From Thunderbolts* to The Phoenician Scheme, it’s everything new to cinemas in May 2025.
Looking for films to watch before they leave cinemas? Head to our April cinema guide first.
Australian films to watch out for this month include the Philippou brothers’ hotly anticipated Bring Her Back, art doco Dale Frank – Nobody’s Sweetie, Nic Cage vehicle The Surfer, John Jarratt-starring Double or Nothing and Greek epic The Aegean.
New movies in May
1 May
An Unfinished Film
January 2020. A film crew reunites near Wuhan to resume the shooting of a film halted 10 years earlier, only to share the unexpected challenges as cities are placed under lockdown.
Watch the trailer for An Unfinished Film
Director: Lou Ye
Cast: Qin Hao, Mao Xiaorui, Qi Xi
Classification: M
Country: Germany/Singapore
Runtime: 107 mins
Dale Frank – Nobody’s Sweetie
Documentary. The greatest look yet at a well-known artist very few have seen up close, as the titular visionary recluse invites us into his home.
Watch the trailer for Dale Frank – Nobody’s Sweetie
Director: Jenny Hicks
Cast: Dale Frank
Classification: M
Country: Australia
Runtime: 111 mins
Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing
Ichika is a high school musician who is able to enter a mysterious place called ‘SEKAI’, where she and her friends express their innermost emotions through music alongside Hatsune Miku. One day after giving a live performance, Ichika meets a new Miku who she has never seen before. No matter how hard this new Miku tries to sing, she struggles to connect with the hearts of her listeners. Miku must rely on the help of others to find a way to sing again.
Watch the trailer for Colourful Stage: A Miku Who Can’t Sing
Director: Hiroyuki Hata
Cast: Saki Fujita, Asami Shimoda
Classification: PG
Country: Japan
Runtime: 105 mins
Double or Nothing
Two cousins embark on a high-energy race against the clock to find $50,000 when the mob discover one of them has been skimming from their Gold Coast workshop.
Watch the trailer for Double or Nothing
Director: Dru Brown
Cast: John Jarratt, Vince Colosimo, Steve Mouzakis
Classification: CTC
Country: Australia
Runtime: 98 mins
Flat Girls
A coming-of-age story that depicts the love and friendship between two high school girls, both daughters of police officers. Despite differing financial circumstances, the girls share a close bond. However, their relationship is tested when a young policeman moves into their flat. As the girls navigate the complexities of life, the story delves into the challenges of growing up.
Watch the trailer for Flat Girls
Director: Jirassaya Wongsutin
Cast: Fatima Dechawaleekul, Kirana Pipityakorn
Classification: M
Country: Thailand
Runtime: 130 mins
Ghost Trail
Hamid is part of a secret group pursuing the Syrian regime’s fugitive leaders. His mission takes him to France, on the trail of his former torturer whom he must confront.
Watch the trailer for Ghost Trail
Director: Jonathan Millet
Cast: Adam Bessa, Tawfeek Barhom
Classification: CTC
Country: Belgium/France/Germany
Runtime: 106 mins
Lies We Tell
An orphaned heiress is forced to embrace her family’s dark legacy.
Watch the trailer for Lies We Tell
Director: Lisa Mulcahy
Cast: Agnes O’Casey, David Wilmot
Classification: CTC
Country: Ireland
Runtime: 89 mins
Thunderbolts*
After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, seven disillusioned cast-offs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.
Watch the trailer for Thunderbolts*
Director: Jake Schreier
Cast: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour
Classification: PG
Country: USA
Runtime: 127 mins
Tinā
In the wake of the Christchurch earthquake, sassy Samoan mother Mareta mentors her fledgling youth choir to the finale of The Big Sing competition.
Watch the trailer for Tinā
Director: Miki Magasiva
Cast: Anapela Polataivao, Antonia Robinson, Beulah Koale
Classification: M
Country: New Zealand
Runtime: 124 mins
3 May
Royal Opera: Turandot
Puccini’s captivating opera of a cold-hearted princess and her mysterious suitor. Featuring the ever-popular ‘Nessun dorma’, this opera of love and revenge is brought to life in a dazzling production. The beautiful but icy Princess Turandot (Sondra Radvanovsky) will only marry a man who can correctly answer three riddles. Those who fail are brutally beheaded. But when an unknown prince arrives, the balance of power in Turandot’s court is forever shaken, as the mysterious stranger does what no other has been able to.
Director: Andrei Șerban
Cast: Sondra Radvanovsky, Adam Palka, SeokJong Baek
Classification: CTC
Country: UK
Runtime: 205 mins
7 May
Björk: Cornucopia
A visually spectacular landscape of lush colours, futuristic screens and wild images of nature that comes alive with Björk’s wondrous music, as she performs live alongside musicians and choirs of flutes and voices.
Watch the trailer for Björk: Cornucopia
Director: Ísold Uggadóttir
Cast: Björk
Classification: CTC
Country: Iceland/UK/USA
Runtime: 114 mins
ArtsHub: Music review: Björk’s Cornucopia, Perth Festival
8 May
Clown in a Cornfield
Quinn and her father have just moved to the quiet town of Kettle Springs hoping for a fresh start. Instead, she discovers a fractured community that has fallen on hard times after the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down. As the locals bicker among themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning figure emerges from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time.
Watch the trailer for Clown in a Cornfield
Director: Eli Craig
Cast: Aaron Abrams, Katie Douglas, Carson MacCormac
Classification: MA
Country: USA
Runtime: 96 mins
Emmanuelle
In this latest version of Emmanuelle Arsan’s notorious 1967 novel, Emmanuelle, a quality controller for a luxury hotel brand, arrives in Hong Kong to evaluate a hotel run by Margot, having been tasked with finding a good reason to sack her. Searching for a lost pleasure, she has numerous sensual experiences inside the hotel, and crosses path with Kei, a mysterious client with whom she becomes infatuated.
Watch the trailer for Emmanuelle
Director: Audrey Diwan
Cast: Noémie Merlant, Will Sharpe, Jamie Campbell Bower, Naomi Watts
Classification: MA
Country: France
Runtime: 105 mins
Monsieur Aznavour
From his poor childhood to his rise to fame, from his triumphs to his failures, from Paris to New York, discover the exceptional journey of an artist. Intimate, intense, fragile and indestructible, devoted to his art until the very end, here is one of the most immortal singers of all time: Monsieur Aznavour.
Directors: Grand Corps Malade, Mehdi Idir
Cast: Tahar Rahim, Bastien Bouillon
Classification: M
Country: Belgium/France
Runtime: 134 mins
Ocean with David Attenborough
David Attenborough explores the planet’s undersea habitats, revealing the greatest age of ocean discovery and emphasising the ocean’s vital importance while exposing its problems and highlighting opportunities for marine life recovery.
Directors: Colin Butfield, Toby Nowlan, Keith Scholey
Cast: David Attenborough
Classification: PG
Country: UK
Runtime: 105 mins
Shadow Force
Kyrah and Isaac were once the leaders of a multinational special forces group called Shadow Force. They broke the rules by falling in love and, in order to protect their son, they go underground. With a large bounty on their heads, and the vengeful Shadow Force hot on their trail, one family’s fight becomes all-out war.
Watch the trailer for Shadow Force
Director: Joe Carnahan
Cast: Kerry Washington, Omar Sy, Mark Strong
Classification: CTC
Country: USA
Runtime: 104 mins
Sylvanian Families The Movie
In the enchanting village of Sylvania, Freya, a sweet Chocolate Rabbit girl, tackles two fun tasks for the Star Festival: picking the ‘Tree of the Year’ and finding a birthday gift for her mother. With her adorable animal friends, she goes on a joyful adventure, learning about friendship and giving.
Watch the trailer for Sylvanian Families
Director: Kazuya Konaka
Cast: Yuina Kuroshima, Inori Minase
Classification: G
Country: Japan
Runtime: 66 mins
9 May
Lilly
A suspense drama based on the life of Fair Pay activist Lilly Ledbetter.
Watch the trailer for Lilly
Director: Rachel Feldman
Cast: Patricia Clarkson, John Benjamin Hickey, Thomas Sadoski
Classification: CTC
Country: USA
Runtime: 93 mins
10 May
The Chosen: Last Supper (Parts Two and Three)
As Jesus speaks to a massive crowd, the religious leaders attempt to trap him in his own words. Afraid of public outcry – and further embarrassment – Caiaphas resolves to arrest Jesus quietly at night. Only one problem: no one knows how to find him … but they may know someone who can help.
In Part Three, as Jesus’ followers gather for the Passover meal, his enemies assemble for a manhunt. And on the same night Jesus establishes his new covenant, Judas closes his biggest deal.
Director: Dallas Jenkins
Cast: Jonathan Roumie, Elizabeth Tabish, Shahar Isaac
Classification: CTC
Country: USA
Runtime: 172 mins + 194 mins
14 May
Warren Miller’s 75
Stacked with unbelievable action and unexpected stories of skiing, Warren Miller’s 75 will bring fans to powder stashes and chutes around the world, from Canada, Colorado, California and Utah to Finland, Japan, Austria and New Jersey.
Director: N/A
Cast: Shaun White, Jeremy Jones, Danny Davis
Classification: CTC
Country: Canada
Runtime: 120 mins
15 May
Final Destination: Bloodlines
Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who may be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.
Watch the trailer for Final Destination: Bloodlines
Director: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B Stein
Cast: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon
Classification: MA
Country: USA
Runtime: 110 mins
Hurry Up Tomorrow
A musician plagued by insomnia is pulled into an odyssey with a stranger who begins to unravel the very core of his existence.
Watch the trailer for Hurry Up Tomorrow
Director: Trey Edward Schults
Cast: The Weeknd, Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan
Classification: MA
Country: USA
Runtime: 105 mins
La Cocina
In the sweltering back kitchen of a Times Square restaurant, undocumented cook Pedro is caught between mounting pressures at work and a complicated romance with waitress Julia. When money goes missing, suspicion spreads, igniting tensions that threaten to upend the fragile hopes of the staff.
Watch the trailer for La Cocina
Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios
Cast: Raúl Briones, Rooney Mara, Anna Díaz
Classification: MA
Country: Mexico/Sweden/New Zealand
Runtime: 139 mins
Holding Back the Years: 40 Years of Simply Red
Filmed live in Santiago, Chile, across two sold-out nights, presented in stunning 4K and immersive surround sound, the film features the live performance, as well as exclusive interviews with the band.
Watch the trailer for Holding Back the Years: 40 Years of Simply Red
Director: Dan Massie
Cast: Mick Hucknall, Simply Red
Classification: CTC
Country: USA
Runtime: 90 mins
The Red Envelope
When Menn, a super-straight mugger-turned-police spy, accidentally picks up a mysterious red envelope, he is bound by a supernatural contract that forces him to wed a ghost. Fate plays an even crueller trick on him: his ‘spouse’ is not only dead, but also a cute and unapologetically progressive gay man named Titi.
Watch the trailer for The Red Envelope
Director: Chayanop Boonprakob
Cast: Putthipong Assaratanakul, Krit Amnuaydechkorn
Classification: CTC
Country: Thailand
Runtime: 127 mins
15 May
The Salt Path
A couple lose their home and later discover the husband has been diagnosed with a terminal illness as they embark on a year-long coastal trek.
Watch the trailer for The Salt Path
Director: Marianne Elliott
Cast: Gillian Anderson, Jason Isaacs, James Lance
Classification: M
Country: UK
Runtime: 115 mins
The Surfer
A man returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son. When he is humiliated by a group of locals, he is drawn into a conflict that keeps escalating and pushes him to his breaking point.
Watch the trailer for The Surfer
Director: Lorcan Finnegan
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Justin Rosniak
Classification: MA
Country: Australia, Ireland, UK, USA
Runtime: 100 mins
16 May
The Aegean
A widowed Greek fisherman and a teenage refugee form an emotional bond while sailing the azure waters of the Aegean Sea.
Watch the trailer for The Aegean
Director: Jacob Richardson
Cast: Costas Mandylor, Nicky Dune, Light
Classification: CTC
Country: Australian
Runtime: 103 mins
17 May
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
Ethan Hunt and the IMF team continue their search for the terrifying AI known as the Entity – which has infiltrated intelligence networks all over the globe – with the world’s governments and a mysterious ghost from Ethan’s past on their trail. Joined by new allies and armed with the means to shut the Entity down for good, Hunt is in a race against time to prevent the world as we know it from changing forever.
Watch the trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames
Classification: M
Country: USA
Runtime: 169 mins
22 May
Funny Birds
Thrown together under tragic circumstances, three generations of women from the same family are forced to learn to live together on a small rural chicken farm in New Jersey, which generates moving and amusing situations.
Watch the trailer for Funny Birds
Director: Hanna Ladoul, Marco La Via
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Andrea Riseborough
Classification: M
Country: Belgium/France
Runtime: 93 mins
Gazer
Frankie, a young mother with dyschronometria, struggles to perceive time. Using cassette tapes for guidance, she takes a risky job from a mysterious woman to support her family, unaware of the dark consequences that await.
Director: Ryan J Sloan
Cast: Ariella Mastroianni, Marcia DeBonis, Renee Gagner
Classification: CTC
Country: USA
Runtime: 114 mins
Lilo & Stitch (live action)
The wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family.
Watch the trailer for Lilo & Stitch
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Cast: Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders, Sydney Agudong
Classification: PG
Country: USA
Runtime: 108 mins
Scala!!! Or, the Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World’s Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced a Mixed-up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits
This feature-length big screen documentary tells the riotous inside story of the infamous sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll repertory cinema that inspired a generation during the UK’s turbulent Thatcher years.
Watch the trailer for Scala!!!
Director: Jane Giles, Ali Catterall
Cast: John Waters, Adam Buxton, Stewart Lee, James O’Brien
Classification: R
Country: USA
Runtime: 96 mins
29 May
A Night With Janis Joplin: The Musical
A musical tribute to the iconic Janis Joplin, exploring her musical journey and the influences that shaped her, including Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Odetta, Nina Simone and Bessie Smith
Director: Randy Johnson
Cast: Mary Bridget Davies, Sharon Sexton
Classification: CTC
Country: USA
Runtime: 130 mins
Beating Hearts
Local rebellious teenager Clotaire falls for his schoolmate Jackie, but gang violence leads him to a darker destructive path. After years apart, the star-crossed lovers discover that every path they’ve taken leads them back together.
Director: Gilles Lellouche
Cast: Adèle Exarchopoulos, François Civil, Mallory Wanecque
Classification: MA
Country: Belgium/France
Runtime: 166 mins
Bring Her Back
Following the death of their mother, a brother and sister are introduced to their new sibling by their foster mother, only to learn that she has a terrifying secret.
Watch the trailer for Bring Her Back
Director: Michael Philippou, Danny Philippou
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Billy Barratt, Sora Wong
Classification: CTC
Country: Australia/USA
Runtime: 104 mins
The Phoenician Scheme
The story of a family and a family business.
Watch the trailer for The Phoenician Scheme
Director: Wes Anderson
Cast: Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera
Classification: M
Country: USA
Runtime: 101 mins
