As is so often the case, the first several months of 2025 have had some serious highs and lows. There have been major box-office hits, like "Sinners," poised to be one of the highest-earning horror movies of the past decade, along with some colossal disappointments, like Disney's universally panned live-action "Snow White," expected to lose the studio $115 million. And the summer movie season is only just beginning.
While the early months of the year are generally slower in Hollywood, with most studios holding off on releasing the biggest titles, the summer season is where things really pick up. Looking ahead, there are plenty of notable films on the horizon. Moviegoers will be treated to a ton of hotly anticipated sequels, including "Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning" on May 23, "Jurassic World: Rebirth" on July 2, "Freakier Friday" on Aug. 8, and "Wicked: For Good" on Nov. 21.
Several family-friendly movies are also on the way, like Disney's live-action "Lilo & Stitch" remake on May 23 and Pixar's "Elio" on June 20. And who could forget the slew of superhero movies (like James Gunn's long-awaited "Superman" on July 11) and heart-pounding action films (like the Brad Pitt-led "F1" on June 27) audiences will undoubtedly flock to as the heat rises?
There's so much to look forward to, but the gems that have already hit theaters should not be overlooked. Stacker rounded up the best movies of 2025 so far, ranked by Metacritic scores. To qualify for the list, these movies must have been released and distributed in the United States by May 6, 2025, and have at least seven reviews by critics. Any ties were broken by Metacritic's internal weighting system. IMDb user ratings were provided for popular reception context.
From timely documentaries to animated comedies to gripping foreign films, these are the 2025 films most deserving of your attention.
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#20. The Falling Sky
- Director: Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, Eryk Rocha
- Metascore: 80
- IMDB user rating: 6.4
- Run time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
This unflinching documentary focuses on a Brazilian tribe of Indigenous people who are seeing their lands and existence threatened by outsiders and capitalism. Visually stunning and uniquely paced, film critic Carlos Aguilar wrote in his review for Variety that "each frame carries both a dignified divinity and strong sense of urgency." Calling it "one of the most necessary and scorching pieces of nonfiction storytelling in recent memory," Aguilar deemed it an essential watch, particularly in the context of the ever-worsening climate crisis.
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#19. Secret Mall Apartment
- Director: Jeremy Workman
- Metascore: 80
- IMDB user rating: 7.4
- Run time: 1 hour, 31 minutes
In 2003, eight Rhode Islanders, all young artists, constructed and moved into a secret apartment in the middle of the Providence Place mall. This documentary tells their story, combining the grainy footage they shot on handheld cameras during the adventure and sit-down interviews with the crew now. Vogue's Erik Morse praised the film as a "strangely nostalgic elegy to the last years of a pre-social media era when Main Street and IRL community actions still defined the parameters of the public domain."
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#18. Vulcanizadora
- Director: Joel Potrykus
- Metascore: 82
- IMDB user rating: 6.5
- Run time: 1 hour, 25 minutes"
Vulcanizadora" continues the story of two characters from 2010's "Coyote" and 2014's "Buzzard" as they head into the forest to make good on a disturbing pact. After their plans go awry, they are forced to deal with the emotional and legal repercussions of the choices that led to that moment. Variety's Siddhant Adlakha called the dark comedy "bleak" yet "surprisingly moving in its depiction of mid-life crises and of two men who feel so betrayed by the world (and by their own actions) that they see no escape from their malaise."
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#17. Grand Theft Hamlet
- Directors: Sam Crane, Pinny Grylls
- Metascore: 82
- IMDB user rating: 6.9
- Run time: 1 hour, 29 minutes
One of the quirkiest movies to make this list, "Grand Theft Hamlet" follows two out-of-work actors who attempt to stage a full-blown production of "Hamlet" in Grand Theft Auto Online. Shot entirely in the video game, with all of the subjects portrayed by their digital avatars, the film won the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2024 SXSW festival. NPR's Bob Mondello called it "constantly surprising, breathtakingly imaginative, and a great introduction to Shakespeare."
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#16. Grand Tour
- Director: Miguel Gomes
- Metascore: 82
- IMDB user rating: 6.5
- Run time: 2 hours, 9 minutes
A historical drama set in 1918, "Grand Tour" is about a young man who abandons his fiancée on the eve of their wedding, only to have her set out in search of him. As they each traipse across East and Southeast Asia, fictional scenes of their story are interspersed with real documentary footage (some from the turn of the century, some more modern).
Director Miguel Gomes told Vulture the film was meant to evoke "the spectacle of the world," prompting audiences to look more closely at their own worlds. The visually intoxicating movie resists the audience's need to understand what's going on, choosing instead to inspire wonder and the sense that "reality is often magical and inscrutable."
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#15. Holy Cow
- Director: Louise Courvoisier
- Metascore: 83
- IMDB user rating: 7.2
- Run time: 1 hour, 32 minutes
Set in a small town in France, "Holy Cow" follows an 18-year-old boy whose world is turned upside-down after he becomes the sole caregiver for his 7-year-old sister. To help themselves adjust to their new circumstances, the siblings prepare to enter a cheese-making contest. Writing for The Guardian, Cath Clarke called the film "a social-realist drama that is the opposite of grim and miserable in its warm and often funny telling of a coming-of-age story."
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#14. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
- Directors: Merlin Crossingham, Nick Park
- Metascore: 83
- IMDB user rating: 7.5
- Run time: 1 hour, 22 minutes
In "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl," an old nemesis—Feathers McGraw, the penguin who first made his debut in the 1993 short "The Wrong Trousers"—returns to challenge the title pair with an assist from some AI-infused gnomes. While delightfully entertaining for younger audiences, with chase scenes and laugh-out-loud jokes galore, the film will keep older viewers engaged with its insightful criticisms of technology and its place in our consumer society.
The movie nailed the "nostalgia sequel," according to Forbes senior contributor Dani Di Placido, "keeping the spirit of the animated series alive while paying tribute to the claymation duo's best moments." "Vengeance Most Fowl" was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 2025 Academy Awards.
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#13. Misericordia
- Director: Alain Guiraudie
- Metascore: 83
- IMDB user rating: 6.8
- Run time: 1 hour, 44 minutes
At the start of "Misericordia," a man arrives at a village in rural France to attend the funeral of his former boss. The widow, vaguely aware of the man's affair with her late husband, invites him to stay, only to see tensions arise between her new houseguest and her son.
RogerEbert.com described the thriller as "a morbid comedy of errors" and "a metaphysical, character-driven drama about the mysteries and absurdities of human attraction." It's exactly the Hitchcockian sort of movie for which writer-director Alain Guiraudie, who made 2013's "Stranger by the Lake," has become known.
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#12. From Ground Zero
- Directors: Aws Al-Banna, Ahmed Al-Danf, Basil Al-Maqousi
- Metascore: 83
- IMDB user rating: 8
- Run time: 1 hour, 52 minutes
One of the most urgent works on this list, "From Ground Zero" is a collection of 22 different short films, ranging in style from documentary to animation, shot by nearly two dozen Palestinian directors over the past year in Gaza. Through true stories, the movie does a powerful job of humanizing the people of Gaza as they witness the destruction of their homes and the killing of their loved ones by the Israeli military.
"From Ground Zero" was shortlisted for Best International Feature at the 2025 Academy Awards, though it didn't make the final cut. RogerEbert.com critic Matt Zoller Seitz called it "a rare work for which superlatives are not only inadequate but useless," writing that the film "shows that, after a catastrophe, art is not only still possible but necessary—and that digital technology makes it possible for people to continue to preserve and share their stories even after they've lost almost everything else."
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#11. Jazzy
- Director: Morrisa Maltz
- Metascore: 83
- IMDB user rating: 6
- Run time: 1 hour, 26 minutes
Set in the same universe as director Morrisa Maltz's debut film, "The Unknown Country," "Jazzy" is a coming-of-age drama that follows a young Oglala Lakota girl. The movie is based on the real-life experiences of Maltz's goddaughter, Jasmine Bearkiller Shangreaux, with the narrative following Jazzy and her best friend over six years as they navigate crushes, life's twists and turns, and the challenges of friendship. Called "scrappy," "loose-limbed," and "meditative" by Variety's Tomris Laffly, the film beautifully encapsulates those messy adolescent years.
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#10. Eephus
- Director: Carson Lund
- Metascore: 83
- IMDB user rating: 6.9
- Run time: 1 hour, 38 minutes
Set in the '90s, "Eephus" centers on two amateur baseball teams playing one last game in their home stadium before it gets demolished. Subtle, slow-moving, and without the overtly emotional arc that's central to most sports films, the movie still manages to be a touching and funny tribute to the country's national pastime. Writing for WBUR, Sean Burns called it "the best baseball movie since 'Bull Durham'—or maybe 'Bad Lieutenant'—because it explores this sport's peculiar ability to bend and distort time."
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#9. Blue Sun Palace
- Director: Constance Tsang
- Metascore: 83
- IMDB user rating: 6.5
- Run time: 1 hour, 56 minutes
In the wake of a tragedy, two Chinese immigrants in Queens form an unexpected bond that helps them navigate their grief and hold on to the dreams that brought them across an ocean. Slow-moving and lyrical, the movie brings a "perceptive subtlety" to a classic immigrant story, according to critics. New York Times film critic Alissa Wilkinson praised the movie for creating "a whole world inside [its neighborhood] and its inhabitants, while letting us discover along with them what lies beyond."
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#8. Viet and Nam
- Director: Minh Quy Truong
- Metascore: 83
- IMDB user rating: 6.5
- Run time: 2 hours, 9 minutes
Two coal miners dream of a better future in this LGBTQ+ romantic drama. Banned in its home country of Vietnam for its "gloomy, deadlocked and negative" views of the nation and its people, the movie wrestles with the effects of the Vietnam War, the difficulties of immigration, and the realities of being in a same-gender relationship in a country where that is still widely regarded as taboo. Chicago Reader Assistant Managing Editor Savannah Hugueley described the expressionist movie as "abstract" and "dreamlike."
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#7. Universal Language
- Director: Matthew Rankin
- Metascore: 84
- IMDB user rating: 7
- Run time: 1 hour, 29 minutes
"Universal Language" is an absurdist comedy set in a reimagined Canada where Persian and French are the official languages. The film contains three separate yet seemingly unconnected narratives. Reminiscent of the Iranian New Wave cinematic movement, the movie may be too bizarre for some: The action is interspersed with asides, like a faux '80s-style commercial selling turkeys. But for those willing to get on its wavelength, the film delivers a story that is "familiar and strange to us, welcoming but odd, funny, and tender," per RogerEbert.com critic Monica Castillo.
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#6. Sinners
- Director: Ryan Coogler
- Metascore: 84
- IMDB user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 2 hours, 17 minutes
Michael B. Jordan plays twins in this horror movie set in the Mississippi Delta in 1932. "Sinners" follows the two brothers, Smoke and Stack, as they return to their hometown hoping for a fresh start, only to find that a supernatural evil is lurking in the shadows. "Vibrant and richly acted," the movie is a "rare mainstream horror film that's about something weighty and soulful," according to Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman. Its thematic depth and stunning aesthetic are two of the reasons it's set to surpass $300 million in box-office sales, making it the biggest original horror movie since 2018's "A Quiet Place."
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#5. I'm Still Here
- Director: Walter Salles
- Metascore: 85
- IMDB user rating: 8.3
- Run time: 2 hours, 17 minutes
Based on journalist Marcelo Rubens Paiva's memoir of the same name, "I'm Still Here" tells the story of a mother and activist trying to cope with the forced disappearance of her husband amid Brazil's military dictatorship. Starring Oscar nominee Fernanda Torres, the movie was also nominated for Best Picture and won the Academy Award for Best International Film. The urgency of the story, as well as the quietly emotional performances, are among the driving factors behind the film's acclaim.
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#4. Black Bag
- Director: Steven Soderbergh
- Metascore: 85
- IMDB user rating: 6.8
- Run time: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, and Pierce Brosnan lead the cast of this spy thriller that follows a British intelligence officer who is tasked with investigating a list of possible traitors. One of the names on that list? The wife he's deeply devoted to.
"Black Bag" has tonal similarities to a James Bond movie but with a subtler, more darkly comedic approach. RogerEbert.com's Monica Castillo called the Steven Soderbergh effort "absolutely delicious, a svelte piece of entertainment that feels like a vintage yarn yet very much represents our own current anxieties, questions of sustaining trust in relationships and high-stake careers."
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#3. A Nice Indian Boy
- Director: Roshan Sethi
- Metascore: 85
- IMDB user rating: 8
- Run time: 1 hour, 36 minutes
In this rom-com, an Indian American doctor brings his fiancé, a white man adopted by Indian parents, to meet his ultra-traditional family. Karan Soni and Jonathan Groff star in roles that are played with "exceptional heart and sensitivity," as described by RogerEbert.com contributing editor Nell Minow. The movie is heartwarming as it engages with classic genre tropes, but it has also earned praise for its gentle wisdom and the tender way it treats family and community.
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#2. April
- Director: Dea Kulumbegashvili
- Metascore: 85
- IMDB user rating: 6.5
- Run time: 2 hours, 14 minutes
In this timely drama, a Georgian obstetrician who provides abortions to her patients despite the country's prohibitions must defend herself after being accused of negligence. Gripping and, at times, unbearably tense, the movie is a must-watch in the current political climate. Just be aware that it may leave you feeling unsettled: IndieWire Reviews Editor David Ehrlich called it a "remarkable and shudderingly unresolved film."
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#1. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
- Director: Rungano Nyoni
- Metascore: 87
- IMDB user rating: 7.1
- Run time: 1 hour, 39 minutes
"On Becoming a Guinea Fowl" opens with the main character stumbling across the body of her dead uncle, lying on the road in the middle of the night. As her extended Zambian family prepares for Uncle Fred's funeral, long-held family secrets begin to come to light and force a reckoning. A mix of dark comedy and serious drama, the movie has plenty to say about the challenges of processing complex emotions and the temptation to live in denial.
Data reporting by Wade Zhou. Story editing by Louis Peitzman. Copy editing by Tim Bruns, Kristen Wegrzyn, and Paris Close.
