12 summer movies that you should be watching

Stars: Michael Cera, Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Riz Ahmed
Opens: May 30

Wes Anderson’s latest ensemble includes Michael Cera (somehow starring in his first Wes movie) and Mia Threapleton, a.k.a. Kate Winslet’s daughter. She plays a nun and the heir to her business tycoon father (Del Toro)’s fortune. They become the target of assassins and other opps in a movie based on the stories of real-life robber barons. After 2023’s Asteroid City, which was one of Anderson’s most personal films to date, it will be interesting to see how much of the famously precise director slips into this one.

Stars: Cillian Murphy, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes
Opens: June 20

The scariest horror movie of 2025 so far is the dread-filled 28 Years Later trailer, two and a half minutes of doom set to the imposing Rudyard Kipling poem “Boots.” Danny Boyle is returning to direct the zombie franchise for this third instalment, the first new 28 movie since 2007. The story revolves around a father and son venturing from their isolated home into the heart of the affected mainland where dark discoveries await. Jack O’Connell, fresh from demonizing audiences in Sinners, will get to show his evil credentials again as a cult leader with a dark past.

Stars: Eva Victor, Naomi Ackie, Lucas Hedges
Opens: June 27

Sorry, Baby was the big hit at this year’s Sundance and was promptly bought by A24 for $8 million following an intense bidding war at the festival. Director Eva Victor has a background in comedy and applies a light touch to her story of a college professor trying to piece her life back together after a tragic event. Broken up into non-chronological chapters, Victor’s movie is produced by Barry Jenkins and has been praised for its black humor and undeniable tenderness.

Stars: Emma Mackey, Vicky Krieps
Opens: June 27

You can’t have a summer movie season without a film about a vacation (see: my personal favorite, The Green Ray). Hot Milk stars Emma Mackey (Sex Education) who travels to the Spanish town of Almería in search of a cure for her mother’s illness. It’s while she is in the rugged seaside town that she meets Ingrid (Vicky Krieps), an enigmatic figure who helps her find freedom and self expression away from the responsibilities she faces back home. Expect complicated feelings, simmering passion, and scenery to get lost in.

Stars: Dave Franco, Alison Brie
Opens: July 30

Real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie play boyfriend and girlfriend in this gnarly, low-budget body-horror flick. They’re in a rut, sleeping in separate bedrooms and struggling to recapture the spark of their early relationship, but the pair have to contend with a much more pressing issue when a mythical being invades their idyllic country home and seeks to destroy their lives. It sounds bad, but can it be any worse than couple therapy?

Stars: Julia Garner, Brian Tyree Henry, Josh Brolin
Opens: August 8

Tragedy hits a small rural community when every child except one mysteriously vanishes from the same school classroom. Where have the children gone? And why was just one of them saved? Weapons marks director Zach Cregger’s first movie since his wild breakout with Barbarian and it promises to be one of the biggest hits of the horror calendar. Rumor has it that Jordan Peele was so desperate to direct this movie he fired his managers after losing the bidding war over the script.

Stars: Denzel Washington, A$AP Rocky
Opens: August 22

It’s always nice to welcome a new Spike Lee joint and it’s even better when Denzel Washington is along for the ride. Marking their fifth collaboration, Highest 2 Lowest is a remake of the Kurosawa classic High and Low but set in modern day New York City. Denzel plays a music mogul who is targeted with a ransom plot in a movie that also features acting roles for A$AP Rocky and Ice Spice.

Stars: Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Zack Fox, Havana Rose Liu
Opens: August 22

The question of who gets to become an insider versus who will always be an outsider is a great source of cinematic tension that’s been explored in movies like Saltburn and The Talented Mr. Ripley over the years. Lurker continues that lineage with Théodore Pellerin playing a retailer worker who grows close to a rising pop star. The film explores parasocial relationships and disparate power dynamics as the pair grow closer and the lines between fan, friend, and obsessive grow ever blurrier.