December 2025 Movie Preview

Fantasy - dir. Julia Jackman
In theaters December 5

For her sophomore feature, Bonus Track director Julia Jackman adapts Isabel Greenberg 's graphic novel about Cherry (Maika Monroe) and her maid Hero (Emma Corrin), whose ingenious stories protect Cherry from the advances of the dangerous Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine). Amir El-Masry plays Cherry's neglectful husband, and Charli xcx is the star of Hero's stories. Supporting roles are also turned in by Richard E. Grant and Felicity Jones in this stylish feminist fable.

Comedy/Horror - dir. Tom Gormican
In theaters December 25

Writer-director Tom Gormican's follow-up to 2022's The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is another meta-riff on filmmaking. Jack Black and Paul Rudd star as longtime best friends in the throws of a mid-life crisis who decide to live out their childhood dream of remaking 1997's Anaconda. After recruiting pals Kenny (Steve Zahn) and Claire (Thandiwe Newton) they head to the Amazon, where their project becomes deadly (and funny). Can two likable stars pull families into theaters for a comedy this Christmas?

Sci-Fi/Action-Adventure - dir. James Cameron
In theaters (and IMAX) December 19

James Cameron's third film in his planned five-part saga, following 2009's Avatar and 2022's Avatar: The Way of Water, finds Jake (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and the rest of the Sully clan confronting a fire-worshipping tribe led by Varang (Oona Chaplin), who joins forces with the evil Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Shot simultaneously with The Way of Water, Cameron's new film brings to life a new part of Pandora filled with volcanoes, lava flows, and a returning cast of Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Giovanni Ribisi, CCH Pounder, Cliff Curtis, Jemaine Clement, and Edie Falco.

Documentary - dir. Mark Obenhaus and Laura Poitras
In theaters December 5 and streams on Netflix beginning December 26

The new documentary from Oscar-winner Laura Poitras (Citizenfour, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed) and Mark Obenhaus (Steep) chronicles the Pulitzer Prize-winning work of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who exposed the atrocities of war from the My Lai massacre during Vietnam up through the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Weaving together Hersh's notes, archival footage and a new interview with the relentless reporter, Poitras and Obenhaus have produced a haunting portrait of the American military and intelligence agencies and a subtle call to action.

Horror/Thriller - dir. Bryan Fuller
In theaters December 5

Bryan Fuller, the creator of Hannibal and Pushing Daisies, makes his feature directing debut with this story about 10-year-old Aurora (Sophie Sloan), who believes the monsters under her bed are real. To help her fight them, she hires her neighbor (Mads Mikkelsen), a hit man who is capable of dealing with all sorts of monsters. Sigourney Weaver, David Dastmalchian, and Sheila Atim also star in Fuller's typically deft balancing act of action, comedy, horror, whimsy, and humor.

Comedy/Drama - dir. James L. Brooks
In theaters December 12

It has been 15 years since James L. Brooks' last feature, How Do You Know, but the writer-director behind Terms of Endearment and Broadcast News is back with a comedy-drama about work and family. Emma Mackey (Sex Education) stars as Ella McCay, an idealistic lieutenant governor who finds herself thrust into the position of governor when her boss (Albert Brooks) takes a job at the White House. With her professional life taking off, Ella must deal with her deadbeat dad (Woody Harrelson) trying to re-enter her life. Luckily, she has her supportive aunt (Jamie Lee Curtis) by her side. The impressive supporting cast includes Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Spike Fern, Rebecca Hall, and Ayo Edebiri.

With his first film since 2019's The Dead Don't Die, writer-director Jim Jarmusch took home the Golden Lion at this year's Venice International Film Festival. This gentle, three-part anthology film takes place in the Northeast U.S., where a brother (Adam Driver) and sister (Mayim Bialik) are visiting their father (Tom Waits); in Dublin, where Lilith (Vicky Krieps) and Timothea (Cate Blanchett) have tea with their mother (Charlotte Rampling); and in Paris, where twins Billy (Luka Sabbat) and Skye (Indya Moore) sort through their deceased parents' belongings. While FMSB was not praised by every critic, THR's David Rooney believes it's a "film whose simplicity, sweetness and unvarnished ordinariness make it seem almost a miracle."

Drama - dir. Kate Winslet
In theaters December 12 and streams on Netflix beginning December 24

Written by her son, Joe Anders, Kate Winslet's feature directing debut brings a family together at Christmas when their mother's health takes a turn for the worse. Helen Mirren plays June, whose husband (Timothy Spall) and four very different children—Helen (Toni Collette), Julia (Winslet), Molly (Andrea Riseborough) and Connor (Johnny Flynn)—all reunite and work through their issues thanks to June's quick-witted honesty and love.

Foreign/Drama - dir. Scandar Copti
In theaters December 5

At the 2024 Venice Film Festival, Palestinian writer-director Scandar Copti won Best Screenplay in the Horizon section of the competition for this family saga with a cast of mostly nonprofessional actors. Set during Purim, Copti's portrait of the intricacies of Israeli Arab life follows Fifi, a young Palestinian woman who fears her conservative parents will curtail her newfound freedom at her university in Jerusalem after she gets in a car accident. Her older brother Rami, who lives in Haifa, has his own concerns after his Jewish girlfriend, Shirley, reveals she is pregnant, and their mother must confront the family's financial troubles as she plans their older sister's wedding. Broken up into four chapters, the film's interconnected stories prove to be an intimate look at freedom.

Comedy/Drama - dir. Bradley Cooper
In select theaters December 19 (expands wide Jan. 9)

For his third feature as writer-director, following 2018's A Star Is Born and 2023's Maestro, Bradley Cooper takes on a more intimate story about the dissolution of a couple's marriage. Will Arnett start as Alex, who deals with his impending divorce by getting up on stage at a comedy club one night and telling his story. Finding it cathartic, he continues to perform but keeps his new hobby a secret from his wife, Tess (Laura Dern). Inspired by the life of British comedian John Bishop and written by Cooper with Arnett and Mark Chappell, the film features several comedians as well as Andra Day, Amy Sedaris, Sean Hayes, and Ciarán Hinds.

Action/Thriller - dir. Quentin Tarantino
In theaters (including some in 70mm) December 5

With The Whole Bloody Affair, Quentin Tarantino unites Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 into one epic unrated film. After premiering the cut in Cannes in 2006 and screening it at L.A.'s New Beverly Cinema (owned by Tarantino) in 2011, the film now comes to theaters across the U.S. for the first time as an expanded cut with a new, never-before-seen anime sequence. Look for 70mm and 35mm showings in your area—and, yes, there is an intermission.

Foreign/Drama - dir. Paolo Sorrentino
In theaters December 5

After the disappointing reception of Parthenope, writer-director Paolo Sorrentino returned to this year's Venice Film Festival, where he won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize in 2021 for The Hand of God, with a film that focuses on the internal turmoil of Mariano De Santis (Volpi Cup for Best Actor winner Toni Servillo), the (fictional) President of the Italian Republic, during the waning days of his term. While not in the league of Sorrentino and Servillo's best collaborations (The Great Beauty and Il Divo), the film signaled a return to form according to several critics.

Drama/Sports - dir. Josh Safdie
In theaters December 25

Writer-director Josh Safdie goes solo (as his brother Benny did earlier this year with The Smashing Machine) to tell the story of Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet), a hustler and table-tennis prodigy very loosely based on champion ping-pong player Marty Reisman. Written with longtime collaborator Ronald Bronstein (Uncut Gems, Good Time) and featuring an eclectic supporting cast (Gwyneth Paltrow, Tyler the Creator, Odessa A'zion, Kevin O'Leary, Emory Cohen, Isaac Mizrahi, Penn Jillette, and Abel Ferrara), Marty Supreme is a propulsive period drama already hailed by several critics as one of the best films of the year.

Foreign/Drama - dir. Diego Céspedes
In theaters December 12

Chilean writer-director Diego Céspedes' debut feature took home the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Set in 1982, this look at the AIDS epidemic follows 11-year-old Lidia as she tries to discover the truth behind the rumor that a deadly disease in her northern Chile mining town can be transmitted between two men in love when they simply look into each other's eyes. In his review for The FIlm Stage, Zhuo-Ning Su admits it "may lack a narrative beat or two to fully take flight," but believes it's still a "finely crafted, deeply affecting tribute to love and community––a piece of proudly, vitally queer art."

Foreign/Comedy/Drama/Thriller - dir. Park Chan-wook
In select theaters December 25 (expands wider in January)

With this adaptation of Donald E. Westlake's novel The Ax, Park Chan-wook continues his streak of critically acclaimed features following The Handmaiden and Decision to Leave. The Korean director takes a scalpel to the professional hierarchies of capitalism with the story of Man-su (Lee Byung-hun), a paper manufacturing specialist who gets fired after 25 years of service. To find another job and support his family—wife Miri (Son Yejin), son Si-one (Kim Woo Seung), and daughter Ri-one (Choi So Yul)—Man-su decides he'll have to make a killing ... of the other applicants in his way. Somehow balancing homicide with humor and humanity, Park has created another thrilling entertainment.

Drama/Thriller - dir. Charlie Polinger
In select theaters December 24 (expands wider January 2)

Writer-director Charlie Polinger's debut feature follows 12-year-old Ben (Everett Blunck), a new arrival to a competitive all-boys water polo camp. Socially anxious, Ben quickly observes how Jake (Kayo Martin), the self-appointed group leader, targets Eli (Kenny Rasmussen) by claiming Eli has "the plague" and that anyone who touches him will get it too. It's a psychologically intense thriller with a supporting turn by Joel Edgerton as the boys' ineffectual coach.

Foreign/Sci-Fi/Drama/Thriller - dir. Bi Gan
In theaters December 12

Seven years after Long Day's Journey Into Night stunned art-house audiences around the world, visionary Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan is back with his third feature, a time and genre jumping paean to film history. Told in five chapters and set in a future world where humanity has forsaken dreams in exchange for immortality, this odyssey through cinema follows a dreaming monster (Jackson Yee) through the 20th century and beyond with the help of incredible formal inventiveness (yes, there is a signature long take) and a score by M83. Also starring Shu Qi, Resurrection took home the Prix Spécial at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Musical/Drama - dir. Mona Fastvold
In select theaters December 25 (expands wider January 23)

Filmmaking and life partners Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet returned to the Venice Film Festival this year (where Corbet won Best Director last year for The Brutalist) with a film directed by Fastvold. It's a musical exploration of the life of Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried), the founder of the Shaker movement of the 1700s who claimed to be the second coming of Christ. With music from Oscar-winner Daniel Blumberg and a supporting cast that includes Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Stacy Martin, Tim Blake Nelson, and Christopher Abbott, it's an ambitious and uncompromising biopic.

WANT MORE FILMS?
View our Movie Release Calendar for a complete list of titles headed to theaters, VOD, and streaming in December and beyond.