our recommendations for films, video games, and series to thrill

A sign of the anxiety of the times, or a tool to exorcise it: horror is a genre which was once again well represented in 2025. Even if the year began with the disappearance of a great master of the strange, David Lynch – who died at the age of 78 and to whom The Guardian paid a vibrant tribute, in this article translated and published by International mail. “Into the macabre Blue Velvet (1986), the world is normal on the surface, strange at depth, but these layers cannot exist without each other.” Enough to give a definition to the adjective “Lynchian”.

What better occasion than Halloween to celebrate genre cinema, but also its television and video game counterparts? International mail invites you to look back at five notable works of 2025, for cold sweats from all over the globe.

UNITED STATES The vampires of Sinners make a hit

Brilliant rewriting of the vampire myth, Sinners (released April 16 in France) takes place in the Mississippi Delta. Twins Elijah and Elias, played by Michael B. Jordan, left Chicago in the 1930s marked by prohibition, and intend to open a juke joint in the South – a drinking establishment where the blues will be king. In addition to the violent ambient racism, they will be confronted with a supernatural threat.

Ryan Coogler’s feature film met with great success with the public. A success that defends The Atlantic in an article translated and published by International mail, in the face of comments in Hollywood which tended to downplay him. “The major studios are unprecedentedly reticent with regard to the slightest hint of danger. Even a risk taken wisely can automatically be greeted with a reaction of contempt, both among decision-makers and in the press.” The discussion would undoubtedly have been different in a genre other than horror – or if the director had not been African-American.

Argentine The Eternaut, the Apocalypse begins in Buenos Aires

On April 30, Netflix released its series version of The EternautArgentinian monument of science fiction. Expectations lived up to the difficulties of adaptation, and the cult that is devoted in the country to this comic strip. It is the story of an extraterrestrial invasion in Buenos Aires and the resistance of a handful of Argentinians, led by the emblematic character of Juan Salvo, who becomes, in the words of the author Oesterheld, “the Eternaut, the traveler of Eternity”.

The creator, Bruno Stagnaro, did well according to the country’s critics. Daily life Page 12 analyse : “For the first time, Juan Salvo is depicted as a veteran of the Falklands War, a detail that adds a layer of realism to the character played by Darín. This narrative choice connects him to collective experiences of pain and resistance that have marked Argentine history.”

Australia Substitution. Bring Her Back, a terrifying mother

After The Hand in 2022, Australian twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou persist and sign Substitution. Bring Her Backreleased in French cinemas on July 30. Two orphaned teenagers – Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong) – arrive at the home of a foster mother – Laura (Sally Hawkins) – who is more worrying than she seems. The result is a bloody but subtle film, which people loved The Sydney Morning Herald, in his review translated and published by International mail.

“Like La Main, Substitution is a modern-day gothic tale that gradually builds to its climax, as joyful as it is macabre. But it is also in line with these horror films focused on the theme of mourning (the story presents multiple family tragedies, Laura thus losing her young daughter) – even if it speaks here of trauma in the broad sense, childhood abuse being at the heart of the film, in various forms.

Poland Cronos. The New Dawn, survive in a socialist realistic environment

The Polish video game studio Bloober Team announces the color. Cronos. The New Dawnreleased on September 5 on consoles and PC, places the player in very local settings: Nowa Huta, an industrial district in the suburbs of Krakow which smacks of socialist realism and the 1980s. The architecture there is typical of the communist period, and the supernatural atmosphere is all the more oppressive. A success for the local press.

“The story plunges us into a postapocalyptic reality after a catastrophe known as the Shift,” writes the Polish site specializing in cinema and digital entertainment Filmweb.pl. “Nightmare creatures” wander there and that’s where we meet the Traveler, sent by the Collective. Like in the best survival horror games, “every bullet is precious, every corridor contains danger and where monsters can evolve into something much more monstrous”. Because they feed greedily on the corpses they encounter and thus become more and more threatening as they merge.

Japan Silent Hill f features a high school girl facing demons

“It’s a scary and atmospheric world. The monsters delight us as much as they disgust us. And the sound effects are absolutely terrifying.” These beautiful compliments, for a genre work, are addressed to Silent Hill f, available since September 25 on consoles and PC. The British specialist site Eurogamer points out a few faults, particularly in the combat system, but has been convinced overall. The game from the NeoBards studio, based in Taiwan and Hong Kong, takes place in a small cursed Japanese village. High school student Hinako must face horrible creatures in addition to her family difficulties.

The museum of horrors is varied with its deadly plants, spiders “the bloated corpses, the disjointed puppets – and, I still shudder, so many other things – which dot the village. It’s difficult to say which is harder for Hinako to bear: these evil beings or the social pressures weighing on the shoulders of an adolescent girl in 1960s Japan.” Because the exploration of the protagonist’s state of mind is the dimension of the work most applauded by critics.