It’s hard to believe we’re already at the halfway point of 2025, and it’s been an interesting year for movies so far. I was easily able to compile a list of movies I loved and maybe didn’t, so far this year. For clarity, this list is comprised of films I saw before June 30th, 2025.

1) Materialists – Proves that writer/director Celine Song’s debut feature Past Lives was no fluke, and that she is one of our strongest and most astute filmmakers of the romance genre, of this generation. There are many aspects of human connection and human desire that she captures so beautifully and so thoughtfully, through small, individual character moments or monologues, and this film cements her as one of my favorite filmmakers working today.

Materialists can now be rented on digital platforms like iTunes and Fandango at Home.

2) Sinners – The way Ryan Coogler grasps everything he wants to say something about – racism in America and the Jim Crow south, otherism, cultural alienation, religious trauma, the fine line between religion and cult, sexism, and the dangers of forgetting this country’s not-all-that-distant past, all the while constructing it as his wacky, go-for-broke, brutally visceral vampire movie, is something I haven’t seen a filmmaker tackle (and succeed wildly with) in a very long time.

Sinners is currently streaming on HBO Max, and is available to own or rent on Blu-ray or digitally.

3) The Wedding Banquet – There’s a lot of inherent wackiness in the setup for this story, and I was worried this might delve into the easier slapstick-y kind of humor, and forego some of the heart and pathos that I’ve been accustomed to with Andrew Ahn’s films. Well, I’m thrilled to say Ahn has not lost his touch, and if anything he’s fine tuned it. An emotionally rewarding and riotously funny farce that sneaks up on you emotionally in ways you couldn’t have been expecting.

The Wedding Banquet is now available to rent or purchase on Blu-ray and digital platforms.

4) Bob Trevino Likes It – A tribute to the healing power of human connection and the good things social media can do, but it’s also an expertly crafted character study that just about anyone can recognize the emotional truth in. And it’s boasted by some fantastic performances and a stellar screenplay. Writer/director Tracie Laymon based this story on an experience from her own life, and has spoken in interviews about it. And I did not go into this film knowing that, and when the film tells you this, it makes the whole experience even more of an emotional gut punch. 

Bob Trevino Likes It is now available to rent or purchase on digital platforms.

5) Black Bag – Steven Soderbergh and David Koepp’s second film of 2025, could not have less in common with the one before it. Black Bag is a spy drama with a surprisingly biting sense of humor and a character study of some delightfully wretched people, and ultimately a demented little romantic comedy. One that has a great deal to say about the complexities of modern relationships. And a film with a starry ensemble cast that actually gives everyone in it fun material to work with.

Black Bag is now streaming on Peacock. It can also be rented or purchased on Blu-ray and digital platforms.

6) Companion – Writer/director Drew Hancock’s debut(!) feature is an incredibly slick, surprising and almost nihilistic romantic comedy. Every performance here is terrific, the writing is icepick sharp in its observations about abusive relationships, technology, gender dynamics and recreational human cruelty. The first big twist was spoiled by this film’s trailers but even if you go in knowing what it tells you, there is so much here that will shock and delight you. Hopefully will be remembered as one of this year’s strongest horror-comedies.

Companion is now streaming on HBO Max. It can also be purchased on Blu-ray and digital platforms.

7) A Nice Indian Boy – Loved just about every single moment of this one. It’s old fashioned and progressive at the same time – a shamelessly big-hearted queer rom com with delightful performances across the board, a sharp screenplay that is always one step ahead of the viewer, addressing every single problem they might possibly pinpoint with this story, and a filmmaker’s eye that is clearly so full of love and appreciation for the communities it’s representing. There is so much cultural specificity on display here and such a loving, sympathetic approach to the family we’re born into and the families we find in life along the way.

A Nice Indian Boy is now streaming on Hulu. It can also be rented or purchased on digital platforms.

8) One of Them Days – Keke Palmer and SZA have the kind of chemistry that suggests they’ve actually been lifelong friends, and there’s a looseness to the dialogue that suggests heavy improvisation. One of Them Days is a hilarious movie about economic anxiety. It’s also a love letter to LA, and following this year’s California wildfires, it felt like the perfect time for one. It’s also the perfect time to laugh, and One of Them Days is full of them.

One of Them Days is currently streaming on the ad-free Netflix tier. It can also be purchased on Blu-ray or rented/purchased on digital platforms.

9) Thunderbolts* – Seems like a perfectly fun and exciting four-quadrant summer blockbuster on its surface, but beneath the glossy slipcover is a powerful story about trauma, grief, regret and the emotional wounds the average superhero is too busy to attend to. It’s about the importance of the group and the found family dynamic, and it miraculously never gets bogged down in the trappings of the superhero movie that have exhausted me as a viewer over the last several Marvel Cinematic Universe projects.

Thunderbolts* is currently available to rent or purchase on digital platforms. The Blu-ray will be available on July 29th. It will eventually stream on Disney+.

10) Final Destination: Bloodlines – It’s so exciting that in the world of Final Destination, you’re watching every single object in the room with suspicion because anything could be the domino that falls, and wreaks havoc around it. A wind chime, a trampoline, a small shard of glass, even sunlight exposed where it shouldn’t, could set off a chain reaction that can mean certain doom for everyone around it. And that attention to detail ratchets up the tension to an almost unbearable degree. And I loved every demented minute of it.

Final Destination Bloodlines is currently available to rent or own on Blu-ray and digital platforms. It will eventually stream on HBO Max.

Honorable Mention:

I’m Still Here – Technically considered a 2024 release, but I didn’t get to see it until February 2025. If this film didn’t exist in that weird in-between lists moment, it would absolutely be high on my end of year list for either 2024 or 2025. An affecting and brilliantly told story about the atrocities that can happen when government power is unchecked, but it’s also a deeply hopeful story about the power and resilience of the human spirit. This is the most essential kind of filmmaking. It succeeds as a showcase for Fernanda Torres’ remarkable performance, but also is saying something deeply important about the world in which we live.

I’m Still Here is now streaming on the ad-free Netflix tier. It’s also available to rent and own on all the digital platforms.