By Associated Press’s LINDSEY BAHR and JAKE COYLE
As the Oscars Industrial Complex ramps up, the best films of the second part of the year frequently arrive almost automatically. However, the earlier half may provide more of an exciting exploration.
There has been a lot of that in the first half of 2025, including independent treasures, blockbuster comedies, and breathtaking film premieres. These are our top ten picks for the first half of the year.
The lovely jewel that is easy to suggest to every type of moviegoer is The Ballad of Wallis Island. Tom Basden’s grumpy, too-cool straight man, Tim Key’s weird and utterly adorable character Charles, the always charming Carey Mulligan, and an armful of charming folk songs make up this silly and amiable film. With humor, intelligence, and a great heart, Wallis Island is a film about letting go and moving on. The similarly wonderful Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is also from the British Isles. (Peacock streaming)Bahr
In recent years, the big-screen comedy has all but vanished, but Lawrence Lamont’s One of Them Days gives me hope. In addition to being an unexpected box office success, this buddy comedy is most likely exhibit A in the Keke Palmer Should Be in Everything case. In her first movie, she and SZA portray housemates in a crazy race to earn rent in Los Angeles.(Watching on Netflix)Coyle
I was rather taken aback by a scene in Eva Victor’s sensitive, thoughtful, and surprisingly humorous directing debut, Sorry, Baby. The movie’s plot literally tells you that Agnes is going to suffer a terrible fate. You get the impression that her charming thesis advisor is a little too obsessed with her. Victor positions their camera outside his house so that the actual action is not seen. Agnes enters, the day changes to evening, the evening to night, and she emerges transformed. However, we accompany her as she makes her way to her house, her car, and—above all—her friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie). This movie explores the aftermath of the negative event. It’s stunning as well. (In movie theaters)Bahr
Steven Soderbergh and David Koepp have arguably been the most successful director-screenwriter duo of this decade. They were responsible for the 2025 blockbuster Ghost-POVPresence and the pandemic thriller Kimi.However, their espionage thriller-marital drama Black Bag, which starred Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender as married British intelligence officers, might be their best work together to date. It’s undoubtedly the one with the most mouthwatering dialogue. Why has it taken the film industry so long to include a scenario in which spies are given truth serum during a dinner? (Peacock streaming)Coyle
The Materialists of Celine SongIt may not be the movie that people had hoped for, but it’s the movie that they need in this world of expensive dating apps, fancy fakes, and everyone posing as little socialites on Instagram. This film challenges everything we’ve come to expect from the so-called romantic comedy—the notion of a prince charming, the unexplainable affluence that’s meant to coexist with middle class mores—and offers a profound reflection on money, worth, love, and companionship. The rom-com machine will always include lifestyle porn, but this timeless and contemporary populist movie reminds us that love should be simple. It ought to be like returning home. Simply put, Materialists is the year’s most completely romantic movie. (In movie theaters)Bahr
In addition to waiting for Ryan Coogler to produce a poor film, it appears that he is still recognizing his enormous skill. Even if 2025 is still six months away, I doubt that we’ll see a big-budget film that so thrillingly doubles (see what I did there) as a personal statement for its director, Sinners.Insightful concerns concerning community, Black entertainment, Christianity, and, of course, Irish dancing abound in this thrilling vampire epic.(Max is streaming.)Coyle
With his hard-to-categorize film on the 90s indie band Pavement, Alex Ross Perry chose to creatively—and maybe chaotically—upend the genre in a world of dreadfully simple documentaries and biopics about musicians. This winkingly rebellious work, which combines reality, fiction, archival, and performance, is completely unique and engrossing. It’s similar to Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There in that it’s the kind of film that can convert someone who may have liked a few Pavement and Stephen Malkmus songs into a fan. (Streaming on MUBI July 11 and in cinemas)Bahr
The strict and depressing second feature of Dea Kulumbegashvili is guided by a rare and perfect accuracy. Under blustery springtime skies in Georgia, Georgia, a prominent local obstetrician (Ia Sukhitashvili) ruthlessly strives to assist women who are otherwise ignored, demonized, or worse. This film evokes a sense of fear, however it also portrays a profound and enduring anguish. (Not available at this time.)Coyle
Rungano Nyoni’s darkly humorous, sophisticated, and eerily surreal film on hidden generational trauma transports viewers to a place that I imagine many have never been: a Zambian family burial. It is a visually and thematically striking marvel. However, its truths are universal, as the younger generation questions whether things must remain the same while the older generation looks away from the terrible reality that the deceased man, Fred, was a pedophile and predator.(On July 4, streaming on HBO Max)Bahr
Tim Robinson and Nathan Fielder have been performing brilliant comedy on television. Although Fielder hasn’t yet ventured into his own films, it’s difficult to turn a series of cringe-worthy humor and aviation safety, like season two of The Rehearsal, into a full-length motion picture. However, I Think You Should Leave star Robinson is brought into a well-crafted, hilarious, and incredibly insightful film scenario in the film Friendship by writer and director Andrew DeYoung. He portrays a man who uncomfortably makes friends with Paul Rudd, a cool neighbor. Friendship, which finishes with a revealing wink, is primarily about their commonalities, even though their differences provide the most of the film’s humor. (Digital rentals are available.)Coyle
