Latest from Euronews
Euronews
7 minutes ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Russia launches massive strike on Kyiv with 550 drones and missiles
Russia launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine overnight on Friday, deploying 550 drones and missiles in strikes across the country. Kyiv was the main target of Moscow's strikes, with at least 23 people injured and 14 of them hospitalised, according to Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The Ukrainian capital was hit directly by nine missiles and 63 drones, causing damage in eight different areas. Debris from the attacks also fell across more than 30 other locations around the city. Kyiv resident Joseph Haim Roche, whose brother-in-law is defending Ukraine at the frontlines, told Euronews that recent attacks on the city have intensified. "The Shahed drones are far more numerous and deadlier than before, we tend to take shelter even for drone attacks—we've all got a bit paranoid," he said. Roche recounted his experience after spending a night in a Kyiv metro station, which residents use as a shelter during air raids. "In recent nights, we've been going to the metro. There's a shelter less than 100 metres from our place, but it's impossible to spend the night there. It's damp, there's not enough space, and during major attacks, it gets way too crowded," Roche said. "Honestly, I'm tired, but I think it's not just because of that. It's been three and a half years of war, you know, so we're starting to get a bit ... it's started to become hard, I guess". Zelenskyy: Russia shows no intention of ending the war Friday night's attack left homes, a school, shops, a medical facility, and many other civilian infrastructures damaged in the city, according to Klitschko. Following fires set off by the strikes, residents have been warned about a sharp decline in air quality due to the smoke around the city. Officials have urged Kyiv citizens to keep their windows closed as a precaution. The hardest-hit districts include Solomianskyi, Holosiivskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi and Shevchenkivskyi. The city's railway infrastructure was also damaged, resulting in delays of up to two hours for passengers. According to Ukraine's air defence forces, 539 Shahed-type drones and decoys were used in the attack, as well as six ballistic missiles, four Iskander cruise missiles, and one Kinzhal aeroballistic missile. However, 478 of the aerial attacks were shot down or neutralised via electronic warfare, and two of the cruise missiles were shot down. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was one of the largest-scale air attacks, calling it 'deliberately massive and cynical'. Ukraine's president pointed out that the first air raid alerts across the country went off 'almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin'. 'Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror', Zelenskyy said. 'All of this is clear evidence that without truly large-scale pressure, Russia will not change its dumb, destructive behavior', Ukraine's president added, calling on the US to put more pressure on Russia with tougher sanctions. 'For every such strike against people and human life, they must feel appropriate sanctions and other blows to their economy, their revenues, and their infrastructure." "This is the only thing that can be achieved quickly to change the situation for the better. And it depends on our partners, primarily the United States," Zelenskyy concluded.
Euronews
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Oasis return to stage tonight for their first gig in 16 years
Britpop legends Oasis are due to take to the stage tonight in Cardiff's Principality Stadium, Wales, kicking off their hotly anticipated reunion tour. The return of the British rockers after a 16-year hiatus is a major moment for fans, who are excited to see Noel and Liam Gallagher together again – even if some have started to place bets on whether the sparring siblings will be able to hold it together for the whole Live '25 tour. 'That's one of the attractions about Oasis - they bring this element of risk,' said author and music journalist John Aizlewood, adding that the 'alternative aura that they have cultivated with the age-old pop story of fractious brothers' is part of the band's appeal. A huge drone display showing Oasis' classic logo even appeared above the Principality Stadium. Unless the brothers' combustible relationship derails proceedings, two nights at Cardiff's 70,000-capacity Principality Stadium on Friday and Saturday raise the curtain on a 41-date Live '25 tour. After 19 dates in in the UK and Ireland come stops in North and South America, Asia and Australia - ending in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 23 November. Fans in mainland Europe will either have to travel, stop crying their hearts out, or just roll with it. Founded in the working-class streets of Manchester in 1991, Oasis released their debut album, 'Definitely Maybe', in 1994 and became one of the dominant British acts of the 1990s. They released eight UK No. 1 albums, producing hits including 'Wonderwall', 'Roll With It' and 'Don't Look Back in Anger' - all from the album '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?', which turns 30 this year. Oasis finally split in 2009, with Noel Gallagher quitting the band after a backstage dustup with Liam at a festival near Paris. Liam destroyed a red Gibson guitar belonging to his brother in a heated argument before the gig, and this moment is said to have triggered the break-up of the band, sparking years of public feuds between the brothers. The Gallagher brothers, now aged 58 and 52, haven't performed together since, though both regularly play Oasis songs at their solo gigs. They long resisted pressure to reunite, even with the promise of a multimillion-dollar payday. Now they have agreed on a tour that will see them joined by former Oasis members Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs and Gem Archer on guitars, bassist Andy Bell and drummer Joey Waronker. The announcement of the UK tour in August sparked a ticket-buying frenzy, complete with error messages, hours-long online queues, dashed hopes and anger at prices that surged at the last minute. Some fans who waited online for hours at the Ticketmaster site complained that they ended up paying £355 for regular standing tickets instead of the expected £148. The ticketing troubles sparked questions in Britain's Parliament, where Arts Minister Chris Bryant criticized 'practices that see fans of live events blindsided by price hikes.' Britain's competition regulator has since threatened Ticketmaster — which sold some 900,000 Oasis tickets — with legal action. Tickets for the UK shows sold out in hours, with some soon offered on resale websites for as much as £6,000. More than 50,000 tickets were cancelled by the band for being sold on secondary platforms. No plans have been announced for Oasis to record any new music. Their last album was 2008's 'Dig Out Your Soul'. This year's world tour is being presented as a one-off. For now.
Euronews
an hour ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Countries must protect human right to a stable climate, top court says
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Thursday issued a landmark advisory opinion linking governments' human rights obligations to their responsibility to address the threat of climate change. It is a move expected to shape policy and litigation across Latin America and the Caribbean. The opinion is the first of its kind from the region's top human rights tribunal and responds to a 2023 request from Colombia and Chile. It says states have a duty under international law to prevent, mitigate and remedy environmental harm that threatens human rights, including through laws, policies and actions aimed at curbing climate change. 'We are in a climate emergency' The court outlined a series of legal standards, including the recognition of a human right to a healthy climate, the obligation to prevent massive and irreversible environmental harm, as well as the duty to protect the rights of current and future generations. 'The Court has declared that we are in a climate emergency that is undermining the human rights of present and future generations and that human rights must be at the centre of any effective response," Nikki Reisch, program director at the Centre for International Environmental Law Climate and Energy, told The Associated Press. The opinion states that countries have a legal duty not only to avoid environmental harm but also to protect and restore ecosystems, guided by science and Indigenous knowledge. 'This is a historic opinion,' said Reisch. 'It's not just a legal milestone - it's a blueprint for action. This opinion will guide climate litigation at the local, regional, and national courts, and provide a foundation for climate policymaking, grounding local legislation and global negotiations in legal obligation, not just in the Americas but around the world.' Court findings could bolster climate lawsuits Though not binding, the court's opinions carry legal weight in many member countries of the Organization of American States and often influence domestic legislation, judicial rulings and international advocacy. The court's findings are expected to bolster climate-related lawsuits and human rights claims in the region, and to influence negotiations ahead of COP30 - the next major United Nations climate summit, set to take place in November in Belem, Brazil. 'States must not only refrain from causing significant environmental damage but have the positive obligation to take measures to guarantee the protection, restoration, and regeneration of ecosystems,' said Court President Judge Nancy Hernández López. 'Causing massive and irreversible environmental the conditions for a healthy life on Earth to such an extent that it creates consequences of existential proportions. Therefore, it demands universal and effective legal responses,' López said. Growing Indigenous momentum for climate justice The opinion comes amid growing Indigenous momentum in the region, including a summit in Ecuador's Amazon last month where hundreds of Indigenous leaders gathered to demand enforcement of court victories recognising their land and environmental rights. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in San Jose, Costa Rica, is the region's top tribunal for interpreting and enforcing the American Convention on Human Rights. Its rulings, though often challenged by weak enforcement, have played a key role in advancing Indigenous rights and environmental protections across Latin America. In recent years, the court has condemned governments for allowing mining projects on Indigenous land without proper consultation, and advocates have increasingly turned to it as a forum for climate-related accountability. The advisory builds on the Court's 2017 advisory ruling that recognised the right to a healthy environment as a standalone human right, deepening its application in the context of climate breakdown.
Euronews
2 hours ago
- Business
- Euronews
What is in Trump's tax and spending bill that will soon become law?
Republicans muscled President Donald Trump's tax and spending cut bill through the House on Thursday, the final step necessary to get the proposal to his desk by the GOP's self-imposed deadline of 4th July. At nearly 900 pages, the legislation is a sprawling collection of tax breaks, spending cuts and other Republican priorities, including new money for national defence and deportations. Democrats united against the legislation, but were powerless to stop it as long as Republicans stayed united. The Senate passed the bill, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tiebreaking vote. The House passed an earlier iteration of the bill in May with just one vote to spare. It passed the final version with a 218 to 214 split. Here's the latest on what's in the bill and when some of its provisions go into effect. GOP bill includes reductions for businesses and new tax breaks Republicans say the bill is crucial because there would be a massive tax increase after December when tax breaks from Trump's first term expire. The legislation contains about $4.5 trillion (€3.8tn) in tax cuts. The existing tax rates and brackets would become permanent under the bill, solidifying the tax cuts approved in Trump's first term. It would temporarily add new tax deductions on tip, overtime and auto loans. There's also a $6,000 deduction for older adults who earn no more than $75,000 a year (€63,000), which is a nod to his pledge to end taxes on Social Security benefits. It would boost the $2,000 child tax credit to $2,200 (€1,900). Millions of families at lower income levels would not get the full credit. A cap on state and local deductions, called SALT, would quadruple to $40,000 (€34,000) for five years. It's a provision important to New York and other high tax states, though the House wanted it to last for 10 years. There are scores of business-related tax cuts, including allowing firms to immediately write off 100% of the cost of equipment and research. Proponents say this will boost economic growth. The wealthiest households would see a $12,000 (€10,000) increase from the legislation, and the bill would cost the poorest people $1,600 (€1,400) a year, mainly due to reductions in Medicaid and food aid, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office analysis of the House's version. Legislation funds the border wall and deportations The bill would provide some $350 billion (€300bn) for Trump's border and national security agenda, including for the US-Mexico border wall and for 100,000 migrant detention facility beds, as he aims to fulfill his promise of the largest mass deportation operation in US history. Money would go for hiring 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, with $10,000 (€8,500) signing bonuses and a surge of Border Patrol officers, as well. The goal is to deport some 1 million people per year. To help pay for it, immigrants would face various new fees, including when seeking asylum protections. For the Pentagon, the bill would provide billions for ship building, munitions systems, and quality of life measures for servicemen and women, as well as $25bn (€21bn) for the development of the Golden Dome missile defence system. The Defence Department would have $1bn for border security. Medicaid, SNAP face deep cuts To help partly offset the lost tax revenue and new spending, Republicans aim to cut back on Medicaid and food assistance for people below the poverty line. Republicans argue they are trying to rightsize the safety net programs for the population they were initially designed to serve, mainly pregnant women, the disabled and children, and root out what they describe as waste, fraud and abuse. The package includes new 80-hour-a-month work requirements for many adults receiving Medicaid and food stamps, including older people up to age 65. Parents of children 14 and older would have to meet the program's work requirements. There's also a proposed new $35 co-payment that can be charged to patients using Medicaid services. More than 71 million people rely on Medicaid, which expanded under Obama's Affordable Care Act, and 40 million use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Most already work, according to analysts. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law and 3 million more would not qualify for food stamps, also known as SNAP benefits. Republicans are looking to have states pick up some of the cost for SNAP benefits. Currently, the federal government funds all benefit costs. Under the bill, states beginning in 2028 will be required to contribute a set percentage of those costs if their payment error rate exceeds 6%. Payment errors include both underpayments and overpayments. 'Big beautiful' bill slashes clean energy tax credits Republicans are proposing to dramatically roll back tax breaks designed to boost clean energy projects fuelled by renewable sources such as energy and wind. The tax breaks were a central component of President Joe Biden's 2022 landmark bill focused on addressing climate change and lowering health care costs. Democratic Senator for Oregon Ron Wyden went so far as to call the GOP provisions a 'death sentence for America's wind and solar industries and an inevitable hike in utility bills'. A tax break for people who buy new or used electric vehicles would expire on 30 September of this year, instead of at the end of 2032 under current law. Meanwhile, a tax credit for the production of critical materials will be expanded to include metallurgical coal used in steelmaking. Bill reduces a gun tax and restricts Medicaid access for abortion providers A number of extra provisions reflect other GOP priorities. The bill creates a new children's savings program, called Trump Accounts, with a potential $1,000 (€850) deposit from the Treasury. The Senate provided $40million (€34mn) to establish Trump's long-sought 'National Garden of American Heroes'. There's a new excise tax on university endowments and a new tax on remittances, or transfers of money that people in the US send abroad. A $200 (€170) tax on gun silencers and short-barrelled rifles and shotguns was eliminated. One provision bars for one year Medicaid payments to family planning providers that provide abortions, namely Planned Parenthood. Additionally, a provision would increase the nation's debt limit, by $5tn (€4.2tn), to allow continued borrowing to pay already accrued bills. State AI regulations cut from bill after a GOP uproar The Senate overwhelmingly revolted against a proposal meant to deter states from regulating artificial intelligence. Republican governors across the country asked for the moratorium to be removed and the Senate voted to do so with a resounding 99-1 vote. A provision was thrown in at the final hours that will provide $10bn annually to rural hospitals for five years, or $50bn in total (€42bn). The Senate bill had originally provided $25bn for the program, but that number was upped to win over holdout GOP senators and a coalition of House Republicans warning that reduced Medicaid provider taxes would hurt rural hospitals. The amended bill also stripped out a new tax on wind and solar projects that use a certain percentage of components from China. Final price tag: GOP bill could add $3.3tn to deficit Altogether, the Congressional Budget Office projects that the bill would increase federal deficits over the next 10 years by nearly $3.3tn (€2.8tn) from 2025 to 2034. An increase in public debt would likely make government borrowing more expensive as investors may view Treasuries as a riskier proposition. Senate Republicans nonetheless reject the projections by proposing a unique strategy of not counting the existing tax breaks as a new cost because those breaks are already 'current policy'. Republican senators say the Senate Budget Committee chairman has the authority to set the baseline for the preferred approach. Under the alternative Senate GOP view, the bill would reduce deficits by almost half a trillion dollars over the coming decade, the CBO said. Democrats say this is 'magic math' that obscures the true costs of the tax breaks. Some non-partisan groups worried about the country's fiscal trajectory are siding with Democrats in that regard. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says Senate Republicans were employing an 'accounting gimmick that would make Enron executives blush".
Euronews
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
What are the best movies of 2025 so far?
We're past the halfway mark of 2025 so it's time to look back at the movies which have already made our year. So far, we've been treated to a wide variety of big screen offerings: body horror to make gorehounds wince; sprawling dramas; spy thrillers featuring Michael Fassbender sporting George Smiley glasses; and blues loving vampires. The criterion for this list is as follows: the movies need to have been released in European cinemas - or online - from January 2025 onwards – regardless of whether some titles came out in the US at the tail end of 2024. Before we start our countdown to the best movie of the year so far, don't be surprised if you don't see the likes of On Becoming A Guinea Fowl, Kneecap or Grand Tour – they featured in our Best Movies of 2024 list, as they were released in mainland Europe last year. Without further ado, here are the highlights you should cross off your watchlist if you haven't already. 15) The Last Showgirl It's easy to lose yourself in the artificial glow of nostalgia. Who we were, the promises life once held - it all flickers so invitingly, like the neon lights of Las Vegas. This makes it the perfect setting for Gia Coppola's pastel-hazed third feature, a contemplation on female aging that follows sweet, feather-headed showgirl Shelly Gardner (Pamela Anderson) as her 30-year Vegas residency comes to an end. Anchored by a dazzling and delicate performance from Anderson, the film is a fever dream of faded glamour and feminine aesthetics without much narrative depth. But within its ephemeral structure, there's a genuine tenderness that glimmers with hope and truths. In a stand-out moment, Shelly's croupier friend Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis) defiantly dances on a casino table to 'Total Eclipse of the Heart.' No one is watching, but she doesn't care. In letting go of the need to be seen by others, she can finally see herself - and it's more magical than any razzle dazzle show. AB 14) A Real Pain Written, directed by and starring Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain sees two Jewish-American cousins head to Poland on a memorial tour to honour their recently deceased Holocaust-survivor grandmother. There's David (Eisenberg), an anxious, neurotic family man, and Benji (Kieran Culkin), a human firecracker of charm, chaos, and inappropriate one-liners. Their bond is the heart of the film: loving, complicated, and clearly fraying at the edges. What begins as a mismatched buddy comedy soon deepens into a moving exploration of grief, inherited trauma and the complexities of family relationships. Culkin is extraordinary - disarming, infuriating, heartbreaking - and his Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor was no fluke. Eisenberg wisely steps back and lets his co-star shine, but he too is phenomenal throughout. All together it makes for a funny, poignant and quietly profound film that proves Eisenberg is a filmmaker well worth watching. TF 13) Horror Double-Bill: The Woman In The Yard & Bring Her Back It's been a solid year for horror so far, with the likes of Dangerous Animals, Final Destination: Bloodlines and Companion delivering the goods, while Presence, 28 Years Later and Sinners... Well, more on those three in a bit. Then there's this duo of indie sleepers which deserve to be singled out – chiefly due to two brilliant performances by Danielle Deadwyler and Sally Hawkins. The Woman In The Yard - which isn't a sequel to The Woman In The Window - is an unnerving movie that takes place in the wake of a fatal car crash. Deadwyler shines as a grieving mother trying to hold her family together when a shrouded lady (Okwui Okpokwasili) pitches up outside her house. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, The Shallows), it is undeniably flawed in parts, with the third act failing to live up to the film's ambitious themes. And while the central metaphor is a little heavy-handed, The Woman In The Yard remains an effective chiller that tries to do something different. Kudos for that. Bring Her Back is the stronger (and significantly more intense) of the two, and confirms that Danny and Michael Philippou's Talk To Me was no fluke. For their second feature, the Australian directors tell the story of how two orphaned siblings (Billy Barratt, Sora Wong) are placed in the middle of an occult ritual to bring their foster mother's daughter back to life. Hawkins is genuinely disturbing as the grinning matriarch from hell, and anchors this nauseatingly textured tale. Moreover, the way the Philippous grapple with domestic trauma ensures that their sophomore effort truly gets under the skin. Motherly love hasn't been this terrifying since Carrie. DM 12) Drømmer (Dreams (Sex Love)) The coveted Golden Bear this year went to Drømmer (Dreams (Sex Love)) by Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud. It is the third chapter in his thematic trilogy Sex / Love / Dreams, which deals with emotional and physical intimacy. The first chapter, Sex, focused on two straight married men discovering the elasticity of their sexuality; Love followed two colleagues – a heterosexual woman and a gay man – seeking a romantic connection in the new world of dating apps. The closing film, Dreams, follows 17-year-old Johanne (Ella Øverbye), who falls head over heels for her new art teacher Johanna (Selome Emnetu). It's a gently captivating and very talky queer coming-of-age story that accurately captures the overwhelming intensity of first love and deals with the importance of perspective when it comes to longing. Specifically, how the boundaries between reality and fiction tend to blur when perspectives aren't acknowledged. Superbly acted and often very funny, it's a terrific capper to a compelling trilogy. The fact that it features a fantastic feminist takedown of the film Flashdance doesn't hurt either. DM 11) Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) The sad passing of Sylvester Stewart last month, better known by his stage name Sly Stone, brings added poignancy to Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), a deeply compelling documentary from Summer of Soul director and drummer extraordinaire Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson. As the frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, Stone revolutionised music in the late '60s and early '70s, fusing soul, rock, funk, and social consciousness into electrifying anthems like 'Everyday People' and 'Family Affair'. But as swiftly as he ascended, he withdrew - into drugs, silence, and near-total disappearance. Through intimate interviews and rich archival footage, Questlove examines the genius and the burden of being a trailblazing, immensely talented Black artist. Music legends like André 3000, Q-Tip, and D'Angelo appear as what producer Joseph Patel calls 'proxies for Sly' - fellow visionaries who, like Stone, experienced lonely and unpredictable paths through fame. Particularly moving are interviews with Stone's children, who reflect on his absence growing up and the pain of understanding it even as young kids. It makes for essential viewing: a celebration and an elegy to a once-in-a-generation talent. TF 10) Steven Soderberg Double-Bill: Presence & Black Bag Steven Soderbergh is no good at retirement. Having bowed out of the directing game several times, the American filmmaker returned this year with not one but two films – both written by David Koepp. The first is Presence, a haunted house story told from the ghost's perspective. We follow, from the specter's POV, a fractured family moving into a new home. Chloe (Callina Liang) is the neglected child of Rebekah (Lucy Liu); she lives in the shadow of her brother Tyler (Eddy Maday) and explores the house as the titular presence follows her. No more shall be spoiled here. Safe to say that Soderbergh crafts a stripped-down supernatural chiller that isn't so much about scaring the audience but more about offering an unsettling ghost story. The POV conceit, which allows for some terrific single takes, never feels gimmicky as it builds to a tragic twist that holds up. Wraped up by a chilling final shot, it's a tragic horror film with emotion to spare. Soderbergh's second offering allows Koepp to flex a bit more. Leaving formally daring horror behind, Black Bag is a straightforward and sharply scripted espionage thriller that doubles as a marital drama. Think John le Carré meets Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It centers on two married MI6 agents (Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett) who are unwaveringly committed to each other. But what happens when one of them is suspected of being a mole? Tense and ruthless, this is a taut thriller and a marriage case study on the importance of trust. And those dinner scenes... Oh, boy, those dinner scenes... DM 9) Materialists From the trailer alone, this "dating is tough' romantic comedy and its starry cast gave the impression that Celine Song could be selling out and going mainstream for her second feature. It goes to show that promotional material can be wildly misleading and that A-list casting needn't be feared... Written and directed by Song, who wowed us with her 2023 debut Past Lives – our Number 1 film that year – Materialists focuses on that tropiest of romantic comedy tropes: the love triangle. Failed actress turned matchmaker Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is stuck between John (Chris Evans), who could be her soulmate, and 'unicorn' Harry (Pedro Pascal), who is better for her on paper. Instead of falling into conventional genre developments, however, Song continues to deftly explore modern relationships in an emotionally resonant and mature way. Here, through the prism of everyday troubles, financial strain and ambitions, and the elements that can erode one's self-worth. Materialists may not be the modern-day classic that is Past Lives, but it's another confirmation that Celine Song is the real deal. DM 8) Ainda Estou Aqui (I'm Still Here) After a 12-year absence from the big screen and for his first Brazil-set feature since Linha De Passe in 2008, celebrated Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles (Central Station, The Motorcycle Diaries) made quite the splash with his return. I'm Still Here, a fact-based story of loss and resilience, set against a dark chapter in Brazil's history, won Best International Feature Film at this year's Oscars and became the first-ever Brazilian-produced film to win an Academy Award. No small feat. And it was richly deserved. His film features a superb performance from the great Fernanda Torres, who plays housewife who is forced to reinvent herself as an activist when her ex-congressman husband becomes a desaparecido – one of the many who were taken into custody, interrogated, tortured and never heard from again during military-ruled Brazil in the 70s. It's a no-frills drama that plunges the audience into the insidious nature of state-sanctioned abductions and examines the personal toll of authoritarianism. Historic and present. DM 7) 28 Years Later When 28 Days Later first hit big screens in 2002, it redefined the zombie genre. Shot on a grainy-looking digital camera, its raw, frenzied footage felt terrifyingly real. That same edge-of-seat energy pulses through 28 Years Later, the third instalment in Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's rage virus franchise. But this time, the visceral horror of the infected - their twisted shapes and rippling mouldy skin - provides an unsettling backdrop for a strangely magical coming-of-age story. Set on the now-quarantined British Isles, the film follows a boy named Spike (Alfie Williams) as he ventures across the mainland with his ailing mother (Jodie Comer), in search of a reclusive (and skull-collecting) doctor (Ralph Fiennes). Elevated by richly drawn characters and a transcendent Young Fathers soundtrack, any spine-severing brutality by the big bad Alpha zombies is tempered by surprising moments of tenderness. It's a comforting reminder that even in a world ruled by rage, there's still space for love. AB 6) April The sophomore feature from award-winning Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili, April is an unflinching portrait of a troubled ob-gyn named Nina (Ia Sukhitashvili) who moonlights performing illegal abortions across rural Georgia. Clinical and claustrophobic, each scene lingers in a tactile mood and prolonged stillness that offers no reprieve - from the cold glare of hospital rooms to the naked silhouette of sagging skin and the slow snarl of storm clouds. It's intensely disquieting cinema, but necessarily so, as Kulumbegashvili captures with surgical precision and brazen vision the dehumanisation of women's bodies - and the cost of attempting to reclaim control within systems designed to see us fail. AB 5) Den Stygge Stesøsteren (The Ugly Stepsister) This confident and memorable debut feature from Norwegian filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt reimagines the fairy tale Cinderella through the eyes of Elvira (Lea Myren), who will go to any lengths to compete with her beautiful stepsister Agnes for the affections of the prince. This involves gnarly surgeries, tapeworms and some Brothers Grimm-accurate toe cutting. Tempting though it is to draw a comparison with Coralie Fargeat's The Substance (both films anchor themselves in the New Wave Feminist Horror movement and comment on societal expectations regarding beauty standards through squirm-inducing body horror and plenty of dark humour), Blichfeldt's film shouldn't be eclipsed by its genre neighbour. It's a fully-formed and ambitious knockout that heralds an ambitious new cinematic voice. DM 4) The Brutalist The Brutalist is LONG - like 3 and a half hours long (mercifully broken up by a bladder-friendly intermission) - but not a second of screen time is wasted by director Brady Corbet. Adrien Brody delivers an astounding (and Oscar-winning) performance as a Bauhaus-trained Jewish architect attempting to build a new life for himself and his family in postwar America. But he soon discovers the so-called 'land of opportunity' isn't quite what it promises. What sounds like a simple immigrant story becomes a powerful, slow-burning epic about trauma, cultural gatekeeping, and the ways personal and collective histories shape not just the psyche, but the very environments we create and inhabit. The film is backed by incredible production design that honours modernist architecture, a hauntingly booming score from Daniel Blumberg and brilliant supporting performances from Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce. It's one of the most ambitious films in years and it completely sticks the landing. A colossal cinematic monument in its own right. TF 3) Sinners A blaze of bloody, blues-soaked catharsis, Ryan Coogler's Sinners soars with supernatural flair and the spellbinding power of music. Set in Jim Crow-era Mississippi, twin brothers Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) return home after a stint with the mob, opening a juke joint on land once owned by a Klansman. But when gifted musician Sammie (Miles Caton) performs his first set there, a much older evil is stirred: white vampires, led by the sly-tongued Remmick (Jack O'Connell). The first half simmers, like the wail of guitar strings, before erupting into a furious, fang-baring confrontation with cultural appropriation. By using genre to bridge the past and present, Coogler reimagines horror as historical reckoning. It's daring, dizzying, gut-punch cinema that, unlike racist vampires, deserves to be let in. Just don't switch it off before the end credits! AB 2) Nickel Boys Like Sinners, Nickel Boys is set during the Jim Crow era - but trades the guns-blazing supernatural theatrics for something far more sobering and historically grounded. Based on the real-life horrors of the Dozier School for Boys, the film follows two African-American teens, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), who are sent to a brutal reform school in 1960s Florida. What unfolds is a devastating portrait of systemic abuse, racial injustice, and the resilience of friendship. Director RaMell Ross, working with cinematographer Jomo Fray, makes the audacious choice to shoot the majority of the film from a first-person point of view - a visceral, destabilising perspective that places the viewer directly inside the boys' experience. It's a risky move, but it pays off massively. The result is raw, immersive, incredibly intimate, and will leave you shaken long after the credits roll. TF 1) Sorda (Deaf) Sorda (Deaf) is the heart-poundingly beautiful second feature from Spanish filmmaker Eva Libertad. It tells the story of an inter-abled couple: a deaf woman, Ángela (Miriam Garlo), and her hearing partner, Héctor (Álvaro Cervantes). They are expecting a child and don't know whether the baby will be deaf or hearing. Each possibility could affect them as a couple, as future parents, and as individuals wishing to share their perspectives of the world. Deaf deals with parenthood and the trials of motherhood, and stands out through its depiction of love. By taking the time to introduce the audience to a loving couple and their supportive network of friends, Libertad ensures that the audience are completely invested in the wellbeing of this unit. Her film gloriously grapples with complex emotions and the isolation that decries from institutional discrimination. Above all, it does justice to a specific community while still managing to make its themes about the importance communication and finding your community feel universal. Having premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year and already released in Spain, here's hoping that Deaf finds distribution in other European territories soon, as it is one of those rare films that manages to fill your heart, break it, and then put it back together again – all without toppling into melodrama. A triumph. DM There we have it. What? No Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, The Phoenician Scheme or F1® The Movie? Yeah, we weren't huge fans... However, these are our honourable mentions – the ones that very nearly made the cut (in alphabetical order): Armand, Bring Them Down, Broken Rage, Companion, Freaky Tales, Mickey 17 and Warfare. Looking ahead to the second half of 2025, it's looking mighty promising. We're currently in blockbuster season, with DC's Superman about to square off against Marvel's The Fantastic Four : First Steps at the box office - we'll keep you updated on how that showdown goes. We've seen several upcoming releases already, so keep your eyes peeled for two stunning Brazilian films - O Último Azul (The Blue Trail) and O Agente Secreto (The Secret Agent) - which are unmissable; Reflection In A Dead Diamond and Lucile Hadžihalolović's La tour de glace (The Ice Tower) are definitely ones to look out for; Julia Ducournau's Alpha is on its way to cinemas alongside this year's Palme d'Or winner, Jafar Panahi's terrific It Was Just An Accident; Kristen Stewart's The Chronology Of Water is a hard-hitting directorial debut; and Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value is a mixed bag but features some excellent performances. And the sooner we get our eyeballs on Paul Thomas Anderson's Thomas Pynchon adaptation One Battle After Another and Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia, the English-language remake of the 2003 South Korean film Save The Green Planet!, the better we'll feel. For the time being, check out our Film of the Week series for more reviews of recent releases, let us know what you make of our Best Albums of 2025 So Far, and stay tuned to Euronews Culture to see how many halfway mark titles remain in our end of year Best Movies of 2025. Happy screenings!
