Written by Dr. Zoe Crombie

So, the 2025 awards season is over, ending with one of the best Oscars ceremonies in recent years. Sean Baker’s Anora took a clean sweep of most major awards, including Best Actress for Mikey Madison’s unshrinkable performance as the title character. Regardless of how you feel about this controversial frontrunner (I loved it), it’s remarkable to see independent cinema celebrated on a global stage, with the film being made on a $6 million budget – a theme echoed by Flow’s success in the Animated Feature category on a budget of $3 million. The anti-imperialist messages of I’m Still Here and No Other Land are also highly welcome in our increasingly fascistic global climate, and stand as the two most important wins of the night – make sure to catch these if you haven’t already.

But what awaits us for the rest of the year and beyond? News has already trickled out about some exciting new projects in the distant future, including Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey adaptation, but there’s still excitement to be had this summer. Personally, I’m looking forward to two horror flicks: Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later, a sequel to one of the greatest horror movies of the century, and Ayo Edebiri’s starring turn in twisted mystery Opus. Of course, there are some genre blending eccentricities to get excited about too, including Bong Joon-ho’s sci fi comedy Mickey 17 and Ryan Coogler’s anime influenced vampire flick Sinners.

It's shaping up to be an exciting year for film – stick around to catch the awards darlings you missed and to keep up with all that cinema has to offer in 2025.

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