Neon has made a name for itself by distributing high-profile, award-winning films. These films have a certain panache. Neon has distributed the past five Palme d’Or winners, including the soon-to-be-released It Was Just An Accident.
But those aren’t the only films that Neon distributes, as the production company has highlighted prestige flicks and quirky independent fare to rival A24 and other studios. Last year’s Best Picture winner, Anora, helped Neon land five Academy Awards. Since it was founded in 2017, Neon has released a number of quirky films as well as international hits. Its first film, Colossal, stars Anne Hathaway as an alcoholic American woman whose body controls a monster that’s terrorizing South Korea.
So far, Neon has released 8 films in 2025. Here is how they scored on Rotten Tomatoes.
‘Hell of a Summer’ – 50%
Hell of a Summer went undistributed after its 2023 premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Neon acquired its distribution rights and released it this April. The film was directed by and stars Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard as well as Billy Bryk. It also features Fred Hechinger, Adam Pally, Abby Quinn, and D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai. It follows a group of summer camp counselors who have to fight against a masked killer who has attacked the camp.
The movie has wild kills that are over the top, and there is a decent amount of humor. The third act is a satirical look at social media culture. The movie was met with very middling reviews from critics, who cited that the young director had promise, but the film has a strange tone issue, trying to decide if it is a horror or a comedy.
‘The Monkey’ – 77%
After the massive success of last year’s Longlegs by Osgood Perkins, Neon went back into his deep horror-filled well with The Monkey. The film is adapted from a Stephen King short story, and it stars Theo James as twin brothers who are cursed by a toy monkey. This toy monkey isn’t monkeying around, as it causes some of the most gruesome deaths in recent memory. Anyone who has seen the film can agree that Tatiana Maslany is a scream queen in the film, acting here as James’ mother.
This has some insane gore, and people either appreciated its excess or were repulsed by it. Critics were mostly positive on the film and noted that the successful follow-up to his breakout proves Perkins is here to stay as a horror visionary. Audiences were more split on the film, as it earned a C+ CinemaScore.
‘The Actor’ – 78%
It took Duke Johnson a decade to follow up his debut film, Anomalisa, which he co-directed with Charlie Kaufman. The Actor is not a stop-motion film like Anomalisa is. Instead, it’s a mysterious film starring André Holland as an actor from New York who has amnesia in Ohio in the 1950s. He can’t remember much and has trouble trying to get home. He gets stranded in a small town alongside Gemma Chan’s character, Edna.
The film also stars May Calamawy, Asim Chaudhry, Joe Cole, Edward Hogg, Toby Jones, Tracey Ullman, and more. It went over well with critics, as they enjoyed the eeriness of Holland’s performance, and the feeling that nobody can be trusted. Audiences liked it much more, and it sits with an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes audience score.
‘The Life of Chuck’ – 81%
Another film based on a short story by Stephen King is Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck. It stars Tom Hiddleston as the adult version of Chuck, a man who is an inspiration to those around him. The film is told in three acts, each one following Chuck at a different age. It’s told in reverse chronology, so the film opens with Chuck’s death. Jacob Tremblay stars as 17-year-old Chuck. Benjaman Pajak plays him at the age of 11 and Cody Flanagan is him at 7.
The movie highlights a man who loved to dance and make people around him feel good. It’s a melodramatic story that also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill, Mia Sara, and Carl Lumbly. King and Flanagan are known for their heavier subject matter and mainly horror films, but this is a lighter side to them and one that’s deeply emotional, as noted by critics who looked favorably upon it.
‘Splitsville’ – 85%
Splitsville is a comedy from Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin that is about an awkward encounter between two sets of friends and how it changes their friendships. Covino stars as Carey, whose wife, Ashley (Adria Arjona) says she wants a divorce. Distraught, he runs to the home of his friends Paul (Marvin) and Julie (Dakota Johnson). Julie reveals that she and Paul have an open relationship. As she and Carey spend more time together, they eventually sleep together. It throws everyone for a loop.
This movie can be summed up by people having open relationships and the two guys fighting a lot. There’s a lot of pressure put on the writers of the film to bring the characters to life while acting, and they both excel. Arjona and Johnson are excellent as well. The movie earned an 85% from critics and an 84% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
‘Presence’ – 88%
Written by prolific screenwriter David Koepp and directed by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh, Presence is a supernatural ghost thriller that was filmed in just 11 days after receiving an interim SAG-AFTRA agreement during the 2023 strike. It’s shot entirely in the first person, so audiences are brought inside the view of multiple characters, including the “presence.” Lucy Liu stars as Rebekah, a woman whose family purchases a house with a “presence” that follows the family around the house.
As the story unfolds, the audience learns more about what’s happening around the house, and the presence tries to intervene to help the family. The film costars Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Eddy Myday, West Mulholland, and Julia Fox. It’s a slow burn, and critics raved about Soderbergh’s mastery as a director with this film. Some people felt it was filled with cliches though, lowering its score.
‘Men of War’ – 90%
Men of War is a documentary by Jen Gatien and Billy Corben. It follows the security firm Silvercorp USA and mercenary Jordan Goudreau as they infiltrate Venezuela for Operation Gideon. The operation was led by Venezuelan dissidents and mercenaries to overthrow Nicolás Maduro and remove him from power. The film is a gritty, 103-minute look at how people can get the call to try and help out a foreign government.
Deftly directed by Gatien and Corben, who are known for their documentaries that explore serious matters such as drug smuggling and football, Men of War was released on May 30 after premiering at TIFF in 2024. It hit streaming and video on demand in early September 2025. It has a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, and critics called it fascinating.
‘Together’ – 90%
The most uncomfortable date night movie in recent memory, Together stars real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple who are being held together by some kind of force that neither of them can explain. There are some strange supernatural horror elements and some spine-tingling scenes that can make anyone a bit squeamish. The couple must do everything they can to stop the force from pushing them to be one.
The final act of the film is absolutely insane, and Brie and Franco give their all in their performances. The body horror film has a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, as the film goes inside a relationship that is struggling and sees how a couple could potentially try and get out of their funk by trying something new.
