louise Ford Music / Composer: Atticus Derrickson Black Phone 2 (2025) Director: Scott Derrickson Writer(s): Scott Derrickson & C. Robert…
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“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” Review: A Raw, Relentless Portrait of Motherhood’s Breaking Point
Release Date: October 10, 2025 (United States theatrical) (Premiere: January 24, 2025 at Sundance) Runtime: 133 minutes (1 hr 53 min) Rated: R — for language, some drug use and bloody images. Production Companies: A24, Central Pictures, Fat City, also credited: Bronxburgh; Elara Pictures Producers: Sara Murphy, Ryan Zacarias, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Eli Bush, Conor…
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The Age of Outrage: Cancel Culture, Social Media, and Cinema’s Search for Accountability
This year alone has brought an assortment of films reflecting the political and social climates of both the world at large and the United States in particular. While the deeper analysis of that collective will be tabled for now, one thing has become clear: the relevancy of films capturing the essence—or at least the proximity—of…
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