The Best Films of 2026 (So Far)

It has come! We’ve survived six months of this year and, honestly, it’s been a shockingly good year for movies. I’m going to talk about my favorite films of the year (so far) and end on what I’m excited for coming up in the next six months.

Let’s get started~!

Masters of the Universe

This may be the most surprising film in my top 10 of the year (so far). I didn’t think the trailer looked good when it released and I am absolutely done with 80s nostalgia franchises, because who has been out there asking for a He-Man movie? Clearly, it should’ve been me. I was all about this one. It was funny, rip-roaring fantasy that I’ve missed seeing on the big screen. It had some thoughts about masculinity but honestly, I wasn’t fully listening over Nicholas Galitzine’s thighs.

In the Grey

I’m a sucker for a Guy Ritchie movie, and this one is no exception. The plot is simple: some guy borrowed from the bank and hasn’t given their money back because he’s a bad guy. A lawyer (Eiza Gonzalez) and her two loyal hitmen Bronco (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Sid (Henry Cavill) conspire to force this bad man to give the bank their money back. What I love about this film is how meticulous it is in telling us how their plans are going to go down and then back up plans in case they fail. You feel like you’re part of the operation so when it does all go down it’s fantastic.

Exit 8

This is easily my favorite horror movie of the year. I’m already confident it’ll stay in my top 10 by the end, but who knows. An expectant father gets lost on a subway and finds himself in a strange corridor, but no matter how far he walks he keeps passing the same man with a smile plastered on his face. This is part of (what I’m hoping for) a new wave of liminal space horror like Backrooms, but you have to navigate out of a subway corridor by following specific instructions for 8 floors. If you mess up, you’re back on the first floor and will have to start over. What I love about this movie is you’re aware of the rules too, so you’re actively participating with the film to determine if it’s safe to move onto the next floor or not.

Project Hail Mary

The little blockbuster that could! Project Hail Mary is such a success story, playing in theatres for three months with people selling out showings so far after release? Wild. Ryan Gosling plays a molecular biologist who loses his memory and wakes up on a spaceship. Slowly, throughout the film, we learn why he is on a ship in the middle of space while also experience a buddy road trip movie that’ll move you to tears in this positive sci-fi realm.

Andre is an Idiot

This documentary is such a hoot, and an exciting take on dying. Andre made this documentary after his terminal cancer diagnosis. His personality is big and he has a lot of thoughts. Instead of letting this medical death sentence haunt him he goes out into the world to confront and understand death. It’s very funny and weird and an odd soliloquy on how one accepts life at the end of their story.

The Sheep Detectives

What happens when you get the director of Minions and the writer of Chernobyl? Apparently one of the best family films of the year that deals with confronting grief and mortality while being wrapped up in a fun goofy mystery. The best good cry you’ll have all year. Sheep can do anything, and so can you.

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert

EPiC is a pure visceral experience that I was lucky enough to see in IMAX. Utilizing archive footage of Elvis Presley, Baz Luhrmann (Elvis) stitches together an ultimate concert film from different performances and eras that made me finally see the power Elvis had. He has great music, but this was me seeing him as a performer for the first time and I could finally understand why people saw him as life changing. One of the few films I think about nearly every day.

Tuner

When a piano tuner with a hearing condition needs cash to pay for his mentor’s hospital bills meets a security task force that is up to shady business, they team up to crack open safes and steal from the rich. Niki starts seeing his life with a new lense after this but soon enough he has to face the consequences of his actions and how it hurts those around him. A wonderful thriller with fresh faces in the cast.

The Furious

The Raid 2 is one of my favorite action movies of all time, but after watching The Furious it may just have competition. The Furious is about a father whose daughter is kidnapped. He tracks the kidnappers down and teams up with an undercover cop to stop their child trafficking ring. Action ensues, and boy does it get your blood pumping. The choreography for these intense fights is brutal and nonstop. I haven’t seen action like this on the big screen ever, and they were doing stunts with their legs I didn’t know were possible. Quite easily, the most rousing theatre experience (so far).

Pillion

It’s going to be very hard for another film to beat Pillion for my top movie of the year. The film is a beautiful tale about understanding your boundaries in a relationship. It doesn’t matter if you have chemistry with someone, if you both want something different, or boundaries weren’t fully communicated/respected. It’s a coming-of-age movie about coming to terms with what you want out of a relationship and standing up for yourself in achieving it.

Were there any surprises from my list? What did I get right? What’s didn’t make mine but made yours?

Here are the anticipated films I have for the rest of the year:

Motor City

Alan Ritchson (Reacher) stars in this grungy revenge thriller that looks like it’s from the 70s. I don’t know a lot about it, and the trailer is all action, but what I do know is I trust Alan Ritchson to give me a good time and this looks fun.

One Night Only

My takeaway from this trailer is it’s The Purge but for sex and in a sea of films that have become less sexy, horny, sexual this feels like it could be a fun commentary on modern media and how our relationship to sex and non-sexual relationships are.

The End of Oak Street

When a street is moved in the middle of the night and a family has to fight dinosaurs… how can you not be excited? This looks like a fun twilight zone story turned thriller that I am eagerly awaiting. Dinosaurs. ‘Nuff said.

Coyote vs. Acme

It’s been too long since a Looney Tunes movie graced our silver screens. This movie has been trying to come out for so long that I will go and support it while having a good time with some slapstick comedy.

How to Rob a Bank

Directed by David Leitch (Bullet Train, The Fall Guy) starring Nicholas Hoult and Zoe Kravitz doing bank heists out of revenge while being YouTubers? Sign me up immediately. This looks like total fun.

Mayday

There’s not much information about this, nor a trailer as of this writing, but being from the directors of Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves this was an easy film to be excited for even with no context.

Street Fighter

While I may not have liked its sister adaptation earlier this year with Mortal Kombat II, Street Fighter on the other hand looks like an absolute perfect ball of fun with some great choreography. I can’t wait to be transported to this world this fall.

Whalefall

Listen, when a movie is based on a book about a scuba diver being swallowed by a whale and needs to escape before his oxygen tank runs out and the trailer it releases is that heart pumping energetic… yeah, this is quite easily my most anticipated movie of the year.

Wildwood

From the director of Masters of the Universe, this stop-motion fantasy film feels reminiscent of the 80s like Labyrinth. A coming of age (hopefully?) film about family.

Werwulf

Werewolves. Robert Eggers. 13-century England.

What are you excited for? Comment below. Share with friends.