Here are Cinephile Corner’s picks for the 10 best movies of 2026 so far (in alphabetical order):
Blue Heron
The very concept of memory sits at the center of Sophy Romvari’s fantastic feature-length debut Blue Heron. And not necessarily about how memory works, but more so about how it doesn’t. The vague, fuzzy recollection of specific moments in life that make up how you remember someone years and years later. Each memory may not even be specific, or concrete and absolute, but the collection of feelings coming together seemingly with duct tape to help you remember foundational people in your life who may not be with you anymore.
The Devil Wears Prada 2
The Devil Wears Prada 2 is an absolute win. Two thumbs up. One of my favorite theater experiences of 2026 and just an excellent star vehicle in general. Anne Hathaway once again acts as the perfect cipher into this world, but she’s not presented as the unfashionable newbie this time around, an element of the first film that never felt entirely believable because, well, she’s Anne Hathaway. This cuts right to the chase and clicks on all cylinders from the jump.
The Drama
Kristoffer Borgli has quickly become one of the great conceivers of hooks for films. A single-sentence elevator pitch for each of his releases is enough to generate buzz and attract high-profile talent, from everyone in the world seeing Nicholas Cage’s character in their dreams on the same night in Borgli’s delirious Dream Scenario, to his latest Zendaya and Robert Pattinson-led The Drama, about a seemingly perfect couple’s life being uprooted mere days before their wedding because of an innocent enough game of “What’s the Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done?”
Hoppers
Hoppers feels like coked-out Pixar. A zany great time, an original story with the perfect amount of heft and weight, loaded with more jokes and gonzo energy than the studio has mustered in years. One moment in particular (spoiler: the squishing of a certain insect) had my significant other audibly gasp in the theater, which has to be a first for the studio, or close to it. Hopefully, Pixar is finding a couple of new voices to bank on going forward, because Hoppers is genuinely refreshing to see.
Kontinental ’25
Radu Jude is an iconoclast and an internet troll, often at the same time. His filmography is certainly unique, and his sense of humor is so dark and so specifically his own that naming him alongside Romania’s other great auteurs, Cristi Puiu, or two-time Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu, feels almost categorically wrong. Those are somber, meticulous, realist filmmakers. Jude is something else entirely, more formally adventurous and more deliberately abrasive than nearly anyone working in international cinema right now. Which is what makes Kontinental ’25 such a surprising and genuinely moving experience. At least to me, he’s found the sweet spot.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
There are four or five moments in Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie where my brain basically short-circuited, not because the movie is confusing, but because it feels borderline impossible that it exists at this scale with this kind of scrappy, “how did they pull that off?” energy. Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol have always had a particular talent for turning cringe into momentum and turning momentum into a full-on set piece. Here, they do it on a bigger canvas without sanding down what made Nirvanna the Band the Show special in the first place.
Read our full review of Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Obsession
Curry Barker – YouTube creator turned filmmaker – has emphasized that Obsession is partly inspired by a Simpsons episode where Bart gets his hands on a monkey’s paw. Which tracks, because the film is about exactly that and essentially just that: what happens when you get one wish and that wish goes so, so horribly wrong. It’s contained at such a small, intimate scale, like a messed up Twilight Zone episode that escalates in tension and stays committed to its absurdity without overbaking any of its characters or themes.
Project Hail Mary
A tremendous amount of heart went into Project Hail Mary, and a ton of heart and sentimentality bleeds through the final product. Whether that’s a detriment for any given audience member will only be up to them. I’ve seen a few reviews note they felt they were being overworked or sold a specific tone to the point of exhaustion. But for my money, if I could have any director or pair of directors trying this sort of pop-culture-riffing, winking blockbuster with a constant tongue-in-cheek tone, I’d pick Phil Lord and Christopher Miller every single time.
The Secret Agent
The Secret Agent is not tidy. It leaves loose ends. It makes choices that are more interested in texture than clarity. But the payoff is a crime epic that feels rare in the current landscape, both serious and fun, both angry and seductive, both propulsive and reflective. Kleber Mendonça Filho turns political rot into genre electricity, and Wagner Moura anchors it with one of the best leading roles this decade. It is one of the most engaging films I have seen in years, the kind of thriller that gives you images you will carry around long after it’s over.
Sirāt
Sirāt is one of the rare “grief movies” that doesn’t just announce its themes and then ask for applause. It builds a world, then it pulls the floor out, then it keeps going anyway. It’s devastating, formally confident, and frequently breathtaking, even if it’s also a film you might only want to put yourself through once.
