I saw 113 movies in theaters in 2025 — here’s the 10 best you (probably) missed

Every year, one of my personal goals is to see as many new movies in my local theater as possible. In 2025, while I didn’t quite break my personal best of 113, I did come close, seeing 110 movies on the big screen, which I like to think gives me a pretty strong insight into the year in movies.

Naturally, when you see more than 100 movies in theaters in just 12 months, you end up watching an awful lot of great films that don’t quite get the attention they deserve. And that’s why I want to highlight 10 films that I think deserve more attention. These aren’t necessarily the best movies I saw this year (you can read my best/worst movies of 2025 for that), but these are the titles that I’m super glad I didn’t miss, even if they didn’t light up the box office or trend on TikTok.

So, if you’re looking to catch up on some of 2025’s most overlooked movies, here are 10 that you (probably) missed that I believe are worthy of your precious watching time.

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Before seeing “Blue Moon,” I’ll admit to being largely unaware of Lorenz Hart, one-half of the Broadway-writing duo, Rogers and Hart. However, I was significantly more knowledgeable about the work produced by Rogers during his subsequent collaborations with Oscar Hammerstein. And that’s kind of the whole point of “Blue Moon.” This tender, heartbreaking movie from “Boyhood” director Richard Linklater explores Lorenz Hart as a broken man, lost to his vices (alcohol among them), and feeling abandoned by his soon-to-be-former professional partner.

Ethan Hawke plays a brilliant, but troubled, figure, capable of crafting catchy lyrics like few others, but also deeply flawed, and losing the battle against his personal demons. The flick is structured like a stage production, set almost entirely in a single location (a format that always works for me), and the magnificent screenplay from Robert Kaplow had me absorbed from the very first line. The movie rests on Hawke’s shoulders, and he gives an Oscar-worthy performance, but a hat-tip to Andrew Scott for his sterling work as Richard Rogers.

Watch “Blue Moon” on Amazon (w/ purchase) now

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It would have been easy for the story behind “It Was Just an Accident” to be a lot more interesting than the movie itself. Written and directed by Jafar Panahi, an Iranian filmmaker who has publicly criticized the country’s government numerous times and served jail time for speaking out, “It Was Just an Accident” was filmed in secret, without official permits, and with a cast of mostly first-time actors. That this movie even exists at all is an achievement; the fact that it’s one of the year’s most impactful and important thrillers is just all the more impressive.

Winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes and the favorite for Best International Feature at the upcoming Oscars, “It Was Just an Accident” focuses on Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), an auto mechanic who kidnaps a family man (Ebrahima Azizi) whom he believes to be the person responsible for his imprisonment and torture years earlier. Identified by the distinctive squeak of his prosthetic leg, the man swears that Vahid is mistaken, and soon doubt creeps in. While the movie does drag a little in the middle, the opening captures your attention with ease, and the finale (and final shot) will rattle around your brain deep into 2026.

Watch “It Was Just an Accident” on Amazon (w/ purchase) now

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I’ve given “Caught Stealing” its flowers a whole bunch of times already this year, and I’m certainly not going to stop now. This crime thriller from Darren Aronofsky feels old-school in the best possible way. It’s the type of movie you could imagine renting on a Friday night from Blockbuster just based on the DVD cover, and then finding your new favorite movie in the process.

It brings together a great ensemble, including Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio, and like all the best thrillers, it has a gripping sense of momentum. It also includes perhaps the best narrative pay-off of 2025.

Henry “Hank” Thompson (Butler) is a former baseball prodigy whose promising career was cut short due to a career-ending injury sustained in a car accident. Now a washed-up bartender in New York City, he’s skating through life without much purpose. But he’s forced to sharpen up fast when agreeing to cat-sit for his punk rock neighbor (Smith) ultimately results in him being on the run from a group of mobsters.

Watch “Caught Stealing” on Netflix now

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I booked my ticket for “Relay” with fairly muted expectations. In fact, I was significantly more excited to watch “Bugonia”, which I was seeing afterwards as part of a double-bill movie night. So, I was pretty darn shocked when “Relay” ended up ranking even higher than Yorgos Lanthimos’ new movie in my best movies of 2025 ranking. This smart thriller is definitely among 2025’s most pleasant surprises, and I’ve been recommending it almost nonstop since I saw it in theaters. My family is very sick of me shouting about it now.

“Relay” centers on an unnamed fixer (Riz Ahmed), who offers a very unique service: He brokers agreements between powerful corporations and whistleblowers looking to return incriminating secrets in exchange for a payoff. To ensure his safety, he works to a strict set of rules, but when he gets personally invested in a client (Lily James), he becomes reckless. What I love most about “Relay” is that it focuses on a protagonist who appears to be always one step ahead of the bad guys — until he very much isn’t. This leads to some supremely satisfying moments, but the suspense only intensifies when the tables are unexpectedly turned.

Watch “Relay” on Netflix now

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“The Ballad of Wallis Island” is deeply melancholic but highly uplifting at the same time. This sweet British comedy had me chuckling out loud one moment, and on the verge of tearing up the next. It’s also the 2025 release I’ve rewatched the most in recent months, which certainly counts for something. Heck, I’m not even much of a folk music fan (unless you count Taylor Swift’s Folkmore duology), and yet its soundtrack has wormed its way into several of my Spotify playlists.

Charles (Tim Key) is a lottery winner living on the remote Wallis Island. Rather than use his winnings to purchase a huge house or flashy car, he spends them convincing the two members of his favorite musical act to come to the isolated island and play a very intimate concert. The wrinkle is that McGwyer Mortimer (Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan) did not disband on good terms, and once reunited, old tensions (and romantic feelings) resurface, putting Charles’ dream concert in jeopardy.

Watch “The Ballad of Wallis Island” on Prime Video now

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Horror movies told from a unique perspective are very much in vogue at the moment. We had the ultra-bloody “In a Violent Nature” last year, a slasher from the POV of the twisted killer, and earlier this year, the whole film world fell in love with an adorable pooch named Indy, the star of “Good Boy,” a paranormal chiller from a dog’s perspective. “Presence” is another dark thriller told through fresh eyes. Well, in this case, the POV is an unseen ghostly entity. Do ghosts technically have eyes?

From director Steven Soderbergh, “Presence” presents a predictable tale: A family moves into a new suburban home only to be haunted by an unseen apparition. However, the voyeuristic quality of the framing — as viewers, we are constantly reminded that we’re essentially spying on the family — adds needed freshness. The narrative might have little intention of adding anything new to such a familiar narrative framework beyond the novelty of its POV, but I did appreciate the final twist.

Watch “Presence” on Hulu now

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The biggest compliment I can give “Drop” is that, if the Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, were still alive and making movies, I’m pretty sure they’d look a whole lot like this mystery thriller from Christopher Landon. While there’s a made-for-TV quality to some of the filmmaking, and the third act takes a turn for the ridiculous (itself something of a Hitchcockian trait), “Drop’s” central setup is compelling, and it wrings every ounce of suspense from a first date from hell premise.

Violet Gates (Meghann Fahy) is returning to the dating world after the death of her abusive husband. Arriving at a high-rise Chicago restaurant, she meets her date, the ultra-charming Henry (Brandon Sklenar). All seems to be going well, but just when Violet is feeling comfortable enough to let her guard down, she gets a disturbing text from a mysterious sender. Told her young son and sister have been taken hostage, they will be murdered unless she kills her date. Now, Violet faces a race against the clock to identify the sender and save her family.

Watch “Drop” on Prime Video now

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“Restless” had me feeling genuine anxiety through its trim 89-minute runtime. I challenge anybody to watch this dark thriller and not feel serious sympathy for its protagonist. She’s a mild-mannered care worker (Lyndsey Marshal), under significant stress at work, and then returning home to a house that is anything but a peaceful sanctuary. And it’s all thanks to a new neighbor from hell (Aston McAuley). Showcasing a sense of powerlessness that we’ve likely all felt in our lives at some point, “Restless” isn’t afraid to make viewers feel enraged.

As Nicky (Marshal) battles for a restful night’s sleep, she faces intimidation from Deano (McAuley), who parties long into the night, not caring whatsoever that his initially friendly neighbor has to be up for work in just a few hours. It’s enough to have you balling up your fists in fury, and egging Nicky on as she seeks a way to get Deano out of the neighborhood for good. Only a slapstick ending, which clashes horribly with the tone of the rest of the movie and leaves things on a bum note, stops “Restless” from being much higher in my estimations.

Watch “Restless” on Prime Video now

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“Urchin” is perhaps the most unheard-of movie on this list. This British drama movie barely made even minor waves in its native land, and certainly didn’t manage to travel across seas. That’s a shame, because it’s quite the directional debut from Harris Dickinson (who you may have seen in last year’s erotic drama “Babygirl”). It’s not always an easy watch, focusing on a flawed character who is frustratingly self-destructive, yet despite the lead character making all the wrong choices, you can’t help but sympathize as he slips through the cracks in society. The movie also dips into the surreal, leaving you much to ponder as the credits roll.

Set in London, Mike (Frank Dillane) is sleeping rough, living on the streets, and trying to scrape together enough money to feed his drug addiction. After spending time in prison for robbing a bystander just trying to help him out, Mike attempts to reintegrate into society, hold down a proper job, and even meets a girl (Megan Northam). But Mike is very much his own worst enemy, and struggles to prevent himself from slipping back into his old ways.

Watch “Urchin” on Amazon (w/ purchase) now

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“Anemone” was perhaps not the grand return for Daniel Day-Lewis that many envisioned. After an eight-year acting hiatus, Day-Lewis was back on cinema screens in this psychological drama directed by his son, Roman Day-Lewis (the father-son duo also co-wrote the movie). Critics weren’t exactly impressed; it scored just 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I found much to appreciate about this slower-paced, but still captivating, drama. Of course, the biggest strength is Day-Lewis’s powerful performance, but Sean Bean makes for an excellent supporting player.

If you enjoy a good dramatic monologue, look no further than “Anemone,” it’s packed to near bursting with them. Ronan Day-Lewis also displays real filmmaking flair, and while the story is rudimentary, it hits some emotional beats. The movie sees Bean’s Jem Stoker head into the wilderness to locate his estranged older brother (Day-Lewis), with hopes of convincing him to come home to steer his wayward son onto the correct path. Clunky symbolism often gets in the way of the two actors giving top-tier performances, but when Day-Lewis tees up another lengthy speech, you can’t help but hang on his every word.

Watch “Anemone” on Peacock now

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