Seven Movies I Loved From the First Half of 2025

In which I talk about eight movies from this year...

I debated putting the new How to Train Your Dragon remake on this list.

Back when it was first announced, I was against it. The animated movies are perfect, I thought, why do we need to do this so soon? It felt like a cynical cash grab, another example of Hollywood's refusal to invest in new ideas and instead recycling a beloved franchise that already had the perfect ending. I wasn’t even planning on seeing it.

Then, through a stroke of luck, I managed to get a free ticket to see an advance screening, so I went. And I decided to rewatch the 2010 animated movie the night before so that it would be fresh in my mind.

When the movie started, I could feel the cynicism creeping in. The movie is almost a shot-for-shot remake of the original, just with dragons that look more at home in Game of Thrones than a cartoon for kids. But I kept watching, and slowly the movie started to win me over.

The biggest thing the movie got right was the relationship between Hiccup (Madison Thames) and his dragon, Toothless. The build-up of trust, leading to a beautiful friendship and legendary partnership, is at the centre of the story. And the remake absolutely nailed that. By the time Hiccup climbs onto Toothless’ back for the iconic “Test Drive” scene, I was totally in.

Did it help that the filmmakers, wisely, kept John Powell’s iconic music for the movie? Of course. Like how James Gunn used John Williams’ Superman theme for his movie, there are times when you don’t mess with perfection.

What I realized when the credits rolled is that, even though I still wish Hollywood would put a greater emphasis on making new ideas, if this is going to be someone’s introduction to the magical world of Birke and its wonderful characters, then it does a pretty damn good job. Is it as good as the original, animated movie? No, I still don’t think so, which I why I ultimately chose to leave it off the list. But it comes close, and it captures the heart of the original film very well, so I wanted to give it an honourable mention.

Now, let’s get onto the list!

NOTE: This list consists of movies released between January 1st and June 30th. Anything from July onwards, like Superman and 40 Acres, will be eligible for my list at the end of the year, looking at movies from the back half of the year (even though I saw them before writing this post). Also, the reviews themselves will be mostly spoiler-free. We’ll go into a little more detail in the conclusion section, but it will still be spoiler-lite.

7. Boxcutter

Last year, watching more movies was my New Year’s Resolution, with the sub-goal of watching more Canadian movies. I succeeded in the first part of that resolution, less so with the second part. So this year, I resolved to make more of an effort to seek out Canadian content. With the state of the world right now, it felt more pertinent. And so far, I can say I am making progress on that resolution.

A Canadian movie I’m really glad to have sought out was Boxcutter. The Reza Dahya-directed film follows Rome (Ashton James), an aspiring rapper in Toronto, who loses the recordings of his songs when his laptop is stolen. The journey takes him across the city as he confronts his fear of failure while also staying true to himself as an artist.

Part of what I love about Boxcutter is how it’s unabashedly a Toronto movie. Despite living in the city for my entire life, I don’t ever remember seeing it on screen quite like this. Most of the time, it’s standing in for New York or Chicago. And even if it actually gets to be Toronto, it usually becomes a stand-in for “generic Canadian city.”

Boxcutter takes the audience on a tour of the city as it is. The good and the bad. Case and point, the line that got the biggest laugh in the theatre when I saw it was a joke about the McDonald’s at Queen and Spadina. No one who isn’t from Toronto is going to get it. But for those of us who call the city home, we were all in on it. And there were plenty of other jokes like that, specific to the city.

I’d never seen my city portrayed on screen like that. Sure, I’ve seen other cities get that treatment in movies; just think of how many movies do this for New York, London, Paris, or Los Angeles. So it was a joy to finally see Toronto get its moment in the sun, accompanied by a great story full of twists, laughs, and heart.

6. Elio

It should come as no surprise that I love movies set in space. So any time I can go to the movies for a cinematic trip through the cosmos, I’m all in!

Elio certainly delivered on that front, presenting a fun and original take on the space-adventure genre. There are some familiar elements (the Communiverse has shades of the Federation from Star Trek, and Lord Grigon’s design could be described as “Vader-esque”), but on the whole, this was a pretty original take on an extra-terrestrial society.

The story has a lot of the classic PIXAR magic. It follows a boy named Elio who lives with his aunt and dreams of escaping to outer space, and then one day, lo and behold, he does. Acting as a self-assigned ambassador for Earth, he tries to help the Communiverse negotiate its way out of a potential conflict. In the course of his efforts, he befriends the son of the warlord tormenting his allies. It’s cute, heart-warming, and more than a little bittersweet.

A lot has been said in other places about why this movie, despite its fun concept and original story, was a box office bomb. It all seems to come down to the fact that people are unwilling to go out to see movies if they aren’t already invested in the characters or world, especially if it involves bringing kids (movie tickets being so expensive is a major factor). Which brings us back to the How to Train Your Dragon remake conversation, and it’s worth noting that Dragon has been a major success at the box office (roughly five times what Elio made).

Obviously, box office numbers are not entirely indicative of quality, and plenty of great movies weren’t box office smashes. But it’s disappointing to see a movie as good and original as Elio not getting the recognition it deserves. Especially from a studio like PIXAR, which built its brand off really wonderful, original family movies. It also doesn’t help that PIXAR’s parent company, Disney, meddled with the making of Elio, leading to rewrites that removed certain plotlines that they feared would offend certain segments of the audience. It’s both disappointing and a concerning sign of what may be coming.

But despite this, Elio still manages to be a wonderful movie. The key relationships, between Elio and his aunt and Elio and his new alien friend, drive a story that celebrates our differences while reminding us that working together is always the best solution. Hopefully, Elio will find its audience on streaming, and people will be reminded of the joy that comes from finding new, original movies.

5. Please, After You

Another Canadian movie! And it’s set in Toronto! (I’m really not doing anything to rebuke the idea that Torontonians think we’re the centre of the universe, am I?)

If there was one movie I wish all Canadians could watch this year, especially in light of all the madness happening south of the border, it’s Please, After You. The movie follows Ali, a new Canadian from Iran, who is working on living the Canadian dream when he gets a call saying his idiot cousin, Omid, is at the airport declaring political asylum. Ali’s life is then turned upside down as he tries to navigate his own trials, like getting his career and love life off the ground, while also helping his cousin find his place in his new country.

The movie is a celebration of the best that Canada and the world can be. Canada’s approach to immigration has traditionally been referred to as a mosaic, with various cultures all contributing to our national identity. With much of the action set in a boarding house for new immigrants, Please, After You is a celebration of this idea. We are introduced to a wide array of characters from different backgrounds, all working together with the kind-hearted Canadian owners of the house. While the movie doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities immigrants face, it still manages to be uplifting without being preachy.

And, it’s really, really funny. Comedian Neema Nazeri shines as Omid, his first leading role. So much of the comedy comes from Omid’s desire to be polite in a world that doesn’t always value politeness (yes, even Canada is slipping on this). But, before long, we’re rooting for him, even as we laugh along with his misadventures. Sammy Azero is also excellent as Ali, playing a terrific straight man to Nazeri’s antics as Omid. The two of them have wonderful chemistry and are a delight to watch on screen.

4. Black Bag

Steven Soderbergh manages to make his latest film, Black Bag, feel both modern and old-school. Bringing the classic tropes of spy movies into the world of big tech.

The story has elements of a whodunit, romance, and high-stakes espionage. When National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) agent George Woodhouse’s (Michael Fassbender) investigation into the leak of a top-secret computer program suggests that his wife (and fellow agent), Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), is the top suspect, he has to navigate keeping up appearances in his marriage and his investigation.

The result is an engaging mystery with lots of intriguing and harrowing turns and missteps. It’s intense and adult. It’s edge-of-your-seat stuff, showing that the espionage genre has more to offer than action scenes and explosions. The resolution comes from heavy character moments, not car chases.

(No hate to action movies, of course, I love a good car chase as much as anybody!)

Black Bag is full of top-tier performances, from Fassbender and Blanchett, of course, but also their co-stars Regé-Jean Page, Naomie Harris, Tom Burke, and Marisa Abela. The cast takes what’s already an excellent script from David Koepp and elevates the film to modern classic levels.

3. Friendship

Ah, the great mystery of life in the modern age: male friendships!

Friendship is far and away the funniest entry on this list, which should be no surprise when you see Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in the lead roles. What sets this movie apart from the myriad of other buddy comedies out there, however, is how it engages with real issues that many men face, whether they choose to admit it or not. It combines the tone of a thriller with the performances and script of a comedy, and the themes of a prestige drama. The result is a movie unlike anything else.

A few years back, in an SNL monologue, John Mulaney had a joke about how your dad doesn’t have friends. “Your mom has friends, and they have husbands,” the comedian quipped. Friendship picks up on this idea, exploring the “male loneliness epidemic” from the POV of older/middle-aged men (rather than young men, where so much of the discussion surrounding this issue focuses). Tim Robinson plays Craig, a man in his forties who has no social life outside of work and his family, when he unexpectedly befriends his neighbour, Austin (Rudd). But the friendship doesn’t last, which sends Craig spiralling.

The movie addresses many classic male insecurities, including relationships, physical and emotional strength, parenting, appearance, and boundaries. But, for as serious as it gets, it never forgets to be funny. It’s full of laugh-out-loud moments, including the best “trip” scene in years (no spoilers, but as Luke Skywalker might say, it’s “not going to go the way you think”).

All in all, Friendship belongs in the pantheon of great, thoughtful comedies.

2. Sinners

I never thought of myself as a big horror fan, but some movies transcend being great “genre” films to simply being great. Sinners is one of those movies.

The first half is barely even a Zombie movie. If you showed someone the first 30 to 45 minutes of this movie, without the opening scene, they’d probably think it was just a dramedy set in the Jim Crow era. The supernatural is mostly missing for a huge chunk of the movie, which only serves to make all the more impactful when it finally does show up and takes over the movie in the second half.

But, more than Zombies or commentary on racism or anything else that Sinners does so well, the movie will be remembered for Michael B. Jordan’s dual performance as the twins, Elijah "Smoke" and Elias "Stack" Moore. He imbues each character with a distinct personality and is truly magnetic. Jordan’s collaboration with director Ryan Coogler goes back many years, and you can just feel the creative energy of their partnership emanating off the screen.

The action scenes in the movie are fantastic, as are the supporting performances from Hailee Steinfeld and Miles Caton. The movie makes great use of music, too, including a memorable performance of “The Rocky Road To Dublin,” sung by the zombies as they menace the survivors trapped in a barn. That said, while Sinners likes to have fun, with many scenes having comedic elements, it is still a horror movie at its core. It may not be the scariest movie of all time, but it will give you more than a few jolts.

Sinners transcends its genre, without eschewing it completely, and delivers a wildly entertaining movie that leaves you with plenty to think about when the credits roll.

1. The Ballad of Wallis Island

When I heard that Taskmaster series one contestant (and ongoing task consultant) Tim Key had written a movie he was starring in, I was intrigued. I assumed it would be funny, and I suspected it would be heartfelt. I was not fully prepared, however, for just how funny and heartfelt it would be.

The Ballad of Wallis Island follows Charles (Key), a widower who once travelled the world with his wife with the money they won in the lottery, and now lives on a remote island in Wales. He decides to use his money to bring both members of a now broken-up folk duo that he and his wife loved to his island for a private concert. The catch? One member of the band doesn’t know the other is coming, and there are a lot of unresolved issues between the two since their band break-up was also romantic.

The movie explores themes of grief, resentment, staying true to yourself, and moving on. Key and his co-screenwriter, Tom Basden (who also plays Herb, one of the members of the folk duo), do a beautiful job of weaving a story that is both uplifting and bittersweet. Charles gets to be odd, and lots of the humour does come from his antics, but we’re never laughing at him. We see how much the music means to him and how much he cares for the musicians he brought to his home. They serve as a stand-in for his late wife, and they help him learn to move on without forgetting her.

Plus, the soundtrack is fantastic. Basden and Carey Mulligan (who plays the other half of the duo, Nelle) recorded a full album of songs for the movie, and it’s really good. It really brings an added emotional punch to the movie, without being a crutch, since Herb and Nelle’s music is so central to Charles’ journey.

It’s a movie that’s stayed with me long after I left the theatre, something I wasn’t expecting from “that guy from Taskmaster,” though clearly I should have.

***

Looking at the movies on this list (and, sure, we’ll include How to Train Your Dragon too), it’s easy to see a couple of patterns emerge in six of the eight. First, the six are all, in one way or another, uplifting (yes, even Sinners). And, second, they are all about remaining true to who you are, even if the world is trying to get you to be something else.

(We’ll get to the other two that don’t fit those patterns in a moment.)

It’s hard not to look at the world right now, with all the wars, genocide, injustice, and the not-so-creeping rise of authoritarianism and think that these patterns are a response to what’s happening. Not literally or directly, of course, but they do speak to the feeling of powerlessness we have in this moment. You turn on the news or check social media, and, often, all you’ll see is horrible things happening that no one individual can stop. It’s disheartening, and sometimes it can feel easier to just give up or give in.

To be clear, I’m not just talking about the current political situation in the US. Though Trump is actively making things worse, none of the issues above began on November 6th, 2024—or January 20th, 2025, for that matter—they all predate him. These are global issues that have been going on for a long time and require global solutions.

I’m also not saying that any of the movies address any of those issues specifically. Instead, they speak to the emotions of the moment. None of us wants to feel down or defeated. No one wants to feel powerless; we want to maintain our agency and not let others control us. The movies tackle this in different ways, each one uplifting us by showing a way out of that

In Boxcutter and The Ballad of Wallis Island, we follow musicians who resist giving in to the more predatory and commercial aspects of the music industry. Rome and Herb both have people telling them what to do to be successful in their careers, at the expense of their artistic integrity. Through their respective movies, they find (or rediscover) their voice and commit to sharing their true vision with the world, on their terms.

How to Train Your Dragon, Elio, and Please, After You teach kids and adults the value of compassion and of seeing humanity in places you wouldn’t expect it. Both Elio and Hiccup find life-changing friendships with their supposed enemies, choosing empathy when everyone around them wants to choose violence. This even helps bring out the best in those around them, specifically their parental figure, whom they struggle to connect with (Stoic in HTTYD and Olga in Elio). In Please, After You, Ali’s life finally gets on the path he wants it to be on when he realizes the best thing he can do is help his cousin. When he views Omid with compassion, things start to click into place for everyone now that they can see each other as humans rather than obstacles.

As for Sinners, despite being a horror, it’s a celebration of community. The opening night party at Smoke and Stack’s juke joint was the stuff of legend before any of the supernatural terrors began. The twins created a place where, for that night, black people could feel free to be themselves. So much so that the survivors of that night still look back on it fondly decades later, despite everything that happened with the zombies.

Integrity, compassion, and community are all themes that encourage uplifting feelings. It’s why these movies can deal with sensitive topics and still have us leave the theatre with joy.

Which brings us to Black Bag and Friendship. These movies explore why and how trusting others can be so hard. We all fear putting our trust in someone who then breaks it. In Black Bag, the mystery of who leaked Severus makes it so we can’t trust any of the characters. Meanwhile, Friendship explores how people create and then break trust, as well as what happens after that trust is broken. So much of what happens to Craig and Austin comes from the fact that they each feel they can’t trust the other anymore.

But moments like the one we find ourselves in now, when everything feels so chaotic, are when trust is needed most. If we don’t trust anyone and all retreat into our corners, then we are dooming ourselves. If we are to have any hope for the future, then we need to take that first step of trusting that if we act with compassion, integrity, and with community in mind, then others will too.

Art is always a reflection of the time in which it’s made. These movies are a reflection of both what we fear and what we need to do to succeed.

Turns out, the answer is the same thing: trust.