The biggest movies of the year

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s “28 Years Later” was named the fifth best movie of 2025 by Variety film critic Peter Debruge: “The reason this movie rocked me — emotionally, I mean — is that Boyle et al clearly recognized they were telling a post-pandemic narrative for a society (ours) that had just endured a pandemic (COVID-19), building in an opportunity to grieve and process what we’ve collectively been through via the cathartic Bone Temple sequence.”

Steven Soderberg’s excellent thriller “Black Bag” is a sturdy caper dealing in espionage thrills. The film stars Michael Fassbender as an insect-like spy, bugging out as he carefully probes his peers, including his wife (Cate Blanchett, perfect as the femme fatale), to discover a traitor among the ranks. The film was named one of Variety’s best movies of 2025: “Soderbergh’s perfectly ingenious romantic thriller about two married British spies trying to outmaneuver each other is the year’s most captivating bauble.”

“Talk to Me” directors Danny and Michael Philippou reunited with A24 this summer for “Bring Her Back,” which Variety named one of the best horror movies of 2025: “The rare horror movie unnerving enough to disturb your sleep. Its creep factor begins with Sally Hawkins’ impishly disturbing performance as a foster mother from hell, who takes a couple of orphaned siblings — 17-year-old Andy (Billy Barratt) and his legally blind sister, Piper (Sora Wong) — under her broken wing… the movie finds terrifying ways to get under your skin, pushing everything to the brink of transgression, using domestic trauma to create a symphonic projection of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, all sealed by Hawkins’ gargoyle grin of evil.”

Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone’s latest collaboration “Bugonia” was named the fourth best movie of 2025 by Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman: “Lanthimos’s wild and woolly kidnap drama is a violent, hate-fueled, thrillingly warped act of cinematic screw-tightening. It’s also rooted in a humanity that sneaks up on you… For a while, it’s like watching ‘Misery’ restaged as a riveting culture-war two-hander. But Stone and, especially, Plemons keep deepening their characters. (He does a piece of acting that’s like tragedy on the high wire.) And the trick ending has a blow-you-away power that’s worth a dozen doomsday dystopias.”

Jai Courtney is a shark-obsessed serial killer in Shudder’s white-knuckle horror movie “Dangerous Animals,” which earned rave reviews out of the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Courtney plays a deranged Australian tour guide who steers you out to sea and lets you swim with the sharks. Then he feeds you to them. From Variety’s review: “We have screenwriter Nick Lepard to thank for these vivid new nightmares, presented with such conviction by ‘The Devil’s Candy’ director Sean Byrne that the efficient and highly effective thriller scarcely allows a calm moment in which to question how deranged its premise truly is.”

Jennifer Lawrence’s “Die My Love” struggled at the box office this fall with $5 million domestically and $10 million worldwide, but more curious moviegoers are hopefully discovering the psychodrama on Mubi. Lawrence gives an acclaimed performance as a new mother who spirals into madness while dealing with postpartum and a husband (Robert Pattinson) who can’t support her needs.

“Christopher Landon crafts a pulpy surveillance mystery that gives way to something giddy and exciting,” reads Variety’s review of “Drop,” the Blumhouse thriller starring Meghann Fahy as a widowed mother whose first date takes a nightmarish turn when she begins receiving threatening text messages. “The film’s complicated setups are executed with a deft and capable hand. Although set in a fine dining establishment, it’s a junk-food thriller fried to near-perfection, balancing the tensions of kidnapping, conspiracy and murder with those of a nerve-wracking first date. It’s crisp and delicious.”

Ari Aster’s “Eddington” stars Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone and Austin Butler. The movie is set in a small New Mexico town come undone by politics, COVID and more. “Just when you think you’ve got ‘Eddington’ pinned down as a coherent and even conventional suspense tale, the movie wriggles out from under you and enters a terrain of stranger things,” writes Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman in his review.

Brad Pitt’s racing blockbuster “F1” is streaming on Apple TV after grossing $631 million at the worldwide this summer to become the biggest box office hit of the actor’s career (unadjusted for inflation). The movie, directed by “Top Gun: Maverick” helmer Joseph Kosinski, follows Pitt’s character as he emerges from retirement to coach a rookie driver (Damson Idris) and save a failing F1 team.

“Fantastic Four: First Steps” grossed $521 million in the theaters worldwide over the summer and got Marvel back on a more solid critical footing. Depicting the titular superhero family are Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing. Julia Garner also stars as The Silver Surfer alongside Ralph Ineson as Galactus and Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder/Mole Man.

“Final Destination Bloodlines” brought the death-obsessed horror franchise roaring back to life on the big screen this summer with $285 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing entry yet. “Bloodlines” follows college student Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), who begins to receive visions about an averted disaster from 1968. After being plagued by recurring nightmares, she begins to embark on a journey to track down who may be able to help her break the cycle and save her family from their deaths.

Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” is a passion project from the Oscar-winning filmmaker, who adapts Mary Shelley’s iconic novel with Oscar Isaac as the eponymous mad scientist and Jacob Elordi as his misunderstood creature. At TIFF, the film came in as the runner-up for the fest’s coveted people’s choice award — an accolade that’s traditionally a key bellwether for the Oscar race. The supporting cast includes Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz.

The sequel to the 2003 comedy classic once again stars Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis as a daughter and mother who swap places, but this time the women find themselves swapping with the daughter and soon-to-be daughter in law of Lohan’s character. “The movie winds up being rather touching,” wrote Variety‘s film critic Owen Gleiberman in his review. “It’s all about how Harper and Lily, in trying to break up their parents’ engagement, discover that they really do want to be sisters.”

A24’s black comedy “Friendship,” starring Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd, was a spring hit at the indie box office with $16 million domestically. Robinson plays a socially awkward husband whose infatuation with a charismatic new neighbor (Rudd) leads to unexpected consequences. Kate Mara and Jack Dylan Grazer also star. From Variety’s review: “While we may think, at first, that we’re watching a comedy about a sad-sack geek who’s drawn out of his shell, the film always makes sure that Craig, as inhabited by Robinson, is a notch weirder and more off-putting than we expect.”

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