The start of a new year means that there are new movies to watch and look out for, but first we have to acknowledge the movies that came out in the great year of 2025. I’m back for another chapter of how to become a Kollywood expert like yours truly! 2025 was a great year for Tamil movies. Just to preface, there were many films that were contenders for this list and I had many long conversations with my mom, who I watched most of these movies with, trying to decide which ones deserved the top spots. After some long consideration, I present to you, the best Tamil movies of 2025!
Retro: It’s a classic movie directed by Karthik Subburaj (his other movies are also AMAZING!), a film that knows just how to get into your heart. This is a romance-action drama set in the 90s starring Suriya Sivakumar, Pooja Hedge, and Joju George in the lead roles. Paarivel Kannan, Paari, played by Sivakumar is the son of a gangster who just wants to live a happy life with Rukmini (Pooja Hedge). The movie follows how he overcomes his past to be happy with Rukmini. My favorite thing about this movie is the cinematography and how pretty the scenes in the movie were. My favorite scene is at a bioluminescent beach towards the end of the movie where they all fight in the bioluminescence of the beach. The blues and the bright glow from the sand is just so beautiful. They have a color palette that just mesmerized me and I’m sure they will do the same for you as well. Another amazing thing about this movie is the music which is composed by Santhosh Narayanan. The music perfectly encapsulates the heartfelt emotions of the two characters. This movie lives on Netflix and is a perfect watch for when you want a little extra and dramatic romance movie.
DNA: I would deem this movie as the most impactful. To this day, I still mention this movie almost every week to various people in my life and it came out seven months ago. The film follows a new mother, Dhivya (Nimisha Sajayan), diagnosed with BPD who believes that her newborn baby was switched out immediately after birth. Everyone in her life doubts her and tells her that she is going crazy. Everyone except for her husband, Anand (Atharva Murali), who investigates to find their real child. This movie had me STRESSING. While the first 20 minutes were relatively slow, the movie picked up its pace quickly and it definitely didn’t disappoint. If you were to contact my parents, they would tell you that I was squealing out of fear and gripping my mom’s arm HARD during the climax scene. The action and the fights were so gripping and the cinematography made you feel like you were a part of the movie. The actual story itself was nothing like I had ever seen. It was so emotional and raw. Murali and Sajayan did a fantastic job with this movie and I am SO glad that I was able to watch it. Thinking of the plot of this movie gives me chills and I really hope that you are as impacted by this as I was. This movie is on Hulu and it is SO worth your time.
KISS: Now I love all of the movies on this list as equally as possible, but I’m afraid this was the most fun to watch. I’m a sucker for rom-coms and I half watched this movie because I had been listening to the songs for MONTHS before the movie actually came out. Shout out “Thirudi” by Jen Martin and Anirudh Ravichander! I would deem it my song of 2025. I also might be a little biased as I watched this movie on my birthday and it was SO worth it. The story follows Nelson (Kavin Raj), a musician who loathes the idea of love, who discovers that he has the power to see the future of a couple’s relationship whenever he sees them kiss. We get to see how this power affects his own life when he comes across a girl he likes, Sarah (Preethi Asrani). It’s honestly a very unhinged and chaotic idea but that’s what makes it so fun. This movie was absolutely hilarious and I adored every second of it. I also think that they captured the whole essence of a proper rom-com. The actors had great chemistry and the whole vibe of the film was just the right amount of cute and cozy. This movie is on ZEE5 and must be added to your rewatch list as it has been added to mine!
Tourist Family: Last but definitely not least, I give you THE best movie of 2025. Yes, yes, I know I mentioned that I love all of these films equally. But, this movie was an absolute shot out of the park. It was even a contender for an Oscar Nomination for Best Motion Picture! Unfortunately it wasn’t nominated, but it is now one of the numerous Tamil movies that have been contenders. I am sad because it really did deserve to win. We see the story of how a Sri-Lankan Tamil family, Dharmadas (Sasikumar Mahalingam), Vasanthi (Rishibala Naval, known professionally as Simran), Mulli (Kamalesh Jagan), and Nithushan (Mithun Jai Shankar), escape as refugees to India and live a secret life there. Although, it doesn’t stay a secret when they are misidentified as suspects for a bomb. While the actual description of the movie sounds serious, I assure this movie is the perfect balance of heartwarming and impactful. We see how the characters build relationships with others in their community through friendship and tea. It’s amazingly funny but it addresses the brutality and cruelty that has been going on in Sri Lanka. This movie is an easy rewatch and I never get bored any time I do rewatch it (five times, going strong). I obsess over a new thing every time I do, whether it’s the small comedic lines or the touching love proposal, it’s always something positive. This movie lives on Hulu and I really think that it deserves more recognition!
2025 was a year packed with great entertainment. I think this year definitely focused more on more emotional and movies that had impactful relationships. It was a turn away from recent years which had been full of action movies (which can be good sometimes) with meaningless plots and way too much gore. I love these types of light-hearted yet meaningful movies and I think they are really good for Tamil cinema overall. I am so excited to see what 2026 holds for Tamil cinema and I will be back soon with some more movies. Happy New Year!
