'Diablo' (2025) Movie Review

A team up between star Marko Zaror and director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza already has my attention. The duo is responsible for Redeemer, Fist of the Condor, Mandrill, and more face-kicking excellence, and Zaror is, for my money, the most unsung martial arts movie badass working today. One way to up the ante is to add Scott Adkins into the mix, like they do in their latest, Diablo, and hot damn. This was on my most-anticipated list for good reason, and it delivers the goods.

SIFF 2025: 'Know Her Name' Movie Review

All-too-often people seem to believe there were no, or at least vanishingly few female filmmakers throughout the history of the medium. If Zainab Muse’s Know Her Name has anything to do with it, that won’t last much longer. Her documentary dives into the deep, rich, and integral, not to mention frequently overlooked and undervalued role women have and continue to play in film history. 

SIFF 2025: 'She's The He' Capsule Review

To get close to a crush, seniors Alex (Nico Carney) and Ethan (Misha Osherovich) pretend to be trans, a dicey proposition for sure. Here’s the twist, for one of them, she’s never felt so comfortable, so herself. Realizing she is in fact trans, the movie follows the fallout from that revelation. 

SIFF 2025: 'Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hourglass' Capsule Review

The Brothers Quay return with their first feature in 20 years, Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass. The haunting stop-motion offering, based on the book of the same name by Polish writer Bruno Schulz, adapts the surreal, fantastic journey of a young man, who, having recently lost his father, travels by train to a mysterious sanatorium.

SIFF 2025: '40 Acres' Capsule Review

Music video and TV veteran R.T. Thorne directs his feature debut, 40 Acres. In the apocalyptic wake of a fungal pandemic, new civil war, and sweeping famine, a family, led by no-nonsense former soldier Hailey (Danielle Deadwyler), must protect their fortified farm from threats within and without. Including potential cannibal invasion. 

SIFF 2025: 'Chain Reactions' Capsule Review

Documentarian Alexandre O. Philippe has delved into Alien, the shower scene in Psycho, David Lynch, and more. In Chain Reactions, he focuses on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, this time via extended interviews with Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, and Karyn Kusama. Each shares their interpretations and experiences with the iconic film, honing in on legacy and influence.

'Fight Or Flight' (2025) Movie Review

Fight or Flight, the feature debut from veteran second unit director James Madigan, falls into a category of action comedies populated by recent titles like Bullet Train, Love Hurts, Day Shift, Killer’s Game, and others, that juxtapose brutal violence with quips, winking jokes, and silliness of all stripes. Think the carnage of John Wick with goofy, almost campy comedy beats. It's messy, it’s all over the place, it’s a tonal mishmash, and there’s a chainsaw on an airplane for literally no reason other than it’s awesome (and it is), but it’s also a good amount of fun.

'Striking Rescue' (2024) Movie Review

Tony Jaa. Muay Thai. Revenge. Bone-breaking action. Any one of those terms is likely enough to entice most of us to watch a movie. If we’re being honest, we’ve all watched movies for less. Combine all those elements, however, and you’re onto something. Which is exactly what Striking Rescue does. The latest from director Cheng Si-Yu (the woefully underseen Tai Chi Master, which you should also seek out if you haven’t), is 100% the movie it looks like, and though you’ve seen this many times before and won’t find any surprises lurking around the corner, it’s 100% the movie it looks like in the best possible way. 

'Demon City' (2025) Movie Review

Have you seen Seiji Tanaka’s Demon City, or a close approximation of it before? Yes, many times. Among other comparable titles, it’s almost beat-for-beat Hard to Kill. Does it have much in the way of nuance, depth, or character development? No. It’s extremely sparse on those fronts. What it does have, however, are plenty of bonkers, bloody fight scenes and awesome action choreography.

'Cleaner' (2025) Movie Review

If you used to be in the military but are now trying to adjust to civilian life—you know, a normal, hum drum job, taking care of family members, the usual—you are going to wind up in a bit of a Die Hard situation when you least expect it. That’s the expectation movies have set up for us, and that is precisely what Martin Campbell’s new action thriller Cleaner delivers. It scratches a familiar itch but doesn’t stand out in any way.

'Jade' (2025) Movie Review

Shaina West should become the next badass DTV action star. She has charisma, style, and screen presence for days, and most importantly the—largely self-taught after a motorcycle accident—martial arts chops to handle the job. With small parts in The Woman King, Black Widow, and The Killer’s Game, let’s hope that the next starring vehicle she finds is a better movie than Jade. It’s further proof of something we’ve known for decades, just because you’ve seen a lot of Tarantino movies does not mean you can make your own Kill Bill.

'Back In Action' (2025) Movie Review

When people say “Netflix movie” in a derogatory sense, Back in Action is what they mean. Big, slick, expensive, and with a couple of name stars in the lead role, all of which amounts to absolutely nothing. 

'The Prosecutor' (2025) Movie Review

Hear me out, Donnie Yen stars as a lawyer. But don’t worry, he may wear a silly robe and wig combo in the courtroom, but he still has ample opportunity to punch, kick, and otherwise pummel his way through throngs of faceless goons on the streets. Thus, we have The Prosecutor, directed by none other than Donnie Yen himself. And dammit if he doesn’t want an Oscar, or equivalent accolades. This movie leans hard into the “I have something to say!” of it all.

The 50 Most-Anticipated Movies Of 2025

Movies are great. 2024 was a great year for movies. And you know what? 2025 is shaping up to be yet another amazing year for film. Let’s be honest, they always are. I already talked about my favorite movies of last year, but since the calendar just turned over, it’s high time to look ahead to what’s coming. Following that logic, here are my 50 (ish) most-anticipated movies of 2025.