By Isaac Atunlute
The 2025 movie slate is heating up. This week’s fresh batch of new releases offers everything from thrilling action to surreal comedy—and maybe a little confusion, too. From rogue spies to haunted forests, this no-fluff roundup is an essential guide to what’s worth watching and what might be a skip.
A Minecraft Movie
Genre: Animation, Action, Comedy
Jack Black leads this offbeat adaptation as Steve, a former doorknob salesman who’s whisked into the pixelated Overworld by a mysterious orb. There, he encounters a quirky group of misfits, including Garrett (Jason Momoa), a washed-up arcade champion; siblings Henry (Sebastian Hansen) and Natalie (Emma Myers); and Dawn (Danielle Brooks), a real estate agent with a mobile petting zoo. Together, they must stop the gold-obsessed Piglin ruler Malgosha (voiced by Rachel House) and find their way back home. Expect absurdity, action and plenty of blocky charm.
Shadow Force
Genre: Action
Kerry Washington and Omar Sy star as former covert operatives who’ve broken all the rules–falling in love and starting a family. When their former boss, Jack Cinder (Mark Strong) puts a bounty on their heads, the couple goes on the run to protect their son, Ky. This sleek, high-octane thriller is packed with tense fight scenes, globe-trotting locations and emotional stakes that hit harder than expected.
iHostage
Genre: Thriller
Told in real time over five hours, iHostage follows Ilian Petrov (Admir Sehovic), a Bulgarian bystander trapped in an Apple store when a desperate hacker Ammar Ajar (Soufiane Moussouli), takes hostages and demands €200 million in cryptocurrency. As the situation unfolds through multiple perspectives–the hostage, the assailant, store employees, and police negotiators–the film explores the blurred lines between desperation, heroism and digital-era radicalism.
Until Dawn
Genre: Horror
In this creepy, mind-bending horror film, Clover (Ella Rubin) and her friends venture into the remote Glore Valley in search of Clover’s missing sister, Melanie (Maia Mitchell). But what starts as a search party turns into a nightmare when the group becomes trapped in a time loop, reliving the same terrifying night, each filled with masked killers and supernatural entities. With a limited number of chances, they must solve the mystery and survive until dawn.
Fountain of Youth
Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi
John Krasinski plays Luke Purdue, a disgraced archaeologist who reunites with his sister Charlotte (Portman), a museum curator, to trace the legendary Fountain of Youth. Financed by a terminally ill billionaire (Domhnall Gleeson), their journey takes them from Bangkok to Cairo, decoding clues in Renaissance paintings while fending off rival treasure hunters and secret societies. Think Indiana Jones meets The Da Vinci Code, with a sci-fi twist.
Isaac Atunlute explores the exciting movie lineup for 2025, featuring a variety of genres from action to horror. "A Minecraft Movie" is a comedic animated adventure led by Jack Black, following a quirky group who must thwart the villainous Piglin ruler, Malgosha. "Shadow Force" is an action-thriller starring Kerry Washington and Omar Sy as former agents protecting their family from a mercenary, Jack Cinder. "iHostage" offers a tense thriller narrated in real time, involving a hostage situation at an Apple store led by a hacker, delving into themes of desperation and heroism.
In "Until Dawn," viewers encounter a horror story where a group led by Clover must escape a time-looped nightmare in the eerie Glore Valley. Lastly, "Fountain of Youth" blends adventure with sci-fi as John Krasinski's character, Luke Purdue, hunts for the mythical Fountain of Youth, alongside his sister and driven by a dying billionaire's funding, evoking vibes of "Indiana Jones" with an added sci-fi element. These films promise thrilling narratives and compelling characters that appeal to diverse audiences.
