Worst Films of 2025
19 February 2026
This article is a look at the worst films of 2025.
I saw 389 films in 2025. So let us begin.
THE TOP 14 WORST FILMS OF 2025
14. THE ELECTRIC STATE
Apart from the exemplary visual effects, this is incompetent, riddled with poor storytelling and characterisation.
13. Y2K
Inane. An entire movie where characters talk at cross-purposes. What a waste of Julian Dennison and Rachel Zegler.
12. FLIGHT RISK
What’s the point of this movie? A lazy thriller, set in a confined space, that is repeatedly laughably signposted.
11. ELEVATION
Three years on from invincible monsters emerging, characters are having conversations as if they’ve never spoken about them. The dull dialogue sums up the experience. Even Mackie and Baccarin can’t, ahem, elevate.
10. HOLY NIGHT: DEMON HUNTERS
Hardly any South Korean movies get released at UK cinemas. Why this? Tired exorcism genre nonsense. Don Lee punching demonic energy out of devil acolytes doesn’t even sound good on paper. Seems to be setting up a franchise I couldn’t care less about.
9. IN THE LOST LANDS
A cinematic abomination. A sci-fi fantasy disaster. Terrible on nearly every level, from the atrocious cinematography to the incompetent action choreography.
8. LAST BREATH
Watch the source documentary for comparison: from the leads to the jazzing up for attempted cinematic excitement. The dialogue is perfunctory, delivering no characterisation.
7. SPINAL TAP II: THE END CONTINUES
Even at less than half-an-hour, I was counting down the minutes. Laborious. Devoid of laughs. Was not worth waiting 41 years for.
6. SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE
When you need your lead watching two movies (BADLANDS, NIGHT OF THE HUNTER) to try to explain the character, you know something has gone wrong with the storytelling. Tedious, obtuse, bland.
5. HERE
Superficial and painfully twee. The worst mawkish excesses of director Robert Zemeckis.
4. THE ALTO KNIGHTS
It’s all tell and no show. A monotonous gangster movie that feels purposeless until the finale - by then it’s too late to save the movie.
3. BLACK PHONE 2
When a horror flick has to rely on lazy jump-scares, you know it’s in trouble. A needless sequel. The first one was noteworthy. This follow up is nonsensical.
2. SHELBY OAKS
Generic, lacklustre, leaden found footage horror.
1. JANE AUSTEN WRECKED MY LIFE
No insight into Austen and very little into the human condition. Lumpen charisma, dialogue, and story. Not sure why this tired rom-com got a cinema release. At one point the lead says something true: you don’t need a perfect locale to write, but then proceeds to sequester herself at a beautiful beach abode.
(By the way, some movies are so bad I turned them off way before the end, e.g. ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOUR, ASH, BACK IN ACTION, BANGKOK DOG, BULLET TRAIN EXPLOSION, HOLLAND, OH. WHAT. FUN., RED SONJA, REUNION, THE OLD GUARD 2, THE PICKUP.)
Okay, take a breather.
THE TOP 14 WORST FILMS OF 2025
14. THE ELECTRIC STATE
Apart from the exemplary visual effects, this is incompetent, riddled with poor storytelling and characterisation.
13. Y2K
Inane. An entire movie where characters talk at cross-purposes. What a waste of Julian Dennison and Rachel Zegler.
12. FLIGHT RISK
What’s the point of this movie? A lazy thriller, set in a confined space, that is repeatedly laughably signposted.
11. ELEVATION
Three years on from invincible monsters emerging, characters are having conversations as if they’ve never spoken about them. The dull dialogue sums up the experience. Even Mackie and Baccarin can’t, ahem, elevate.
10. HOLY NIGHT: DEMON HUNTERS
Hardly any South Korean movies get released at UK cinemas. Why this? Tired exorcism genre nonsense. Don Lee punching demonic energy out of devil acolytes doesn’t even sound good on paper. Seems to be setting up a franchise I couldn’t care less about.
9. IN THE LOST LANDS
A cinematic abomination. A sci-fi fantasy disaster. Terrible on nearly every level, from the atrocious cinematography to the incompetent action choreography.
8. LAST BREATH
Watch the source documentary for comparison: from the leads to the jazzing up for attempted cinematic excitement. The dialogue is perfunctory, delivering no characterisation.
7. SPINAL TAP II: THE END CONTINUES
Even at less than half-an-hour, I was counting down the minutes. Laborious. Devoid of laughs. Was not worth waiting 41 years for.
6. SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE
When you need your lead watching two movies (BADLANDS, NIGHT OF THE HUNTER) to try to explain the character, you know something has gone wrong with the storytelling. Tedious, obtuse, bland.
5. HERE
Superficial and painfully twee. The worst mawkish excesses of director Robert Zemeckis.
4. THE ALTO KNIGHTS
It’s all tell and no show. A monotonous gangster movie that feels purposeless until the finale - by then it’s too late to save the movie.
3. BLACK PHONE 2
When a horror flick has to rely on lazy jump-scares, you know it’s in trouble. A needless sequel. The first one was noteworthy. This follow up is nonsensical.
2. SHELBY OAKS
Generic, lacklustre, leaden found footage horror.
1. JANE AUSTEN WRECKED MY LIFE
No insight into Austen and very little into the human condition. Lumpen charisma, dialogue, and story. Not sure why this tired rom-com got a cinema release. At one point the lead says something true: you don’t need a perfect locale to write, but then proceeds to sequester herself at a beautiful beach abode.
(By the way, some movies are so bad I turned them off way before the end, e.g. ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOUR, ASH, BACK IN ACTION, BANGKOK DOG, BULLET TRAIN EXPLOSION, HOLLAND, OH. WHAT. FUN., RED SONJA, REUNION, THE OLD GUARD 2, THE PICKUP.)
Okay, take a breather.