‘I watched 52 new films in 2025 and these haunt me’ | Films | Entertainment

Last year, instead of reaching into the back catalogue of my comfort zone films, I pledged to watch a new film, or a film new to me, every time I had the chance. 

I succeeded – but, as feared, I was often left reeling with a super-cut of haunting vignettes flashing before my eyes as I attempted to sleep.

This was a price I was willing to pay to expand my cultural references and divest from the tired plotlines that became no more than a soundtrack to my doomscrolling. There are six standouts – all are must-watches.

Do not watch this. People often cite the ‘octopus scene’ as the one that sticks with them forever. This quaint culinary moment seems like a moment of Disney whimsy compared to the stark psychological horror of the film’s plot twist.

Park Chan-Wook arguably did not need to make this film. As suggested by the name, this film could very easily fall into ‘Boy Film’ category (think any film that has become the subject of a non-consensual lecture from a man.)

That being said, I watched this with my friend, a boy, and we were both so upset by the content that we parted ways struggling to look each other in the eye.

When Emma Stone rolls her eyes at two men who have chemically castrated themselves so as to successfully kidnap her, it feels like a friend jovially mouthing ‘incel’ at you while gesturing to someone. Stone is at her most charismatic playing a hard-nosed, high-heeled CEO who flouts prompts for better DEI in her company.

Down to his overgrown nails, Jesse Plemens is a sad and intricately constructed loner and conspiracy theorist. Initially, I thought this was an original screenplay, so I was even more impressed by the complicated journey this film takes you on.

In the setting of one office and one home, Bugonia really covers everything; class, masculinity, feminism, conspiracy, social media, the opiates epidemic, health insurance, death and the unstable bee population are all stabbed at. However, it transpired this film is actually based on a 2003 South Korean sci-fi dark comedy Save the Green Planet!

A tragic triumph from Lynne Ramsay, Robert Pattinson’s eerily accurate portrayal of weaponised incompetence rattled me and bled into my real-world, shaking my trust in men for at least a week.

Jennifer Lawrence is excellent, and uses her entire physicality to depict a woman chased into insanity, whilst maintaining perfectly tousled honey-highlighted hair.

The ending felt absurd and thus fell a little flat, but this is no doubt a film that would reveal more of itself on a second watch.

This builds and builds until it reaches such a horrendous crescendo that I was forced to take myself on a walk to decompress. I spent any moment I wasn’t pulling out my hair marvelling at Jennifer Conolly’s incredibly chic and period accurate outfits, courtesy of Laura Jean Shannon’s costume design.

The neglected star of this film is The Exorcist’s Ellen Bustyn. Although she is relegated to a sub-plot, she is the emotional core of this film and her rapid descent into a lethal mess of eating disorders, pills and TV addiction is a brutal commentary on working class America.

Zach Cregger has done the unthinkable – created a sympathetic character of a horror villain. This film is a delicate balance of silly and unsettling and has broken the curse of the cop-out Devil explanation for any truly gripping horror.

Supported by well developed, hideous characters this is a rare horror that makes sense and ties up its loose ends making for a satisfying weekend watch.

So much of this film’s longevity – aside from its three and a half hour run time – is in that it insists upon its own discussion. There were very few people talking about this film when it came out. Whether it was Adrian Brody’s grossly self-indulgent Oscar’s speech, its AI facets, or the piercing relevance to today’s Israel.

Aside from its arresting cinematography, most notably the imposing marble quarries in Tuscany, the story made me feel physically sick at times. Guy Pearce delivers a truly nauseating villain.