Films to look forward to in 2025: Super-powered mythmaking, intense personal dramas, and intimate character studies

With mid-year behind us and awards murmurs growing louder, the second half of 2025 is shaping up to deliver a striking mix of spectacle and introspection.

The line-up moves between super-powered mythmaking, intense personal dramas, and intimate character studies – all driven by directors who are staking bold new claims.

James Gunn's Superman – in cinemas now – introduces David Corenswet as the next Clark Kent.

Gunn’s version aims to bring heart back to the superhero genre, drawing more from sincerity than cynicism. With Rachel Brosnahan as a sharp-witted Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult stepping into Lex Luthor’s shoes, this could be DC’s emotional reboot – and one of the most genuinely hopeful blockbusters in years.

Then comes Materialists, the highly anticipated follow-up from Past Lives director Celine Song. With Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans in the lead, Song builds a story around modern matchmaking and the emotional undercurrents of love, ambition and self-worth.

Materialists

Early buzz suggests it is poised to be one of the year’s most moving romances, though don’t go in expecting a typical rom-com, as Song has a sharper view of modern love than the tropes might suggest. Another unique take on romance and connection is A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, directed by Kogonada, which pairs Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie as strangers brought together on a surreal road trip.

Described as a blend of quiet sci-fi and emotional, existential romance, it promises to be a visually poetic ride through memory and connection – one of the more mysterious and alluring entries on the slate.

Two indie dramas with very different tones, meanwhile, explore women navigating trauma.

Sorry, Baby, the indie breakout written, directed by and starring Eva Victor, continues its rollout after a splashy Sundance debut. Produced by Barry Jenkins, the film follows a woman navigating sex, shame, grief and power. With humour as sharp as its emotional insights, it marks one of the most original debut voices in years.

Sorry, Baby

Then comes Die My Love, an adaptation of Ariana Harwicz’s feverish novel about a woman unravelling under the weight of motherhood and marriage. Directed by Lynne Ramsey and co-adapted by Edna Walsh, the film stars Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson. It could be the year’s most challenging and electrifying character studies – one that digs deep into female rage and desire.

For fans of retro-futurist thrillers, The Running Man arrives in November under the direction of Edgar Wright. A fresh adaptation of the Stephen King novel, this version stars Glen Powell as a desperate contestant in a televised death game.

Expect fast cuts, social satire, and Wright’s trademark flair – a genre ride that blends an ‘80s aesthetic with modern anxieties.

The Running Man

Luca Guadagnino returns with After The Hunt, a tense drama starring Julia Roberts and Ayo Edebiri. The film revolves around a college professor who becomes the focus of a campus scandal just as a buried secret from her past emerges.

The mystery surrounding Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming film has finally lifted, and One Battle After Another marks the director’s first collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio. A loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland, trailers show chaos and riots on the streets of modern-day America as DiCaprio’s character frantically searches for this daughter, with hints pointing to his former life as a revolutionary.

Two major music-centred releases close the year. First, there’s Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, a biopic directed by Crazy Heart’s Scott Cooper and starring The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White as The Boss. The film adapts Warren Zane’s book of the same name about the making of Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

And of course, Wicked: For Good, directed by Jon M. Chu, is the second part of the blockbuster Broadway adaptation. Starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, this final chapter of Elphaba’s journey is poised to be pure Broadway spectacle – and possibly the year’s biggest crowd-pleaser.

Finally, James Cameron returns in December with Avatar: Fire and Ash. This third instalment shifts the action to the volcanic regions of Pandora. Whether you love the Avatar franchise or not, it will be massive – in scale, ambition and box office.

If the first half of 2025 was about cautious experimentation and a lot of IP re-hashing, the second half is looking boldly outward – and inward.