Each year, the biggest names in Hollywood come together at the Oscars to award the most prestigious films of the previous year. While the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards many deserving films, the limited number of nominations often leaves many noteworthy movies on the sidelines.
Here are, in no particular order, seven great films from 2025 that the Academy looked past:
“No Other Choice” – Directed by Park Chan-wook
One of the biggest snubs this Oscar season, “No Other Choice” is the 10th film from revered South Korean filmmaker, Park Chan-wook. Based on the novel, “The Ax,” by Donald E. Westlake, the film follows a recently fired paper industry expert who tries to maintain his family’s way of life by killing off the competition for an upcoming job.
Filled to the brim with his signature blend of dark humor, stylish visuals, and existential dread, Chan-wook’s latest is a dense, unflinching portrayal of how capitalism infects our values and shapes modern masculinity.
“The Mastermind” – Directed by Kelly Reichardt
The newest film by indie auteur Kelly Reichardt, “The Mastermind,” is half heist film, half character study. It follows unemployed family man J.B. Mooney as his airtight plan to rob a local museum quickly unravels amidst the simmering climate of early 1970s America.
Featuring a brilliantly measured lead performance by Josh O’Connor and a jazzy score by Rob Mazurek, “The Mastermind” is Reichardt working at full capacity. She takes what could have been a straightforward crime drama and turns it on its head, resulting in a film that both excites and leaves you entranced long after the credits roll.
“Nirvanna: The Band – the Show – the Movie” – Directed by Matt Johnson
After nearly 20 years of misadventures, “Nirvanna: The Band – the Show – the Movie” marks the feature-film debut of the cult Canadian web series-turned TV show. Following lifelong friends and bandmates Matt and Jay in their endless quest to get booked at The Rivoli, a venue in Toronto, this movie is a time-travel buddy comedy shot in a cinema-verité style with no shooting permits and primarily improvised dialogue—and that’s only half of the insanity the film has to offer.
With no prior knowledge of the series required, the film is absurd, hilarious, and somehow moving, featuring some of the wildest set pieces in recent memory that leave you asking, “How did they get away with this?”
“The Testament of Ann Lee” – Directed by Mona Fastvold
Exhilarating and devastating, “The Testament of Ann Lee” is a musical retelling of Ann Lee’s life, the founder of the religious movement known as the Shakers. Directed and co-written by Mona Fastvold, co-writer of the Oscar-winning “The Brutalist,” “The Testament of Ann Lee” is an ecstatic film held together by moving performances from Amanda Seyfried and Lewis Pullman and an unbelievable soundtrack by Daniel Blumberg.
Fastvold carefully crafts a movie that portrays its complex subject without judgment and translates the character’s religious elation into infectious energy. It’s unforgettable, strange, and unlike any movie-musical that’s come before it.
“Eddington” – Directed by Ari Aster
The follow-up to 2023’s dizzying “Beau Is Afraid,” the latest from “Hereditary” director Ari Aster, is a horror-western/conspiracy thriller set during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sheriff Joe Cross, played with a pitiful flair by Joaquin Phoenix, and his feud with Mayor Ted Garcia, played by Pedro Pascal, sends a small New Mexico town into a spiral of chaos and violence. A deeply disturbing and uncomfortable watch, “Eddington” is like a car crash you can’t look away from.
Aster takes the paranoia and anxiety of the COVID-19 pandemic and turns it up to 11 in this genre-defying nightmare. AI data centers, megachurch cults and social media conspiracies all abound in “Eddington.” Buckle up.
“Dust Bunny” – Directed by Bryan Fuller
Best known for his work in television on shows like “Hannibal,” “American Gods,” and “Pushing Daisies,” “Dust Bunny” is the first film by writer Bryan Fuller. Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Sigourney Weaver, and David Dastmalchian, “Dust Bunny” is a delightful fantasy-action romp about a young girl who hires a hit man to kill the monster under her bed. The action is stylish, the camerawork is ambitious, and the production design is striking. It’s “John Wick” vis-á-vis “Amélie,” and is just a plain good time.
“28 Years Later” – Directed by Danny Boyle
“28 Years Later” resurrects Danny Boyle’s influential zombie franchise in spectacular fashion. Completely disconnected from the previous two films, it tells the story of a group of survivors living on an island just off the British mainland, and what happens when they venture off and discover what’s become of the world after nearly three decades of infection. Boyle’s constant experimentation with the medium, solid performances, including a memorable third-act appearance by Ralph Fiennes, and an unexpected tenderness result in a horror film unlike any before it.
Sufficiently scary and gleefully disgusting, “28 Years Later” continuously surprises as something more than a typical zombie film. Plus, its newly released sequel, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” is equally brilliant and worth seeing.
