Year-Ender 2025 highlights must-watch sports movies, documentaries, and docuseries focused on ambition, burnout, identity, and purpose over trophies
From F1 thrills to Real Kashmir FC and Bison, these stories balanced spectacle with emotion
Osaka and Alcaraz’s docuseries explored mental health, motherhood, and early success
India vs Pakistan captured the emotional and cultural weight of cricket
2025 quietly turned into a strong year for sports storytelling. Not the chest-thumping, medal-count kind, but stories that sit at the intersection of ambition, burnout, and the question of "Why this sport?" Some films revealed the real side of sport - the constant hustle to carve an identity and find purpose beyond trophies.
From Formula One’s spectacle to grounded stories like Real Kashmir Football Club and Bison, sports on screen focused on purpose over medals. Naomi Osaka: The Second Set explored motherhood and mental health, while Carlos Alcaraz: My Way showed the weight of early success.
Even The Greatest Rivalry: India vs Pakistan captured the emotions between two countries in constant tension, where cricket becomes a space to express what words cannot.
Here’s our Year-Ender 2025 list of must-watch sports films and docu-series.
F1
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Javier Bardem
Runtime: 156 minutes
Live Streaming: Apple TV+, also via Amazon Prime add-on
F1 is built for spectacle. Brad Pitt plays a veteran driver pulled out of semi-retirement to mentor a young talent (Damson Idris) while trying to save a struggling team. The story is familiar, but the racing sequences, immersive sound, sweeping camera work, and IMAX visuals, make every twist and turn feel real.
Kosinski’s film is less about strategy and more about how Formula One feels at full throttle. It dazzles and delivers the sensory thrill of high-speed racing, immersing viewers in the roar of engines and the tension of the track.
Real Kashmir Football Club
Directors: Mahesh Mathai & Rajesh Mapuskar
Cast: Manav Kaul, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub
Episodes: 8
Live Streaming: Sony LIV
The Real Kashmir Football Club web series plays to score on emotions, using football as a lens to explore hope, resilience, and community in the Valley. Set against the backdrop of a region often defined by conflict, the series follows journalist Sohail (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) and businessman Shirish (Manav Kaul) as they form a professional football team to give local youth purpose and direction.
The story isn’t about big wins or dramatic finales, it’s about small victories, human connection, and rebuilding dignity through sport. Kaul and Ayyub deliver understated, authentic performances, making the characters’ struggles and triumphs feel lived-in.
While the pacing can be gentle and contemplative at times, the series’ strength lies in its sincerity and quiet emotional pull, reminding viewers that football can be more than a game, it can be a lifeline.
Bison (Bison Kaalamaadan)
Director: Mari Selvaraj
Cast: Dhruv Vikram, Pasupathy, Rajisha Vijayan, Anupama Parameswaran
Runtime: 168 minutes
Live Streaming: Netflix
Inspired by kabaddi player Manathi Ganesan, Bison portrays the sport as struggle, defiance, and survival. Dhruv Vikram embodies determination and rage as Kittan, navigating caste-based oppression and personal obstacles.
Selvaraj’s direction captures the raw energy of kabaddi while highlighting social inequities, making the sport a metaphor for resilience and hope. The pacing dips occasionally, but the film’s heart lies in its tribute to kabaddi and those who fight against the odds.
Naomi Osaka: The Second Set
Director: Kathleen Jayme
Live Streaming: Apple TV+, Tubi
Osaka’s documentary avoids a standard comeback story. It follows her return to professional tennis after motherhood, exploring the physical, mental, and emotional challenges she faces.
The film captures self-doubt, pressure, and perseverance, offering a candid look at elite sport while portraying motherhood as a transformative experience rather than a setback.
The Greatest Rivalry: India vs Pakistan
Directors: Stewart Sugg, Chandradev Bhagat
Episodes: 3
Live Streaming: Netflix
The docu-series moves beyond scoreboards, exploring memory, history, and the emotional intensity of matches between two nations in constant geographical tension.
Interviews with players, commentators, and fans reveal the pressure, expectations, and cultural weight behind every game, while archival footage and behind-the-scenes moments capture the friendships, respect, and shared passion that survive the rivalry.
More than cricket, the series captures why these matches resonate deeply, making it a must-watch for anyone curious about the human side of sport.
Carlos Alcaraz: My Way
Director: Jorge Laplace
Episodes: 3
Live Streaming: Netflix
This three-part docu-series tracks Alcaraz navigating early success, expectation, and burnout. Beyond matches and trophies, it reveals the human side of a teenage superstar showing the balance between ambition and personal freedom. The series gives an intimate portrait of what it means to carry the weight of the world while still trying to live a normal life.
Sitaare Zameen Par
Director: RS Prasanna
Cast: Aamir Khan, Genelia D’Souza
Runtime: 155 minutes
Live Streaming: YouTube (rent), Airtel XStream
A spiritual successor to Taare Zameen Par, this film shifts focus to a team of neurodivergent basketball players and their abrasive coach, Gulshan. It follows familiar beats but adds moments of self-awareness that gently poke fun at Aamir Khan’s own moral-heavy cinema.
The film aims to build awareness around intellectual disabilities, sometimes favoring teachable moments over subtlety. While that approach can feel overly instructive, the performances, especially from the players, bring warmth and sincerity.
Sitaare Zameen Par may not always strike the perfect balance between message and storytelling, but its heart is firmly in the right place.
