So if you’re new to this breakdown, I’m ranking all 135 new releases I saw in 2025. Some of these technically may have been festival releases before last year, but I’m counting it if the movie saw it’s release to the general public in 2025. So did it hit Sundance in 2023 but got a limited theatrical release in 2025? Then it’s a 2025 release.
This round takes us from 66 to 44 and these are all 4 star movies. Like I said in a previous blog, I try my hardest to like movies. I do understand being critical and I can appreciate people who give out four and fives sparingly, but I’m a bit easier. So all of these films are ones I would recommend.
I’m going to stop giving my scores for each one because most of them are 8 out of 11. If the 8.5’s or 9’s start, I’ll say something.
Rental Legend: (F)andango, (G)oogle, (P)rime, (Y)outube, (A)pple. If the prices vary they’ll go in order from cheapest to most expensive. Otherwise it’s whatever order I felt like at the time. And these are subject to change of course.
66: How To Train Your Dragon (Peacock or rent for 5.99 from Y/G/A/F)
So this isn’t a Disney live action remake. It’s a Dreamworks one! And you know what? It worked. I haven’t seen the original in a while so I can’t really speak to how accurate it is but any changes they did make did little to take away from the original story. Mason Thames was great as Hiccup and Nico Parker was the perfect fit for Astrid. The fact that she’s black should only matter if you’re a piece of shit. But otherwise this was expertly cast and it was a blast to watch.
65: Captain America: Brave New World (Disney+ or rent for 3.99 to 5.99 from Y/G/F/P/A)
I’ve never been a Marvel hater. I don’t really think the MCU has made a bad movie. Sure there are movies I just thought were okay, but still even the worst MCU movie is enjoyable. The good news is that this is far from the worst. CA:BNW was very exciting and had a great political intrigue storyline and we still got to see heroes doing hero stuff. Anthony Mackie is more that capable of carrying the Cap mantle and hopefully Disney will let him keep it. If you like Marvel movies then watch this. If you’re one of those bitches who love to shit on them, then don’t watch it.
64: The Life List (Netflix)
This movie was sold as a RomCom but I want to warn anyone who watches it that it’s more of a self discovery drama movie. I really enjoyed this so still watch it, but understand what you’re going to watch. When Alex’s (Sofia Carson) mother dies she givers her daughter a task. To complete the life list she made when she was younger. Yes, there is romance in this, but this is a better movie if you wand a story of finding yourself or some great girl power.
63: Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story (Hulu/Disney)
This one is simple. Do you love the movie Jaws? What I mean to say is: Do you have taste? If you do, then you have to watch this at least once. It’s a very interesting documentary about the making of the film that has interviews with quite a few people involved in it and some wonderful behind the scenes stories. I learned so much that I hadn’t known before and it gave me a greater appreciation for one of the best movies ever made.
62: M3GAN 2.0 (Peacock or rent for 5.99 from Y/G/A/F)
This movie is stupid. It’s one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen. BUT this film understands what it is and it leans into so perfectly. I didn’t like the first M3GAN. I didn’t love the first movie. It was entertaining but ultimately stupid. This film is far better simply because it leans into the cheese. And I don’t know if Cady (Violet McGraw) is just poorly written or if Violet McGraw isn’t a great actress, but she is the worst part of both films. She has this lifeless stare that just bothers me.
61: My Secret Santa (Netflix)
Do you want to watch what would happen if Mrs. Doubtfire and a Lifetime movie did the fusion dance? Okay, here we go!
That’s right. It made this movie. Did I need to use a meme generator and post the pic here? Nope. Did it make me smile? Yep. So this is yet another predictable Christmas RomCom but if you know me, you know that those films are my jam. This movie knew it was dumb and it leaned into it a little but it also took itself seriously enough that it’s not just one huge joke. This single other needs a job bad and has her makeup artist brother make her an old man mask so she can dress up as Santa and a bougie ski resort but guess what? The bad boy ne’er-do-well son of the owner of the resort just so happens to be very handsome and just misunderstood. I loved this film.
60: Wolfman (Prime or rent for 3.99 on Y/G/A/F)
I had high hopes for this one. I’m a big fan of writer/director Leigh Whannell. I first noticed him as an actor in Insidious and then I realized he was one of the writers for it then I realized he was one of the writers of the first three Saw movies. So we have horror royalty here. Leigh Whannell didn’t disappoint. This film was a bit more… let’s say… “artsy” than his other films. That’s not to discredit anything he’s done, but the atmosphere in this film is completely different from everything else. It was a damn good time.
59: Predator: Badlands (Rent from 24.99 to 29.99 on F/A/P/G)
I knew I had to see this once the trailer came out. Dan Trachtenberg did a phenomenal job with Prey so I knew I had to see this. Badlands was a completely different movie from Prey and it was still so great. Prey was more of a survival horror and this was clearly and sci-fi action movie. I do think this is the lesser of Trachtenberg’s three Predator movies, but it’s still damn good. Also, I was never an Elle Fanning fan until this year when she wowed me in this and Sentimental Value.
58: Predator: Killer of Killers (Hulu/Disney+)
The second Dan Trachtenberg Predator movie this year. And I really struggled on which one I liked the most. In fact, even as I’m reading this, I’m second guessing myself. But either way, even if I switch them, they’re still both great film. This is an animated anthology film that tells 3 different stories of people throughout history that have had to fight the Yautja. This is not only entertaining but servers as a reminder of how much possibility this series has. It was animated beautifully and was very entertaining.
57: The Monkey (Hulu/Disney+ or rent from 3.99 to 5.99 from G/F/P/A)
I’m kind of an Osgood Perkins fan. I thought Longlegs was a bit boring and Keeper had a lot of promise but was just okay. But this film I liked quite a bit more than the others. I really have to watch the other three Perkins movies I haven’t seen yet to really get a feeling for my thoughts on him. But yes, this is my favorite movie of his. It has a solid cast and it’s just weird enough. I think Stephen King’s story does a lot of the heavy lifting but, as we all know, there can be very bad adaptations. So Perkins did a good job with this one.
56: Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (Paramount+ or rent for 5.99 to 6.99 from G/F/A)
There’s a reason that Tom Cruise is my most watched actor in 2025. It’s because I had to rewatch this whole series before going into the final movie. Sure you can criticize this franchise for being dumb and goofy or whatever but you can’t argue the fact that it’s been a summer blockbuster icon since the first film in 1996. Now, almost thirty years later, it’s coming to an end and I had to see it. This wasn’t my favorite installment in the series and actually I feel like the final bad guy was kind of stupid. But I couldn’t ignore the fact that this was still exciting and a damn good time. Tom Cruise can entertain.
55: Dead of Winter (rent for 5.99 from F/A/P/G/Y)
A thriller starring Emma Thompson and Judy Greer? Say less! I never knew I needed Emma Thompson to have the Liam Neeson treatment where we have an older actor in a badass role. Don’t misunderstand, this isn’t an action film, but Thompson play a rugged and badass widow who takes it upon herself to save a kidnapped young woman in the middle of nowhere with no tools but her late husbands fishing and camping gear. This was intense and well worth a watch at least once.
54: Good Fortune (rent for 5.99 from G/A/Y/F/P)
I went on a ride during this movie. I thought it really dragged in the middle and I was even starting to lose interest. But then when the end came around it all started to come together. This movie had a great message but the unfortunate part is that those who really need to hear the message would either skip this movie entirely or purposefully miss the point. But the good news is that even if you don’t need to learn the lesson because you already know it, this is still an entertaining allegory.
53: Eephus (Mubi or rent for 2.99 to 5.99 from F/Y/G/A)
This is an example of a movie that if even done a little wrong, would have fallen much lower on my list. I have to be honest and say there were a few times I was bored out of my mind in the early third act BUT and this is an important but, overall this movie was a beautiful love letter to the sport of baseball and I truly believe this is the perfect movie for fans of the sport. This is about loving baseball and the comradery that you fan find playing with other people. So where this movie lost points for having some pacing issues and weird story choices, it makes up for in the fact that it’s a good indie film that is about true passion.
52: Black Phone 2 (rent for 5.99 from F/A/Y/G/P)
I liked the first film in this series but I couldn’t see myself enjoying the same thing all over again. So the good news is that director Scott Derrickson and the writers including Joe Hill and C. Robert Cargill went an entirely new direction with this. It take a lot of inspiration from A Nightmare on Elm Street and It honestly felt like it was paying homage to the classic film as opposed to just stealing the ideas. I think Ethan Hawke is an unsung scream king and just an underappreciated actor. So even if you were on the fence about the first film, check this one out anyway.
51: The History of Sound (Mubi or rent from 4.99 and 5.99 on F/A)
A gay period piece about preserving and collecting the music of rural Maine in the early 1900s? Sign me up! This sounds boring and… okay… yes it can be boring if you’re not into historical dramas. It’s a lot of beautiful scenery and some great acting from the leads Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor. Now this got middle of the road to low Letterboxd reviews so maybe take my recommendation with a grain of salt. But something about this film spoke to me and I really enjoyed it. Do I need to rewatch this? Maybe not, but my single viewing will be remembered.
50: Final Destination: Bloodlines (HBO Max or rent for 3.99 from G/A/F)
Now I enjoyed the rest of the movies in this series but I can fully understand and admit that they’re not great. They’re fun because they’re stupid and half the enjoyment comes for the Rube Goldberg style deaths. The best part of most of the films are the crazy openings and this might be one of my favorite openings in the series. Also what really helped this entry was that I cared about the characters. The fact that they were family instead of a group of strangers, really helped. If you liked any of the others, check this out. Also, it’s a great send off to the legend Tony Todd.
49: The Fantastic Four: First Steps (HBO Max or rent for 3.99 from G/A/F)
I almost rated this a star lower. I wanted so much more than this movie offered and I thought it could have been done so much better. But I couldn’t ignore the fact that this film was perfectly cast. I do love the cast of the 2005 movie but we had to move on from that and Disney/Marvel picked the perfect people for the role. Not only that but Galactus was so much cooler than his “space fart” presence in Rise of the Silver Surfer. My biggest complaint is that we don’t see enough of the Fantastic Four being heroes but we got to know their characters very well and this film sets up Doomsday perfectly.
48: Merrily We Roll Along (Not available yet but rumors say Netflix or Apple will get it)
This is one of those movies that’s a recorded Broadway play. The stars, Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, and Daniel Radcliffe were born to play these rolls. This movie is really just for musical and Broadway fans. I’m not saying you cant enjoy it otherwise, but just realize what you’re getting into. This isn’t a five star movie because of some bad camera work. We get too many closeups where we miss the background ensemble or can’t properly enjoy how the actor interacts with the set. Hamilton had some closeups but it never forgot that you need to see the whole stage. So I would have liked it if the camera kept back a bit more.
47: Rental Family (rent for 24.99 from Youtube)
Brendan Fraser is having his well deserved moment. The world realized as a whole that he’s a true treasure and now he’s getting the flowers he earned years ago. This is a truly beautiful movie about a guy just trying to find his place as well as him realizing that helping people can be very fulfilling. It’s also about making the tough choices and realizing when something is wrong and standing your ground even when it could cost you everything. An amazing supporting cast lifts up Fraser in one of his best roles yet.
46: 28 Years Later (Netflix or rent for 5.99 from F/G/A/Y/P)
I trust Danny Boyle. I trust Alex Garland. So seeing this was a no brainer. The first two movies aren’t my favorites but they’re fine, but I knew I had to see this and damn if it wasn’t the best in the series so far. So when I heard they’re doing a 28 Years Later trilogy, I was more than down. This film is exciting but it does feel a little disjointed. It feels like two separate movies glued together. BUT both of those separate movies are damn good. Even if you weren’t a huge fan of the first two, watch this one.
45: Thunderbolts* (Disney+ or rent from 3.99 to 5.99 from Y/F/G/A/P)
Like I said with Captain America: Brave New World, I’ve never been a Marvel hater. Even the worst Marvel film is enjoyable. But this one more than Fantastic Four: FS or Captain America: BNW, this one was what I want from the company moving forward. Understand the characters and weave a story that is not only interesting but can tie into the rest of the saga. The cast is really what helped this film as everyone did a fantastic job but Florence Pugh did most of the heavy lifting.
44: Hell of a Summer (Hulu/Disney or rent from 3.99 to 5.99 from Y/G/F/A/P)
Do you love a good comedy horror? Then this is a great one. This was written and directed by the costars Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk and this is a great feature length debut. A slasher going after camp counselors is such a beloved horror trope and Wolfhard and Bryk make it fresh while not going so far as to stray away from the genre. If you liked movies like The Final Girls or Happy Death Day then this one is for you.
