I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Every year is a great year for movies if you know where to look. But 2026 may already be one for the ages.
We’re only halfway through, and we’ve already seen a new wave of original and quasi-original films from young filmmakers who cut their teeth on YouTube, displacing many of the “safe” blockbusters in which Hollywood placed its faith this summer. There has been a surge in cinema challenging social norms, a string of strong directorial debuts, and a handful of standout genre films for good measure.
If the second half of 2026 is even half as good as the first, this could be an all-timer year for film. Having seen some of this year’s festival debuts, which are scheduled for release in the coming months, that possibility feels increasingly real.
So let’s take a look at the films that blew us away already, since this industry loves its recency biases, and we don’t want any of these great movies to be forgotten as summer winds down and awards season officially begins.
The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act
There are two kinds of people in the world: the millions who’ve already seen and fallen in love with “The Amazing Digital Circus,” and the people who only just heard about it last month and have a lot of catching up to do. The final two episodes of Gooseworx’s incredible animated series — a modern riff on Harlan Ellison’s classic sci-fi/horror story “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream,” in which real people are downloaded into a computer program and forced to play existentially horrifying games by a warped AI — were shown in theaters as a theatrical presentation, bringing this powerful, psychologically complex saga to a meaningful end, and bringing audiences together in a way that ingeniously mirrored the themes of the heartfelt finale.
The Bride!
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s ambitious and bizarre reinterpretation of “The Bride of Frankenstein” was a box office disaster, but time will be kind to her inspired horror/crime/classic Hollywood pastiche. Jessie Buckley stars as “The Bride,” a sex worker who dies and gets resurrected by the Frankenstein monster, played beautifully by Christian Bale. And also, what the heck, she also gets possessed by the righteous ghost of “Frankenstein” author Mary Shelley, who tears down the walls of early 20th century sexism, magically spawns kooky musical numbers and falls in ghoulish love in spite of herself. Buckley doesn’t just cut loose, she runs absolutely rampant, commanding the screen with infectious, wreckless aplomb.
Camp
It’s a good year for Avalon Fast fans. She not only delivers one of the best performances of 2026 in Louise Weard’s “Castration Movie” (releasing later this year), but also co-stars in the queer genre-bender “The Serpent’s Skin” and wrote and directed the hypnotic supernatural horror film “Camp.” Zola Grimmer stars as Emily, a young woman who takes a job at a Christian summer camp while coping with a recent tragedy. There, she forms a bond with the other counselors, who draw her into a magical world of amoral and addictive escapism. Lots of movies are about the process of psychological healing. Fast’s eerie, insightful indie tells a disturbing, impressive story about what happens when the healing process goes wrong
Decorado
Alberto Vázquez’s bleak, unsettling “Decorado” follows a long-unemployed mouse, Arnold (Asier Hormaza), who cannot tell whether he is experiencing a debilitating episode of derealization or whether the anthropomorphic animal world he inhabits — ruled by a heartless megacorporation, filled with sorrowful magical creatures and guarded by a monstrous giant owl — is an elaborate deception waiting to be revealed. The plot is unpredictable, the characters are distinctive, and Vázquez’s uncanny ability to build a vivid world rooted in psychological distress is remarkable.
The Furious
If you ever wanted to see Xie Miao and Joe Taslim beat the living hell out of human traffickers for almost two hours, in an almost non-stop barrage of inspired and brutal fight scenes that put most other modern action movies to shame, then you have very cool taste in movies. “The Furious” hits all its targets, with an efficient storyline that’s basically just an excuse to put its heroes and villains in ludicrous scenarios where they fight to the death with ladders, bicycles, and everything else they can get their hands on. It’s one of the best fight movies in many, many, many, many years.
Hoppers
Pixar’s first 2026 release is technically original, even though it owes a lot to “Avatar,” but Daniel Chong’s animated hit is more inventive with its story than James Cameron’s increasingly tedious tales of intergalactic cat people. “Hoppers” stars Piper Curda as a teenager trying to stop a sellout politician from bulldozing a wildlife preserve. Fortunately, her kooky college professors have perfected a technology that transfers her mind into a realistic robot beaver. (Like you do.) She goes undercover in the animal world and discovers it’s a complicated social system with its own problems, and soon the story spirals in unexpected directions, with fascist bug princes downloaded into human horror bots and sharks flying down the highway to assassinate conservative politicians. Anything goes in “Hoppers.” That’s what makes it wonderful.
I Love Boosters
Boots Riley’s long-awaited followed up to “Sorry to Bother You” has all of his first masterpiece’s biting social commentary and unique, larger than life plot twists, but “I Love Boosters” has an infectiously hopeful attitude about capitalism’s despicable impact on modern life. Keke Palmer stars as a brilliant shoplifter who targets a billionaire fashion mogul’s stores, and that billionaire is a part Demi Moore was born to play. Also there’s an incubus. And a teleporter. And it only gets weirder from there. “I Love Boosters” is one of the best modern comedies, and if its clever screenplay, incredible score and unforgettable production design aren’t remembered this awards season, then these high-end fashion stores won’t be the only thing that got robbed.
Iron Lung
Online sensation Markiplier built a name for himself playing scary video games in front of a gigantic audience, so it makes sense that his first feature film finds him writing, directing and starring in an adaptation of a scary video game. And go figure, he’s amazing at it. “Iron Lung” is a surreal and claustrophobic sci-fi/horror film about a convict (Markiplier) exploring a vast alien ocean, made entirely of blood, inside a welded-shut submarine, and finding unthinkable horrors in its depths. Markiplier gets remarkable mileage out of a single rusty, humid and increasingly deteriorating location, and delivers a compelling performance as a man who may or may not deserve this terrible fate. Clocking in at more than two hours, “Iron Lung” is probably longer than necessary, but it remains a captivating debut. Despite industry pundits suggesting the film was an unexpected box office hit, we all should have seen it coming.
Is God Is
In a year with no shortage of great directorial debuts, even though we’re just six months in, Aleshea Harris’ exceptional “Is God Is” still stands out. Harris adapts her award-winning play about twin sisters, played by Kara Young and Mallori Johnson, whose mother tasks them with murdering the monstrous father that destroyed their lives. The moral implications are staggering until we find out just how bad the film’s real villain is, which suddenly makes the film’s ethics look disturbingly righteous. Young and Johnson are showstoppers, and Sterling K. Brown gives a terrifying performance as their despicable patriarch, but Harris is the superstar, bringing her brilliant words to life with an incredibly confident, playful command of cinematic language and difficult tonal shifts.
Obsession
There’s no greater on-screen monster so far this year than Bear, played by Michael Johnston, who wishes his crush would love him more than anyone else in the world. He probably didn’t think it through, but as soon as he realizes that Nikki, played by the astounding Inde Navarrette, has lost her capacity for free will he eagerly takes advantage of her anyway. Bear deserves every terrible thing that “Obsession” writer/director Curry Barker has in store for him, which manifests as a horrifying demonic possession which still, somehow, makes him feel like the real victim in all of this. Barker’s breakout hit is a mean-spirited morality tale, bolstered by impeccable cinematography and freaky editing choices. No wonder it’s a runaway success.
Project Hail Mary
Ryan Gosling! In! Space! “Project Hail Mary” sends the movie star into the farthest reaches of the universe, where he teams up with a rock extraterrestrial named Rocky (James Ortiz) to save the universe from space parasites that eat solar energy. Andy Weir’s novel makes for a great sci-fi story, with memorable characters and a series of seemingly impossible problems that can only be solved by science-ing the sh-t out of them. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, directing their first feature in twelve years, are a perfect fit for this soaring, satisfying crowd-pleaser about intelligent heroes keeping their spirits high with good humor.
The Sheep Detectives
Hugh Jackman plays a kindly shepherd who reads cozy mysteries to his flock every night, so when he dies under mysterious circumstances, it’s up to the sheep to find the killer and save the day. Kyle Balda’s smart and humorously written comedy has obvious family appeal, what with the talking sheep and many hilarious misunderstandings, but the reason “The Sheep Detectives” works is because it’s actually about life and death. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays the lead sheep detective, who learns about mortality for the first time and seriously wrestles with the implications. It’s perfect for kids, a fabulous entertainment with meaningful life lessons, and so gosh-darned clever that even the grumpiest adult will have to admit it’s a flocking great flick.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
Danny Boyle’s return to the “28 Days Later” franchise was a critically acclaimed hit last year, and Nia DaCosta’s smart, challenging follow-up continues the saga. Picking up after “28 Years Later,” “The Bone Temple” follows young Spike (Alfie Williams) as he falls in with a cult led by Jimmy (Jack O’Connell), a dangerous figure inspired in part by notorious British sex offender Jimmy Savile, once a widely celebrated television personality before the outbreak reshaped society. A doctor played by Ralph Fiennes becomes drawn into a confrontation with the cult in a story that explores themes of faith, survival and the moral consequences of rebuilding civilization after collapse.
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