When people talk about lost media, they normally mean an out-of-print album, a vintage TV show whose tapes got wiped, or a movie from the silent era whose last nitrate print self-combusted decades ago. But what about those films that haven’t had a chance yet?
Every year, dozens of films screen at festivals but don’t simply slide into a theatrical distribution deal or turn up on VOD after a few weeks. That’s not necessarily a commentary on quality. Sometimes those are the best movies of the year but just don’t get the break they deserve. They’re the wrong film at the wrong moment, maybe too edgy or maybe just a little too like another film on the perfect distributor’s roster, or maybe they just didn’t get in front of the right buyer. So, to ring in the New Year, here are a handful of the best movies that we saw on the 2025 festival circuit that deserve to be on a screen near you soon.
1) Fucktoys
Screened at: South by Southwest
It’s been said that there’ll never be another John Waters. But that’s a good thing. We need a successor, a bard of debauchery who speaks to the kinks of our own eras in their own inimitable, fearless fashion. Luckily, we have Annapurna Sriram, the new voice of sentimental sleaze. Her first film melds New Orleans smut, sex work, the Fool’s journey of the Tarot into a delirious mix of exploitation and liberation. As she explained, “We have that little inside joke that Anora is the film that Sean Baker would make, and Fucktoys is the film that Anora would make.” (Read our interview with Sriram here.)
Odds you’ll get to see it: Sadly, no word yet on distribution for the year’s funniest, filthiest sex comedy. Hopefully you’ll be lucky enough to catch one of the screenings hosted by Sriram.
2) Appofeniacs
Screened at: Fantastic Fest
If Fucktoys is a love letter to self-indulgence, Appofeniacs is its darkest possible shadow, with writer/director Chris Marrs Piliero taking on the nightmarish possibilities of deepfakes and how the virtual world can fuck up real lives.All it takes is bored douchebag Duke (Aaron Holliday) inputting some prompts, and everyone falls apart. As much an indictment of our willingness to believe the worst of each other as it is an attack on the perils of unrestricted technology, Appofeniacs is funny, absurd, and unrelenting.(Read our interview with the cast and crew here.)
Odds you’ll get to see it: No word yet, although Appofeniacs has only just wrapped up its festival run. But as Grok churns out the worst simulated deepfakes imaginable, and people are starting to realize how nightmarish the potential of AI image generation is, there are few films more timely.
3) Our Hero, Balthazar
Screened at: Tribeca
Another impressive debut from a first-time feature director. Oscar Boyson co-wrote this funny yet savage satire with Ricky Camilleri about a wannabe influencer, Balthazar (Jaeden Martell), who decides he’s going to prevent a school shooting by befriending white trash future shooter Solomon (Asa Butterfield). The two young actors create an unlikely but ultimately convincing friendship between two outcasts – the coddled rich brat who wants to be adored and the poor kid who just wants something more than looking after his grandma in a filthy trailer. They bring together a multitude of themes, from America’s gun culture to social media addiction, internet-enhanced isolation, and class divisions in one of the most tragic and stomach-churning resolutions of the year. Our Hero, Balthazar will leave you with an uncomfortable feeling of plausibility. (Read our review here.)
Odds you’ll get to see it: Again, no word on a distribution deal.
4) Leads
Screened at: Austin Film Festival
Local heroes Bryan Poyser and Heather Kafka reunite for a bittersweet and very honest exploration of what it means to be a former film festival darling. The film biz loves shiny new things, and Mags Malloy (Kafka) has turned her former indie celebrity status into a career teaching acting to the next generation of hopefuls. When her perpetual loser brother, Merritt (Justin Arnold), tumbles back into her life, she really has to start dealing with what it means to grow old in an industry that demands everything but makes no promises in return. Inspired by their own ups and downs, and with a cast and crew that pulls heavily from Poyser’s own classroom at Texas State, Leads bleeds authenticity and sensitivity with humor. Quietly, it’s one of the great films about life in the indie trenches, up there with Living in Oblivion. (Read our interview with Poyser and Kafka here.)
Odds you’ll get to see it: No word on a distribution deal yet.
5) The Vile
Screened at: Fantastic Fest
Emirati director Majid Al Ansari made a splash on the festival circuit with his 2015 twisted crime caper Zinzana and came back a decade later with The Vile, a seething, creeping domestic drama about living with polygamy. Amani (Bdoor Mohammad) has been a good, loyal, and loving wife and mother, and her world is ripped apart when her husband, Khalid (Jasem Alkharraz), brings a second wife, Zahra (Sarah Taibah), into the family home. Bdoor should be an international star for her performance as a woman betrayed who is expected to simply take it, but she also carries the story as it shifts into darker, stranger territory. (Read our interview with Al Ansari here.)
Odds you’ll get to see it: Well, if you live in the United Arab Emirates, you already had the chance to see it, but this disturbing mix of social commentary and supernatural terror is still waiting for an international deal.
6) Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
Screened at: Fantastic Fest
Gore Verbinski defined the early 2000s blockbuster with his Pirates of the Caribbean romps, but between The Lone Ranger and A Cure for Wellness, the 2010s saw him in a cinematic limbo. For his first film in a decade, he goes back to his Mouse Hunt hijinks with Sam Rockwell as a man who takes an entire diner hostage, rambling about how they’re all going to help him take down an AI that’s running the world. The only problem is that they’ve tried and failed multiple times, and only he remembers what happened. Time loops are funny that way, and Verbinski unleashes Rockwell at his most wacky and wild. Best of all, the film flips the switch on the Groundhog Day effect, since the more time he’s spent with these eternally resurrected people, the more disposable he regards them. “Unhinged” barely begins to cover the lunacy that ensues, as the script by Love and Monsters co-writer Matthew Robinson lands some body blows on our relationship with technology and reality.
Odds you’ll get to see it: Finally, some good news! Look for it in cinemas on Feb. 13 from Briarcliff Entertainment.