Tribeca Film Festival 2025 marks the fourth time that Elements of Madness is covering the festival and we’re excited to get started. Having combed through the festival guide, we’ve put together a list of films that caught our interest or recommend to keep an eye out for in wider distribution.
**These recommendations are primarily based on reading the summaries and finding them intriguing. If I’m able to cover (or EoM has covered previously), the titles will be hyperlinked with a review – so be sure to check back.**
Tribeca Film Festival 2025 takes place at several venues throughout the New York City, New York area from June 4th – June 15th, 2025.
The Best You Can
Official Synopsis:
For the first time in 20 years, Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon return together on screen — this time as two halves of an unlikely friendship between a security guard and a urologist whose chance encounter blooms into something deeper. As a series of text conversations over the phone lead to late-night revelations, the two navigate the ups and downs of their lives and their growing connection towards each other that feels impossible to describe.
L-R: Kevin Bacon as Stan Olszewski and Kyra Sedgwick as Cynthia Rand in THE BEST YOU CAN. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
Bird in Hand
Official Synopsis:
Bird Rowe (Alisha Wainwright) takes a trip to visit her hippie mom, Carlotta (Christine Lahti), at her lush, rural house with exciting news of upcoming nuptials. Eager to find a venue, the two scour the area for a potential home for the wedding. But all isn’t as it seems as the young bride-to-be is actually on the hunt for something else entirely. Enter mom’s new neighbors: beguiling couple Dennis (James Le Gros) and Leigh (Annabelle Dexter-Jones). As Bird and Dennis hit it off, the trip leads to hijinks and lustful decisions that upend the lives of all involved.
Alisha Wainwright as Bird in BIRD IN HAND. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
Birthright
Official Synopsis:
Is there anything worse than to be evicted and lose your job when you’re a couple pregnant with your first child? Broke and directionless, Cory and his wife Jasmine may not think so, but that’s before they’re forced to move in with Cory’s parents: the stern Richard and the icy cold Lyn. At first, the discomfort and awkwardness stem from the obvious — Cory’s folks are disappointed in their son and how his choices have led him back to their doorstep. But the longer the young couple stays, the more paranoid, fraught and furious they get, setting off an escalating power struggle that gives new meaning to “family dysfunction.”
Bunny
Official Synopsis:
Bunny is a hustler out on a job when things go sideways and he’s thrown into a fight for his life. With the help of his best friend Dino, this fight kicks off one hot, endless, New York summer day spent scheming with the neighbors of their East Village tenement building to try — and repeatedly fail — to hide a dead body. Did I say body? I meant bodies. The cops keep sniffing around, the downstairs neighbors want to party, an Airbnb guest longs for love, an estranged father resurfaces, and Bunny just wants to make it through the night.
Mo Stark as Bunny in BUNNY. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
Deep Cover
Official Synopsis:
Far too committed to the bit.
Deep Cover is a fast-paced action comedy starring Bryce Dallas Howard as Kat, an improv comedy teacher beginning to question if she’s missed her shot at success. When an undercover cop (Sean Bean) offers her the role of a lifetime, she recruits two of her students (Orlando Bloom and Nick Mohammed) to infiltrate London’s gangland by impersonating dangerous criminals.
Dog of God
Official Synopsis:
In a 17th-century Swedish Livonian village, constant rain and drunkenness prevail. When a stolen relic sparks witchcraft accusations, an 80-year-old self-proclaimed werewolf named the Dog of God arrives with a mysterious gift: The Devil’s Balls. This triggers a chain of unexpected events that climaxes in a wild sexual rave party, transforming the village into a frenzy of unleashed desires.
The End of Quiet
Official Synopsis:
The remote West Virginia town of Green Bank is home to the world’s largest radio telescope, able to pick up the murmurings of signals across the universe. In order to achieve this, the telescope resides in the Quiet Zone, the only place in the U.S. where Wi-Fi and cell phone signals are not permitted, creating an environment of unparalleled silence in our contemporary world.
A still from documentary THE END OF QUIET. Photo credit: Mikael Lypinski. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
Everything’s Going to Be Great
Official Synopsis:
There’s no business like show business — for Buddy and Macy Smart (Primetime Emmy® winner Bryan Cranston and Oscar® winner Allison Janney) that means an unpredictable life in regional theater while trying to raise their radically different sons, Lester and Derrick. Through it all, Buddy pursues his unstoppable dreams, and Macy is left to pull it all together and keep the family afloat. As the family grapples with identity and belonging, they share a humorous and heartfelt journey of self-discovery, learning the power of owning your spotlight, no matter what stage of life you’re in.
Fior Di Latte
Official Synopsis:
Mark (Tim Heidecker), a frustrated playwright grappling with creative stagnation, discovers an unusual escape from his current reality — huffing perfume to evoke vivid memories of his Italian summer vacation. What begins as nostalgic reminiscence quickly spirals into obsession as Mark becomes consumed by the sensory high of the past, neglecting his current life and relationships. His desperate quest leads him to seek help from an eccentric perfumer (Kevin Kline), who bursts into spontaneous song while concocting custom scents in his lab, pushing Mark further into his fragrant fantasies.
Tim Heidecker as Mark in FIOR DI LATTE. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
Horsegirls
Official Synopsis:
As her mother Sandy (Gretchen Mol) grapples with an uncertain diagnosis, autistic 22-year-old Margarita (a revelatory Lillian Carrier) must reluctantly grow up. Bogged down by the demands of her new job at a Halloween store and the complications surrounding her mom’s illness, Margarita discovers a competitive hobby horse dance team — a sport in which young athletes mimic equestrian activities such as jumping and galloping by utilizing a stick horse — and throws herself into training. Encouraged by her coach (Jerod Haynes), her mom and her community, Margarita begins to gain confidence as she grows into her independence and looks forward to her next chapter.
Lillian Carrier as Margarita in HORSEGIRLS. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
In Cold Light
Official Synopsis:
In a city pulsing with the surreal chaos of an urban rodeo, Ava (Maika Monroe) is fresh out of prison and ready to take back what’s hers. But just as she sets her plan in motion to reclaim her drug empire, she witnesses the unthinkable: the brutal murder of her brother.
Forced to flee into a nightmarish underworld where allies are scarce and enemies multiply by the minute, Ava must fight to stay alive — and figure out who set her up — before the killers find her first. With the clock ticking and danger around every corner, survival means outsmarting the city’s most violent players while confronting the ghosts of her own past.
Maika Monroe as Ava in IN COLD LIGHT. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
Inside
Official Synopsis:
After being transferred from juvenile to adult prison, Mel Blight is taken under the wing of Mark Shepard, a despised criminal, and Warren, a near-parole inmate. As a paternal triangle grows between them, we see that even the worst of men have a little bit of good inside that will be their undoing.
Lemonade Blessing
Official Synopsis:
John (Jake Ryan) has been the perfect boy for his devout mom, Mary (Jeanine Serralles), since he left the womb. Freshly tossed into a private Catholic high school by his mother, he falls head over heels for a devious young girl named Lilith (Skye Alyssa Friedman), a rebel with a hatred of her strict religious upbringing. She’s ready to push his morals and faith to the brink with a series of uncomfortable actions and increasingly sacrilegious dares, all in the name of her love.
Man Finds Tape
Official Synopsis:
Through his YouTube channel “Man Finds Tape,” Lucas Page has gone viral with a creepy video series that he says are home movies from his childhood — although online commenters are, naturally, skeptical. One day, Lucas reaches out to his sister, Lynn, to show her surveillance footage that shows a murder in the center of their hometown, Larkin, Texas, in broad daylight. Initially skeptical of her brother’s latest video, Lynn reluctantly heads back to Larkin to help him investigate the homicide. But in doing so, Lynn and Lucas quickly find themselves in the middle of a decades-old supernatural phenomena, one centered around the town’s charismatic yet enigmatic reverend that has plagued Larkin’s residents without them even realizing it.
A still from MAN FINDS TAPE. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
Metallica Saved My Life
Official Synopsis:
From Award-winning director Jonas Åkerlund, Metallica Saved My Life explores the world of Metallica through the lives of their fans—including the bandmembers themselves—who have supported each other through highs, lows, trials, and triumphs for over four decades.
Oh, Hi!
Official Synopsis:
Iris has met the perfect guy in Isaac. He is cute, funny, charming, and he’s booked them their first romantic getaway. A picturesque farmhouse, with amazing views all around. What could go wrong? Apparently, everything.
One Spoon of Chocolate
Official Synopsis:
After serving his country in the Army, Unique (Shameik Moore) was falsely accused of assault and sent to prison. Now that his sentence is over, Unique sets up shop in Ohio to restart his life, linking up with his only surviving relative Ramsey (RJ Cyler). There’s something insidious happening in this town, though, via its racist sheriff and his crew of similarly bigoted acolytes, all of whom have a knack for violence and share a gruesome secret pertaining to missing young Black men. When they set their sights on Unique and turn his life upside down, the former soldier has no choice but to bring the ruckus down on the sheriff and his goons. Hell hath no fury like a veteran scorned (and armed with a sword).
Paradise Records
Official Synopsis:
Cooper, a well-meaning record store owner, is trying to keep the doors of Paradise Records open. He’s facing foreclosure, the bank won’t give him a loan, someone keeps offering to buy the property — and then the robbery. He’s not having a great day. Thankfully, he’s got his motley crew of entertaining employees and a lot of weed to help him figure out how to get himself out of this mess.
Predator: Killer of Killers
Official Synopsis:
The anthology story follows three of the fiercest warriors in human history: a Viking raider guiding her young son on a bloody quest for revenge, a ninja in feudal Japan who turns against his Samurai brother in a brutal battle for succession, and a WWII pilot who takes to the sky to investigate an otherworldly threat to the Allied cause. But while all these warriors are killers in their own right, they are merely prey for their new opponent – the ultimate killer of killers.
Queens of the Dead
Official Synopsis:
The stage is set for a wild night inside a Brooklyn warehouse party boasting drag queens, a fully stocked bar and loud music. But things start off rough with feuding performers, last-minute drop-offs and a highly stressed-out party organizer (Katy O’Brian) who’s struggling to hold everything together. She couldn’t account for the evening’s biggest problem, though: a sudden onslaught of flesh-eating zombies. As if trying to work together to execute a party wasn’t difficult enough, now a motley crew of big personalities and eccentric characters must put their bickering aside and stave off the walking dead outbreak. And then maybe, just maybe, if they can live long enough, it’ll finally be time to party.
A still from QUEEN OF THE DEAD. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
Relay
Official Synopsis:
Like a ghost gliding invisibly through the bustling streets of Manhattan, reclusive fixer Ash (Riz Ahmed) lives a lean, solitary existence, covertly protecting corporate whistleblowers from threats to life and livelihood using a phone-to-text relay service — all while struggling to quell the internal demons that once nearly destroyed him. When research scientist Sarah Grant (Lily James), armed with a dossier exposing a highly carcinogenic biotech product about to hit the global market, reaches out to Ash for protection, fixer and client soon find themselves caught in an increasingly deadly game of misdirection and sleight-of-hand against a slick, ruthless team of corporate mercenaries led by Sam Worthington and Willa Fitzgerald. As a simmering connection develops in the silent spaces between Ash and Sarah, time quickly runs out, leading to a breathless pursuit across the city in this riveting, pulse pounding thriller.
Riz Ahmed as Ash in RELAY. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
The Scout
Official Synopsis:
The Scout, the striking directorial debut from Paula Andrea González-Nasser, is a quietly riveting character study wrapped in the bustle of New York City. At its center is Sofia, a location scout tasked with finding the perfect interiors for a new TV pilot—yet what she’s really searching for may be harder to pin down. She slips in and out of strangers’ homes, capturing fleeting moments of intimacy, curiosity, and vulnerability, until her work takes a sudden, personal turn.
Mimi Davila as Sofia in THE SCOUT. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
She Dances
Official Synopsis:
On the verge of a major deal to sell the small distillery he runs alongside longtime best friend Brian (Ethan Hawke), harried co-parent Jason (Steve Zahn) lives apart from ex-wife Deb (Rosemarie Dewitt) and teen daughter Claire (a magnetic Audrey Zahn in her feature debut), all while bearing the weight of the loss of his son, Jack. When lifelong dancer Claire and her best friend Kat (Mackenzie Ziegler) are invited to compete in the Southeastern Regional Dance Finals, Jason finds himself an unwitting and unprepared chaperone, thrown head-first into the world of crazed dance moms, cheap motels and a terrifyingly accomplished competitor nicknamed Dolph. Yet as Claire advances through the ranks, she and her dad find themselves truly discovering one another for perhaps the first time — a perfectly imperfect duo still in sync — in this sharp, heartfelt slice-of-life comedy also co-written and produced by Steve Zahn.
L-R: Audrey Zahn as Claire and Steve Zahn as Jason in SHE DANCES. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
Sovereign
Official Synopsis:
Inspired by true events, this gripping thriller follows Jerry Kane (Nick Offerman), an out-of-work roofer and struggling single father who desperately tries to provide for his homeschooled fifteen-year-old son, Joe (Jacob Tremblay). Searching for control in an unforgiving world, Jerry embraces the sovereign citizen movement, indoctrinating Joe into believing that laws are mere illusions and freedom must be seized by force. As they travel the country selling debt relief seminars to desperate homeowners, Jerry’s ideology becomes increasingly extreme and his grip on reality deteriorates. Meanwhile, Joe quietly begins to question his father’s worldview, dreaming of a normal life beyond their constant travels.
L-R: Jacob Tremblay as Joe and Nick Offerman as Jerry in SOVEREIGN. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
Tow
Official Synopsis:
Inspired by the true story of Amanda Ogle, this inspiring drama follows Amanda (Rose Byrne), an unhoused woman living in her blue 1991 Toyota Corolla as she seeks employment in Seattle. Her precarious situation escalates when her car is stolen and later impounded, with the towing company demanding exorbitant fees she can’t afford. Refusing to accept this injustice, Amanda confronts the broken system, engaging in a year-long legal battle to reclaim not only her vehicle but also her dignity. Along the way, she forms meaningful connections with other women in similar circumstances, gradually rebuilding her life and sobriety through community and persistence.
Rose Byrne as Amanda in TOW. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
The Trainer
Official Synopsis:
Maverick director Tony Kaye (American History X) presents a raucous, adrenaline-fueled comedy that follows Jack Flex (Vito Schnabel), a penniless, muscle-bound “creative genius” who maniacally pursues his dream of appearing on his mother’s favorite home shopping channel to sell the Heavy Hat — an obviously dangerous fitness gadget that supposedly “increases the flow of Hope Molecules to the brain.” When Jack convinces a desperate network staffer to give him his big break, there’s just one problem: his pitch is filled with lies about being a Hollywood trainer who has celebrity endorsements. With only one week to fulfill his promises before his chance at success vanishes, Jack careens through Los Angeles in an increasingly frantic quest to prove himself.
Vito Schnabel as Jack Flex in THE TRAINER. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
A Tree Fell in the Woods
Official Synopsis:
Mitch (Josh Gad) and Debs (Alexandra Daddario) are childhood friends who go on a New Year’s Eve trip to a cabin in the woods with their respective spouses (Ashley Park and Daveed Diggs), but things are clearly not all great for both couples. As the titular tree falls, nearly killing Mitch and Debs, things are seen that were not meant to be seen and truth-telling enters the picture when an unidentifiable and slightly psychedelic drink is drunk in this entertaining dramedy about the lies we tell ourselves about ourselves and how to untangle them all.
L-R: Daveed Diggs as Josh, Alexandra Daddario as Debs, Josh Gad as Mitch, and Ashley Park as Melanie in A TREE FELL IN THE WOODS. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
We Are Pat
Official Synopsis:
We Are Pat explores the evolution of gender identity and comedy from the ‘90s to the present day through the lens of the iconic Saturday Night Live sketch, It’s Pat. The film examines Pat’s origins as a joke rooted in the cultural anxiety of the ‘90s around gender while drawing striking parallels to today’s culture wars around transness and queerness. Trans and non-binary comedians and culture-makers reimagine and rewrite the original Pat sketches, using camp and humor to reclaim and re-envision an iconic character in American comedy. The film explores humor as both a tool of oppression and a radical force for change. Beyond comedy, We Are Pat raises complex questions: How does art age? What responsibility does a creator have as cultural values evolve? Can we reclaim narratives that once mocked us, transforming pain into laughter, visibility, and ultimately, our own creations?
A still from WE ARE PAT. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
About Tribeca Enterprises:
Tribeca Enterprises is a multi-platform media and entertainment company that owns and operates the Tribeca Festival, Tribeca Studios, and production company m ss ng p eces. With strong roots in independent film, Tribeca is synonymous with creative expression and entertainment. Founded in 2003 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff, Tribeca Enterprises brings artists and audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, music, audio storytelling, games, and immersive. Tribeca champions emerging and established voices, discovers award-winning talent, curates innovative experiences, and introduces new ideas through exclusive premieres, exhibitions, conversations, and live performances. In 2019, James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems bought a majority stake in Tribeca Enterprises, bringing together Rosenthal, De Niro, and Murdoch to grow the enterprise.
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