Bold takeaway: Horror dominated the year in search, with audiences everywhere flocking to unsettling stories, iconic franchises, and fresh fright-night hits. Here’s a fresh, clear rewrite of the original content, preserving all key details while expanding a bit for clarity and accessibility.
Google’s Year in Search 2025 highlights the year’s most-searched news, movies, and personalities across the globe, with options to drill down by region. This rewritten piece focuses on the Entertainment category, specifically horror films, in the United States.
In the United States, the top-searched movie of 2025 was Netflix’s animated sensation KPop Demon Hunters. The film shattered several Netflix viewership records and even prompted the streamer to revisit its theatrical release policy. Netflix released the animated feature to theaters on two separate occasions, ultimately earning over $24 million in the U.S. market.
KPop Demon Hunters also gained extra momentum by appearing in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, contributing to its status as the most-searched movie of 2025 in the United States. Among pop culture moments in 2025, this film stands out as exceptionally influential and is slated to receive a sequel, further extending its footprint in the franchise’s universe.
Rounding out the U.S. top 10 horror-related searches are Ryan Coogler’s Sinners at #2, Scarlett Johansson-led Jurassic World Rebirth at #7, Final Destination Bloodlines at #8, and Zach Cregger’s Weapons at #9. Even if KPop Demon Hunters or Jurassic World Rebirth aren’t strictly defined as pure horror, three horror titles dominate the year’s most-searched movie list, underscoring how hot the horror genre was in 2025.
Sinners—the most-Googled TV show of 2025 in the U.S.—lands at #5, followed by IT: Welcome to Derry at #10. The latter likely would have ranked higher if its premiere had occurred earlier in the year. With only two episodes remaining in the first season, the Stephen King-based series promises to intensify the stakes in its final installments.
A standout facet of Google’s Year in Search 2025 is the “explained” category, which captures the year’s most popular queries about movie endings. The top entry in this category is Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Woman in the Yard, which earned relatively modest theatrical receipts ($22 million) but sparked extensive online discussion about its ending.
Want The Woman in the Yard explained? SYFY provides a detailed breakdown and analysis.
Other prominent explained searches for 2025 include Sinners at #2 and Weapons at #3.
Globally, the top entertainment searches of 2025 feature the vampire epic Sinners at #5, Final Destination Bloodlines at #7, Weapons at #8, and 28 Years Later at #9. Notably, 28 Years Later opened internationally with higher box office than in the U.S. (roughly $80 million abroad vs. $70 million domestically), reflecting strong international interest in zombie-inflected dystopias and pandemic-era thrillers.
Globally popular television searches include Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story at #1, Squid Game 3 at #2, and Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth at #9. Among books, Frankenstein and Stephen King’s IT led global lists, driven in part by screen adaptations released this year.
Explore Google’s Year in Search 2025 for deeper insights into the people, events, and entertainment that shaped 2025. It functions as a compelling time capsule of a year steeped in horror influence and cultural conversation.
Writer in the horror community since 2008, Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting, and owner of Eli Roth's Piranha 3D prop corpse, this writer also shares life with two cats and a playful collection of toys.
