While blockbusters dominate the box office, 2025 has quietly delivered a crop of exceptional yet underappreciated films. The Guardian's critics have curated a list of the year's most compelling hidden gems, from a surreal western starring Samuel L. Jackson to a profoundly moving documentary staged inside a video game.
Unexpected Stories and Genre Revivals
The streaming era has fostered a curious niche: low-budget, old-fashioned westerns featuring veteran stars. A prime example is The Unholy Trinity, a pulp western thriller starring Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by Richard Gray, the film follows a young man, Brandon Lessard, seeking vengeance for his father's hanging. It offers cleanly shot action and lets Jackson relish a role that feels ripped from a lost Quentin Tarantino project.
In a similar vein of traditional storytelling with a modern twist, Eephus emerges as an instant classic. Carson Lund's debut is a baseball comedy set during the final game at a dilapidated stadium in 1990s Massachusetts. It's a film about middle-aged rivalry, community, and staving off obsolescence, earning comparisons to the beloved Bull Durham for its appreciation of the game's sub-professional quirks.
Powerful Documentaries and Queer Narratives
Some of the year's most impactful stories were found in non-fiction. Grand Theft Hamlet is a uniquely moving documentary following two out-of-work actors who, during Covid lockdowns, staged a production of Hamlet inside the video game Grand Theft Auto Online with avatars they met there. It's a hilarious and poignant exploration of isolation, art, and digital connection.
Even more staggering is Songs from the Hole, a Netflix documentary collaboration between director Contessa Gayles and musician James "JJ'88" Jacobs, serving a double life sentence. Part visual album, part meditation on forgiveness, the film features a jaw-dropping scene between Jacobs and his brother's killer, showcasing profound compassion within an inhumane system.
Queer storytelling also flourished in subtle, nuanced ways. Andrew Ahn's The Wedding Banquet, a remake of the Ang Lee film, is a witty and emotionally complex romcom about two queer couples navigating family expectations. Meanwhile, Griffin in Summer sidesteps coming-out clichés to deliver a delicate portrait of a 14-year-old theatre prodigy, played by Everett Blunck, experiencing his first crush.
Indie Dramas and Surreal Experiments
Quiet character studies struggled for attention but delivered immense rewards. A Little Prayer, written and directed by Angus MacLachlan (Junebug), features a superb David Strathairn as a man grappling with his son's infidelity, sharing a piercingly tender final scene with Jane Levy. Its muted release in August 2025 meant few saw this captivating family drama.
At the opposite end of the spectrum lies the defiantly bizarre Ebony & Ivory from British surrealist Jim Hosking. This unrepeatable one-off imagines a blind Black musician named Stevie visiting a white, mulleted Paul on a remote island, resulting in a series of inane, repetitive dialogues and absurdist actions that channels the spirit of Waiting for Godot.
Other notable entries include the crudely animated Canadian documentary Endless Cookie, which finds poetry in the overlooked moments of life between two half-brothers, and the Martin Scorsese-produced Bollywood drama Homebound, a powerful look at casteism and friendship in rural India that culminates in the onset of the pandemic.
From the lyrical, Brooklyn-set daydream Love, Brooklyn to these other overlooked works, 2025's cinematic landscape was richer for those willing to seek beyond the mainstream. These films prove that some of the year's most authentic voices and compelling stories often resonate just outside the spotlight.
