Jamin Bradley

Going to the movie theater is one of my favorite hobbies. I love the power of story and cinematic art. Here are some of the new movies I enjoyed in 2025.

16. A Minecraft Movie

As an avid video gamer, I wasn’t sure how well Minecraft would adapt into a movie, but they found a way to do it. Within 10 minutes of watching it, I couldn’t help but feel something was familiar about it. I then realized the acting style was reminiscent of Napoleon Dynamite, and I immediately knew who was directing it. Who would have thought this brand of humor would pair so well with Minecraft?

15. The Running Man

I never saw the original take on The Running Man, so this movie was new to me. I knew I’d have to see the new one since the director had directed my favorite movie of all time, Scott Pilgrim VS the World. While I had mixed feelings about the main actor’s portrayal of his character, the movie won me over with its retro 80s futuristic sci-fi vibes.

14. Rental Family

Rental Family was a delightful little story that explored the themes of broken people, relationships, and the impact of lies on those relationships. It’s so good to have Brendan Fraser back in the movies again.

13. Karate Kid: Legends

I didn’t have high hopes for Karate Kid: Legends, but I was pleasantly surprised. It had some fun blasts to the past, a solid main character, and an engaging plotline that played with the familiarity of the old plotlines.

12. K-Pop Demon Hunters

As a deliverance minister, I was a bit nervous when I heard this movie was gaining popularity, as I gathered that it probably had some bad lessons about demons mixed into its story. However, in the end, the movie turned out to be a powerful tale about inner healing and overcoming the lies of demons. In fact, it was so good that we did a podcast episode on it on The Exorcist’s Bestiary.

11. The Naked Gun

Although I hadn’t seen any of the original Naked Gun movies, the absurdist humor in the trailer for the new one had me hooked. It was one of the few movies I saw in theaters twice. They don’t make movies with this kind of ridiculous humor much anymore, so I get excited when such a comedy comes out.

10. Mickey 17

A strange, dark-humored sci-fi movie that actually has quite a bit to say about cultish charismatic leaders, the treatment of the poor, the ethics of cloning, the mindlessness of colonization, and more.

9. The Gorge

I love me some original sci-fi, and The Gorge was just that: a well-polished sci-fi mystery mixed with romance. It takes some surprising turns and leaves you guessing for a good while as to what exactly is going on.

8. Sketch

Christian movies have come a long way in the last few years, and Sketch is a testament to that. It’s good storytelling, and it’s willing to explore its darker themes to an extent that might make some parents hesitant to show it to their kids. This is not something I usually have to say about Christian movies, which is probably why I like it so much. It explores themes of loss and grief in a creative, humorous, and moving manner.

7. Sinners

The movie Sinners made quite a bit of hubbub this year, which is a well-done horror film with engaging characters and excellent acting. It is a cinematic marvel. Every scene is executed so artfully that you can’t help but be impressed by the movie. And after watching it, I immediately went to the store to see if I might want to play a steel guitar. I should have, too, as I think steel guitars have doubled in price since then, following their increased popularity after this movie.

6. Companion

Throughout the last few decades, the possibilities of AI have been frequently explored in movies. Now that it’s here and we’re experiencing it firsthand, movies that cover the topic have more space than ever to be prophetic. Companion is a scary movie with a message for those who will hear it. It does a great job at imagining sentient AI trying to come to terms with the horrific ways that we will inevitably treat it. I hope that many are able to hear the message now before AI has advanced as far as it has in this movie.

5. Wake Up Dead Man

I didn’t mind the first Knives Out movie, but I didn’t enjoy it enough to watch the second one. That being said, I was caught off guard when pastors I trusted started demanding I watch the third one. Not only did I enjoy it more in its character development and storytelling, but I genuinely appreciated it for the same reason as the other pastors and Christians I knew who were calling it “the most Christian movie they’ve seen.”

This movie captures all of the horrors and the beauties of Christianity. It’s a battle between an abusive, hateful, power-hungry form of Christianity and a grace-filled, self-sacrificial, humble form of Christianity. I found myself in tears as I watched a good priest minister to a broken congregant who had missed so much of the point of Christianity their whole life. I couldn’t help but feel the full weight of ministry in that moment, as pastors are called into the messiest spaces to do the messiest things to serve the messiest of messes.

4. A Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey

I was quite impressed by this movie and even wrote a blog post on how it overlaps with the deliverance ministry I do. A Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey is about facing your past to see how it might make sense of your present and help you heal, so that you can move forward. Movies also earn huge points from me for their creativity and uniqueness in storytelling, and I feel like this movie may have been the most creative and unique one I saw this year.

3. Eternity

Eternity really stuck with me after I saw it. It messes around with a fiction that the Sadducees once gave Jesus: if a woman was married more than once on earth, who will be her partner in the afterlife? While Jesus said the whole question was off base in understanding how the afterlife works, this movie had a lot of fun imagining what the situation would be like anyway. Will the woman choose the romance of a husband cut short by death, or the lack of romance of a husband who’s always been there, but doesn’t seem all that special? Ultimately, this movie has more to say to the living than to the dead.

2. Light of the World

When I first heard about this movie, I didn’t think I would like it. An animated 3D gospel had been created earlier in the year, and I felt it missed many of the marks it could have hit. I gathered that this 2D one would be too cheesy or not entertaining enough, but I was wrong on all accounts. I found myself crying over this Jesus movie more than probably any other movie about Jesus that I’ve seen. It is rare for someone to make a movie that is truly faithful to the gospel story, while taking acceptable creative liberties in its telling. It’s one of the best representations I’ve seen of the gospel, and I rant more about why I love it here.

1. The Long Walk

The Long Walk is one of those movies I can’t recommend people watch. It’s dark and messed up, as many of Stephen King’s stories are. But sometimes it’s the dark and messed-up tales that have something to teach us, which I think this movie does. I saw it twice in theaters. The acting is incredible, and I can’t think of many movies that can keep you on the edge of your seat while you simply watch them walk and talk for miles. I’ve written more about King’s allegory here.