New year, new movies to look forward to! 2025 promises to be a jam-packed year for film. Audiences will meet a new Clarke Kent, return to Pandora, say goodbye to Ethan Hunt, and fly back to Oz this fall. This does not even count the upcoming releases from beloved auteurs such as Paul Thomas Anderson’s untitled Leonardo Dicaprio-led film, Ryan Coogler’s blood-thirsty Sinners, Josh Safdie’s solo debut Marty Supreme, and Danny Boyle’s long-awaited 28 Years Later.
With so many major projects to look forward to, it’s easy to forget the countless other exciting movies releasing this year. Luckily, we got you covered. Here are five underrated upcoming releases to help diversify your most-anticipated list (or simply remind you of some film’s existence)!
Roofman directed by Derek Cianfrance
Based on the true story, Roofman details the crime-spree adventures of Jeffrey Manchester, who became famously known as ‘Roofman’ due to robbing McDonalds chains by carving a hole through the roof. Even after his capture, Manchester’s story gets even more wild as he breaks out of prison, moves into a toy store, and falls in love.
Channing Tatum stars as the titular Roofman– adding a new entry in his Southern-robbers filmography. He’s joined by the Oscar-nominated actress Kirsten Dunst as the single mother he falls in love with. Peter Dinklage and Juno Temple also star, rounding out an already stacked cast.
The film’s director, Derek Cianfrance, is most well-known for directing the Ryan Gosling-led films Blue Valentine (2010) and The Place Beyond the Pines (2012). Roofman marks a shift from him tonally but fits within Cianfrance’s examination of the working-class struggle.
Roofman is one of those stories where fact is stranger than fiction and I cannot wait to see this unfold on the big screen. The film is set to be released on October 3, 2025 in the United States.
The Actor by Duke Johnson
This year will hopefully finally be the year Duke Johnson’s The Actor enters theaters. The writer and co-director, along with Charlie Kaufman, of the 2016 animated movie Anomalisa makes his live-action debut. The Actor is based on the 2010 novel Memory by Donald E. Westlake. It chronicles an actor on a mission to reclaim his life after being beaten up and left for dead with no memory of who he is. The man journeys from Ohio back home to New York while he attempts to put the pieces of his identity back together.
Andre Holland stars in the film and is joined by Gemma Chan, Tanya Reynolds, Joe Cole, May Calamawy, and Toby Jones to just name a few. Speaking to Playlist, Holland described the film as “unlike anything I’ve ever seen…it’s just unusual…it’s just a beautiful meditation on identity, love, and belonging.”
The film completed production in April 2023 and Johnson was still tinkering with the film post-production in November 2024. With an interesting premise, a robust cast, and the support of Charlie Kaufman as an executive producer, it can not come soon enough.
Hamnet directed by Chloe Zhao
This is probably already on your watchlist for the year, but it feels wrong not to mention it. Chloe Zhao follows up her Marvel Cinematic Universe entry Eternals (2021) and Academy Award Winning Best Picture Nomadland (2020) with her fifth feature film– Hamnet. The film is a historical drama based on the 2020 Shakespeare-era novel by Maggie O’Farrell.
Hamnet is a fictional account of William Shakespeare’s son, the titular Hamnet, who died at age eleven. The story focuses on his parent’s grief. Paul Mescal plays William Shakespeare and stars alongside Jessie Buckley as his wife, Agnes. Joe Alwyn plays Agnes’ brother Bartholomew and Emily Watson plays Mary, Hamnet’s grandmother. Beyond an incredible cast of talented character actors, the crew is equally impressive with Steven Speilberg being one of the producers.
William Shakespeare will take the backseat in this film as Agnes takes center stage. Set against the backdrop of the creation of Hamlet, the story focuses on Agnes’ grief as she comes to terms with the loss of her only son. Zhao’s ability to capture real people and their stories in an earnest and open way lends itself quite uniquely to telling a story about one of the world’s most famous figures.
Focus Features is set to release the film in the United States later this year.
Bad Apples directed by Jonatan Etzler
Jonatan Etzler makes his highly-anticipated English language feature debut this year with the satirical comedy Bad Apples. Etzler states the film will be a “gripping, funny, and thrilling film questioning how we justify society’s systems for ourselves.”
It tells the story of a primary school teacher who, through a series of unfortunate choices, locks an unruly student in her home. She faces a moral conundrum as the class begins to thrive and she receives praise for the improvement.
The film is an adaptation of Swedish novelist Rasmus Andersson’s debut novel De Oönskade.
Saoirse Ronan stars as the school teacher, Maria. She is joined by Jacob Anderson (which is not the only reason why I am so excited about this film but definitely a contributing factor). Ronan describes the film as a “dark Scandi-Brit comedy” and Anderson states he never thought he’d play a character like it.
Republic Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures, is set to release the film in 2025.
Last Swim directed by Sasha Nathwani
If you’re a fan of coming-of-age films, this should be at the top of your watchlist. Winner of the Berlinale Crystal Bear, Sasha Nathwani’s Last Swim tells the story of a British-Iranian teen named Ziba. The film follows her and her friends through a summer day in London, roaming the city and culminating in a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event. However, Ziba hides a secret and as the day comes to an end, she has no choice but to confront the event she has planned.
The film mixes adolescent optimism with the general nihilism young people find themselves feeling more and more. It’s not your conventional coming-of-age film with painful and chaotic twists mixed with humor, wit, and a touch of emo sentiments. The exploration of London has an added layer of immersion that makes the film stand out in the genre.
It features a relatively unknown cast of upcoming talent with Deba Hekmat as the film’s lead. The film premiered at BFI in October of 2024 and is set for a summer release in the United States this year.
List Courtesy of Kamryn Ryan
Feature Image Credit of Joe Alwyn and Jessie Buckley in ‘Hamnet’ (Source: @badpostalwyn)