Updated October 2025: From summer blockbusters to festival sleepers, these are the 25 movies our critics think define 2025 so far. Expect prestige dramas, horror gems, wild indies and some surprise streaming hits - all watched and ranked by Time Out’s film team.
Quick Picks: 2025’s best films by genre:
😂 Best comedy: The Naked Gun
😱 Best horror movie: Weapons
🥋 Best action movie: One Battle After Another
🎭 Best drama: Nickel Boys
🪆 Best family film: Flow
September brought Splitsville, a whip-smart indie screwball about two couples testing open marriages, The Lost Bus, Paul Greengrass’s tense wildfire epic starring an on-form Matthew McConaughey, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another.
With three quarters of the year gone, a few trends are starting to emerge. Superhero movies aren’t dead, but they’re no longer the guaranteed juggernauts they once were. Family films are booming. Gen Z is generating its own IP. Audiences still crave horror. And China’s home-grown hits are driving the global box office without Hollywood’s help.
After years of post-pandemic hand-wringing, the film industry looks to be in better health than anyone expected. Sure, awards season could still change everything, but so far 2025 has given us plenty to celebrate – from genre-smashing auteur vehicles like Sinners and Weapons, to daring experiments such as The Nickel Boys, Flow and Better Man, and welcome returns from directors like Steven Soderbergh and Danny Boyle.
In short, it’s been a bold, surprising year for cinema – one that proves audiences are still hungry for original stories. Here are the best movies of 2025 so far, according to Time Out’s critics.
This list is updated regularly as new 2025 releases hit cinemas and streaming, with monthly overhauls to make sure we never miss a thing.