Can films widely watched from streaming really rival the box office?

“Wake Up Dead Man” is murder mystery movie centered around a priest with a troubled past. When Father Jud first arrives at his new church, he is quick to disagree with the church’s Monsignor and his followers. But when the Monsignor drops dead after a sermon, his followers, and Father Jud, must figure out how it had happened and who had done it.

Throughout the film, director Rian Johnson uses lighting to help convey the story in a pretty unique way. Johnson uses the lights, specifically the sun, on each scene and character to reflect either the character’s emotions or the problems at hand. This not only works as an excellent plot device, but also creates some of the most beautiful cinematography I’ve seen in the last few years.

Another thing I feel is beautifully done by Johnson in this film is its portrayal of Catholicism. Oftentimes, Catholicism and Christianity are portrayed in media in a very black and white way, with either very positive or negative connotations. “Wake Up Dead Man” does a fantastic job of highlighting the positives while acknowledging and accepting those negatives, instead of refuting them.

“Wake Up Dead Man” is one of, if not my favorite, films of 2025, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a movie. The film, in my opinion, portrays the human experience from such an empathetic, but critical, lens, and it really stuck with me after watching.

As 2025 brought some interesting horror films, Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” is one never to be forgotten. With 16 Oscar nominations, the movie’s dive into racial standpoints with the supernatural mix is what makes the film so notable.

It begins in Mississippi in 1932, as Sammie Moore, also known as “Preacher Boy,” goes to present his musical talents at a juke joint for African Americans that was started by his twin cousins, Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan). As they prepare, the group slowly pieces together what is supposed to be one of the best nights of their lives. Even though it looks like that at first, the juke joint vibes are turned around when they are met by three “people,” who seem a bit off. What was supposed to be the night of their lives turns out to be a fight for their lives. With the direction of Ryan Coogler, the man that brought us “Black Panther,” “Sinners” provides many different elements of surprise and emotion, mixed with the cinematic thrill that is expected from horror movies.

Aliens are invading the planet. Right?

“Bugonia” is the newest masterpiece in Emma Stone’s five star filmography, and it’s bolder and balder.

This movie says a lot about society, but nobody can quite figure out what. There are hundreds of theories floating around, and that in itself ironically symbolizes the entire nature of the film.

A master conspiracy theorist (Jessie Plemmons) targets and kidnaps a powerful and rich CEO (Emma Stone), convinced that she is an alien, bent on wiping out the human race.

His theories have warped his mind, consuming his every thought and action. He is confident that she has the information he needs to complete the jigsaw puzzle inside of his head, but all she knows is that she has to escape.

Many people interpreted this movie as being a satire about corruption of power, and how maniacs are ruling the world, but that’s really just the surface. I think the main theme of this film is that living in a state of paranoia and destructive disposition can turn you into the very thing you hate the most.

The ending lingers even after the credits roll out, offering a new perspective on life and truth. “Bugonia,” for me, is cemented as one of the top movies of the last year.

The entire film orbited around the question: Is she actually an alien, or does he need severe psychiatric help? But none of that mattered in the end.

In a bounce back year for film in general, Paul Thomas Anderson’s revolutionary magnum opus “One Battle After Another” has managed to separate itself as one of the two best films of the year. It is a simple story of a washed-up revolutionary trying to rescue his daughter allows for nuance in what ends up being a nearly three-hour movie.

The plot allows for magnificent character studies and ups and downs that leave the viewer on the edge of their seat, with the objectively long movie never showing its length. Its stellar cast also helps to bring the weight to the experience. Acting veterans like Leonardo Dicaprio (who gives an almost comedic performance, a pleasant surprise for such a serious actor) and the villain Sean Penn are complimented perfectly by acting newcomers such as Chase Infiniti and Teyana Taylor.

Going into the specifics of the plot would give it away, and there’s a lot of layers in it to analyze, but go watch this movie. It’s a favorite to win best picture as well as nearly every major award at the Oscars for a reason. However, to go into quick spoilers, the twist revealing Chase Infiniti’s character’s real parentage, while predictable through the events of the story, still works to shock and disgust the audience nonetheless, demonstrating the mastery at play in the making of it. 4.5/5.

This story starts on a night train going to Spain. There, we meet the lead of the show: Heather. She is on this train with her two friends because they want to spend the summer backpacking through Europe. Also on this train is the love interest, a complete and total stranger: Jack. They start talking and immediately sense a connection. They part ways when they arrive in Barcelona, and Heather thinks she will never see the stranger again.

But she does. That night, in a random club, they see each other again. From that day on, they backpack through Europe together.

On their journey, they start to get closer to each other, but also to the cultures of different European countries. Using Jack’s grandfather’s journal, they explore Spain and Portugal.

They challenge each other; Heather has to give up control, and stop living by an itinerary, and Jack has to learn to commit and to stop running from his problems.

The story proposes the question of how spontaneous we should be. How much should we sacrifice for love? How much can love withstand?

“The Map that Leads to You” is my favorite movie of 2025 because of its depth and the fact that it went beyond being a rom-com and also explored questions of identity and self-understanding. The movie used beautiful landscapes and exciting travel stories to explore themes of self-discovery, destiny and meaning in life. It was a gorgeous movie, inside and out.