The best series and films still to come in 2025

Films

Bring Them Down

Bring Them Down is the story of two feuding farming families in present-day rural Ireland. Michael (Christopher Abbott), the last son of a farming family, lives an isolated existence with his ailing father Ray. Haunted by a terrible accident in his past, Michael has isolated himself from the world and is dedicated to his prized flock. When the ongoing conflict with rival farmer Gary and his unpredictable son Jack (Barry Keoghan) stirs old tensions and grievances, it triggers a chain of events that take increasingly violent turns, leaving both families permanently altered. 

Opens in Irish cinemas on February 7.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy

In Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Bridget is alone once again, widowed four years ago when Mark (Colin Firth) was killed on a humanitarian mission in the Sudan. She’s now a single mother to 9-year-old Billy and 4-year-old Mabel and is stuck in a state of emotional limbo, raising her children with help from her loyal friends and even her former lover, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant). Pressured to forge a new path toward life and love, Bridget goes back to work and even gives dating apps a whirl where she’s soon pursued by a dreamy and enthusiastic younger man (Leo Woodall). Now juggling work, home and romance, Bridget grapples with the judgment of the perfect mums at school, worries about Billy as he struggles with the absence of his father and engages in a series of awkward interactions with her son’s rational-to-a-fault science teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor). 

Opens in Irish cinemas on February 14.

Black Bag

Directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, Black Bag is a gripping spy drama about legendary intelligence agents George Woodhouse and his beloved wife Kathryn. When she is suspected of betraying the nation, George faces the ultimate test – loyalty to his marriage or his country. I reckon if you liked Keira Knightley’s recent Netflix series Black Doves, you’ll like this too.

Black Bag opens in cinemas on March 14. 

Mickey 17

From director Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite), comes Mickey 17, his next groundbreaking cinematic experience. Robert Pattinson plays Mickey Barnes, an unlikely hero who has found himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job… to die, for a living.

Opens in Irish cinemas on March 17. 

Death of a Unicorn

Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega star as father-daughter duo Elliot and Riley who accidentally hit a unicorn with their car and bring it to the wilderness retreat of a mega-wealthy pharmaceutical CEO. Naturally, all of this only spells trouble and it isn’t long before the unicorn’s mate arrives and chaos ensues. 

Opens in Irish cinemas on April 4.

The Wedding Banquet

Directed by Andrew Ahn and starring Kelly Marie Tran, Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone, The Wedding Banquet is a remake of the 1993 film of the same name. It tells the story of a gay man who makes a deal with his lesbian friend Min: a green-card marriage for him, in exchange for in vitro fertilisation treatments for her. However, plans evolve when Min’s grandmother surprises them with a Korean wedding banquet. 

The film is due for release in the US on April 18.

Sinners

From Ryan Coogler, director of Black Panther and Creed and starring Michael B. Jordan comes a new vision of fear: Sinners. Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers (Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

Opens in Irish cinemas on April 26.

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

Described as “an imaginative tale of two strangers and the unbelievable journey that connects them”, A Big Bold Journey has quite the all-star cast with the likes of Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Jodie Turner-Smith all set to feature. There’s no trailer just yet but the film is currently set for release in early May.

Opens in Irish cinemas on May 9.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

The eighth entry in the long-running Mission: Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise reprises his role as Ethan Hunt, an IMF agent and leader of a team of operatives. A direct sequel to the previous film for the first time in the series’ history, little is known about the plot but I think it’s fair to assume that Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning will tie up a few loose ends. Stay tuned for more. 

Opens in Irish cinemas on May 21.

28 Years Later

The highly-anticipated sequel to Danny Boyle’s zombie movie, 28 Years Later is set in the same as the 2002 apocalyptic horror 28 Days Later, which starred Cillian Murphy. While it’s yet unclear what role Murphy – who also serves as an executive producer – will have in the film, Tom Rothman, chairman of the film’s studio Sony Motion Pictures Group, previously told Deadline that the Cork actor would be back in a “surprising way”. The new instalment picks the story up almost three decades after the virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory. Still living in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amid the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily defended causeway. When one of them decides to venture into the dark heart of the mainland, he soon discovers a mutation that has spread to not only the infected but to other survivors as well.

Opens in Irish cinemas on June 20.

The Battle of Baktan Cross

Another film without a trailer, The Battle of Baktan Cross is the latest project from director Paul Thomas Anderson. So far, all that’s been confirmed is the cast which includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Regina Hall and Benicio del Toro.

The film is due to be released in cinemas in August 2025.

Downton Abbey 3

Fans of the Downton series are in luck as the story is set to continue in a third film, due for release this September. According to an announcement shared by Focus Features on X last summer, the upcoming film will see Paul Giamatti, Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale and Arty Froushan all join the cast.

Opens in Irish cinemas on September 12. 

The Bride!

Written, directed, and produced by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard and Annette Bening, The Bride! draws inspiration from James Whale’s 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein, itself adapted from Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein. As per the official synopsis: A lonely Frankenstein travels to 1930s Chicago to seek the aid of Dr Euphronius in creating a companion for himself. The two reinvigorate a murdered young woman and the Bride is born. She is beyond what either of them intended, igniting a combustible romance, the attention of the police and a wild and radical social movement.

The film is due for release in October 2025.

Bugonia

An upcoming science fiction comedy film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos from a screenplay by Will Tracy, Bugonia is an English-language remake of the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet! by Jang Joon-hwan. According to the Academy’s coverage, the movie is about two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company after becoming convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying Earth. Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone, both of whom have starred in Kinds of Kindness, will continue on to Bugonia. 

Bugonia is scheduled for release in the US on November 7, with an Irish date likely soon to follow. 

Wicked: For Good

The second instalment of Jon M. Chu’s visual masterpiece, Wicked: For Good is set in Oz and covers the events of the musical’s second act. It centres on Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship being put to the test as they embrace their new respective identities as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good and how the consequences of their actions will change all of Oz forever. 

Opens in Irish cinemas on November 21.

Avatar: Fire and Ash

The sequel to Avatar: The Way of Water and the third instalment in the series, Avatar: Fire and Ash is James Cameron’s latest epic. So far, the only thing Cameron has alluded to on the record is that the story will centre on the Sully family, with a focus on the kids.

The film is scheduled for Irish release on December 19. 

Marty Supreme

Timothée Chalamet looks set to continue his reign this year with his next project, Marty Supreme already generating quite a buzz – I’m sure you’ve seen photos of him filming alongside Gwyneth Paltrow on Instagram by now and if you haven’t, well your screen time must be incredibly low. Produced and directed by Josh Safdie, Deadline reports that it’s rumoured to be loosely based on the life of iconoclastic ping-pong player Marty Reisman. 

The film is due for release in December 2025.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein is having a moment in 2025 with legendary director Guillermo del Toro also tackling the tale in his new film starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth. The story centres on Dr. Pretorius who sets out to track down Frankenstein’s monster – believed to have died in a fire forty years before – in order to continue the experiments of Dr. Victor Frankenstein.

The film will be released on Netflix sometime in 2025.

The Thursday Murder Club

The beloved murder mystery series by Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club will get its screen debut later this year with the likes of Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Sir Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie and David Tennant all involved in the project. If you haven’t read the books (I urge you to remedy that asap!), the story follows a group of friends in a retirement home who gather to solve old murders for fun… until they find themselves caught up in a real case.

The Thursday Murder Club is scheduled for release on Netflix sometime in 2025.

Materialists

Brought to you by Celine Song, the woman behind Past Lives, Materialists is a romantic comedy with another complicated love triangle. According to the synopsis: A matchmaker’s lucrative business is complicated when she falls into a toxic love triangle that threatens her clients. Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal star.

Materialists is due for release sometime in 2025.

Hamnet

After challenging himself to try something new in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, Paul Mescal will tackle Shakespeare next in the film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s beloved novel, Hamnet. Winning the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction, it tells the tale of William Shakespeare’s oft-forgotten son of the same name and was later adapted for the stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company and Lolita Chakrabarti. Killarney native Jessie Buckley will star opposite Mescal as his wife, Agnes Hathaway. Details are still sparse but hopefully, we’ll know more very soon.

Hamnet is due for release sometime in 2025.

Saipan

Likely to be one of the biggest films in Irish cinema this year, Saipan tells the story of the infamous Saipan incident – a public disagreement between the Republic of Ireland national football team’s captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy in the lead-up to the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The argument ultimately resulted in Keane, a key player for the national team, being removed from the squad which inevitably divided public opinion at the time. Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke starr as McCarthy and Keane respectively.

Opens in Irish cinemas in summer 2025.

Series

Small Town, Big Story

A new Sky Original comedy, Small Town, Big Story is a six-part series created and directed by Chris O’Dowd. Set in Drumbán, a rural town on the border of Ireland and another world, the story unfolds as a Hollywood TV production rolls into town, shining the spotlight on a secret that has been hidden since the eve of the millennium.

Premieres on Sky and NOW TV on February 27. 

Zero Day

A new limited series coming to Netflix this February, Robert De Niro stars as respected former U.S. President George Mullen, who, as head of the Zero Day Commission, is charged with finding the perpetrators of a devastating cyber attack that has caused chaos around the country and thousands of fatalities. As disinformation runs rampant and the personal ambition of power brokers in technology, Wall Street, and government collide, Mullen’s unwavering search for the truth forces him to confront his own dark secrets while risking all he holds dear.

The series premieres on Netflix on February 20.

A Thousand Blows

Set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London, Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) and Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall) play best friends from Jamaica who find themselves thrust into the criminal underbelly of London’s thriving bare-knuckle boxing scene. As Hezekiah finds fortune and fame through the art of pugilism, he attracts the attention of the infamous Queen of the Forty Elephants, Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), who sets about exploiting his talents to further her criminal enterprise. Meanwhile, the menacing and self-declared emperor of the East End boxing world, Sugar Goodson (Stephen Graham), is determined to destroy Hezekiah whose ambitions to fight in the West End threaten everything he has built. What ensues is a battle of the old world against the new.

The six-part series launches on Disney+ on February 21.

The White Lotus Season 3 

If you devoured the first two seasons of The White Lotus like I did, then you’ll be very happy to know that we don’t have to wait much longer for season three. What will new episodes hold without the eternal joy giver that is Jennifer Coolidge? Well, Mike White has plenty in store for us and told Entertainment Weekly that it will be “longer, bigger, crazier”. This season follows a group of holiday-goers at a resort in Thailand.

The White Lotus Season 3 premieres on Sky and NOW TV on February 16. 

The Stolen Girl

A five-part psychological drama starring Denise Gough, Holliday Grainger, Ambika Mod and Jim Sturgess amongst others, the series is adapted from Alex Dahl’s best-selling novel Playdate and tells the story of fascinating, relatable and complex women in an unimaginable situation. When her 9-year-old daughter Lucia excitedly asks to go on an overnight playdate with her new best friend Josie, Elisa agrees. After meeting Josie’s mother Rebecca, she’s put at ease by her charming nature and their impressive house but when she says goodnight to her daughter, she has no idea that she is about to be thrust into every parent’s worst nightmare.

The series will premiere on Disney+ sometime in 2025.

The Studio 

Seth Rogen stars as Matt Remick, the newly appointed head of embattled Continental Studios. As movies struggle to stay alive and relevant, Matt and his core team of infighting executives battle their insecurities as they wrangle narcissistic artists and craven corporate overlords in the ever-elusive pursuit of making great films. With their power suits masking their never-ending sense of panic, every party, set visit, casting decision, marketing meeting and award show presents them with an opportunity for glittering success or career-ending catastrophe. As someone who eats, sleeps and breathes movies, it’s the job Matt’s been pursuing his whole life, and it may very well destroy him.

Premieres on Apple TV+ on March 26.

Your Friends and Neighbours

After being fired in disgrace, a hedge fund manager still grappling with his recent divorce, resorts to stealing from his neighbours’ homes in the exceedingly affluent Westmont Village, only to discover that the secrets and affairs hidden behind those wealthy facades might be more dangerous than he ever imagined.

The series premieres on Apple TV+ on April 11. 

Government Cheese

A surrealist family comedy set in 1969 San Fernando Valley, Government Cheese tells the story of the Chambers, a quirky family pursuing lofty and seemingly impossible dreams, beautifully unfettered by the realities of the world. When Hampton Chambers (David Oyelowo) is released from prison, his long-awaited family reunion doesn’t go quite as he’d planned. During his absence, Hampton’s wife, Astoria (Simone Missick), and sons, Einstein (Evan Ellison) and Harrison (Jahi Di’Allo Winston), have formed an unconventional family unit, and Hampton’s return spins their world into chaos.

Government Cheese premieres on Apple TV+ on April 16.

The Last of Us Season 2

According to Wired, there are three things quickly gleaned from The Last of Us’ season 2 trailer and they are “more fungi, more action, and Catherine O’Hara”… a recipe for success I think you’ll agree. Season 1 delivered possibly one of the best episodes of TV in recent years – a tough act to follow but I have high hopes. Comprising seven episodes total (two fewer than season one), the story skips forward a bit, picking up five years after Joel saved Ellie from the Fireflies. However, it’s not long before their collective past catches up to them, drawing them into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.

The Last of Us will premiere in April 2025, date TBC. 

Wednesday Season 2

One of my favourite new series in recent years, season 2 of Wednesday was largely shot in Ireland with Jenny Ortega regularly spotted out and about at gigs and such. “This season, Wednesday’s journey is darker and more complex as she navigates family, friends, new mysteries, and old adversaries, propelling her headlong into another year at Nevermore,” showrunners and executive producers Al Gough and Miles Millar told Tudum of what audiences can expect. Amongst those joining the cast are Joanna Lumley as Grandmama, Steve Buscemi as Barry Dort, Billie Piper as Capri and Thandiwe Newton as Dr. Fairburn. Even Lady Gaga also makes an appearance.

Wednesday returns to Netflix sometime in 2025.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6

The sixth and final season of The Handmaid’s Tale will premiere this year. Adapted from Margaret Atwood’s seminal 1985 novel of the same name, the series has become an international hit since it was first released back in 2017. While few details are known about the plot, it promises to be “big and wild” according to star Elisabeth Moss who plays June.

Season 6 will premiere sometime in 2025.

Riot Women

Brought to you by Sally Wainwright, the woman behind Happy Valley, Riot Women is a new BBC One drama set in Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. The story centres on five women who come together to form a makeshift punk-rock band and enter a local talent contest. But in writing their first song, discover that they have a lot more to say than they first thought. 

The series will premiere on BBC One sometime this year. 

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

A prequel to Game of Thrones, this will be the third series in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire franchise. Set a century before GOT, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his squire, Egg, wandered through Westeros while the Targaryen dynasty ruled the Iron Throne, and dragons were still remembered. Great destinies and enemies await the incomparable friends.

The series will be released sometime in 2025.

Black Mirror Season 7

If real life hasn’t become too Black Mirror for you already, the series will return for a seventh season later this year. Adding Irish actor Chris O’Dowd to its cast (amongst many others), show creator Charlie Brooker told Tudum that this season will feature six episodes across a mix of genres and styles.

Black Mirror Season 7 will premiere on Netflix sometime in 2025. 

House of Guinness

All about one of Europe’s most famous and enduring dynasties, this new eight-part series is set in 19th-century Dublin and New York, and reimagines the period immediately after the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness, the man responsible for the extraordinary success of the Guinness Brewery. While few details about the series are known, we do have the cast list – and it’s pretty impressive. Anthony Boyle will play Arthur Guinness, Louis Partridge will play Edward Guinness, Emily Fairn will play Anne Plunket (nee Guinness) and Fionn O’Shea (Normal People) will play Benjamin Guinness. 

House of Guinness is expected to release on Netflix in 2025.

Stranger Things Season 5

Production on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things officially wrapped last year with new episodes set to premiere in 2025. Series creators Matt and Ross Duffer told Tudum that the final season will delve more into the mythology of the Upside Down along with a few other big reveals. 

Stranger Things Season 5 premieres on Netflix sometime in 2025.

Dope Thief

Based on Dennis Tafoya’s book of the same name, the series follows long-time Philly friends and delinquents who pose as DEA agents to rob an unknown house in the countryside, only to have their small-time grift become a life-and-death enterprise, as they unwittingly reveal and unravel the biggest hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern Seaboard.

Dope Thief premieres on Apple TV+ on March 14. 

Death By Lightning 

Game of Thrones duo David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have teamed up with creator Mike Makowsky, director Matt Ross, and executive producer Bernie Caulfield for their latest project – an adaptation of Candice Millard’s 2011 novel, Destiny of the Republic. The series dramatises the stranger-than-fiction true story of US President James Garfield and his admirer Charles Guiteau, who assassinated him.

Death By Lightning will premiere on Netflix sometime in 2025.

All information is correct at time of publication.