2025's Most Riveting Films & Series That Made Us Stop Scrolling
Attention is a rare currency in our current content landscape. But there have been a few movies and series in 2025 that have demanded attention.
These films/shows weren’t designed to distract or merely entertain; they made space in our minds for days
Last Updated: 01.25 AM, Dec 31, 2025
THERE WERE SEVERAL MOMENTS this year when the endless finger-dance of scrolling just stopped. I was tempted to finish a reel that had barely caught my attention, but the minute I pressed play on a few titles released this year, my phone was locked away, my attention rapt, and the thought of doomscrolling was far behind me.
Attention is a rare currency in our current content landscape. But there have been a few movies and series in 2025 that have demanded attention. Ones where it seemed rude to look anywhere but at the screen. From the simmering fury of Mrs. and the complex protagonists of Dies Arae, Paatal Lok Season 2, to the creepy unease of Khauf, some titles earned our collective attention not with viral formulas but by presenting riveting storylines and intimate character arcs.
They were made with the belief that audiences are capable of nuance and cerebral stamina. They weren’t designed to distract or merely entertain; they made space in our minds for days. They reminded us why we love cinema and TV series in the first place: to get lost in a world created with artistic integrity.
Sanya Malhotra’s quivers, alone, could be a language. And she uses her facial expression extremely well in Arati Kadav’s remake of the 2021 Malayalam original, The Great Indian Kitchen, expressing her frustration, grief and disappointment with a claustrophobic patriarchal system she marries into. The men in her new family — her husband and father-in-law — don’t demand servitude; they expect it from her by throwing snarky comments with a smile. The simmering tension between Richa (Malhotra) and the men is nail-biting, and could get great competition to the big action thrillers released this year. The politics of Mrs. is every bit thrilling, intense and pushes you to form opinions, one way or the other.
Atmospheric, silence over spectacle, slow-burn discomfort: these are Malayalam film Diés Iraé’s main weapons. And effectively so, the film crafts a web of existential dread that sucks you in very slowly. Patience is key for someone who watches this film; it’s not meant for someone who can’t commit to exposition. All you need to know before going into the film is that a wealthy, privileged man, Rohan (Pranav Mohanlal), starts experiencing disturbing supernatural events at his own home after learning of the death of an old school friend.
Khauf
Khauf is perhaps one of the best Indian horror series, not just of this year but perhaps of all time, most of all because it doesn’t announce its horror tropes. It lets your imagination connect the dots, and if the horror shown resonates with your personal lived experiences (if you’re a woman or belong to any minority community), Khauf will have 100 percent of your attention through all its episodes. Perhaps one of the most standout qualities of Khauf is that the fear isn’t imported from universal experiences, but rather it’s homegrown and local, and very much real. The restraint with which it lets the stories unfold shows its commitment to letting audiences sit in discomfort. No instant gratification, no jump scares. We’re left to stew in the perturbation of the characters.
Dhadak 2
Dhadak 2 features several scenes that grab you by the collar and cancel any form of apathy or socio-political complacency. You will have to think; you may show empathy. A commercial love story that employs a familiar storyline of boy-meets-girl and eventual family opposition. But the commentary on caste injustices and a rigorous show of power dynamics by the upper echelons of Indian society make Dhadak 2 a compelling watch. It’s not going to be easy to confront the brutalities that are all too familiar to anyone who watches the news, but Dhadak 2 is not supposed to be easy.
Paatal Lok Season 2
Rarely do sophomore seasons click the way a breakout first season does. With Paatal Lok, Amazon Prime Video has found a golden IP: a cracker of a protagonist, world-building with finesse and research, engaging subplots and secondary characters, and a sucker-punch of a social commentary. The first season threw light on the ugly underbelly of Delhi and North India, while the second season explored the complex politics of Northeast India. Each episode expands on this ethos without spoonfeeding its audiences. And those are, ultimately, the best kind of episodic viewing.
