This week’s new movie slate includes some wildly different options for audiences. With major film festivals heralding the coming of award season, the rest of 2025’s movie slate seems poised for some major releases. This week is no different, with a diverse collection of new releases across theatrical, VOD, and streaming that are worth checking out.
Psychological football horror, hard-hitting grounded dramas, and a reimagined R-rated Batman are among this week’s best new releases, but they’re far from the only ones. Other new releases like Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Predators, Swiped, XENO, and Doin’ It all speak to a wide range of genres with fresh entries coming out this week.
On top of that, families can check out movies like Elio or revisit summer blockbusters like Superman now that they’ve made their way to streaming. If you’re looking for a new release, then these four movies in theaters, streaming, and on VOD, then these are some of the fresh releases for the week that movie fans should check out.
Him (Theatrical Wide Release)
Produced by Jordan Peele, Him is one of the big theatrical releases of the week and is worth seeing on the big screen. Although the film has been met with mixed reactions (with Screen Rant’s Mae Abdulbaki calling it a “thematically muddled horror film”), the visual panache, raw ambition, and stunning Marlon Wayans performance are worth checking out.
Him has a lot on the mind, and director Justin Tipping is able to craft some solid imagery amid the chaos of Cam’s isolated week of football training with Isaiah. Dripping with thematic concepts that it can’t always quite bring together, Him is still an interesting and compelling fusion of horror and sports archetypes.
Clearly taking thematic cues from films like Get Out and Us, Him is a great movie for fans of Jordan Peele’s style (even if he didn’t direct the film) and the kind of symbolic weight they carry. While it may have its flaws, they’re at least interesting ones that more than justify a trip out to the movie theater.
American Sweatshop (Theatrical – Limited Release/Available On VOD)
On the opposite side of the tonal landscape from the bombastic Him is American Sweatshop, a compelling and dark thriller that is painfully grounded in the real world. Starring Lili Reinhart, American Sweatshop focuses on a young woman who works as a content moderator on social media who believes she may have witnessed a gruesome crime.
While this mystery element is the initial draw, the real appeal of the film is found in Reinhart’s performance. Finding a raw element to the character that never feels anything but painfully real, the Riverdale star finds a great deal of righteous fury amid the moral ambiguity of working (and more or less living) in an online world.
As explained by Screen Rant’s Gregory Nussen in their review of American Sweatshop, the film’s thriller mystery may end up feeling like dead weight, but the performances and subtle touches of commentary give the film a greater sense of perspective and importance. For fans of Riverdale, it’s a great showcase for Lili Reinhart and serves as a harrowing tale about modern society.
Belén (Streaming On Prime Video)
For audiences ravenous for more dramatic fare, Belén’s debut on Prime Video. Based on the non-fiction book Somos Belén, the Argentine drama focuses on two women caught in a corrupt legal system. When Julieta is accused of having an illegal abortion, her only legal defense proves to be the lawyer Soledad Deza.
Riveting, heartbreaking, and fierce in all the right ways, Belén is an engrossing character drama that carries great thematic power in its portrayal of women fighting a system not designed to help them but to contain them. The film is considered a potential Argentine submission for Best International Feature Film at the upcoming 98th Academy Awards, and with good reason.
Dolores Fonzi and Camila Plaate are tremendous in the film, especially as they portray women who can’t seem to escape the scrutiny of a country and society that condemns first and forgives never. Perfect for fans of real-life stories and courtroom dramas, Belén finds the right balance of tragedy and character to remain engrossing and hard-hitting.
Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires (Available On VOD/Streaming On HBO Max)
Batman has spent decades as one of pop culture’s most iconic figures, with plenty of permutations on the concept — and despite its flaws, Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires is an intriguing take on the Caped Crusader that’s worth checking out now that it’s on HBO Max.
Reimagining the concept in 14th-century South America, the film follows Yohualli Coatl, an Aztec prince whose life is disrupted by the Spanish conquistadors, leading him to become a masked freedom fighter. Taking plenty of liberties with the Batman lore, Aztec Batman is at its best when it experiments and infuses DC’s hero with cultural touchstones unfamiliar to most Batman stories.