Happy New Year’s Eve one and all. It’s time to say goodbye to 2025, at least to some movies that is. While some award contenders are still on deck, there is a collection of movies that it’s time to say one final farewell to.
That collection is as follows. As always, this list has usual suspects, as well as a couple pictures that may have worked for others, but missed their mark with me. Want to know what’s included? Find out below.
10. Drop
Suspension of disbelief and internal logic are two very important things in a movie. What unfolds in “Drop” completely breaks both of those factors. It bites off more than it can chew, pushing one’s suspension of disbelief more than it can go, and has things within its own universe that don’t really make sense.
It ultimately makes a viewing experience frustrating, as more ridiculous, convoluted and nonsensical things take place. The problem is this movie is meant to be a serious thriller, not a fun romp, so the over-the-top nature of what’s taking place work against the film.
It’s too bad because conceptually, a high-rise suspense ride is fine, but a lot of what drives this picture causes it to veer hard off course.
9. Wolf Man
This is a movie with talent in front of and behind the camera that has done solid work in the past. Their latest project, though, was a disappointment. It’s a movie with an exhausting set-up revolving around dull family drama, followed by an extended set of scenes showing a slow werewolf transformation.
It becomes a largely tedious affair, and greatly lacking in the type of werewolf entertainment value one would expect from the sub-genre. The actual look of the wolfman that appears in this picture isn’t that impressive either. Both lead actors are doing what they can and there are a couple neat ideas at play, but the film overall is forgettable.
8. The Amateur
I’m a big fan of revenge flicks. They often have an easy set-up and lead to a lot of good, exciting moments. That was not the case with “The Amateur,” a film that falls completely flat. There are large swaths of dry periods in this movie between the entertaining set pieces, and even those aren’t stellar.
The film does a poor job of putting a viewer on the edge of their seat, or giving the audience a sense of catharsis when the hero gets back at those who wronged him. Speaking of, the main character isn’t very memorable and Rami Malek doesn’t add much personality to the protagonist.
7. The Electric State
There’s plenty of issues with “The Electric State,” but maybe the biggest problem is its tone and identity. There are some points where this feels like it wants to be a darker, more mature picture, and others where it feels like it’s completely aimed at kids. The imbalance results in a movie where the entertainment is limited for most audiences and the deeper themes hold little weight.
That’s not even to mention the clunky dialogue, the generic characters (especially in regards to Chris Pratt’s) and the derivative nature of many sci-fi elements on display. The film was based on a well-received graphic novel, but from what I’ve read, it feels less like an adaptation of that and more like a hodgepodge of genre ideas thrown together.
6. Bride Hard
The idea of taking “Die Hard” and applying it to other scenarios is something I actually dig. What I’m not a fan of are those with poor execution. That’s what we get with Rebel Wilson’s latest starring vehicle, directed by Simon West. The movie has barebones comedic dialogue and made-for-TV quality.
It’s a flat picture, with not enough laughs to make the hour and a half feel worth it. The whole thing comes across lackadaisical, too, coming across like a group of friends getting together to play dress-up for the day. Maybe it was fun for them, but it wasn’t for an audience.
5. Die My Love
Despite boasting two award-caliber actors and a director with plenty of cinema experience, “Die My Love” ended up being one of 2025’s key disappointments. It’s a film that seems like it has a lot to say, but doesn’t say it in a tangible, coherent way. It never feels like the plot is thickening, nor is the character study at play pulling off a good exploration.
We know the main character is suffering from postpartum depression, but her spiral feels ineffective because the audience never gets to see her at her best. We don’t have a contrast. Additionally, some of her actions come across like something beyond mental health.
And it’s always a shame when films portray people with mental illness as just insufferable individuals. The final 20 minutes or so are particularly rough, like a bunch of pretentious ideas were thrown at the wall to see what sticks.
4. Jurassic World: Rebirth
“Rebirth” opens with two things immediately causing it to stumble. First, dialogue cards washing away the last three movies saying all the dinosaurs that were out in the world pretty much died, killing off the “World” idea of these movies. Second, an absurd scene that comes across more like a “Final Destination” picture than a “Jurassic” movie.
From there, we get a concept that’s been recycled so many times already. What unfolds in this flick is basically the same as “Lost World,” “III” and “Fallen Kingdom” with a group going back to a dinosaur-infested island for (dumb) reasons.
That in itself, following a group of cool mercenaries around on an island, including Oscar nominee Scarlet Johannson and Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali, may have been alright. But that’s not what we get, because the film, for some reason, has to also insert an entire subplot about an annoying family that could have been cut from the whole movie.
It doesn’t help that the movie gets overly preachy, mainly from its nerdy, righteous character Loomis. Sure, Ian Malcolm gave a speech about the dangers of the island, too, but he was, y’know, likable.
The only thing really going for it were the special effects and a few good moments of action. Though, these don’t really matter when it’s hard to care about the characters.
3. Hurry Up Tomorrow
“Hurry Up Tomorrow’ is another flick with its share of people who’ve shown good cinematic work in the past. Sadly, what audiences get from them is a clunky, messy, self-indulgent, incoherent and pretentious flick that takes itself way too seriously. The movie, about singer The Weekend playing a fictionalized version of himself, lacks humanity, charm and humility.
It’s also poorly plotted, the characters are paper thin, and the interactions feel inauthentic and manufactured. It doesn’t help that Weekend’s acting is a bit rough, and his more experienced counterparts, who’ve given good performances, also don’t deliver much here.
2. Eddington
Ari Aster has shown his strong abilities as a filmmaker with the likes of 2018’s “Hereditary” and 2019’s “Midsommar.” His 2025 project, though, is a dark spot on his record. “Eddington” is an absolutely abysmal viewing experience with the script coming across like the political and social discourse of 2020 was put in a blender with Facebook memes.
So much of the political commentary at play, which calls out both sides in lackluster fashion, from mocking overzealous left-wing protesters to profiling conspiracy-minded conservatives, feels like low hanging fruit. Only Aster presents it as groundbreaking. It just feels like a regurgitation of things already said four years ago with no nuance and nothing interesting to add.
It doesn’t help that the characters, especially the main protagonist, Sheriff Cross, seem more like caricatures than characters. Their behavior just feels so inauthentic. Yeah, it’s supposed to be a bit over-the-top because as part-satire, the push is for some comedy. But most of it produces more eye-rolls than laughs.
While there is some good technique on display, with Aster and Co. knowing what they’re doing, “Eddington” was still an overlong cluster of 2020 political sludge that left me sighing for nearly three hours. A bad movie that not only wastes my time, but does so while pompously acting as if it made a profound point, is especially insufferable.
1. War of the Worlds
“War of the World’ is actually a rather astonishing movie in just how bad it is. Its problems are so numerous, from a sloppy script, to internal inconsistencies, and straight up ads for Amazon being shoved down an audiences throat in an adaptation of one history’s most respected works of science fiction.
Oh, and you can’t forget about Ice Cube, who doesn’t just give a half-ass performance, he gives more of a quarter-ass performance, and even that is generous. He sits in front of a webcam saying “woah,” and “get out of there” for about an hour and a half. That’s not to say the supporting cast is that much better, either. Everyone is (literally) phoning it in.
The premise as a whole is just downright stupid, too. The aliens invade Earth because they want to collect humanity’s data, in an effort to get smarter. Yes, they know about advanced space travel and how to build robots, but still want to get smarter. Then what? Do they just move on to another planet? Enslave the planet they’re on? We don’t know, the film doesn’t bother to tell us.
But the absurdness doesn’t end there. So many nonsensical moments are featured. For example, there’s one point where they say the data eating is causing tech to malfunction, such as planes being unable to fly properly. Then, maybe 20 minutes later, it shows a bomber taking off just fine. That’s how lazy they were. The filmmakers here just did not care.
This is not just the worst movie of 2025, it may just be the worst of the decade so far.
Whew, at least it’s out of the way, though. Let’s look forward to 2026. Happy New Year all!
Matthew Liedke on Film 