Some would consider the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to be the leading authority on good movies. The Academy hands out Oscars every year to tell the world which films are worthy of accolades, which ones had the best acting, the best cinematography, the best writing.
You probably wouldn’t watch many of those movies with your kids in the room: Seven of this year’s Best Picture nominees were rated R. However, try watching them with your own parents, and you still might get the urge to turn off the TV.
The Oscars just aren’t all that concerned with wholesome content. The Academy cares about the stories being told, and its members certainly pay attention to the craft. But if a film needs 100+ f-bombs or some nudity to convey its message, they’re usually willing to let that slide.
Not so with the Plugged In Movie Awards.
Our nominees for Best Movies for Adults all tell compelling stories. They’re all well-crafted films that certainly do their creators credit. (In fact, two of them are currently up for the Academy Award for Best Picture.) And they’re still far more navigable than the R-rated fare offered up by the Academy.
These films, we felt, told powerful messages about love and family. They challenged us to look within ourselves and consider our own brokenness. And even when they dealt with grief, war and tragedy, they still left audiences with a sense of hope for the future.
Vote for your favorite adults’ movies released in 2025 at this link. Voting closes March 1, and we’ll announce winners by March 11.
(Summaries written by Bob Hoose, Emily Tsiao and Kennedy Unthank.)
Sing a song of sixpence? Please. Herb McGwyer won’t sing for eccentric millionaire Charles unless he’s given 500,000 euros. And even then, when Herb’s ex-wife and former musical partner shows up to perform alongside him, he’s not too keen on it.
The Ballad of Wallis Island is a charming film. Audiences will smile at its folk performances and British humor in the same moment that they’ll tear up at the film’s themes of loss, longing and moving on.
While The Ballad of Wallis Island feels far tamer than many movies made for adult audiences, its most discordant notes include quite a few misuses of God’s name—something viewers will need to consider. But, if we may show our hand, reviewer Kennedy Unthanks says he’s still listening to the movie’s soundtrack even today.
Hamnet takes place during the early life of William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes. However, this story also takes place in the late 1500s, a time when day-to-day life is a tedious, dirt-encrusted struggle—and a time of plague. And that plague claims the life of the Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet.
Hamnet (which the Oscars lauded with a Best Picture nomination) speculates on how all that hardship and grief may have significantly impacted the Bard’s classic masterpiece, Hamlet. However, the dramatic brilliance of this movie is that we see everything through Agnes’ eyes. So when she watches her husband’s new stage tragedy performed at the movie’s end, we see the effusive scenes through her lens: through her past grief and loss and anger.
Content-wise, viewers encounter drinking, a clothed scene of intimacy, some odd mysticism and, of course, a child’s emotionally devastating death. But therein, the movie becomes a heart-wrenching and poignantly therapeutic examination of grief and the cathartic nature of art.
Nuremberg takes place at the end of World War II as military authorities begin piecing together the possibility of an international criminal court, something that had never been attempted before. Many believed it was essential to keep the Nazi atrocities from ever happening again. On that front, Nuremberg focuses in on the relationship between U.S. Army psychiatrist Doug Kelley and infamous Nazi officer Hermann Göring (played respectively by Rami Malek and Russell Crowe).
As the relationship between Kelly and Göring grows more complicated, the pair begins to hammer out trenchant moral questions: Why were the Nazis such uniquely abhorrent people? What made them so violent and terrible? How could they be so unlike us?
What Nuremberg eloquently answers, however, is that Göring and his Nazis were human. And indeed, like us: fallen, broken individuals who waded into sin and corruption.
Now, this movie isn’t a film of faith, and we see some alcohol and hear foul language. But when looked at through a lens of faith, the film raises good questions about the fallen nature of mankind and the universal need for God’s grace. Nuremberg doesn’t make that declaration exactly, nor in so many words. But the lesson is there, and people of faith will definitely recognize the truth of it.
Rental Family is a touching story about an American named Philip (played by Brendan Fraser), who lives in Japan. Philip was once a pretty successful commercial actor. But his now-floundering career forces him to take a job with a company that rents out actors to families and other people who need a stand-in relationship. These folks so long for human connection—a listening ear, a friendly smile, a hand to hold—that they’re willing to pay for it by the hour. However, when Philip begins taking these “roles” the resulting relationships change his perspective on life.
Viewers should note that this is a mature film that includes loose sexual morals, abundant drinking and a few inclusions of coarse language. But the film delivers solid statements about holding fast to family. It encourages us to put a higher priority on slowing down, listening to others and being honest and loving with those around you.
Robert Grainier didn’t live an extraordinary life. He spent 80 years in and around the town of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. He never saw the ocean, never bought a TV set. But he had a family. He had a home.
He was a logger, so he spent seasons cutting down trees to build railroads and bridges. He saw men die from tree-chopping accidents. He saw others murdered for the color of their skin. And he grieved after his wife and daughter disappeared without a trace during a forest fire that destroyed their home.
In addition to those moments of intense violence, the film comes with some language and minor sexual content.
Still, Robert found beauty in life; he found peace. The movie itself—through its slow, spectacular cinematography—invites audiences to slow down and reflect on their own lives. And ultimately, Train Dreams (which is also an Academy Award Best Picture nominee) tells us that if we’re willing to search for it, beauty can be found even in the most brutal of places.
Cast your vote for the Plugged In Movie Awards here!
Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments. And check out our nominees for Best Movies for Kids, Best Movies for Teens and Best Christian Movies.
