ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — With so many films vying for attention, it’s hard to know what’s worth seeking out.
Consult our guide below for the new movies to see, stream and skip in May 2025.
Go see…
THUNDERBOLTS* (2025, 127 min., directed by Jake Schreier)
It’s a relief to be able to recommend a Marvel movie again.
“Thunderbolts*” is the 36th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the 14th since “Avengers: Endgame,” the high point of the Marvel experiment and conclusion of the studio’s first big storytelling effort. Since then, there have been a couple of winners, like the deeply emotional trilogy-capper “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3” or the nostalgia-soaked spectacle of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” and a few of the television series on Disney+ have been worthwhile, too. However, the quality of most Marvel endeavors was snapped away after “Endgame,” replaced by a slog of a directionless, weightless, endless line of products.
“Thunderbolts*” is the first Marvel movie in years to capture the studio’s old magic.
The film is gorgeous to look at, shot in real deserts and practical sets away from CGI-laden spaceships and digital worlds. The movie is also anchored by two of the best actors in the MCU, Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, with strong supporting performances from David Harbour, Wyatt Russell and newcomer Lewis Pullman.
Even more impressive than its tactility and cast charisma, however, “Thunderbolts*” dared to be about something real.
The movie centers around the mental health challenges of its heroes, literally and metaphorically. The big bad of the film is called The Void, a manifestation of darkness and depression that subsumes whatever its shadow touches. While it feels bizarre to say you might cry during a movie in the lineage of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” or “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Thunderbolts*” is an earnest depiction of grief and the emptiness that follows.
The movie isn’t perfect. “Seinfeld” actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus is particularly misplaced as conniving CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and the chemistry of the cast doesn’t click until Harbour enters the mix forty minutes in. However, for Marvel fans and skeptics alike, “Thunderbolts*” is a step back in the right direction.
THE SURFER (2024, 100 min., directed by Lorcan Finnegan)
Nicolas Cage has been in no shortage of perplexing, psychedelic movies over the last 10 years. “The Surfer” is his latest.
The blackly comic psychological thriller pits Cage against a gang of unfriendly Australian surfers. Cage wants to go surfing with his son to take in his newly-purchased seaside house from the water. The violent surfers would prefer to keep the beach for local use only. Conflict ensues.
The setup is simple, but “The Surfer” is so much stranger in execution. The film is deeply saturated, filled with burnt oranges and blues, and set in a near-perpetual golden hour. Director Lorcan Finnegan fills his frames with sweaty closeups – you can see every pore on Cage’s blood-streaked face – or else wobbles them, creating a dizzying, destabilizing effect inside the camera as Cage’s character loses his mind.
In one scene, a berserk Cage shoves a prop rat into a drowning surfer’s mouth and screams “eat the rat!”
“The Surfer” won’t be for everyone.
However, if you find yourself coasting for an Australian dose of Cage Rage, “The Surfer” will provide a totally tubular time.
Go stream…
BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY (2025, 124 min., directed by Michael Morris)
Happy Mother’s Day! Celebrate with the mom movie of the year, “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” the fourth installment in the series of British rom-coms.
“Mad About the Boy” may be the best “Bridget Jones” yet.
The film stars series stalwarts Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, plus Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall as Bridget’s new love interests. Zellweger has never been better, but Grant steals the show as effervescent rogue Daniel Cleaver.
While the first three films in the “Bridget Jones” series are charming romps, “Mad About the Boy” is a wonderful fusion of melodrama and madcap comedy. Bridget is officially a mom of two and her mothering instincts are rife for humor as much as heartbreak.
Fans of the franchise will find plenty of easter eggs to chew on, but thanks to the movie’s wit and as an absolutely devastating first 15 minutes – I am recommending two films which made me cry this month – newcomers will find themselves just as invested.
If this is Bridget’s last diary entry, it’s a beautifully written one.
You can skip…
UNTIL DAWN (2025, 103 min., directed by David F. Sandberg)
I have never seen a horror movie so afraid of its own premise.
“Until Dawn,” ostensibly based on though bearing little resemblance to the popular video game of the same name, is about a group of young people trapped in a time loop of death when they embark on a mission to find their missing friend.
The film is already rote, redundant and rehashing better horror flicks, but to make matters worse, the singular innovation it does have is perhaps the most reductive use of the medium I’ve ever seen.
About two-thirds of the way through the story, the movie takes a bold leap forward in plot. No explanation is given for this choice other than a long, expository sequence wherein characters crowd around a smartphone to watch interesting scenes from the trailer play out in a camera roll slideshow. It’s like if a TikTok account was projected onto the big screen.
The actors are trying, but without standout performances or scary scenes, instead of trudging “Until Dawn,” horror fans are better off calling it a night.
ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR (2025, 123 min., directed by Paul Feig)
I’m not sure who was clamoring for a sequel to “A Simple Favor,” the twisty 2018 comedy-thriller starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, but nevertheless, Amazon MGM Studios dumped “Another Simple Favor” on Prime Video this month.
Do yourself a simple favor and avoid it.
The movie is a redux of the first but fitted with more soap operatics and leaden dialogue. If the “Simple Favor” movies were a glass of champagne, they were fun and fizzy on the first pour, but go down flat and flavorless by the end of the glass.
Where to watch
“Thunderbolts*” “The Surfer” and “Until Dawn” are in theaters now. “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” is streaming on Peacock. “Another Simple Favor” is streaming on Prime Video.