We have gathered a collection of the best new drama movies of 2025. Many of them are films you have not seen or even heard of. Here you will find films to suit every taste.
Content
- Sentimental Value
- Den stygge stesøsteren
- The Testament of Ann Lee
- Black Bag
- The Chronology of Water
- Heldin
- The Residence
- Mix Tape
- Dying for Sex
- Toxic Town
Sentimental Value
IMDb: 8.0 /10
2025, Drama
Norway, Sweden, UK, R
Director: Joachim Trier
Top Cast: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas
This is a Norwegian drama about a woman named Agata. She is an actress who is going through a difficult time in her life: both her career and personal life are a mess. To cope with her problems, she goes back to her hometown in Northern Norway. The house that belonged to her mother is now hers. Now, she must sort out her life by dealing with her mother’s possessions and facing her own memories, her failures, and her complicated family relationships.
Den stygge stesøsteren
IMDb: 7.0 /10
2025, Horror, Comedy, Drama
Norway, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Not rated
Director: Emilie Blichfeldt
Top Cast: Lee Myhrén, Tia Sophie Lochnæss, Flo Fagerli
This is another Norwegian drama on our list. This film also includes elements of dark comedy and body horror. It is a modern, very dark, and satirical version of the Cinderella fairytale.
In this story, there is an evil stepmother, her unattractive daughter, and the beautiful “Cinderella,” who has lost her father. This not-so-friendly family is struggling to survive and has to find new ways to feed themselves.
The stepmother decides to try and marry one of the daughters to a prince. Her plan might work: the prince is holding a ball, and everyone is invited. The unattractive step-sister will have to take extreme measures to be “better than” her beautiful sister.
The Testament of Ann Lee
IMDb: 6.9 /10
2025, Historical Drama, Musical, Biopic
USA, UK, R
Director: Mona Fastvold
Top Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Lewis Pullman, Thomasin McKenzie
This is a biopic about the visionary and religious leader Ann Lee. She was the founder of a radical Christian group in England called the Shakers. Over time, her movement grew and moved to America. The Shakers are remembered for their unusual church services, which included dancing and shaking.
The film, The Testament of Ann Lee, tells the story of her life, starting from when she was a working-class woman in 18th-century Manchester. It covers her personal tragedy, her religious moment, her preaching, and much more.
Black Bag
IMDb: 6.7 /10
2025, Thriller, Drama
USA, R
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Top Cast: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela
The film, Black Bag, is a stylish thriller about top agents from the British Secret Service. George and Catherine are two agents who have been happily married for many years, despite their dangerous jobs.
The story is similar to the film Mr. and Mrs. Smith. George gets a mission to find a traitor in his elite team. This traitor has stolen a top-secret cyber weapon called “Severus.” This weapon could cause a nuclear disaster in Russia and lead to a large war. The main person George suspects is his own beloved wife.
The Chronology of Water
IMDb: 6.5/10
2025, Drama
USA, France, United Kingdom, Latvia, Not rated
Director: Kristen Stewart
Top Cast: Imogen Poots, Thora Birch, Jim Belushi
This film is the first movie directed by Kristen Stewart, the actress who starred in The Twilight films. The Chronology of Water is based on the memoirs of American writer Lydia Yuknavitch.
In general, the film looks closely at Lydia’s life, starting from her childhood in the Pacific Northwest. Her early life was marked by family violence and her parents' alcoholism. As a child, Lydia finds a temporary escape in swimming.
However, as an adult, she cannot deal with the pain of the past, and her life slowly goes off track (gets out of control). But fate has prepared another way for her to be saved.
Heldin
IMDb: 7.8 /10
2025, Drama
Switzerland, Germany, Not rated
Director: Petra Volpe
Top Cast: Leonie Benesch, Sonja Riesen, Urs Bihler
The work of doctors and nurses is difficult. Sometimes they have very hard shifts that could be made into movies. This is what Petra Volpe did. Floria, a nurse, loves her job and devotedly (with great care) looks after her patients, even though there is total chaos around her.
During her night shift, the situation becomes extremely tense: she is alone on duty in a very crowded ward with 25 beds.
Floria tries to help everyone, but because of the constant lack of time and stress, she makes a serious mistake. This mistake puts a patient’s life in danger and could lead to a complete disaster.
The Residence
IMDb: 7.7 /10
2025, Mystery, Drama, Crime, Thriller
USA, TV-MA
Director: Liza Johnson, Jaffar Mahmood
Top Cast: Uzo Aduba, Giancarlo Esposito, Susan Kelechi Watson
A maid is brutally murdered in the White House. The crime is investigated by Cordelia Kapp, a detective from the Washington police. She is eccentric, not following the rules, and honestly not good at her job.
To find the killer, Cordelia has to question the entire “invisible army” of workers who live and work in the building.
These people have watched the lives of the First Families for decades, so they know a huge number of dirty secrets and inside information. However, every one of them also has their own secrets and motives for keeping quiet.
Mix Tape
IMDb: 7.6 /10
2021, Family, Comedy, Drama
USA, TV-MA
Director: Valerie Weiss
Top Cast: Gemma Brooke Allen, Julie Bowen, Nick Thune
This story is about a 12-year-old orphan named Beverly, who is looked after by her grandmother, Gail.
Two days before the year 2000 begins, Beverly finds an old cassette tape with songs recorded on it. But the tape is damaged, and Beverly is determined to find every song on the playlist so she can learn more about her parents, who owned the tape.
To help her search, she gets help from her best friends and a grumpy but kind-hearted owner of a local music shop named Anti. He becomes her guide to the world of music and the past.
Dying for Sex
IMDb: 7.6 /10
2025, Comedy, Drama, Romance
USA, TV-MA
Director: Shannon Murphy, Chris Teague
Top Cast: Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, Rob Delaney
Molly was used to living a comfortable life until doctors told her she had a terminal illness. So she decides to spend the rest of her time truly living, instead of just continuing her routine.
Molly leaves her husband and travels across America with her best friend, Nicky. On this trip, she explores her sexuality and looks for intimacy. Using dating apps, she meets many different kinds of people and has all sorts of new experiences.
Toxic Town
IMDb: 7.5 /10
2025, Drama, Crime, History
UK, TV-MA
Director: Minkie Spiro
Top Cast: Jodie Whittaker, Aimee Lou Wood, Robert Carlyle
In the industrial town of Corby in the UK, there was an environmental disaster. Because of this, many children in the town were born with severe birth defects in their arms and legs. The rest of the people also live unhappily, with extreme poverty and a lack of education.
However, something prevents the local people from trusting the government. So, they come together to collect evidence and start an unprecedented legal case against them.
