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The 22 Best Movies of 2026 So Far (and 79 More We Can't Wait For)
With Christopher Nolan, star-studded epic romance, and major Marvel events, this list is a behemoth. And it also features a movie called Behomoth!.
AS A HUGE fan and follower of both movies and sports, the former has one major advantage: There's always something to look forward to. As a fan of the New York Jets, I don't always have that luxury. As a fan of watching films, though, not only is there always something worth my time on the big screen or streaming, but there's always several flicks down the line that will sound great or intriguing for one reason or another. Will they all turn out great? Of course not. But with sports and movies alike, excitement tends to be all about hope.
After a particularly strong 2025—movies like One Battle After Another and Sinners proved to be true standouts—how does 2026 pick up? With strength and energy, that's how. While January is traditionally a dumping ground for sub-par movies and silly schlock, this year we were treated by an absolute banger of a post-apocalyptic sequel (in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple), a super fun silly slasher about a killer chimpanzee (Primate), and a return-to-form for one of our favorite directors doing exactly what he does best (Sam Raimi's Send Help). And that's not even counting an expansion in theaters for some of our favorite movies of late 2025 like No Other Choice and The Testament of Ann Lee. Believe it or not, January 2026 is a great time for the movies.
And if January is looking that good, the rest of the year should hopefully be able to follow suit. February comes with a number of blockbusters of its own (including the Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi-led Wuthering Heights) and the return of another one of our favorite directors, with the great Pirates of the Caribbean helmer Gore Verbinski returning with Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die, his first movie since 2016's A Cure for Wellness. Again—this is really good stuff for the movies.
We always like to start the year looking at everything coming out in the year to come. That includes everything: Stuff on the calendar already, stuff we suspect will come out this year, and even stuff making noise in places like the Sundance Film Festival. This list will eventually evolve into our list charting the year's best movies, and, inevitably it will look quite different by the end of the year compared to how it looks now.
For now, we've got quite a lot to look forward to. Below, we've listed nearly 100 movies on our radar that we think you'll be really interested in seeing. Maybe, just maybe, we'll get lucky and they'll turn out to be as great as they already might be in our minds.
Primate
If you're interested in a killer chimpanzee B-movie slasher, then Primate is for you. The movie delivers what it promises. Ben the chimpanzee does some very terrible things on screen but it makes for quite an enjoyable experience.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a direct sequel to last year's 28 Years Later. And while the great Danny Boyle doesn't return to direct, the movie is helmed by the more-than-capable Nia DaCosta and once again counts Alex Garland as its screenwriter. The real assets, though, are the movie's leads: Ralph Fiennes and Jack O'Connell are sensational, magnetic every minute they're on screen amidst all sorts of post-apocalyptic chaos. Bring on part three.
The Rip
Here's a quick pitch for The Rip: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The longtime friends team up once again for The Rip, a cop thriller in the vein of movies you've probably seen several times before... but done particularly well. This twisty crime story involves a police team finding a ton of money in a stash house (the titular rip), and figuring out who may or may not be corrupt. In addition to our beloved duo, the cast is shockingly stacked: Steven Yeun, Kyle Chandler, Scott Adkins, and One Battle After Another Academy Award nominee Teyana Taylor are all on board.
Send Help
SAM RAIMI FANS, ASSEMBLE! For the first time since 2009, the master of gross effects and frenetic cameras is back with an original horror story in Send Help. Rachel McAdams plays a Survivor superfan who gets stuck on an island with her dickhead boss (Dylan O'Brien), and then the antics begin. Think Cast Away meets Misery meets Drag Me to Hell. It's great stuff.
The Wrecking Crew
Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista are a pair of cool dudes who, with The Wrecking Crew, set out and did exactly what they intended to do: Make a badass buddy action comedy. The movie finds the pair playing estranged brothers who reunite in Hawaii to investigate their father's mysterious death; From there, we get lots of jokes, and a lot of (very violent!!!) action. It's a good time! Honestly, if they want to make a couple sequels to this, I'd be her for it.
The Moment
Part This Is Spinal Tap, part Josie and the Pussycats, and part Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Moment is Charli XCX's movie for anyone who enjoys her music, persona, or both. A really fun movie about music, stardom, and celebrity in 2026.
Pillion
Pillion was technically released initially in 2025 (and was also included on our list of favorite movies of that year), but we didn't want to miss an opportunity to recommend it to people once again. This unique film follows a man (Harry Melling) who engages in an unexpected BDSM relationship with a biker he meets at random (Alexander Skarsgård). The movie is quite the tonal balancing act, at times funny, intense, raunchy, and heartbreaking, but it all comes together by the end. A delightful movie, and a great showcase for both leads.
Screened at NYFF63
'Wuthering Heights'
The classic novel comes to life on the big screen once again, this time from Promising Young Woman and Saltburn director Emerald Fennell, and with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in the lead roles. Fennell, an Academy Award winner for her work on Promising Young Woman, has both big fans and big detractors at this point—but her take her, while book purists haven't been thrilled, is a big, visually stunning epic romance. Robbie and Elordi are both up to the task as well, bringing a charged energy to roles that really need it. Alison Oliver, who recently shined on HBO's Task, is another major highlight in a supporting role. An original soundtrack from Charli XCX helps to set the anachronistic mood and feels like a real cherry on top.
Crime 101
This action-thriller, based on a book by Don Winslow, looks like a very solid entry in the genre that we're going to call "Somewhat Resembles a Michael Mann Film." And reviews have confirmed as much—the movie has often been compared to Heat, and while its tough to compare to Mann's 1995 masterpiece, we'll take just about anything in that vein. Look: If someone tells you there's gonna be a crime thriller in the vein of Heat with Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry, and Barry Keoghan leading the cast, how could you not be on board?
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die
One of our coolest directors, Gore Verbinski, makes his grand return with Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die—his first movie since 2016's A Cure For Wellness. If you don't know Verbinski by name, you should know several of his movies: the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, The Ring, and Rango are among the standouts. Good Luck follows Sam Rockwell as a man who claims to be from the future and fighting off a rogue artificial intelligence. While the movie takes some pretty tough and labored tangents into on-the-nose satire, Rockwell's performance and the practical effects keep the movie afloat as a fun sci-fi romp.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Despite the title, you don't need to know anything else about Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie before going to see it. Sure, this story of two inept dudes in a band who just want to play music at a bar—and go through all sorts of ordeals, including time-travel, to do it—has existed before in both web series and television series form. But you can just go in and laugh and the absolute madness of the movie. Trust us—you'll have a good time with this one if you're into "madness that makes you laugh." This is a long-term passion project of Matt Johnson, who became well known recently for directing the underrated BlackBerry. His brash talent is again on display here.
How to Make a Killing
We're always in on Glen Powell, and How to Make a Killing marks his first foray into A24's world as a leading man. This black comedy neo-noir comes from Emily the Criminal director John Patton Ford and follows Powell as a man who decides to take out a few members of his family in order to increase his chance at making a whole bunch of money via inheritance. The supporting cast joining Powell isn't too shabby: Margaret Qualley, Jessica Henwick, Ed Harris, and Topher Grace are all along for the fun.
The Napa Boys
The Napa Boys is a very specific cut for comedy fans. Remember when all those nondescript American Pie direct-to-video sequels were coming out? "American Pie Presents:.."? The Napa Boys imagines itself as one of those: self-impressed raunchy comedy with little tact—crossed, naturally with the wine bro nature of 2004's Sideways. As a result, we get a movie that presents as a sequel to a franchise that both has long been running out of juice, and, in our world, never was. If you get the truly absurd brand of parody being presented here, you're going to get a real kick out of it.
Hoppers
Hoppers feels like a throwback to the golden age of Pixar. Not only is it an original story (at a time when the legendary animation studio has often been leaning into sequels, prequels, and more), but it's a sweet and funny one at that. Following an animal-lover who uses Avatar-style technology to transfer her consciousness into a robotic beaver body that can discover what animals are thinking and saying, Hoppers actually turns into something of a conspiracy mystery story. With a voice cast that includes Jon Hamm, Dave Franco, and Meryl Streep among others, it's a fun one for the whole family.
War Machine
Look. This is one of those movies that you really don't have to overthink. It's Alan Ritchson—Reacher himself—taking on a giant alien robot monster thing. This is as much of a throwback to '80s-style action filmmaking as we're ever going to get, and it delivers as promised. The fact that the rest of the cast includes staples like Jai Courtney, Esai Morales, and Dennis Quaid is just a bonus.
Undertone
Undertone has been positioning itself as A24's next huge horror hit—and we'll see how it lands. The film follows a supernatural podcaster who gets sent some particularly spooky recordings; Its soundscape has brought tons of hype, with many calling it the scariest experience of the year. A simple premise like that sometimes makes for the best-executed horror movies.
Project Hail Mary (3/20)
Based on the novel by Andy Weir (who also wrote The Martian), Project Hail Mary is a story of space exploration and a regular guy (played by Ryan Gosling) who gets involved. Phil Lord and Chris Miller (who are responsible for the Spider-Verse movies and directed 21 Jump Street) are behind the camera for this one, which has already proven to be a big, big hit. Gosling is basically on his own out in space for most of this, but it also includes a fun little alien guy named Rocky and a nice supporting performance by Anatomy of a Fall star Sandra Hüller. The visuals here are worth seeing on the biggest screen you can find.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
2018's Ready or Not was one of the most fun horror films of the last decade, and now eight years later we get to see Samara Weaving's lead sucked back into the same twisted, bloody, violent games. The supporting cast—including David Cronenberg (!!!), March MH Flex star Elijah Wood, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and The Pitt's Shawn Hatosy—is fantastic. The movie kind of keeps with the form of the first Ready or Not, so if you liked that one, you'll certainly have a fun time with this one.
Forbidden Fruits
Forbidden Fruits follows a secret coven of witches operating in a shopping mall. Like, guys, some premises you just have to accept for how good they are and see them out. The movie is a campy, fun, twisty turny ride. Understand what you're getting into—a little bit of horror, a little bit of satire, and some fun twists—and it's going to be a good time.
They Will Kill You
Zazie Beetz (Atlanta, Deadpool 2) gets to lead her own horror/thriller movie with They Will Kill You, where she plays a woman who answers a help-wanted ad for a housekeeper in a luxury apartment building, only to find herself fighting for her life. The movie is pretty similar in tone to fellow horror/comedy Ready or Not 2, which we just talked about. But They Will Kill You leans more into its John Wick-style action and Kill Bill style plot, which sets it apart. The supporting cast, which includes Patricia Arquette, Heather Graham, and Industry star Myha'la, make it extra worth it.
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