The Best Movies of 2026 So Far, Ranked: My Brutally Honest Watch List

I’m drawn to weird movies — the kind that pull you into the stranger corners of cinema (the first to do it for me was Safety Not Guaranteed). Give me futuristic sci-fi with a thread of horror and I’m all in. I also cry at almost everything. So what earns a film a top spot from me isn’t whether it was fun or rewatchable — it’s whether it made me feel something, stayed with me, caught me off guard, or had one performance that carried it.

These are the best movies of 2026 so far, ranked by exactly that — from the ones I can’t shake to the ones I’d already forgotten by the time I reached the car.

Quick note: a couple of the book links below are affiliate links. If you buy through them I may earn a small commission at no cost to you — I only link things I actually loved.

The best movies of 2026 so far, ranked (at a glance)

1. Project Hail Mary — my favorite of the year, full stop
2. Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die — Sam Rockwell at his best
3. Disclosure Day — the alien movie that actually delivers
4. The Sheep Detectives — the kids’ movie that wrecked me
5. Letters to Isabelle — quiet, tender, and overdue
6. People We Meet on Vacation — my romcom of the year (red flags and all)
7. The Drama — unhinged in the best way
8. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple — for the horror fans
9. The Moment — long, but Charli won me over
10. Send Help — corporate-burnout catharsis
11. Wuthering Heights — mostly, memorably, hot
12. They Will Kill You — carried by Zazie Beetz
13. Iron Lung — solid suspense, little staying power
14. Little Brother — a few good laughs, then gone

My favorite movies of 2026 so far

1. Project Hail Mary. My husband’s favorite, the best film of 2026 so far in my book, and the one I still haven’t shaken. Based on the Andy Weir novel, it undid me — and not in the way you’d expect. What got to me is the premise: a handful of people have to sacrifice everything for humanity, precisely because humanity would never do it for itself. I sat with that and thought about where we are right now — how easily people are kept small and distracted, whether by design or as a convenient side effect of gutting everything that wasn’t a tax break for a billionaire. John watched the same film and loved the space, the friendship, the adventure of it. I was heartbroken, because the part where we actually come together like that is the fantasy. (For what it’s worth, Ryan Gosling and I share a birthday, so I took it more personally than I’d like to admit.) It moved me, it stayed with me, and I’d watch it again tonight — ideally on the couch in our redone living room with a box of tissues. (Where to watch)

2. Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die. Sam Rockwell brings that nonchalant-but-forceful cool to everything he touches, and I find it endlessly watchable. He does it again here, in a time-travel story that approaches the Back to the Future idea from an angle you rarely see. I left wanting to live in that world, and I’d happily watch a prequel — which, given how I feel about sequels, is the highest compliment I have. (Where to watch)

3. Disclosure Day. Loved it. There was a chorus online complaining there weren’t enough aliens, but I’d argue that misses the point — most alien movies worth watching barely show them, and this one still delivered. It moved me, it stayed with me, and it carried a real nostalgia, the Spielberg of it all. I’ll break my no-sequel rule here too. (Where to watch · Watch the trailer)

4. The Sheep Detectives. A children’s movie made me sob, and it’s worth explaining why. My best friend on this earth was an Australian Shepherd named Schmidt — born June 20, 2013, and gone August 16, 2023. For a long stretch of my life he was the only family I had, the first living thing to love me without conditions, and my heart still isn’t whole without him. Grieving a dog in a world that shrugs and says “it’s just a dog” is its own quiet kind of lonely. And now my Aussie, Fiona — who genuinely looks like a small sheep — is turning ten, the same age Schmidt was when he died, and I feel all of it at once. So yes: an animated whodunit about sheep leveled me. My dogs are my family, and this film understood something true about that. (Where to watch · Watch the trailer)

5. Letters to Isabelle. Cried like a baby. Here’s the soapbox: we’ve been in a romcom drought since roughly 2005, and I miss the 10 Things I Hate About You of it all. I’m not naturally a romantic — left to my own devices I default to a kind of Mission Impossible mode where the only softness in my life is grief — so a film like this stirs something I don’t reach often. Honestly, I think it makes me a better partner. Women deserve more of this. Look at romance-novel sales and then explain why we’re being starved of romcoms that clear the Lifetime bar. (Where to watch · Watch the trailer)

Really good — I’d recommend these

6. People We Meet on Vacation. I loved the Emily Henry novel and I loved this — though I’ll say it: red flags throughout. The moment they got engaged, that trip should have become a couples trip. I don’t trust men easily, I don’t think enough of them earn it, and “why wouldn’t you want to see this place with me, rather than another woman?” is a fair question. And yet — I live for the yearning, the early, unspoken, can’t-say-it-yet stage of love. So I forgave it, for the plot, the way I forgive a great deal for a good ache. It’s my romcom of the year. (Where to watch · Watch the trailer)

7. The Drama. I avoid trailers on principle, and it rewarded me here — the film caught me completely off guard, which is one of my favorite things a movie can do. No spoilers, but it reads as a romance right up until you discover the person you’re about to marry is fixated on something genuinely disturbing, and I sat there unsure how to feel, having never once considered the scenario the director clearly had. I loved it. And with affection: whoever wrote it might benefit from a conversation with a professional. (Where to watch)

8. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. My husband’s other favorite. I’m a horror person through and through, and as far as 2026 horror goes this was a genuinely good time — though I wouldn’t call it a new all-time favorite. I love the originals, and The Bone Temple leans into the thing I find most unsettling about end-of-the-world stories — the cults that rise, and how much people will believe when there’s nothing left to lose. I was also taken with the unlikely friendship between a zombie and the Ralph Fiennes character; I’d watch a whole film of just that. (Where to watch)

Fun in the moment — but I’ll forget them

9. The Moment. I went in indifferent to Charli XCX — her music isn’t for me unless I’m mid-workout — and came out genuinely liking her. On screen she’s funny, unbothered, and refreshingly real, and the Kylie Jenner cameo is a small delight on top. It runs longer than it needs to, but she won me over. (Where to watch)

10. Send Help. This one landed because I am, spiritually, trapped in a corporate shell. It isn’t Oscar material and I won’t revisit it, but it’s a good time and quietly validating if your soul also lives in a Slack thread. (Where to watch · Watch the trailer)

11. Wuthering Heights. It was, above all, hot — which was rather the main event. Not especially memorable beyond that, but I enjoyed myself and refuse to apologize for it. (Where to watch · Watch the trailer)

The weakest of what I watched

12. They Will Kill You. I had a good time, though it felt like a film I’d already seen in different clothes. Zazie Beetz, however, is so good she single-handedly lifted it off the bottom. (Where to watch · Watch the trailer)

13. Iron Lung. Worth a watch — the suspense does its job in the moment, even if none of it stayed with me. A solid “put something on” evening, and not much more. (Where to watch · Watch the trailer)

14. Little Brother. Will I remember it in a month? No. Did it earn a few real laughs? Also yes. Some films are simply there to do that. (Where to watch · Watch the trailer)

2026 movies still on my watch list

No spoilers — I will know. Currently queued: Obsession, Undertone, Ready or Not 2, The Invite, The Odyssey, Focker in Law (Ariana Grande in a comedy is too intriguing to ignore), and Premarital — which is essentially my life, if my life were sillier and far less traumatic.

The one I’m sitting out: Michael

I’ve seen every documentary, so let me be clear: I’m not interested in defending him. I can hold two truths at once — yes, he shaped pop music, and yes, racism shaped a great deal of how he was treated. But I can’t get behind anyone who preys on children, harms them, or takes their innocence. Mental illness or delusion doesn’t erase the harm. So I’ll pass on this one.

FAQ: the best movies of 2026 so far

What are the best movies of 2026 so far?

My top four are Project Hail Mary, Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die, Disclosure Day, and The Sheep Detectives — emotional sci-fi, a Sam Rockwell time-travel gem, a nostalgic alien movie, and a tear-jerker whodunit.

What’s the best romcom of 2026 so far?

People We Meet on Vacation, with Letters to Isabelle a close (and weepy) second. We’ve been in a romcom drought since 2005, and these are the closest thing to relief.

Is Project Hail Mary worth watching?

Yes — it’s my favorite movie of 2026 so far. If you like emotional, big-idea sci-fi and don’t mind crying about the human condition, watch it.

What’s the horror pick on this list?

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. I’m a horror fan and it was a genuinely good time, especially if you loved the originals — though I wouldn’t call it a new all-time favorite.

Which 2026 movies can I skip?

The bottom of my list (Iron Lung, Little Brother) is fun but forgettable, and I’m personally sitting out Michael for the reasons above.