The best new films of 2026 – and what to look forward to

Robbie CollinFri, May 1, 2026 at 6:01 AM UTC

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Look who’s back: Meryl Streep returns in The Devil Wears Prada 2 - Macall Polay/20th Century Studios

No year is a bad one for cinema: you just have to know where the good stuff’s kept. And while at this juncture it’s still hard to predict what the greatest films of 2026 will turn out to be, we suspect at least some will be found among the titles below.

Blockbusters hopeful and guaranteed, festival favourites making their theatrical bow, even a couple of wild cards: there’s almost definitely something for everyone here. Our critics, Robbie Collin and Tim Robey, recommend the best films they’ve seen so far this year and cast their eyes over the most promising releases.

This article is weekly.

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The best films of the year so farThe Devil Wears Prada 2

Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly is back, still in charge of Runway magazine and in possession of a pursed lip that can crush an intern at 30 paces. David Frankel’s glossy and sophisticated sequel to his 2006 workplace comedy – which also reunites Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci – may feel like a millennial nostalgia fest. But with a script this deft, and performances so perfectly pitched, it’s impossible to resist.

Rose of Nevada

In this entrancingly gnarled and knotty film, two young fishermen, played by a beefily weatherbeaten George MacKay and Callum Turner, find themselves arriving home after a short spell at sea to a harbour village very different from the one they left. Their error was boarding the Rose of Nevada: a handsome vessel which vanished three decades ago, but has inexplicably turned up, moored to the dock. Having brought a distinctive Cornish tang to the world of folk horror in 2022’s Enys Men, Mark Jenkin here sidesteps into a micro-genre rarely seen since the spooky heyday of Nigel Kneale: folk sci-fi.

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy

It’s been a while since a horror film came along that left you genuinely fearful for the spiritual wellbeing of all involved. So three cheers – I think – for Lee Cronin’s The Mummy: a bracingly nasty modern take on the Egyptian resurrected corpse tale, which itself feels as if it exists only because somebody, somewhere prised the lid off the wrong sarcophagus. Grave-faced Jack Reynor and Laia Costa star as Charlie and Larissa Cannon, whose eldest daughter Katie (Natalie Grace) is abducted in Cairo – then turns up eight years later looking more than a little cadaverous.

The Stranger

The Stranger is two dreamlike, black-and-white hours of murder, sex and existential brooding on the Algerian coast: it’s the Frenchest film I’ve seen in years. Directed and written by François Ozon, of Swimming Pool, it’s a spellbindingly sleek and allusive adaptation of L’Etranger, the Albert Camus novel about a young French settler – Meursault – in 1930s Algiers who stands trial for killing an Arab without apparent motive.

Project Hail Mary

If anyone can save the world from an imminent Ice Age, it’s Ryan Gosling - Jonathan Olley

If a new science-fiction film strongly reminds you of a handful of others, how much of a problem is it when those others are among the best things the genre’s done in 25 years? When it comes to the zippy yet nourishing Project Hail Mary, in which Ryan Gosling teams up with a cute, affable alien to save their respective home planets from an impending ice age, I’m tempted to say it’s no problem at all. Directed byThe Lego Movie’s Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, this adaptation of a 2021 Andy Weir novel is essentially Interstellar recast as a buddy movie – a majestically mounted, existentially inclined space-faring epic that also makes you think from time to time of Midnight Run.

In cinemas now

Hoppers

Hoppers sees an animal-loving teen electronically transplant her consciousness into a robotic beaver - Alamy

It’s hard to shake the sense that Pixar is a studio encumbered by its past successes – and with Inside Out 2 taking $1.7bn and Toy Story 5 due in three months, that may not change any time soon. But the fuzzily beguiling Hoppers suggests that it could. An antic tale of a teenage eco-crusader who transfers her consciousness into a cyborg beaver, then sparks an animal uprising against a motorway development, it’s their first theatrical release since 2020’s Onward to count as required family viewing, because its artistry and storytelling feel so enjoyably fresh.

In cinemas now

The Testament of Ann Lee

Goodness knows we’ve had our fill of feral 18th-century folk musicals about fundamentalist Christian sects, featuring Mamma Mia! alumni in all-panting, all-vibrating lead roles. But Mona Fastvold, the co-writer of Oscar-winning The Brutalist, has seen fit to throw another on the pile. Of course I’m being glib. One of the many pleasures of watching Fastvold’s ravishingly staged and thrillingly ambitious The Testament of Ann Lee (which she wrote with her husband, Brady Corbet, The Brutalist’s director) is knowing that after unearthing Ann Lee’s story she must have thought to herself: yes, this should be a movie, and one with song-and-dance numbers to boot.

Available to rent or buy on Prime Video, Sky Store and Apple TV

Wuthering Heights

You could never accuse Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights of being a faithful adaptation of Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel – but then fidelity doesn’t appear to be remotely of interest to it. Resplendently lurid, oozy and wild, the new film from the director of Saltburn and Promising Young Woman is fixated on its central illicit affair, as conducted by Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, to the exclusion of almost all else. It’s an obsessive film about obsession, and hungrily embroils the viewer in its own mad compulsions.

In cinemas now

Crime 101

Crime 101 is a compulsive cops-and-robbers yarn for adults, set in a universe closely adjacent to Michael Mann’s Heat. Chris Hemsworth (rarely better) heads the top-notch cast as a De Niro-esque jewel thief named Mike. He flies under the radar but is paranoid about every hair on his head that might give him away to forensics.

Where to watch: Prime Video

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Rose Byrne has notched up multiple nominations and won a Golden Globe for her best-ever performance as a phenomenally stressed mother in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. If Jessie Buckley wasn’t cleaning up for Hamnet, Byrne would probably clinch the Oscar too. But this comedy-drama with a surrealist edge is more than strong enough to be worthy of praise beyond Byrne.

In cinemas now

Hamnet

The loss of a child, and what lies before and beyond, is the tough but rewarding subject of this early awards-season favourite, sensitively adapted by Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) and the writer Maggie O’Farrell from the latter’s acclaimed 2020 novel. As admirers of the book already know, the couple wrestling with the death are William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway: they’re played by bright young Irish things Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, who are packing more can’t-tear-your-eyes-away allure than ever.

Available to rent or buy on Prime Video, Sky Store and Apple TV

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

The Britain of Alex Garland’s 28 Years Later films might have been infested by man-eating zombies since 2002, but its handful of surviving centrist dads are still valiantly keeping the Blairite flame alive. Foremost among them – and the de facto star of this grimmer, grimier second chapter – is Ralph Fiennes’s Dr Ian Kelson, a former GP who’s either gone completely mad or is the only sane man within a hundred miles.

Available to rent or buy on Prime Video, Sky Store and Apple TV

No Other Choice

In this deviously fun farce from Oldboy’s Park Chan-wook, the job market in modern-day South Korea is murder. Or at least, that’s true of the corner that now contains You Man-su (Squid Game’s Lee Byung-hun), the former manager of a paper mill whose American owners have just laid off a swathe of their domestic workforce, including him. On spotting a plum new vacancy in an industry that’s shrinking with every email sent, this devoted husband, father and owner of two adorable golden retrievers decides to improve his odds by taking his late father-in-law’s vintage wartime pistol off the mantelpiece and, well, thinning out his competition for the role in advance.

Where to watch: Mubi

H is for Hawk

If you wanted to be glib, you could describe H Is for Hawk – a warm yet pensive adaptation of Helen Macdonald’s 2014 memoir, in which the author comes to terms with the death of her father by adopting a goshawk – as Kes for Gail’s bakery customers. But while that wouldn’t be entirely wide of the mark, it would also undersell the strain of crunchily autumnal magic that runs through Philippa Lowthorpe’s film, kindled in no small part by its two lovely lead performances – arguably three, if you count the bird’s.

Available to rent or buy on Prime Video, Sky Store and Apple TV

Coming upThe Devil Wears Prada 2

Much has changed in 20 years. Take the decline of print media, which is threatening to make Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly look like a dinosaur, just as her old assistant (the one Emily Blunt played) is becoming her arch-rival. Never fear, Anne Hathaway’s Andy is back too, and Stanley Tucci’s long-suffering Nigel, of course. We know little else except that they’re all on board, with the same director (David Frankel) as last time – and Aline Brosh McKenna’s new script is only loosely based on the second book by Lauren Weisberger, which was critically panned.

In cinemas from May 1

The Mandalorian & Grogu

Star Wars may have retreated to streaming after the 2019 release of The Rise of Skywalker, but the franchise’s two biggest small-screen stars are about to bring it back to cinemas. Pedro Pascal and the most adorable puppet since Gizmo return as the titular heroes, whose bounty-hunting and Force-toting skillset bring them to the attention of Sigourney Weaver’s ex-Rebel pilot. Old alien favourites are sure to feature, along with some new ones including Rotta the Hutt – AKA Jabba Jr – who is played (presumably via motion-capture) by The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White.

In cinemas from May 22

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Masters of the Universe

The ubiquitous Nicholas Galitzine will play He-Man in Masters of the Universe

The last live-action He-Man film, also called Masters of the Universe, was a hefty flop in 1987, even if it has an ardent cult following now. MGM will want to harness the power of Grayskull, big-time, to get this pricey new franchise off the ground. British star Nicholas Galitzine – who has become ubiquitous with recent roles as Anne Hathaway’s love interest in The Idea of You and Julianne Moore’s son in Mary and George – will be our sword-wielding hero, with Jared Leto as his bony nemesis, Skeletor.

In cinemas from June 5

Disclosure Day

Science-fiction has been a constant in Steven Spielberg’s career, but his latest foray into the genre looks like a welcome return to Close Encounters’ eerie terrain. Written by David Koepp, of numerous Spielberg treats past, including Jurassic Park and War of the Worlds, it’s an entirely original story in which Emily Blunt’s Kansas City newsreader becomes some sort of communications conduit for extraterrestrial forces. Josh O’Connor is the conspiracist who saw it all coming; Colin Firth the technologist who may or may not have been covering it up.

In cinemas from June 12

Toy Story 5

We all thought we were done after Toy Story 3. It had the perfect ending (Quentin Tarantino agreed) and the fourth film – let’s face it – was fine, without being in the same league as that peerless trilogy. One of Pixar’s brightest sparks, Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) has been entrusted with writing and directing a fifth one, which revolves around the new obsession of eight-year-old Bonnie – a smart tablet called Lilypad, voiced by Greta Lee, which schemes to make the original toys obsolete.

In cinemas from June 19

Supergirl

True Grit might sound like an unlikely template for a superhero movie, but the premise of this second instalment in James Gunn’s new DC universe rings a few classic Western bells. Milly Alcock (House of the Dragon), who was first introduced in last year’s Superman, stars as his cousin Kara Zor-El (aka Supergirl). The Kryptonian party girl embarks on a pan-galactic trek with young alien Ruthye Marye Knoll (The Witcher’s Eve Ridley) to bring the killer of the latter’s father, a barbarian called Krem, to justice. Might Jason Momoa’s grizzled bounty hunter Lobo be their Rooster Cogburn?

In cinemas from June 26

Moana

Disney were never going to hold back at the live-action-remake game, when a recent hit as electrifying as Moana was there to be milked. Large chunks of the trailer are practically indistinguishable from the animated version, until we get a close-up of our heroine, played in her acting debut by Samoan-Australian Catherine Laga’aia. It will be a boon to the film’s profitability that Dwayne Johnson reprises his role as the demigod Maui, having voiced him in the original. It’s sure to be a smash, even if novelty is not exactly bursting forth.

In cinemas from July 10

The Odyssey

Despite the superficially outlandish premises of Inception and Tenet, Christopher Nolan is a deeply rationalist filmmaker – so what on earth is he going to make of Homeric myth? A giant CGI monster brawl sounds unlike him, but the Cyclops, Polyphemus, the sirens and more will all appear, harrying a preposterously stacked ensemble cast which features Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and Mia Goth. Shot around the world on Nolan’s beloved Imax cameras, this may prove to be 2026’s defining you-have-to-see-it-in-cinemas release.

In cinemas from July 17

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Filming of Spider-Man: Brand New Day in Glasgow city centre - Alamy

Even the stylish soft reset of 2025’s Fantastic Four: First Steps couldn’t get Marvel back onto an even keel, so it falls to Tom Holland’s perky web-slinger and Zendaya’s MJ to right the ship before the next Avengers film comes in December. Of the plot little is known, but the cast list suggests a warm-up lap for the coming ensemble blow-out. Old faces like Jon Bernthal’s Punisher and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk will all report for duty, alongside newcomers Sadie Sink of Stranger Things and Severance’s Tramell Tillman.

In cinemas from July 31

Flowervale Street

Director jail can be brutal, as David Robert Mitchell can doubtless attest. But eight years since the bombing of his divisive neo-noir masterpiece Under the Silver Lake, the mind behind It Follows is back with a retro-adventure film. Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor live in a 1980s suburban idyll until they wake up one morning to find they have been transported back to the Mesozoic era when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Produced by JJ Abrams, it sounds like Super 8 with a Jurassic Park twist.

In cinemas from August 14

The Dog Stars

For the 88-year-old Ridley Scott, downtime is clearly for weaklings. The indefatigable blockbuster auteur returns barely 18 months after Gladiator II with this post-apocalyptic sci-fi epic, adapted from a 2012 Peter Heller novel, and shot by David Fincher’s new regular cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt. Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin star as two survivors of a deadly pandemic who follow a mysterious radio signal into the wilderness in search of further company. Humanity’s remnants include Margaret Qualley, Benedict Wong and Guy Pearce.

In cinemas from August 28

Sense and Sensibility

The 1995 Ang Lee take with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet is an undisputed classic, but if you were going to make another adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel, Georgia Oakley would be one of the filmmakers you’d pick. The writer and director of 2022’s Blue Jean has assembled a tremendous cast, including Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, George MacKay as Edward Ferrars – and, as the dastardly Willoughby, The Essex Serpent’s Frank Dillane.

In cinemas from September 25

Digger

“A comedy of catastrophic proportions” is how the cryptic first trailer bills Tom Cruise’s first post-Mission: Impossible project, as the star performs Tai Chi with a shovel on the seafront. What else do we know? Only that the director is Birdman and The Revenant’s Alejandro González Iñárritu – and that Cruise’s character, Digger Rockwell, is “the most powerful man in the world,” and triggers some sort of disaster from which he subsequently vows to save humankind. Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed and John Goodman are among the ensemble.

Release date to be confirmed

The Social Reckoning

Jesse Eisenberg couldn’t be lured back to play Mark Zuckerberg again for this sequel to The Social Network; nor could David Fincher in the director’s chair. But Aaron Sorkin has pushed it through as a writer-director, and cast Succession’s Jeremy Strong – who’s very much on a roll with big parts in the recent Trump and Springsteen biopics – as the Facebook co-founder. It will focus on the 2021 leak that revealed the social media company was prioritising profit over mental health concerns, with a key role for Anora’s Mikey Madison as Frances Haugen, the whistleblower who came to rue Zuckerberg’s broken promises around “civic integrity”.

In cinemas from October 9

Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew

Greta Gerwig’s follow-up to Barbie as a writer-director is not, refreshingly, a redo of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – yet. Instead, it will tackle the sixth novel in the series, which is a prequel that covers the creation of Narnia. It traces the origin of the White Witch, with Emma Mackey as, if you like, a younger Tilda Swinton, alongside two relative newcomers as the children, Polly and Digory, who release her by mistake into the real world. A $200m Netflix budget will, we hope, let Gerwig (who also wrote and directed Lady Bird and the 2019 adaptation of Little Women) unleash her full imaginative bravura. Carey Mulligan co-stars as Digory’s gravely ill mother, Mabel.

In cinemas from November 26, on Netflix from December 25

Focker-in-Law

Yes, it’s Meet the Parents 4 – a whole 16 years since the last one, Little Fockers. The plot is expected to mirror the very first film, with Ben Stiller now as the disapproving dad whose son drops a nuptial bombshell, and Robert De Niro a presumably truculent grandpa making matters very much worse. Ariana Grande has a role in it, though no one is exactly sure who she’s playing, and original co-writer John Hamburg (I Love You, Man) is at the helm.

Release date to be confirmed

Dune: Part Three

Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides in Dune part one - Alamy

Denis Villeneuve’s epic Dune project carries on past the end of Frank Herbert’s original novel and into the sequel, the much shorter Dune Messiah. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), now Emperor, has unleashed a religious war in his efforts to save his followers, the Fremen. In the book, 61 billion people have died as a result. Conspiracies to dethrone him are rife, giving the final film in the trilogy an enticingly deadly hook. Indeed, this study of power and its horrific consequences may shape up as the gloomiest blockbuster of our era.

In cinemas from December 18

Avengers: Doomsday

If the last half-decade of Marvel series and films have felt a little aimless at times, this is allegedly what it was all building towards: another ensemble extravaganza with a credits reel that makes Avengers: Endgame’s look like Waiting for Godot. Robert Downey Jr trades his Iron Man armour for the metal mask and green cape of Doctor Doom, who’ll take on at least 26 heroes of various vintages, dating back to the Patrick Stewart/Ian McKellen X-Men days.

In cinemas from December 18

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