Top 10 Nollywood movies that shaped 2025

The Nigerian film industry, Nollywood, continued its rise in 2025 with a mix of record-smashing box-office hits, culturally resonant epics, and boundary-pushing cinema that expanded both local and global audiences. From traditional stories to modern romance, crime thrillers to historic milestones, these ten films didn’t just entertain, they defined the year.

1. Ori: The Rebirth

Ori: The Rebirth is a beautifully crafted drama drawing deeply from Yoruba spirituality and folklore. The film became the highest-grossing Nollywood release of the year, earning over ₦419 million at the box office and proving that culturally rooted storytelling still resonates powerfully with audiences nationwide.

2. Reel Love.

Romance ruled early in the year with Reel Love, a contemporary love story that topped box-office charts for weeks. Directed by Kayode Kasum, its success (around ₦356 million) showed that polished, emotionally engaging romantic tales remain some of Nollywood’s most bankable fare.

3. Iyalode.

In Iyalode, viewers met a commanding heroine navigating political rivalries in a male-dominated setting. This period drama broke past genre expectations, earning over ₦300 million and highlighting Nollywood’s growing appetite for female-driven narratives with depth and sophistication.

4. Labake Olododo.

Produced by Iyabo Ojo and directed by Biodun Stephen, Labake Olododo blended Yoruba tradition with a bold narrative about injustice and community resistance. Its box-office success  among the year’s top earners, reflected a resurgence of interest in stories centered on cultural identity and moral resistance.

5. Owambe Thieves

Comedy remains Nollywood’s backbone, and Owambe Thieves proved just that. Combining crime and humor, it followed a couple’s misadventures at a lavish Lagos party. Its clever social critique wrapped in laugh-out-loud moments made it one of 2025’s biggest crowd-pleasers.

6. Red Circle

Breaking from traditional Nollywood fare, Red Circle brought a more intense crime thriller edge to Nigerian cinemas. With an ensemble cast and strong performances, it demonstrated that Nollywood can handle darker, more suspenseful genres just as effectively as light-hearted ones.

7. Gingerrr.

Gingerrr arrived in cinemas late in 2025 but quickly became one of Nollywood’s biggest hits, racking up hundreds of millions naira in ticket sales and becoming one of the highest-grossing Nigerian movies of all time by year’s end. Its success proved that even late-season releases can dominate when they hit the right cultural notes.

8. My Father’s Shadow

Not just a local success, My Father’s Shadow broke significant ground internationally by becoming the first Nigerian film selected in the official section of the Cannes Film Festival, a landmark achievement showcasing Nollywood’s artistic breadth on global cinema’s biggest stages.

9. Aso Ebi Diaries.

Blending fashion, friendship, and romantic entanglements against Lagos’ elite backdrop, Aso Ebi Diaries offered audiences a fresh take on contemporary Nollywood drama. With its glamorous premiere and thematic focus on personal reinvention, it became a cultural talking point in 2025.

10. Makemation.

In a bold narrative twist, Makemation explored artificial intelligence and its impact on society, a rarity in Nollywood. While its box-office returns were more modest than other blockbusters (about ₦90 million), its thematic ambition signified Nollywood’s growing willingness to experiment with futuristic and tech-centered storytelling.

Across genres and formats, 2025 revealed an industry ready to both celebrate its roots and expand its horizons. From Yoruba epics to mainstream rom-coms and thrillers, audiences voted with their wallets for variety. Achievements like My Father’s Shadow at Cannes signaled Nollywood’s growing artistic influence beyond Nigeria. Films rooted in local stories and identities, whether through tradition or modern Lagos life, dominated the conversations. As Nollywood advances into 2026, the stories that shaped 2025 will continue inspiring filmmakers and audiences alike, both at home and across the world.