In-Review: July 2025

Before the big three of July launch (Fantastic Four, Jurassic World Rebirth, Superman), there was some room for motorsports to topple the box office. After a run of box office disappointments, Apple’s theatrical team was in dire need of a hit. They’ve gotten that with the Brad Pitt-led F1 The Movie. Director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) has traded in airplanes for cars, as his latest is a big-screen achievement. While I’d argue that it’s more about pure adrenaline than a great movie, there’s still plenty here to get up and cheer about.

Brad Pitt is Sonny Hayes, “the greatest that never was,” a driver who enters random competitions just for the thrill of the ride. Having won at Daytona, he’s approached by his long-time friend and former teammate, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), about driving in Formula 1. Not one to turn down an opportunity for money and the thrill of competition, Hayes quickly joins the team. Not only does he have to prove that he’s still a qualified driver, he also has to compete with the rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), who doesn’t want to lose his spot on the team. Throw in a romance with Kerry Condon (who looks like Rebecca Ferguson in this movie) and you have the bones of F1 The Movie.

Most of the drama is the window dressing to why audiences are seated for F1 The Movie, the car races.

Now I could sit here and try to explain how visceral they are, but it wouldn’t do me any good. You are in the seat of these Formula 1 cars, with the soundtrack from Hans Zimmer booming out of the speakers, and fireworks going off. It’s incredible stuff. Most of the movie becomes a rock concert with these intense races. It’s really an experience, and honestly, I don’t know if the movie would work as well at home— F1 The Movie has been made with the theatrical experience being the most important.

Is F1 The Movie everything I wanted from a Formula 1 movie? I still contend that the documentary Senna is the best representation of Formula 1on screen, but F1 The Movie is a whole lot of fun when it’s in car racing mode. If you have any interest at all in this movie, I’d implore you to go to the theaters. I can’t imagine it being the same at home. [B-]

F1 The Movie is now playing in theaters.

Here are the movies I caught up with in June:

As always, if you’d like to follow along on Letterboxd, my account can be found here.

Podcast

🎙️If you missed episode 196, Evan Crean and I were joined by Boston Globe Film Critic Odie Henderson to talk about Jaws in honor of its 50th birthday.

Home Video

One of the best-reviewed films of the year, Sinners, is coming to 4K UHD and Blu-ray on July 8th. This is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated releases of 2025 as the 4K disc comes with a Dolby Vision/HDR presentation of the film, and the audio comes in Dolby Atmos. There was some box office concern when launching the R-rated Ryan Coogler vampire film, but that fear was unfounded. Coogler delivered a brilliant movie that not only performed well, but audiences flocked to the theater to see it in multiple formats. Deadline was discussing the movie the other day, declaring it the only sure-fire Best Picture nominee that premiered in the first six months of 2025. If you haven’t seen it, now is your opportunity to see one of the best pictures of the year.