The Best New Movies Coming Out This Fall and Winter

Oscar season hasn’t even started, and 2025 is already shaping up to be a strong year at the movies. We’ve seen small-budget standouts, from the thought-provoking body horror of Together to the empathetic dramedy of Sorry, Baby. Even the superhero blockbusters—Superman, Fantastic Four—had more to say about justice and community than I’ve come to expect from spandex cinema. And then there was Sinners, which was perfect. 

But astonishingly, the best films of 2025 haven’t yet reached nationwide theaters. Culture editor Jenna Barnett and culture columnist Zachary Lee had a chance to screen these films at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. These are their top picks for audiences looking for stories that blend entertainment with deeper reflections on social justice and spirituality. 

Roofman (Oct. 10)

Director Derek Cianfrance’s latest film, which is based on a true story, is a heartbreaking tale of betrayal and lost redemption, interrupted by unexpected love and embrace. After Jeffery Manchester (Channing Tatum) escapes prison, he finds sanctuary by hiding in a Toys R Us. There, he falls for a worker, Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), who is unaware of his past string of McDonald’s robberies. Leigh is a churchgoer, and her congregation openly embraces Jeffrey. The camaraderie he feels there is one of the few times the man on the run can experience a semblance of peace. Roofman is ultimately a commentary about the ways the most disenfranchised must resort to criminal means just to scrape by. But it also paints a picture of how a church can provide some relief to the harm perpetuated by a broken system. —Zachary Lee 

It Was Just an Accident (Oct. 15) 

Though marketed as a thriller, this Iranian film resists easy categorization. Perhaps the “thrill” lies in its very existence: Director Jafar Panahi—imprisoned multiple times by the Iranian government—shot the movie without official approval. And certainly, It Was Just an Accident has a thrilling premise: When a family’s car breaks down, the father pulls into a nearby garage, where Vahid, our protagonist, suddenly recognizes him. He’s almost certain this man was his torturer. Almost. Driven by doubt and rage, Vahid kidnaps the man. But once the man is in his van, uncertainty sets in: How can Vahid ever be sure? And if he is, what then? What unfolds is an oddly funny, determinedly wise reflection on trauma, forgiveness, and redemption. No cheap thrills. —Jenna Barnett 

Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk (Nov. 5) 

We know from the onset that the hero dies in this documentary. In the spring of 2024, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi is barred from entering Gaza to document its ongoing horrors, so she gets in touch with a 24-year-old photojournalist named Fatma Hassouna. The film unfolds entirely through their video calls and text messages, intercut with news footage and Hassouna’s photography. It is impossible to resist Hassouna—her irrepressible smile, her improbable optimism, her images that find fragments of joy amid the rubble. And all along, we know what’s coming: Hassouna and eight other members of her family were killed by Israeli forces the day after she learned that the film was accepted into the Cannes film festival. What can I say about this documentary? Go see it. It changed me. —Jenna Barnett 

Frankenstein (limited theatrical release Oct. 17 / Netflix global release Nov. 7)

There’s an enveloping tenderness that courses through director Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, even when it wades into violent and harrowing territory. The tale centers on Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) and the Creature (Jacob Elordi) he constructed out of dead body parts. But del Toro cleverly reframes the central relationship of this classic tale, depicting an abusive father-son relationship. Human beings make for poor creators who can’t help but leaven their rancor into what they’ve crafted, but Frankenstein reminds us that no matter our sins, it’s never too late to be restored to a right relationship with creation or with each other. It’s our capacity for reconciliation that separates us from the monsters.  —Zachary Lee

'Frankenstein' reminds us that no matter our sins, it’s never too late to be restored to a right relationship with creation or with each other. It’s our capacity for reconciliation that separates us from the monsters.

Nuremberg (Nov. 7) 

The central question of Nuremberg is one that has fascinated sociologists and theologians for decades, if not centuries: How does evil become ordinary? How does a nation come to accept, even encourage, the genocide of a people group? In the lead up to the Nuremberg trials, a psychiatrist named Douglas Kelley (a mischievous, magnetic Rami Malek) tries to answer that question by interviewing the high-ranking Nazi leaders imprisoned by the Allied forces. Before he can diagnose a country, he first must understand the masterminds of the genocidal regime, most notably Hermann Göring, the second in command to Adolf Hitler. Played by a cool, calm Russell Crowe, Göring is frighteningly likeable. Ultimately, Nuremberg aims to understand not only what inspires evil, but also, what motivates courage. The film’s modern resonances hover over the film like a flag at half-mast—visible and sobering. —Jenna Barnett 

Train Dreams (Nov. 21)

There’s something Job-esque about director Clint Bentley’s latest film. It moves with such liturgical motion as to be a cinematic prayer. Joel Edgerton stars as a logger, Robert Grainier, who works to expand the railways across America. His work is seasonal, which means he rarely gets to see his wife, Gladys (Felicity Jones), and daughter, and the film finds him wrestling with personal loss and his identity in an ever-changing world. While Grainier doubts his story will be remembered, the arc of his life admonishes that our lives are always woven into the fabric of a greater, more mysterious story. We may never get answers for the tragedies that befall us, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t give thanks for the moments of everyday grace. The world’s vastness and mystery can destabilize, but it can also be an invitation to behold all that is good in wonder.  —Zachary Lee

Rental Family (Nov. 21)

The tenderest movie of the year (I’m calling it early!) has an odd premise: Phillip (Brendan Fraser) is an American actor living in Tokyo, whose most prominent role thus far is as a superhero in a toothpaste commercial. Then he’s hired by a company that supplies actors to fill roles in real people’s lives. At a funeral, he plays “sad American.” At a wedding, he’s the surrogate groom. And, when hired by a single mother, he plays the role of the absent father, trying to make amends. Over the course of the film, we watch Phillip put his heart into every role. It’s method acting. It’s loving the stranger. It’s…a bit far-fetched—but also life-giving in our tense political climate. —Jenna Barnett

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Wake Up Dead Man (Nov. 26)

There won’t be a more youth pastor coded movie (“Do you know who else was a dead man and then woke up?”) than director Rian Johnson’s third installment of his Knives Out franchise. Johnson, who has used the straitjackets of whodunit to comment on social issues like immigration and big technology, now turns his critical eye toward organized religion. Specifically, Johnson spotlights the abuse of stewardship by those in the pulpit. Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc returns to solve the murder of a fire-and-brimstone preacher, Msgr. Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). The film cracks plenty of jokes at the expense of false prophets, but between all the chaff, he offers a genuine portrait of what faith in action looks like through the character of Rev. Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor). Even as Jud tries to be a detective, he never stops prioritizing the well-being of his congregants. —Zachary Lee 

Hamnet (Nov. 27) 

In this lush film, Chloé Zhao, the Oscar-winning director of Nomadland, turns her focus to Shakespeare—but not to the Bard himself (though I’ll be surprised if Paul Mescal, the most talented brooder of his generation, doesn’t earn an acting nod). Instead, Shakespeare’s muses take center stage: His wife Agnes (a bewitching Jessie Buckley) and his kids (these child actors know how to pull some tears). Hamnet, adapted from the acclaimed novel, proposes that Shakespeare’s most enduring work was born of familial loss. Christians know a thing or two about tragic muses—how premature death can inspire unprecedented glory. —Jenna Barnett 

No Other Choice (Dec. 24)

Now more than ever, we need our yearly dose of Korean directors crafting films that skewer late-stage capitalism, and director Park Chan-wook’s latest arrives primed with sardonic humor and piercing anger. It serves as a warning of what happens when we conflate our work with our sense of identity and meaning. Viewers meet You Man-soo (Lee Byung-hun), a paper industry expert who is axed from his job of 25 years. Desperate to provide for his family and driven stir crazy by a sense of unproductivity., he applies for a job at a new paper company. He soon realizes he has a better likelihood of securing the position if he eliminates all other potential applicants. What follows is a murderous comedy of errors as Man-soo’s ambitions collide with his ineffectiveness at murder. If a love of money is the root of all evil, then we should be careful of what we plant in its soil.  —Zachary Lee