The 2025 Festival Films You Need to Know
Check out our list of exciting new movies from this year's film festivals, including Venice, the Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and more.
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- DirectorLuca GuadagninoStarsJulia RobertsAndrew GarfieldAyo EdebiriA college professor finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light.We're detecting notes of Saltburn from this thriller that might set the Yale campus on fire with accusations of sexual assault, taking down Professor Julia Roberts and her maybe-gross associate (Andrew Garfield) in the process. Director Luca Guadagnino’s latest will make a few quick stops on the festival circuit, followed by an awards-qualifying theatrical run before hitting Prime Video on Oct. 17.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival - DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsJacob ElordiMia GothChristoph WaltzA brilliant but egotistical scientist brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creationIf there's anyone we trust to spark some new life (no pun intended) into Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, it's Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro. Oscar Isaac plays the titular role of Victor Frankenstein, with Jacob Elordi joining him as The Monster. At TUDUM 2025, Isaac told us that del Toro aimed to create a "banquet" for him, and we cannot wait to indulge.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival - DirectorYorgos LanthimosStarsEmma StoneJesse PlemonsAlicia SilverstoneTwo conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.Inspired by Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 scifi-thriller-horror-satire-comedy Save the Green Planet!, the latest Yorgos Lanthimos film follows two conspiracy theorists (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) as they attempt to kidnap a pharmaceutical CEO (Emma Stone) who they believe is an alien with ill intent. Bugonia marks the fourth feature collaboration between Stone and Lanthimos and the third between Plemons and the Oscar-nominated director. So what to expect from this pitch black comedy? Well, we know Stone shaved her head on camera and that Ari Aster served as a producer, so we suspect things are about to get pretty dark. Not since The Killing of a Sacred Deer has a Lanthimos film had so much feel-bad promise, and we can’t wait.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival - DirectorBenny SafdieStarsDwayne JohnsonEmily BluntRyan BaderThe story of mixed-martial arts and UFC champion Mark Kerr.For fans still reeling from 2019’s Uncut Gems, the Safdie Brothers—now working solo—are delivering not one, but TWO sports-driven features this year, and The Smashing Machine is Benny’s entry into the ring. The film tracks the real-life highs and lows of MMA and UFC champion Mark Kerr, with Dwayne Johnson shedding his usual action-hero persona to fully inhabit the fighter’s grueling world—period-accurate looks, prosthetic makeup, and all. The Smashing Machine promises the intense, visceral punch the Safdies are known for. If it lands, Johnson won’t be the only one drenched in sweat.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival - DirectorJim JarmuschStarsMayim BialikCate BlanchettAdam DriverEstranged siblings reunite after years apart, forced to confront unresolved tensions and reevaluate their strained relationships with their emotionally distant parentsJim Jarmusch's patented form of slow cinema turns its gaze upon the relationships between adult siblings and their aging parents. Father Mother Sister Brother will be told in three chapters, each of them focusing on a new set of characters. If we had to pick the family drama we're anticipating the most, it'd be the story of two sisters (Vicky Krieps and Cate Blanchett) who reunite with their novelist mother (Charlotte Rampling) in Dublin.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival - DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsLee Byung-hunSon Ye-jinPark Hee-soonAfter being unemployed for several years, a man devises a unique plan to secure a new job: eliminate his competition.Writer-director Park Chan-wook made headlines earlier this year when he got 86'd from the Writers Guild of America, but we’re way more interested in his new movie, a remake of Costa-Gavras’ The Ax, which Park has envisioned as his potential masterpiece. The dark comedy with crime elements reunites the filmmaker with stars Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival - DirectorMona FastvoldStarsLewis PullmanAmanda SeyfriedTim Blake NelsonAnn Lee, the founding leader of the Shaker Movement, proclaimed as the female Christ by her followers. Depicts her establishment of a utopian society and the Shakers' worship through song and dance, based on real events.Director Mona Fastvold, fresh off co-writing last year’s awards juggernaut The Brutalist, returns with another sweeping period epic, Ann Lee. Amanda Seyfried stars as the founding leader of the 18th-century Shaker movement, leading a powerhouse cast that includes Lewis Pullman, Tim Blake Nelson, Christopher Abbott, and Thomasin McKenzie. Filmed in 70mm, echoing the grandeur of The Brutalist, fans can expect a rich, immersive cinematic experience.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival - DirectorDavid FreyneStarsMiles TellerElizabeth OlsenCallum TurnerIn an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan is faced with the impossible choice between the man she spent her life with and her first love, who died young and has waited decades for her to arrive."Til death do us part" is put to the test in this somewhat philosophical romance drama starring Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, and Callum Turner. Eternity takes us to the afterlife, where we meet newly deceased married couple Joan and Larry. Waiting there for 67 years is Luke, Joan's first husband. Reuniting at last—Joan is forced to make a decision. Where would she like to spend an eternity, and with whom? This film asks the intrinsically deep-rooted question that nearly everyone has asked themselves one time or another: Does love ever really die?
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival - DirectorChloé ZhaoStarsJessie BuckleyPaul MescalJoe AlwynThe story of Agnes - the wife of William Shakespeare - as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of her only son, Hamnet. A human and heart-stopping story as the backdrop to the creation of Shakespeare's most famous play, Hamlet.Chloé Zhao, the Oscar-winning director of Nomandland, is returning to the festival circuit with a historical drama about personal pain and creative passion. Hamnet brings to life the relationship between William (Paul Mescal) and Agnes Shakespeare (Jessie Buckley) after the death of their son, Hamnet, during the creation of Shakespeare’s career-defining play “Hamlet.” The script was a collaboration between Zhao and novelist Maggie O'Farrell who wrote the award-winning novel of the same name. The film is slated for a prime awards season wide release on Dec. 12.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival - DirectorDerek CianfranceStarsPeter DinklageJuno TempleKirsten DunstThe story of the rooftop robber, Jeffrey Manchester, and his time on the lam evading capture.Channing Tatum drops into the unbelievable true story of Jeffrey “Roofman” Manchester, a former U.S. Army Reserve soldier who earned his nickname by breaking into McDonald’s through the roof—and later living inside a Toys “R” Us for months to evade capture. Director Derek Cianfrance, known for intense dramas like Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, taps into his lighter side, bringing a comedic edge to this wild real-life tale. Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, and Juno Temple also star.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival - DirectorRian JohnsonStarsDaniel CraigJosh O'ConnorGlenn CloseBenoit Blanc returns for his most dangerous case yet. Sequel to 'Glass Onion (2022)'.In a Benoit Blanc mystery, the cast is just as important as the crime. For the third Knives Out film, Daniel Craig’s southern detective will be surrounded by some of the biggest talents in Hollywood, and you’ll forgive us if we name drop just a few. Josh Brolin, Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Josh O’Conner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, and Cailee Spaeny will all contribute to the conundrum at the center of Rian Johnson’s new feature that the teaser has called “the holy grail” of murders.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival - DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsGuillaume MarbeckZoey DeutchAubry DullinAfter writing for Cahiers du cinéma, young Godard decides making films is the best film criticism. He gets Beauregard to fund a low-budget feature, creating a treatment with Truffaut about a gangster couple.This is a movie for people who anticipate new Criterion Closet drops on YouTube. Richard Linklater travels back to 1950s France to dream in black and white about the production of Jean-Luc Godard’s landmark New Wave film, Breathless. Though it’s appeal might be more limited, the deep dives on Nouvelle Vague are some of the best industry writing we’ve read in a year where we’ve consumed every minute detail on the making of Sinners. Linklater had permits to film (Godard didn’t), but kudos to him for casting mostly unknowns, with the exception of Zoey Deutch, who plays actress Jean Seberg.
Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and screening at the Toronto International Film Festival - DirectorJoachim TrierStarsRenate ReinsveStellan SkarsgårdInga Ibsdotter LilleaasAn intimate exploration of family, memories, and the reconciliatory power of art.Forget Scorsese and De Niro, or Spielberg and Hanks, the only director-actor collab we should care about is Joachim Trier and Renate Reinsve, who will make this their third film together after depressing drug drama Oslo, August 31st and absolutely sublime love story The Worst Person in the World. Sentimental Value has a vague logline about exploring family and memories (what film doesn’t do this?), but Trier’s films are never easy to define or distill. They just need to be experienced.
Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and screening at the Toronto International Film Festival - DirectorOliver HermanusStarsPaul MescalJosh O'ConnorChris CooperTwo young men during World War I set out to record the lives, voices and music of their American countrymen.Oddly enough, Josh O'Connor's second film in competition for the Palme D’or is also set in Massachusetts, but unlike the heist-drama The Mastermind, the only thing O'Connor steals is Paul Mescal's heart in this sweeping romantic drama that follows their journey across rural New England in the summer of 1919 documenting the folk songs of the time, then through the melancholy years that follow. We're already expecting awards season buzz around this one.
Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and in theaters Sept. 12 - DirectorKelly ReichardtStarsGaby HoffmannJosh O'ConnorBill CampIn 1970, Mooney and two cohorts wander into a museum in broad daylight and steal four paintings. When holding onto the art proves more difficult than stealing them, Mooney is relegated to a life on the run.With Josh O'Connor's name above the title, the latest project from director Kelly Reichardt (First Cow) has attracted a fair share of chatter. The Mastermind, one of two O’Connor-led films set to compete for the Palme D’or at Cannes 2025 (the other being The History of Sound), is a crime drama set in 1970s Massachusetts, so let’s hope the Challengers star and his castmates give a masterclass in regional accents.
Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and in theaters Oct. 17 - DirectorJulia DucournauStarsTahar RahimGolshifteh FarahaniMélissa BorosAlpha, 13, is a troubled teenager who lives alone with her mother. Their world comes crashing down the day she comes home from school with a tattoo on her arm.Women make the best body horror, and filmmaker Julia Ducournau is one the most skilled and twisted to do it. The college cannibal drama Raw announced her as a new voice to watch in 2016. Titane was an undeniable psycho-thriller that took home a Palme d’Or the last time she came to Cannes with a film. Therefore, we should expect big, disgusting, and delightful things from Alpha, the story of how a 13-year-old girl’s tattoo unspools her world.
Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival - DirectorHarris DickinsonStarsDiane AxfordFrank DillaneMurat ErkekMike, a homeless person in London is struggling to break free from a cycle of self-destruction while trying to turn his life around.Harris Dickinson is going for it. The newly minted A-list actor, who first caught our eye with Beach Rats, will make his directorial debut at Cannes with Urchin. Despite the heavy sounding premise, we’ve read the movie finds humor in its protagonist’s circumstances. Feels like a custom fit for Frank Dillane, an actor who knows a thing or two about dicey on-screen situations; he’s the guy who had to try and kick heroin during a zombie outbreak on “Fear the Walking Dead.”
Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and in limited release Oct. 10 - DirectorScarlett JohanssonStarsJune SquibbErin KellymanChiwetel EjioforAfter a devastating loss, witty and proudly troublesome Eleanor Morgenstein, 94, tells a tale that takes on a dangerous life of its own.Scarlett Johansson and June Squibb on the red carpet together is a moment waiting to happen. The former Avenger will present her directorial debut at Cannes, and we think Eleanor the Great might be an even stronger awards contender than June Squibb’s most recent movie, Thelma. As an actress, Johansson knows just how enduring a friendship drama can be (Ghost World, Lost in Translation), and she’s acknowledged how Eleanor is inspired by indie films she grew up loving.
Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and in theaters Sept. 26
