Netflix is known for just dropping hundreds of hours of movies and TV at a moment’s notice, almost daring you to test your limits of unproductivity to finish it all. This week, it did a version of that by laying out its slate of 2025 films set to be released. Out of the dozens of movies that range from the lowlights of an Amy Schumer-led comedy about faking a pregnancy out of envy (Kinda Pregnant) to the highs of Guillermo del Toro’s passion project that’s been 20+ years in the making (Frankenstein), here are the seven that we need to take over our free time immediately.
The 7 Netflix Films of 2025 We Need Sooner Than Later
From a robot apocalypse to Bad Bunny in a golf comedy, Netflix's 2025 slate of movies looks promising
The Electric State
Release date: March 14
Seeing Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt in a beat-up Volkswagen carried by a gigantic robot get a fridge launched at them by another robot in a post-robot-war America of the ‘90s is enough reason for The Electric State to be required viewing for fans of all things sci-fi dystopia. From the looks of the trailer, filmmakers the Russo Brothers are going to explore a secret mechanical conspiracy with the type of visually stunning worldbuilding that made their earlier flicks Endgame and Infinity War feel grand in scope but personal in connection.
Plankton: The Movie
Release date: March 7
The pineapple under the sea has provided the world with enough genuine laughs and indelible memes to warrant some excitement for a movie focused on one of its funniest side characters, Plankton, as he tries for world domination before everything changes for him.
Havoc
Release date: TBD
Any time Tom Hardy’s hands are dirty from a mixture of blood and gunpowder, the action is typically worth the admission, especially when the price is only a Netflix subscription. As a hardened yet duty-bound detective, Hardy will fight through a criminal underworld to rescue a politician’s son before uncovering corruption that will likely be tied to the very politician he’s helping. The plot sounds derivative, but Hardy’s star power in an action thriller could elevate the story to something truly gripping.
Frankenstein
Release date: November 2025
The film Guillermo del Toro said he’s been trying to make for decades is finally coming out this fall, and it’s a retelling of the Frankenstein tale that “has fused with my soul in a way that it has become an autobiography,” according to the Oscar-winning filmmaker. With Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein’s monster, Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, and Christoph Waltz as the instigative mad scientist Dr. Pretorius, Frankenstein will have us seated and ready for our minds to be blown.
Rip
Release date: Fall 2025
Inspired by the true experiences of a former head of tactical narcotics for the Miami Dade police department, RIP has Matt Damon and Ben Affleck together again in a crime thriller where trust among Miami cops disintegrates after a team of cops seize millions of dollars from a drug stash spot. Both of these actors have thrilled us in films about illegally obtained money shifting alliances among former friends, and now they’re adding Steven Yeun, Kyle Chandler, and Teyana Taylor to the drama.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Release date: Fall 2025
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) has solved a murder over disinheritance and another over a business takeover, but the third mystery may prove to be his most dangerous yet. Rian Johnson’s Knives Out series is always a feast for the eyes and mind, with superstar ensemble casts all coming undone as the truth unfurls. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will feature Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Thomas Haden Church, and of course Craig himself, now with beam bum hair. Do we need to say more?
Happy Gilmore 2
Release date: TBD
In a world where sometimes live streamers are bigger boxing draws than the biggest professional boxers in the world, Adam Sandler reprising his role as Happy Gilmore is surprisingly relevant. The nostalgia factor of watching Sandler’s idiot savant golfer face off against archrival Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald) will draw in those missing ‘90s-style comedies, but the additions of generational stars Bad Bunny and every Swiftie’s favorite NFL player, Travis Kelce, could turn this into an event as much as it’ll be a film.