What with the rise of artificial intelligence and its knack for replacing editors, writers and even actors, Hollywood spiralled into a bit of a meltdown this year. Why, asked millions of worried workers, would studio execs need actual humans to fire up the content machines when they could just plug ‘popular video game but it’s a movie’ into ChatGPT and, hey presto, a blockbuster script appears. The Los Angeles Times called it “an existential threat” to the industry.

For the rest of us though, 2025 wasn’t quite so bad. From animated K-pop musicals and long-gestating zombie horror sequels to folk-rock star biopics and acclaimed indie dramas, it’s been one of the most interesting seasons at the cinema for ages. You only need scroll down the below list of fantastic films to see we’re definitely headed towards an exciting and bountiful new era, all thanks to our robot overlords. Wait a minute… did AI write this?

Alex Flood, Managing Editor (Entertainment + Partnerships)

Words by: Jordan Bassett, Paul Bradshaw, Martyn Conterio, Rhian Daly, Liberty Dunworth, Alex Flood, Damian Jones, Matt Maytum, James Mottram, Gary Ryan, Andrew Trendell, Matthew Turner, Victoria Luxford and Kyann-Sian Williams