Making a case for “Twinless,” “The Knife” and “Familiar Touch.”
Not every great movie makes headlines or dominates the box office. Some of the most memorable films fly quietly under the radar, waiting to be discovered by curious viewers. This list highlights 25 standout movies from 2025 that may not have gotten the spotlight they deserved—but are absolutely worth your time, whether for their storytelling, performances, or unexpected originality.
Americana
Americana is an entertaining comic neo-western about normal people getting wrapped up in a dangerous criminal situation in pursuit of a sacred and valuable Native American ghost shirt. It’s an “innocent folks find a bag of money” movie!
The cast and their well-written characters are part of what really makes it sing — Sydney Sweeney is quite good playing against type as a shy girl with a lisp who dreams of becoming a singer, and Paul Walter Hauser is wonderful as a right-handed guy named Lefty who can’t stop asking women to marry him.
It’s a fun, funny and unexpectedly sweet experience, even if it builds to something more action-oriented than I was expecting. It’s nowhere near as good as the movies it’s clearly inspired by — the works of the Coen brothers and Pulp Fiction, for starters — but it’s worth checking out.
How to watch: Americana is now streaming on Starz.
Bang Bang
This unexpectedly moving boxing drama is anchored by a sensational lead performance from Tim Blake Nelson as a retired boxer inspired to try his hand at training as a means of reconnecting with his estranged grandson. It may sound cliché on paper, but in actuality, it’s an affecting character study of a prickly a**hole of a man, more so than a sports movie. As we learn more about his past, we begin to understand the full picture of why he is the way he is, and in a grander sense, that there may be more to people than the way they choose to present themselves to the world. It’s the rare gem that received zero attention but is absolutely worth seeking out.
How to watch: Bang Bang is now available to rent or buy.
Best Wishes to All
I really loved this Japanese metaphorror (that’s horror as a metaphor, in case you were wondering) comedy about being young and idealistic and believing there’s good in the world and having to come to terms with the reality that the world is bad, actually, and your happiness depends on the suffering of others. A young woman’s visit to her grandparents’ home leads to the discovery of what brings them happiness, a revelation that will prompt her to question her choices, sanity and reality itself. It’s reminiscent of Jordan Peele’s Us thematically, and there are some similarities to M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit, but it’s very much doing its own thing. A fantastic debut that’s hilarious and unsettling in equal measure, and with a real weight to it.
How to watch: Best Wishes to All is now streaming on Shudder.
Bob Trevino Likes It
Bob Trevino Likes It is such an endearing crowd-pleaser, the all-too-rare blanket recommendation that is sure to work for just about anyone! It’s an emotionally affecting true story about a young woman (Barbie Ferreira) who is neglected by her father. She connects with a stranger on Facebook who just so happens to have the same name, first and last, as her father. Her dad is played by French Stewart, in an atypical role for him, and the father-figure stranger who enters her life is John Leguizamo. The dynamic between Leguizamo and Ferreira is so sweet it’s impossible not to root for them. There’s plenty of sadness here, but it’s in more of a tearjerker, inspiring and nice way than a tragic one, and there’s a reveal in the credits that’s likely to make your eyes water up all over again.
How to watch: Bob Trevino Likes It is now streaming on Hulu.
The Cut
It was a great year for boxing movies that had zero marketing budgets! Orlando Bloom is absolutely fantastic in this film, which aims to subvert everything we know about a boxing movie. It’s all about a boxer trying to make weight for a fight — imagine if the training montage from one of these types of things was the entire movie — and portrays the harsh realities of how far one can push their body in pursuit of redemption. It’s a harrowing psychological drama, and Bloom’s commitment to the role shines through at every turn. John Turturro is also terrific in a supporting role.
How to watch: The Cut is now streaming on Paramount+.
Dead Mail
I really love Dead Mail, which deploys such unique and exciting storytelling for what is ultimately a thriller that has an absolutely killer way into the story.
On a desolate road, a bound man crawls toward a remote postal box, managing to slide a bloodstained plea-for-help message into the box before a looming figure closes in behind him. The note makes its way to the county post office and onto the desk of Jasper, a seasoned and skilled “dead letter” investigator, responsible for investigating lost mail and returning it to its sender. The less said about where it goes, the better, though I’d be lying if I didn’t admit the film peaks in that first act.
Part of me wishes that the movie hadn’t abandoned the “dead letter” stuff so quickly; it’s a brilliant way into the story, and Jasper’s dogged commitment to the job makes you understand everything about his character and also the world of the film in an instant. That being said, I do think that the format here would lend itself quite nicely to a serialized faux true crime format, with each piece of mail serving as a new episode. I hope Shudder is reading this! I’ll take an executive producer credit.
How to watch: Dead Mail is now streaming on Shudder.
Eden
The latest movie from prolific filmmaker Ron Howard is unlike anything the actor turned director has made before. If I hadn’t known going in that he directed it, I never would’ve guessed, which is an exciting thing to say about a director in his 70s. Howard can still surprise us! A populist crowd-pleaser this is not.
Eden is inspired by the wild, true Lord of the Flies-esque story of a group of disillusioned outsiders in the early 1930s who abandon post-World War I Europe in search of a new beginning. Settling on a remote uninhabited island, their utopian dream quickly unravels as they discover that the greatest threat isn’t the brutal climate or deadly wildlife, but one another.
The cast of Eden is chock-full of the hottest actors in Hollywood: Sydney Sweeney, Ana de Armas and Vanessa Kirby share the screen alongside Jude Law and Daniel Brühl. The island experiment becomes a sort of microcosm speed-run of a society rising and falling, as all the different parties jockey for power and control. Eden plays out like the most twisted episode of Survivor. Outwit, outplay, outlast!
How to watch: Eden is now streaming on Netflix.
Escape From the 21st Century
This Chinese time-travel comedy is hilariously clever, visually inventive and just plain old wacky, cartoonish fun. The fact that it consistently surprises and still manages to say something about The Way We Live is a bonus. In the film, three friends discover that they have the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze. However, the future is not as promising as they had hoped, and they must take on the responsibility of saving the world. Imagine something directed by Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer) by way of Back to the Future. A blast!
How to watch: Escape From the 21st Century is now streaming on Prime Video.
Familiar Touch
Familiar Touch is a moving film about aging that is, quite cleverly, being called a “coming-of-old-age” film in its marketing. Writer-director Sarah Friedland‘s compassionate and human debut film follows the winding path of octogenarian Ruth’s shifting memories amid early signs of dementia while staying rooted in her perspective. It’s not as stuffy as it sounds — there are laughs throughout — and the lead performance from Kathleen Chalfant is devastatingly good. It explores the impact of an illness like this not only on the person but also on those around them, such as family members and caregivers. It’s a deeply accurate portrait of dealing with an aging relative that will, unfortunately, resonate with many.
How to watch: Familiar Touch is now streaming on Mubi.
Influencers
This sequel to 2022’s Influencer — in my mind the best Shudder original horror movie that the network has ever distributed — is just as good as, if not better than, the under-seen original. In the globe-trotting Influencer, social media influencer Madison meets CW, who travels with ease and shows her a more uninhibited way of living. But CW’s interest in her takes a darker turn. In the sequel, now set in southern France, a young woman’s chilling fascination with murder and identity theft sends her life into a whirlwind of chaos.
The less said about both films, the better; the first film, especially, thrives on the unpredictable nature of its storytelling and tricky characterization of who the real protagonist is here. Think The Talented Mr. Ripley for the social media generation, and you’re halfway there. Both films feature a sensational star-making lead performance from Cassandra Naud and deserve praise for their on-location shooting, which makes the most of their minuscule budget by filming in exotic locations.
Influencers is a genuinely great sequel that does all the things you’d hope a follow-up to a favorite would do, in that it thoughtfully expands its scope while staying true to what made it so fun and exciting. Bring on Influencer 3! This is my new favorite horror franchise.
How to watch: Influencers is now streaming on Shudder.
The Knife
After the mysterious appearance of a stranger in their home, a young Black family must deal with the fallout of their choices, big and small, as a steadfast detective tries to crack the case over the course of one fateful night. The performances are all great — you’ll recognize Oscar winner Melissa Leo — and it’ll make your skin crawl as well as provoke discussions about what you’d do in this exact situation. Did the characters do the right thing? Is there ever a circumstance in which lying is acceptable? It’s a conversation starter.
How to watch: The Knife is now available to rent or buy.
Left-Handed Girl
Netflix recently released a new film coproduced, cowritten and edited by Sean Baker, the filmmaker who took home four Oscars last year for Anora, and it has zero awareness despite being very good!
The Taiwanese film was directed by frequent Baker collaborator Shih-Ching Tsou and is about a mother and her two daughters moving to Taipei to open a noodle stand at a vibrant night market. Family secrets and tradition test their fresh start. It’s a typically Bakerian affair in that it’s about people living on the margins of society, but it has such specific cultural details that make it entirely Tsou’s own, despite the familiar themes and rhythms. It reminds you that some childhood experiences are universal, no matter where you come from.
How to watch: Left-Handed Girl is now streaming on Netflix.
Lurker
This engaging indie thriller plays like a modern take on The Talented Mr. Ripley, with present-day concerns about social media and how people nowadays crave close proximity to fame as a sort of fame unto itself, and how far they’ll go to achieve it and maintain it. It has a punchline of an ending that’s so dark and inspired, I laughed out loud. It’s a blast! Watch if you dug Ingrid Goes West.
How to watch: Lurker is now streaming on Mubi.
Night Call
This thriller set in Belgium was so good that its director was hired to helm the next Final Destination movie, following the sixth entry in the franchise that debuted this year and quickly became the highest-grossing yet. That’s a big bet to make, but Night Call proves he’s got the juice.
It’s a very simple “all-in-one-night, normal-guy-on-the-run-from-criminals” thriller, and it’s a blast. I love the setup: Mady, a student, works as a locksmith by night. He helps Claire get into her apartment and soon realizes that she lied to him about her identity and stole something that belonged to a dangerous man. Mady gets embroiled in a manhunt and will have one night to prove his innocence. It’s such a clever yet obvious idea that it makes you wonder why you hadn’t seen it before.
How to watch: Night Call is now streaming on Hulu.
The Prosecutor
Hong Kong action star and martial arts legend Donnie Yen stars in this super-fun hybrid of an action movie and a courtroom thriller. Yes, Donnie Yen is a lawyer, and yes, he kicks people’s butts as well. He also directed the movie — a triple threat! The inspired silliness here is pitched in exactly the right key, the fight scenes are impressively choreographed and shot innovatively, and the wrongly accused man plot goes down smoothly. Imagine watching a serious, earnest courtroom drama like A Few Good Men, and then imagine if that movie stopped every other scene to feature an insane action sequence that was relevant to the plot. It’s a riot and has plenty to say about what justice actually means.
How to watch: The Prosecutor is now streaming on Prime Video and Tubi.
Sharp Corner
Sharp Corner is either a twisted drama or a super-dark comedy, depending on your sicko level. Starring Ben Foster and Cobie Smulders, it’s about a family that moves into their dream home only to discover their property is on a dangerous stretch of road where people constantly crash their cars and die. The father’s obsession with the accidents soon spirals out of control.
Foster is an incredibly underrated performer, and it’s always a treat to see him stretch his legs in a starring role vs. the more regular supporting work he does. He’s terrific here, selling the tragicomedy of it all while also making you feel queasy.
It’s ultimately a psychological drama (“thriller” sounds too strong) about obsession and how it can be all-consuming. It’s thought-provoking and entertaining as hell!
How to watch: Sharp Corner is now streaming on Hulu.
Sisu: Road to Revenge
Sisu: Road to Revenge is an even better film than its predecessor, one-upping itself throughout, delivering intensely gory action set pieces that are so increasingly creative, each and every kill got an actual laugh from me. They found a bunch of new and exciting ways to kill bad guys!
Our hero from the last film dismantles the house where his family was murdered and loads it onto a truck to rebuild it somewhere safe. He soon finds himself in a violent cross-country chase as the commander who killed his family comes back to finish the job.
That villain is played by character actor Stephen Lang, most recently of Avatar and Don’t Breathe fame, and his presence ups the ante in a big way. It goes from a Mad Max: Fury Road-inspired sequence to “What if the plane in North by Northwest had a turret and bombs?” at a moment’s notice. It’s essentially a feature-length chase scene, involving everything from tanks and trucks to planes and trains.
It’s an absolute blast and a marked improvement on the original in just about every way. It sets the tone right up top with a ludicrous kill that made me guffaw and stays that ridiculous and fun throughout. And it’s all wrapped up in under 90 minutes. Bring on Sisu 3!
How to watch: Sisu: Road to Revenge is now available to rent or buy.
Sketch
This live-action fantasy adventure movie for kids is a breath of fresh air as far as family-friendly flicks are concerned. It’s an original idea, though it boasts a premise that’s essentially “What if Harold and the Purple Crayon was Jumanji?”
When a young girl’s sketchbook falls into a strange pond, her drawings come to life — chaotic, real and on the loose. As the town descends into chaos, her family must reunite and stop the monsters they never meant to unleash. Staples of comedy television D’Arcy Carden and Tony Hale star as the adults, but the kids steal the show. Young lead Bianca Belle is terrific in a tough role, and the other young actors surrounding her are hilarious.
The movie is at its best when the kids are just being kids. It’s honest about how children would behave around one another, and there are tons of great gags mined from that. Sketch gets the little details just as right as it does its high-concept sci-fi “drawings come to life” stuff. The emotional beats work too, as the “dead mom” storyline, which normally serves as background fodder in a Pixar movie, is actually woven deftly into the concept and narrative.
Sketch hearkens back to an era of children’s movies that actually starred kids instead of animated blobs — think The Goonies — and the kids’ charm and laugh-out-loud humor take it far. It’s a real gem the whole family can enjoy.
How to watch: Sketch is now streaming on Angel Studios.
Souleymane’s Story
This Dardennes-esque French social realist thriller is a gripping portrait of a migrant just struggling to survive and all the obstacles that stand in his way. Souleymane is a Paris food delivery cyclist and asylum seeker who has two days to prepare his story for a make-or-break interview to secure legal residency.
As a film, it’s propulsive and engaging, and as social commentary, it’s a harrowing reminder that the people serving as private taxis for your burritos are real human people just trying to get by, and their livelihood can be upended at a moment’s notice by something as simple as a bike accident. Everything is hanging by a thread, and migrants specifically are exploited at a systemic level in several ways. Director Boris Lojkine makes you viscerally feel Souleymane’s struggle at every exhausting turn. A feature-length reminder to tip your DoorDash drivers, and so much more.
How to watch: Souleymane’s Story is now streaming on Kanopy.
Sovereign
Nick Offerman is absolutely terrific and perfectly cast in Sovereign, a movie based on the true story of Jerry and Joe Kane, a father and son who were self-proclaimed sovereign citizens involved in a deadly confrontation with police in West Memphis, Ark., in 2010. It’s a fictionalized account of the incident, rather than a direct retelling.
It amounts to a dual character study that tragically builds toward the aforementioned incident; a thriller of sorts, but with real emotional weight behind it. It’s a specific parenting story that speaks to the inherent dynamic of the father-son relationship: the father trying to mold the son to his worldview, and the son resisting, or embracing, that.
Offerman is sublime in the role, making you almost pity the man who is so staunch in his convictions, even as those convictions are revealed to be watery and not based in reality. The filmmakers are essentially weaponizing his well-known Ron Swanson persona from Parks and Recreation to great dramatic effect. Jacob Tremblay, child actor of Room and Wonder fame and now 19 years old, plays the son. It’s also a strong turn from him, even if Offerman steals the show.
How to watch: Sovereign is now streaming on Hulu.
Suze
Suze, a funny and sweet comedy, makes a great case for the hilarious and wonderful Michaela Watkins as a leading lady. When her only daughter goes off to university, an empty-nest mother gets stuck taking care of her daughter’s heartbroken ex-boyfriend, who she can’t stand. The film really elevates its sitcomlike premise with earnestness and by treating the material realistically. It’s surprisingly tender; the characters are far from one-dimensional archetypes, and it delves into very real relationship problems between mothers and daughters. The bottom line, though, is that Watkins deserves more star vehicles.
How to watch: Suze is now streaming on Tubi.
Tornado
Tornado is just your average Scottish samurai-western … wait, what?! Clearly inspired by Japanese cinema (with a side of Quentin Tarantino), Scottish filmmaker John Maclean returns with Tornado a decade after his 2015 indie debut, Slow West, with Michael Fassbender. Actress Kōki stars as Tornado, a Japanese puppeteer’s daughter who gets caught up with criminals when their traveling circus show crosses paths with an infamous gang, led by Sugarman (Tim Roth) and his son Little Sugar (Jack Lowden). It’s as riveting as it is efficient, running a brisk 85 minutes and setting up the stakes without wasting a moment. The story is familiar but imbued with enough specific quirks and eye-catching style that it feels entirely unique.
How to watch: Tornado is now streaming on AMC+.
Twinless
What starts as a clever premise quickly evolves into something darker. The short and spoiler-free synopsis is as follows: Two young men (Dylan O’Brien and James Sweeney) meet in a twin bereavement support group and form an unlikely bromance. The idea of two twins, having both lost their other halves, searching for their own identity as they continue to live on is so trenchant and emotional in itself. By the time the movie pulls a bait-and-switch and subverts that idea, it becomes a tragic thriller of sorts.
O’Brien gives not just one but two of the best performances this year playing twins, one of whom is only seen in flashbacks, but the movie’s well-conceived structure is such that they both get tons of screen time. Sweeney, who also writes and directs, is great too, but O’Brien really stands out due to just how different the two characters he’s playing are. It’s a star-making turn, for me at least, having never seen a Maze Runner movie.
It’s as dark and twisted as it is earnest, emotional and funny, a tricky combo pulled off with gusto here by Sweeney. The writing is exceptionally smart, and the movie always feels one step ahead of you, which is a truly enchanting and rare quality. Twinless is worth seeking out.
How to watch: Twinless is now available to rent or buy.
The Ugly Stepsister
If you ever wondered, “What would Cinderella be like if it were absolutely disgusting in every conceivable way?” boy, do I have the movie for you. The film takes place in a fairy-tale kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, telling the twisted story of Elvira, who competes against her beautiful stepsister in a bloody battle for the prince’s affections. The social commentary mirrors that of The Substance, but with a period setting, and it’s complete with all the trappings that come along with that, including horrifying antiquated plastic surgery techniques. The camera doesn’t flinch from showing you every squirm-inducing second, but it’s beautifully shot, and if you can handle how perverse this gets, you’re in for a treat.
How to watch: The Ugly Stepsister is now streaming on Shudder.
Universal Language
This Canadian surrealist comedy is so singular that it’s near-impossible to describe. Fans of Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami‘s films will appreciate it, as will those who admire the distinctive brutalist architecture of Winnipeg.
It’s an anthology-esque film set in an alternate Winnipeg where Farsi is a prominent language, blending Canadian absurdity with tributes to Iranian cinema. You don’t need to know any of these touchstones to appreciate it, but it will certainly help explain what’s going on. The humor is so dry you’ll likely miss a joke or two, but I laughed out loud often. It’s striking to behold, and those who do connect with it will find it a beautiful work, though it’s admittedly not for everyone. Give it a shot! It’s hilarious, really.
How to watch: Universal Language is now streaming on Kanopy.
