2025 has been a fairly strong year for movies so far, with projects like Sinners, Weapons, and Superman all taking the world by storm and gathering strong critical acclaim on sites like Rotten Tomatoes. However, there are several other movies that, while they deserve to be considered among 2025’s best films, have been unfortunately overlooked.

With just over four months left in the year, there are sure to be plenty more films on the horizon that will pique critics’ interests and take audiences by surprise. There have only been a handful of movies to cross the $500 million mark in 2025, so much of the year’s commercial success is likely still to come.

Ballerina

Ballerina was far from a critical failure, but it often felt like the project was left in the dust of the main John Wick movies, when in reality, the film stands alone as a brilliant piece of action filmmaking. Ballerina’s middle-of-the-road Rotten Tomatoes score of 76% doesn’t come close to representing just how exciting it is to watch this movie.

Ballerina may not be as strong as most John Wick movies from a storytelling perspective, but the pure adrenaline that fuels its brutal action set pieces is staggering. Ana de Armas delivers a captivating lead performance as Eve Macarro, and Len Wiseman’s direction is just as dynamic and fluid as Chad Stahelski’s.

Freaky Tales

Freaky Tales pᴀssed many audiences by when it was released earlier this year, as the film only had a limited theatrical run before landing on streaming without much fanfare. Its lead performance from Pedro Pascal was also overshadowed by the actor’s countless other projects this summer, from Fantastic Four to Eddington, but this deserves just as much recognition.

Though its misleading Rotten Tomatoes score of 74% isn’t bad by any means, it’s not an accurate representation of just how bold, entertaining, and ambitious this project is. Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden bring so much aesthetic flair to this anthology movie, following a group of interconnected stories in a retro-inspired ‘80s setting.

Mickey 17

Bong Joon Ho’s latest dark comedy, Mickey 17, had its world premiere at the Berlinale this year, where it was probably harmed by the mixed reviews that it faced from critics. While the film managed to climb to a respectable 77% following its wide release, Mickey 17 was still overlooked by many who simply expected Bong to replicate the enormous success of Parasite.

Mickey 17 was never going to be Bong Joon Ho’s best movie, but if you’re able to go into it with open expectations and simply appreciate it for its bold character work and rich social commentary, it’s still one of this year’s most affecting movies. The film does a brilliant job of making complex ideas accessible for general audiences, which is exactly what made Parasite such a critical hit.

Until Dawn

Until Dawn may not be this year’s most prestigious or memorable movie, but its 52% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes isn’t representative of just how fun it is. It’s a very traditional slasher that doesn’t reinvent the wheel in any way, but it has all the trademarks of the genre that audiences come to movies like this for.

It’s possible that many of Until Dawn’s poor reviews come down to the film’s decision to stray from the source material; the video game is hugely popular, and David F. Sandberg’s movie takes a very bold and different approach to the story that may have rubbed some audiences the wrong way. Still, it features some great set pieces that audiences can easily rewatch time and time again.

Echo Valley

Echo Valley didn’t leave much of a cultural impact when it silently dropped on Apple TV+ this summer, but Michael Pearce’s twisty psychological drama succeeds in areas where many entries in this genre typically falter. It has a very engaging mystery that keeps audiences guessing throughout, and the lead performances from Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney do an excellent job of bringing these characters to life.

Echo Valley’s ending is also a very memorable one that features all the twists and turns you’d expect from this kind of dark mystery while also weaving in some potent social commentary about family, sacrifice and forgiveness. Pearce’s film certainly isn’t perfect, but it equally isn’t deserving of the 52% it holds on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Amateur

Rami Malek’s stylish spy thriller The Amateur is another film that came and went without too much praise earlier this year, and its underwhelming critics’ score of 61% feels surprisingly low given just how ambitious and experimental this film is within its own genre. It takes all the traditional tropes of the spy genre and applies them to a character who defies every aspect of the spy archetype.

The Amateur reinvents the spy genre in such a fascinating way, and though its narrative is a little scattered in parts and the characters don’t always get the development they need to make this film really stand out, it’s definitely better than Rotten Tomatoes’ 61%.

Although The Amateur is technically a remake of another movie, it feels like a very original property that we don’t get to see too often in theaters. It’s not part of a larger franchise, and its storytelling is very purposeful and self-contained. It’s a shame that its low critics’ score means we likely won’t see anything more from this particular story.

The Monkey

Osgood Perkins seemed to take the world by storm last year with Longlegs, but his latest feature, The Monkey, didn’t get anywhere near as much hype and praise. The film centers around a haunted monkey toy that causes people to die in increasingly bizarre ways, and while the film lacks the atmospheric storytelling of Longlegs, it’s still a really fun story with plenty of memorable scenes.

Theo James delivers a very charismatic lead performance that cleanly toes the line between drama and comedy, while Perkins’ direction constantly has the audience unsure whether they’re supposed to be scared or laughing. It’s a very unique tone for a horror movie to adopt, but this individuality is what makes it so entertaining.

The Monkey’s Rotten Tomatoes score of 77% isn’t too unfair, but it’s still quite low considering how much talent and ambition went into this project. Perkins is one of the leading rising voices in the horror genre, and The Monkey is such an unexpected follow-up to Longlegs that it has to be admired.

The Accountant 2

Action movies can often find themselves underrated on sites like Rotten Tomatoes, especially when they’re sequels within existing franchises, and that seems to be exactly what happened with The Accountant 2. While the first movie is great in its own right, this sequel takes everything that worked originally and amplifies it to new heights with fierce action, richer character dynamics, and even more twists and turns.

Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal have brilliant chemistry in The Accountant 2, and this sequel really capitalizes on their on-screen dynamic. Their brotherly relationship is what elevates this movie above the previous one, which often felt held back by its own decision to keep them apart for the majority of the runtime.

The Accountant 2 also has way more action scenes and тιԍнтly choreographed fight sequences that satisfy an itch left behind by the first movie. It’s a vast improvement in every way, and while its Rotten Tomatoes score of 76% certainly isn’t bad, the movie deserves to be held up alongside all-time greats like John Wick and Mission: Impossible.