Science Fiction
Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later” smartly, splashily refreshed the zombie genre by depicting a future in which Britain, overrun by a horrific virus and cordoned off from the rest of the world, has regressed into a preindustrial society. You could see this latest installment in the series as a bonkers, stylistically brilliant Brexit allegory, but it also doubles as the story of a boy (Alfie Williams) coming of age in a dangerous world.
Coincidentally, young boys are also at the heart of two other superb zombie movies this year: Vardan Tozija’s “Beyond the Wasteland” and Isaac Ezban’s “Párvulos: Children of the Apocalypse.” Tozija’s film, much like “28 Years Later,” touches on folk horror as a kid (Matej Sivakov) tries to survive in the woods safe from the lurking “evil ones.” In “Párvulos,” three brothers (Mateo Ortega Casillas, Leonardo Cervantes and Farid Escalante Correa) are taking cover in an isolated country house, avoiding the creatures that lurk outside but feeding the ones in the basement. In all of those movies, the characters’ relationships with their parents are a lot more complicated than anything Carl ever faced in “The Walking Dead.” How poetic that it would fall to children — and, of course, daring directors — to rejuvenate the zombie movie.
— ELISABETH VINCENTELLI
Stream “28 Years Later” on Netflix.
Rent or buy ““Párvulos: Children of the Apocalypse” on Apple or Prime Video.
Stream “Beyond the Wasteland” on Tubi.
Horror
The scary movie that hit me the hardest this year, with punches of terror, joy, sorrow and remorse, was “Good Boy,” Ben Leonberg’s harrowing supernatural thriller starring his own dog, a fetching golden retriever named Indy.
The story is typical horror stuff: A man (Shane Jensen) facing personal demons holes up with his dog at a rural cabin that’s haunted by an evil apparition. Leonberg zeros in on Indy’s expressive eyes and eager, childlike demeanor in captivating, painterly ways, making the dog’s fears, and ours, feel grounded yet unrestrained — no easy feat. If Indy were human, he’d be giving an Oscar-worthy performance. I’m not a dog person but, boy, am I an Indy person now.
Another film that slapped me across the face was “Weapons,” Zach Cregger’s maximalist, genre-hopping tour de force about missing children, communal trauma and a dastardly witch named Gladys played by Amy Madigan, who many horror fans hope will turn this week’s Golden Globe nomination into a win.
The film that ripped my heart out was “Bleeding,” Andrew Bell’s brutal, raw and superbly acted addiction drama-turned-vampire thriller set in a dystopian America where blood is a drug. It’s as devastating as it is empathetic, my favorite horror movie recipe.
— ERIK PIEPENBURG
Stream “Bleeding” on Amazon Prime Video.
Action
‘40 Acres’
Cannibals in Canada isn’t a spinoff of “The Walking Dead,” it’s the simple premise of the director R.T. Thorne’s gory postapocalyptic feature directing debut, “40 Acres.” The film, whose title is inspired by William T. Sherman’s wartime decree granting newly freed Black people 40 acres of property, is set on a north-of-the-border family farm. It follows the owner Hailey Freeman’s (Danielle Deadwyler) defense of her land and kin. Though Deadwyler first gained prominence in prestige dramas like “Till” and “The Piano Lesson,” she offers a surprisingly muscular performance here as a woman who’s more akin to a hardened drill sergeant than a tender mother.
She needs to be tough: A band of marauding cannibals have decimated the surrounding farms, leaving the Freemans isolated. Their encroachment on Hailey’s land ignites several bloody skirmishes. Thrown axes, slashing machetes and closed-quarter knife fights generate abstract, expressionistic splatters of blood across walls and ceilings. The family’s humble rural home, featuring underground tunnels and a cache of guns, further becomes a kill zone when Hailey’s husband (Michael Greyeyes) pounces from dark corners. With an intense Deadwyler and savvy Greyeyes in tow, every yard of “40 Acres” is a hotbed for action.
— ROBERT DANIELS
International
Two of my favorite films of 2025 are queer dramas in the fullest sense of the word: They defy both genre and heteronormative sexuality. In Alain Guiraudie’s sly and elusive “Misericordia,” a young man, Jérémie, returns to his rural French hometown to attend the funeral of a man who was his boss, a kind of father-figure … maybe also his lover? The possibilities are open and ambiguous, and as a sudden murder adds mystery to the proceedings, they proliferate; Jérémie becomes the object of a web of suspicions and unpredictable desires (including those of a very aroused priest). In the hauntingly sensuous “Viet and Nam,” directed by Truong Minh Quy, two gay coal miners find love in the hopeless place between a bloody history and an uncertain future: The ghosts — or rather, skeletons — of the War in Vietnam pervade their lives, while poverty forces them to consider a risky voyage to the United States.
There is something strikingly topical in the wicked mischief of “Misericordia” and the breathtaking poeticism of “Viet and Nam.” Both films wrestle with the pursuit of pleasure amid the debris of violence. What could be more relevant to life in our messed up world?
— DEVIKA GIRISH
Stream “Misericordia” on the Criterion Channel.
Stream “Viet and Nam” on Mubi.
The post The Best Genre Movies of 2025 appeared first on New York Times.
