As Hollywood gets ready to salute the best of 2025 at the annual Academy Awards ceremony on March 15, studios are starting to roll out films that could end up nominated next year. Five of those include these March features.
The latest animated feature from Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios, “Hoppers” has a pretty bonkers premise. Mabel (Piper Curda) is a college student whose mind is transferred into the consciousness of a robotic beaver to gain insight into animal behavior and becomes embroiled in the efforts of a group of forest creatures to stop a habitat-wrecking construction project spearheaded by Mayor Jerry (Jon Hamm). Kathy Najimy stars as Dr. Sam, the professor behind the project. The film is “top-drawer Pixar, a reminder that when this studio is firing on all cylinders, it can take you someplace you’ve never imagined,” said Owen Gleiberman at Variety. (in theaters March 6)
‘Youngblood’
YOUNGBLOOD - Official Trailer | Starring Ashton James | In Theaters March 6 - YouTube
Hockey, by far the most niche of the four major North American professional sports, is having a pop culture moment following the runaway success of HBO Max’s romantic drama “Heated Rivalry.” A sort-of remake of the 1986 film starring Rob Lowe, “Youngblood” follows a young Black hockey sensation, Dean Youngblood (Ashton James), trying to break into the NHL, with his father, Blane (Blair Underwood), pushing him to emulate the aggressive style of play that allowed him to succeed in a sport thoroughly dominated by white men.
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His coach, Murray Chadwick (Shawn Doyle) is his mentor and role model, complicated by Dean’s relationship with Chadwick’s daughter, Jessie (Alexandra McDonald). The film is a “thoughtful, high-stakes drama about family, identity and second chances, with just enough on-ice game action to satisfy hockey fans old and new,” said Louisa Moore at Screen Zealots. (in theaters March 6)
A24 remains perhaps the buzziest studio in the business, churning out a reliable supply of critically lauded awards bait like 2025 Academy Award nominees “Marty Supreme” and “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” as well as many of the best-reviewed horror films of the past decade, including “Talk to Me” and “Hereditary.” Writer-director Ian Tuason makes his feature directing debut with this disturbing story of Evy (Nina Kiri), who cohosts a paranormal investigation podcast while caring for her terminally ill mother.
When her pod partner Justin (Kris Holden-Ried) has the pair discuss a set of anonymous, creepy recordings, they unleash a sinister force that threatens Evy’s life. The film “weaponizes our instinct to pair sound and image, delivering a slow-burning, sound-driven nightmare that is as immersive as it is diabolically terrifying,” said Julian Singleton at Cinapse. (in theaters March 13)
An adaptation of Andy Weir’s bestselling 2021 novel, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (“The Lego Movie”) helm what looks like the most ambitious science fiction epic since “Interstellar.” It stars Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher who has been dispatched against his will on an interstellar suicide mission to stop the sun from dying. He wakes up on his craft, the rest of the crew dead, with no memory of why he is there and must carry out the mission alone. A “miracle of a movie,” it “celebrates the bravery in all of us, our capacity to do the right thing in the face of overwhelming odds and our faith in science to lead us toward a better future,” said Next Best Picture’s Matt Neglia at X. (in theaters March 20)
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‘Tow’
Tow | Official Trailer | In Theaters March 20 - YouTube
Known mostly for her comedic work in films like “Bridesmaids,” Rose Byrne looks to follow up her Oscar-nominated performance in 2025’s “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” with another dramatic turn. In director Stephanie Laing’s film, she plays Amanda Ogle, a homeless Seattle mother living in her 1991 Toyota Camry.
When the Camry is towed and she is slapped with an outrageous bill to get it back, she hires Kevin Eggers (Dominic Sessa), a newly-minted young lawyer, to fight the company. The film “spotlights issues around homelessness and addiction with empathy, a grounded realism and a touch of humor,” said Lovia Gyarkye at The Hollywood Reporter. (in theaters March 20)
David Faris is a professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of "It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics." He's a frequent contributor to Newsweek and Slate, and his work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Republic and The Nation, among others.
