25 Films We Can’t Wait to See This Summer
BY SCOTTIE KNOLLIN
The days are longer, the nights are warmer, and the smell of popcorn is back in the air—summer movie season arrives in just a couple of weekends.
From high-octane blockbusters and unexpected indies to festival breakouts and long-awaited returns from beloved filmmakers, this year’s slate promises something for every kind of movie lover. Here are the 25 films we’re most excited about—films that will make us laugh, cry, cheer, and maybe even change the way we see the world.
May 23
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning
In the ever-extending saga of franchise cinema, “final” rarely means farewell—but should this be Tom Cruise’s last outing as Ethan Hunt, he’s determined to leave nothing on the table. Expect a relentless parade of high-stakes set pieces and cinematic bravado, engineered for the largest screen you can find.
May 30
Bring Her Back
Following the breakout success of Talk to Me, Danny and Michael Philippou return with a chilling tale of resurrection and familial unease. Anchored by a quietly unnerving performance from Sally Hawkins, this unsettling story centers on the arrival of an adopted child whose presence seems to tilt reality—and sanity—off its axis.
The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson returns with another meticulously composed diorama of eccentricity and inheritance, this time centering on one of Europe’s wealthiest men (Benicio del Toro) and his sprawling brood—nine sons and one daughter, played by Mia Threapleton. The film boasts a characteristically dazzling ensemble, including Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
June 6
The Life of Chuck
Mike Flanagan brings a restrained, elegiac touch to this unconventional Stephen King adaptation, a triptych chronicling the life and quiet mysteries of Charles Krantz. Sentimental, supernatural, and steeped in memory, the film features a rich ensemble that includes Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mia Sara, Benjamin Pajak, and Karen Gillan.
Dangerous Animals
In what promises to be one of the season’s most audacious genre entries, Jai Courtney stars as a serial killer with a grisly calling card: feeding his victims to sharks. Equal parts pulp and provocation, the film dares viewers to dive headfirst into its blood-soaked absurdity.
I Don’t Understand You
Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells star as a couple on holiday in Italy, where sun-drenched vistas give way to mounting unease in this dark comedy with a sharply rising body count. Equal parts satirical and sinister, it’s a getaway that spirals delightfully out of control.
June 13
Materialists
Celine Song follows Past Lives with a contemporary romance set in New York City, where Dakota Johnson plays a professional matchmaker caught between two compelling suitors—Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal. Drawn from Song’s own brief stint in the dating industry, the film explores modern love with intimacy, wit, and a clear-eyed honesty about the marketplace of connection.
Echo Valley
In Brad Ingelsby’s slow-burn thriller, Sydney Sweeney plays Claire, a young woman who arrives unannounced at her mother’s (Julianne Moore) home—shaken, secretive, and covered in someone else’s blood. What unfolds is a tense, emotionally layered story of trust, trauma, and the limits of maternal instinct.
June 20
28 Years Later
More than two decades after redefining the zombie genre, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland reunite for a new chapter in the 28 Days Later saga. With a cast led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, and Ralph Fiennes, this long-awaited return promises to deliver both visceral thrills and a chilling reflection of the world we live in now.
Elio
In this cosmic coming-of-age tale, an ordinary 11-year-old boy (Yonas Kibreab) is mistaken for Earth’s leader after being abducted by aliens—a misunderstanding that launches him into an interstellar odyssey. With Zoe Saldaña among the voice cast, the film blends galactic spectacle with youthful wonder and sly social satire.
Everything’s Going to Be Great
Bryan Cranston and Allison Janney star as longtime fixtures of regional theater whose offstage roles as parents prove far more complicated. This tender, character-driven drama explores the joys and frustrations of artistry, aging, and raising sons who may never follow the script.
June 27
F1
In Joseph Kosinski’s adrenaline-charged return to the cockpit, Brad Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, a once-promising F1 driver coaxed back to the track to mentor a rising star (Damson Idris). Blending visceral realism with emotional underdog drama, the film features real race cars, groundbreaking camera technology, and consultation from Lewis Hamilton himself—bringing audiences as close to the asphalt as cinema allows. For Hayes, it’s one last shot at the finish line he never crossed.
Sorry, Baby
A breakout from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Eva Victor’s debut feature is a quietly powerful portrait of trauma, healing, and the strange rhythms of moving forward. Victor writes, directs, and stars as Agnes, a graduate student navigating life in the wake of sexual assault. With sensitivity and unexpected humor, the film finds grace in the everyday—affirming friendships, fleeting joys, and, sometimes, the small salvation of a really good sandwich.
July 11
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight
Embeth Davidtz directs and stars in this haunting adaptation of Alexandra Fuller’s bestselling memoir, a lyrical recollection of childhood on a farm in the former Rhodesia during the violent unraveling of colonial rule. Told through the eyes of 8-year-old Bobo (Lexi Venter), the film captures the disorientation of a world in flux, where innocence and history collide with unsettling clarity.
July 18
Eddington
Ari Aster reunites with Joaquin Phoenix for a tense, off-kilter drama set during the uncertain early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Centered on a standoff between a small-town sheriff and the town’s mayor, the film unfolds with Aster’s signature unease and emotional precision. The ensemble—Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler among them—adds further voltage to this claustrophobic portrait of power, paranoia, and civic unraveling.
July 25
Oh, Hi
In this sharp-edged romantic comedy, Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman play a married couple embarking on their first weekend getaway. What begins as an attempt to rekindle intimacy soon spirals into a disarmingly funny exploration of love, resentment, and the fragile art of togetherness.
Diciannove
Produced by Luca Guadagnino, this coming-of-age drama traces the quiet, transformative journey of a 19-year-old in search of self-definition. With a sensuous eye for detail and emotional nuance, the film captures the delicate interplay of identity, desire, and becoming.
July 30
Together
Real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie star in this audacious entry into the body horror canon, playing a pair so entangled in their mutual dependency that the line between love and monstrosity begins to blur. Inventive, unsettling, and darkly funny, the film left Sundance audiences both disturbed and delighted.
August 8
Weapons
In his eagerly awaited follow-up to Barbarian, filmmaker Zach Cregger crafts another slow-creeping nightmare—this time set against the backdrop of a town where children are vanishing without a trace. With Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, and Alden Ehrenreich leading the cast, the film promises a chilling descent into dread, grief, and whatever waits in the dark.
August 15
East of Wall
Set against the stark beauty of the South Dakota Badlands, Kate Beecroft’s quietly powerful debut follows a young horse trainer navigating grief and economic hardship with stoic resilience. Winner of the Audience Award in Sundance’s NEXT section, the film is a lyrical portrait of solitude, survival, and the landscapes—emotional and geographic—that shape us.
August 22
HONEY DON’T!
Ethan Coen returns with a darkly comic noir, featuring Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, Charlie Day, Billy Eichner, and Chris Evans in a tale of small-town secrets and suspicious deaths. Anchored by a hapless private investigator and propelled by Coen’s signature deadpan wit, the film is a sharp, stylish caper where nothing—and no one—is quite what they seem.
Americana
Set against the rugged expanse of South Dakota, this revisionist Western—anchored by a commanding performance from Sydney Sweeney—unfolds around the high-stakes theft of a prized artifact. Premiering at South by Southwest in 2023, the film blends genre tradition with contemporary grit, offering a tense, atmospheric take on justice and desire.
Eden
Ron Howard assembles a formidable cast—Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, and Sydney Sweeney—for this post–World War I survival thriller set against the untamed beauty of the Galapagos Islands. As isolation, desire, and desperation converge, the film traces the fine line between escape and entrapment in a paradise that turns perilous.
Relay
Riz Ahmed stars as a corporate fixer in this taut, contemporary reimagining of the paranoid thriller, directed by Hell or High Water’s David Mackenzie. As boardroom secrets give way to deeper conspiracies, the film captures the quiet menace of modern power structures and the personal cost of keeping them intact.
August 29
Caught Stealing
Darren Aronofsky adapts Charlie Huston’s gritty novels into a brooding descent through 1990s New York, where an ex–baseball player (Austin Butler) is drawn into the city’s criminal underworld. With a cast that includes Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Liev Schreiber, Matt Smith, and Bad Bunny, the film promises a bruising, stylish blend of noir atmosphere and emotional fallout.
At the North Dakota Film Society, we’re passionate about promoting the art of cinema across our state. Whether you’re a casual moviegoer or a seasoned cinephile, the films slated for release in summer 2025 offer an array of unforgettable experiences that are sure to fuel conversations well into the new year. Stay tuned for our in-depth reviews and discussions as we dive into the most exciting films on the horizon.
Which films are you most excited to see? Let us know in the comments, and join us for screenings and discussions as we enter the next season of moviegoing!
