Weapons

Whether or not you think Weapons works, there is no denying that it is one of the most unique films of the year. Weapons has the unique storytelling choice of jumping around to different characters’ perspectives in the story, creating an episodic film that feels like it takes influence from Magnolia or Rashomon. 

The film’s setup is as follows: an entire classroom of third graders disappeared into the night at 2:17 a.m. with the exception of one student. This causes a small town to be torn and divided by this mysterious event. The students’ teacher, a principal, a cop, a parent, a junkie, and the one remaining student all have stories that intertwine to reveal what is happening in this small town. Weapons features exciting twists and turns at every point in the story and continues to prove that director Zach Cregger is one of the most interesting new voices in horror. 

Sinners

From a genre standpoint, Sinners might be one of the most interesting movies on this list; is it horror, action, a musical, a drama, a potential awards contender? Regardless, Sinners was one of the most crowd-pleasing films to come out during the first half of the year. We follow the story of twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who have returned to the Mississippi from Chicago to open a nightclub in 1932. 

Sinners takes a second to get going when it comes to the parts of the film that make it horror, but everything leading up to the genre switch-up is compelling. Ryan Coogler crafts a very lived-in world, which is one of the film’s strongest aspects. As it stands, Sinners is the highest-grossing original film of the decade, which makes the movie one of the most exciting to come out this year. 

Together

Together is the body horror film starring real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Together follows the story of a couple in a long-term relationship that is running into some friction. Franco plays a struggling musician who still has aspirations of making it big, despite pushing 40. Brie plays a school teacher who wants to make a difference in the lives of her students. The couple moves out of a big city and to the countryside, where they discover that not everything is what it seems. 

Together is primarily a body horror film, but one of the most exciting aspects of the film is when it deviates and changes the style and tone of its horror. The film offers tense, nail-biting scenes, while also being a great showcase for practical and visual effects. 

Final Destination: Bloodlines 

There is something very rare and exciting about a late-era sequel to an otherwise dead franchise being one of the biggest surprise hits of the year. At the start of the year, I was not expecting a film like Final Destination: Bloodlines to review as positively as it did, while also still being a success at the box office. 

Bloodlines has all the hallmarks of classic films in the Final Destination franchise, while pushing the boundaries of what these films can do from a storytelling standpoint. Bloodlines features anxiety-driven kills and set pieces with a lot of wit, and also expands how death’s design works. What more could fans of the franchise want? 

The Ugly Stepsister

The Ugly Stepsister is a film that feels like it has largely flown under the radar this year after first premiering at Sundance. The film is the directorial debut of Norwegian filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt. The Ugly Stepsister is a satirical and twisted version of Cinderella, taking very obvious inspiration from the classic Grimm Brothers folk tale. 

The film is more sympathetic to its protagonist, Elvira, than the source material might lead the viewer to believe. Elvira has plans to be married off to this film’s prince charming, but to do so, she must make a series of changes to be considered “beautiful”. The film uses body horror and a sense of realism to get under the viewers’ skin. While the horror aspects of the film are noteworthy, the film also features lavish sets, costumes, and design. All this together makes for a very impressive directorial debut. 

The post The Best Horror Films of 2025 appeared first on Utah.Film.