Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like The Rivals of Amziah King:
Rebel Ridge
Jeremy Saulnier is continuing to show that there aren’t many filmmakers capable of making movies like he is. Rebel Ridge occasionally establishes him as an auteur capable of extreme visceral sequences and building up tension that will make you squirm in your seat, but I’m not as sold on his attempt to tie these themes to this story. A good movie made by a director capable of making great movies.
Carolina Caroline
Shoutout to Adam Rehmeier. At a time when many discussions about movies seems to eventually circle back to someone declaring that “they don’t make them like they used to,” Rehmeier continues quietly proving otherwise. His films aren’t built around massive budgets, franchise potential, or elaborate visual effects. They’re star vehicles in the purest sense of the term: modestly scaled stories that know exactly what lane they’re occupying and squeeze every ounce of value out of charismatic performers.
The Secret Agent
The Secret Agent is not tidy. It leaves loose ends. It makes choices that are more interested in texture than clarity. But the payoff is a crime epic that feels rare in the current landscape, both serious and fun, both angry and seductive, both propulsive and reflective. Kleber Mendonça Filho turns political rot into genre electricity, and Wagner Moura anchors it with one of the best leading roles this decade. It is one of the most engaging films I have seen in years, the kind of thriller that gives you images you will carry around long after it’s over.
One Battle After Another
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is a movie of firsts that never feels tentative. It is his first modern-set feature since Punch-Drunk Love, his first collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio, and his first film of this scale, reportedly in the $130 to $175 million range. What is not new is the command. From the first explosion to the last chase, this is PTA in full control, turning a feverish political thriller into one of 2025’s most purely thrilling big-screen experiences.
Read our full review of One Battle After Another
Roofman
Roofman is the kind of “they don’t make them like this anymore” adult caper that suits Channing Tatum better than almost anything. He dials down the movie-star wattage and leans into hangdog charm as Jeffrey Manchester, a serial McDonald’s robber who perfects the art of dropping through rooftops, then graduates to a more audacious escape-and-hide scheme after he is finally caught. Derek Cianfrance treats the true story with a straight face and a curious heart, finding room for procedure, romance, and the melancholy of a guy who is always one step from being found out.
The Mastermind
Kelly Reichardt continues to be one of the most observant American filmmakers, and The Mastermind is a perfect fit for her patient, detail-driven gaze. Where Showing Up tracked an artist circling her own potential and Night Moves watched activists fumble toward consequence, this new film follows another of her quietly blinkered strivers. Josh O’Connor plays James Blaine “JB” Mooney, a small-town amateur who has mapped out an “easy” art-gallery heist, convinced meticulous lists can substitute for competence. He forgets the one variable he cannot control, the people he brings along, and the plan collapses in slow motion as his frequent gallery visits and affection for art make him an obvious suspect.
Master Gardener
While Master Gardener plays comically similar to his previous few movies, Paul Schrader finds enough new ideas to still make his newest film feel fresh. Topped by a career-best performance by Joel Edgerton, the movie is a worthwhile treat for longtime fans of the director.
A Perfect World
A Perfect World is one of those films that could only have been made during a very particular stretch of Hollywood history—a mid-budget, adult-focused drama anchored by big movie stars like Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood, with Eastwood also stepping in behind the camera fresh off his Oscar-winning triumph with Unforgiven. That the film managed to gross $135 million worldwide feels almost unthinkable by today’s standards, where intimate, morally complex dramas rarely draw crowds on that scale.
Hit Man
Despite my love for nearly all things Richard Linklater and Glen Powell, I just couldn’t bring myself to fall for their newest release on Netflix – Hit Man, which tries its hardest to hide its superstar lead behind a thick layer of nerdy, undesirable heft that I saw right through from beginning to end.
Juror #2
Warner Bros. initially sidelined Clint Eastwood‘s courtroom drama Juror #2. Despite critical acclaim for the 94-year-old director’s latest work, the studio only pursued an awards campaign after the film gained praise. The movie had a limited theatrical release by Warner Bros., a decision that was widely criticized. After watching Juror #2, I share the frustration of those who missed the chance to experience this procedural drama on the big screen.
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