Hollie Manley
New Year means new movies, and we’re so excited for the ones coming in 2025. From female-directed films to historical dramas and crime, here’s our pick of the 2025 movies to look out for.
Coming into the new year always brings a new wave of exciting films and movies. Whether it is action or romance that piques your interest, the film industry is booming with new prospects that everyone can enjoy.
However, it’s always hard to predict which are going to be the best ones to watch, especially when some of the most popular films, like Marvel, dominate the industry. Empoword Journalism is here with some recommendations we think you should keep a look out for.
The Last Showgirl
The Last Showgirl (2024) directed by Gia Coppoia is the first on the list of recommendations.
A film directed and written by women is always something we want to promote. According to a report from Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, women accounted for just 16 per cent of female directors working on the 250 highest-grossing domestic releases in 2024. If more is to be done by the filmmaking industry then we must also play our part and help support women in the industry.
The film follows a middle aged show woman who was told her show will be shutting down. With no retirement plan Shelly, the protagonist, fears for her livelihood. The film portrays a beautifully complex relationship between mother and daughter while encapsulating the reality of time pushing society forward and its effects when done so.
Expert Opinion
Joseph Hird, owner of Let’s make Films, a community filmmaking initiative based in Liverpool, shared his opinion on the upcoming movies for this year.
“There are a lot of beautiful filmmakers that have films coming out that are a little under the radar, one being Lynne Ramsay with her film Die, My Love (2025),” Mr Hird said.
“I won’t recommend any film I haven’t seen but her previous work, especially Ratcatcher (1999) is brilliantly constructed and full of real emotion, and I don’t see why this new one would be any different.”
Lynne Ramsay is a Scottish film director, writer and producer who has won the Cannes Film Festival award for ‘Best Screenplay’.
Her new film Die, My Love (2025) is described as a dark comedy horror film. The plot follows a mother in the French countryside who develops postpartum depression resulting in her eventual psychosis. The fight between sanity and psychosis is one that will encapsulate any watcher.
Hird also shared his recommendations for this year, which include: Wildwood (2025), Mickey 17 (2025), Roofman (2025), Bardot (2025), and The Brutalist (2024).
“There’s a few I’m interested in for their use of animation techniques like The legend of Ochi (2025) from A24 that uses puppetry and animatronics for its creature,” Mr Hird said.
Also Wildwood (2025) by Laika studios which is a stop motion. They always make beautiful animation with weather, ‘Kubo and the Two strings’, being a great example of what they can do.”
Wildwood
As Hird states Wildwood (2025) is an intriguing conception of a film as it uses stop motion, which is a technique used when making animation films or series. The process for stop motion includes taking multiple photographs and physically moving the object in the photo. Once these are all placed together and played back it creates the illusion of the object moving by itself.
The plot itself follows an endearing story of a little girl who braves an enchanted wonderland to save her baby brother. It is described as a dark fantasy film, so if that is something you love you will want to add this one to your list.
Mickey 17
Hird’s second recommendation Mickey 17 (2025) is produced, written and directed by Bong Joon-Ho and is scheduled to premier at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in February.
The plot follows star Robert Patterson’s character, Mickey, who has signed up to be an ‘expendable’, resulting in him dying multiple times and copies of himself being produced, just for him to die over and over again.
His entire job is to die for a living. The plot thickens when one of his copies doesn’t actually die. Not much is known about this film, however it is based on the thriller book Mickey 17 by Edward Ashton, so any book lovers out there should definitely give it a read before its release on the 18th of april.
The Bride
Another upcoming film directed and produced by a woman is a film called The Bride (2025).
Directed and produced by Maggie Gyllenhaal, this new take on Frankenstein is to be released on the 26th of September, and is based in the 1930’s and is described as an American monster film, including romance and murder all rolled into one.
Hamnet
If historical drama is your choice of film you should add Hamnet (2025) by Chloe Zhao to your watchlist this year.
Unfortunately a release date has not been confirmed, but the film is based on the book Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell.
The story follows the life of beloved writer William Shakespeare and his wife Agnnes after the tragic death of their 11 year old son.
Roofman
Don’t worry if your cup of tea is a crime as Hird’s recommendation of Roofman (2025) is just for you.
This crime/drama film is directed by Derek Cianfrance, and is expected to be released on the 3rd of October
The story follows a rooftop robber, Jeffrey Manchester, who is an interesting former United States Army reserve officer. This story is based on the true story of Jeffrey Manchester who in 2000 was sentenced to 45 years, after breaking into over 60 McDonald’s restaurants. I would definitely look into his story before watching the film if crime is your interest.
Hopefully this has helped you in choosing what films to pick to watch this year. Let us know if you have any more in the comments.
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Featured image courtesy of Thea Hdc on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes have been made to this image.
