It’s hard to believe we’re already nearing the end of 2025. In the world of movies, the second half of the year is always chock full of holiday releases, bound to deliver dozens of fall festival hits primed for double digit Oscar nominations. Oft forgotten, though, are the smaller, quieter films released in the first half of the year. I want to reflect on these early bloomers and give them a spotlight they deserve. In alphabetical order, here are ten of my favorite films released before July 1, 2025.
“Baby Invasion”
This is certainly a way to kick off the list. Harmony Korine, cinema’s moldiest filmmaker, delivers a followup to 2024’s “AGGRO DR1FT” that somehow doubles on its dosage of brainrot. In one press conference for that film, Korine said one of his biggest artistic inspirations is Pokémon Go. This is not lost in “Baby Invasion”. POV: a manic, juvenile Twitch chat infinitely scrolls to the left of your HUD as you and your fellow rugrats raid a loaded mansion. Maximalist like David Foster Wallace yet completely pointless like a YouTube Poop, “Baby Invasion” offers a glimpse into where each incoming AI advancement could take us–a post-Skibidi toilet matrix supersaturated with dopamine hits and distorted fluffy animals. Recommend watching while scrolling Instagram reels.
“Black Bag”
Perhaps our most efficient workhorse, Steven Soderbergh gave us two movies alone in the first half of 2025. “Black Bag” just so happens to also be one of the best of the year. A cool, stylish spy thriller decked out with A-listers and rising stars, the film is perfect for those of us who wish the “Ocean’s” movies were just a little more British. Tests of the world’s smartest couple’s devotion to each other masquerading as a whodunit, “Black Bag” provides a tightly wound tale of deception and deadly games certain to satisfy your adrenaline cravings without ever having to leave your armchair.
“Bring Her Back”
The Philippou brothers, YouTubers turned horror auteurs, have certainly found a niche. Their movies are a bad time. I say this positively, as their disturbing, psychic-damaging breed of horror is incredibly crafted and brimming with emotions. Sally Hawkins, always primed to deliver a tender performance, is cast against type as the antagonist here. She is the center of this film, delivering a one of a kind performance begging for love while also fueling your hatred of her. Grief is a theme often explored in modern “atmospheric horror”, but it’s rare that we feel it as viscerally as in “Bring Her Back”. A mother’s love can be powerful, yes. However, I was not aware it could be quite this affecting.
“Drop”
The trailer for “Drop” became something of a running gag between my movie-going friends and I. The conceit seemed ridiculous: a first date is hijacked by an unknown harasser communicating solely through digital drops. I assure you that although the premise is a bit silly, the flick comes through with real heart and real thrills. Once the central motif clicked, the schlocky screen horror became a Hitchcockian battle against one’s own trauma. As our modes of communication advance, it makes sense that the movies would have to address this change. “Drop” achieves this through a sharp and heartpounding race against time and our past.
“Final Destination: Bloodlines”
As a Web 2.0 user, I became familiar with the “Final Destination” series perhaps a tad earlier than recommended by the MPA. I had mostly forgotten about the franchise after its fifth installment in 2011, but my ears were perked when I heard a revival was in the works. Little did I know that the best “Final Destination” film would be released 25 years after the classic original. With the VFX chops of the 2020s and enough time to find writers willing to develop a coherent and enticing story, “Final Destination: Bloodlines” easily proves itself as belonging in a caliber above the LiveLeak-lite preceding installments. The familial bloodlines in question actually flesh out the usually flat characters, and the increasingly sadistic kills only make the deaths of these characters all the more brutal. Note to self: not getting an MRI any time soon, I’ll risk the consequences.
“Friendship”
Fans of the hit cringe comedy series “I Think You Should Leave” may find “Friendship” to be treading familiar ground. I disagree. Tim Robinson may still be the Flanderized socially inept dweeb we know from many of the sketches of “Leave”, but up until now, he has never existed around real characters. In “Friendship”, Robinson dances toe-to-toe with Paul Rudd playing the most normal of guys. Almost as if that normality is a front. “Friendship” ends up being a wildly hilarious gauntlet of second-hand embarrassment as we watch a man come on a little too hard on his new friend.
“The Phoenician Scheme”
Going into “The Phoenician Scheme”, I was expecting disappointment. Anderson’s dollhouse symmetry felt drab rather than vibrant, and the premise failed to excite me. However, I couldn’t resist the newest auteur showtime at the theater, and I was rewarded with one of my favorite Wes films to date. The twee humor is there as always, highlighted especially by aughts icon Michael Cera. But more importantly, the heart is there. After “The French Dispatch”, some have felt Wes Anderson has explored a more meta direction in his themes. This is incredibly apparent in “The Phoenician Scheme”, ultimately a fable of how a father can prove himself to his daughter. After the postmodern misfire of “Asteroid City”, it was heartwarming to see Wes truly pour part of himself into one of his storybooks again.
“Sinners”
If you’re even a casual movie-goer, you’ve likely heard of Sinners. The ever-rare original story that took box offices by storm, “Sinners” was the talk of the town this spring. And for good reason, it’s a great flick! Ryan Coogler, the auteur behind the “Black Panther” films, devised a period drama that somehow morphs into a vampire horror and also features dazzling original blues songs. It truly has something for everyone. There is one scene in particular relating to the musical theme that is awe-inspiring, the type of scene you learn about in film school. With a rocking score and an ensemble cast chock full of dynamic characters, “Sinners” is easily one of the highlights of 2025.
“Sorry, Baby”
Aspiring triple-threat Eva Victor does not want to spin a yarn, they want to depict the real thing, bones and all. At the intersection between a cat and a PhD lies Agnes, who experiences a bad thing. The bad thing is depicted with brutal honesty, as if you were really there for the bad thing. Like with any other bad thing, coping mechanisms emerge. Bad things also create webs which envelop and impact others. Often, it can be difficult to know what to do when such a bad thing occurs. Eva Victor does not provide a tutorial for how to act when this bad thing occurs–rather, she provides an almost docudrama recap of her experience, merely depicting what has happened as what has happened, with the promise that we can hope for such bad things to not happen to our next of kin.
“Universal Language”
Somewhere between Winnipeg and Tehran lives “Universal Language”, the second feature-length film by Matthew Rankin. Immediately comparable to Wes Anderson but ultimately existing in a completely separate universe, “Universal Language” is a melting pot of two cultures that stubbornly coexist. The humor and scenarios are absurd, but the converging plotlines reveal a tender core to the film amidst the labyrinthian setting. Ultimately “Universal Language” is less a film about knowing and more about feeling. Because at the end of the day, we don’t know our own identity or home, we feel it.
