Cinematically speaking, 2026 has gotten off to, arguably, the most blazing hot start since the pre-pandemic glory days, both critically and at the box office. And for once, the vibe matches the receipts. It’s been a wild year at the movies so far.
A $750,000 horror movie shot in 20 days is currently one of the biggest box office stories of the decade. A Spielberg sci-fi just sent Twitter into collective therapy. The first Star Wars film in seven years landed with a mixed critical reception and a weirdly devoted audience. And somehow, in the middle of all that, the Wayans brothers came back. It has been a lot.
At MEDIA HYPE, we’ve been in our seats for all of it.
Image: Marvel
The 2026 Must-Watch List:
Straight up: this list is not Rotten Tomatoes. It is not a weighted algorithm. It is the product of watching all of these films.
Films must have had a wide theatrical or major streaming release in 2026 to qualify. Limited releases and festival runs that haven’t landed for general audiences yet are not on this list.
#15 — The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026)
Verdict: Watch in theatres (for the fans) / Stream it (for everyone else) /6/10
After a seven-year drought, Star Wars is back on the big screen. But is it a worthy return? The answer in short is meh. The film received mixed reviews, with critics praising the score, while criticizing the plot, visuals, and action sequences. Critics gave the film a 64% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though audiences were more receptive, giving it an 88% audience score. It is the first Star Wars movie in seven years — since 2019’s saga-concluding billion-dollar tentpole The Rise of Skywalker. Pedro Pascal is exactly as charming as you need him to be, the Grogu sequences are engineered to make you feel things you’re not ready to feel, and the film works as a breezy adventure. What it doesn’t work as is a genuinely great movie. Can we please acknowledge the sheer bungling in adapting a streaming series for the big screen? This feels like a very expensive Disney+ episode with better catering. Fans will leave satisfied. Everyone else will wonder if Star Wars has anything surprising left to say. Check out our full Mandalorian and Grogu review for the complete verdict.
#14 — The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)
Verdict: Stream it / 8/10
The sequel nobody asked for that turned out to be… fine? Better than fine, actually. It’s a genuine surprise that The Devil Wears Prada 2 is actually good, and about on the same level as the original. Twenty years after making their iconic turns as Miranda, Andy, Emily and Nigel, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci return to the fashionable streets of New York City and the sleek offices of Runway Magazine. This follow-up to the 2006 Meryl Streep-Anne Hathaway buddy fashion comedy nods to the real world in interesting ways — fast fashion, corporate restructuring, the implosion of journalism — while still remaining charmingly light on its Gucci-clad feet. Meryl Streep still wears Miranda Priestly like a finely-tailored suit in this sinfully enjoyable sequel, which is dressed to the nines in off-the-rack wish fulfillment and some trenchant observations about the state of modern media. The middle sags, Lady Gaga’s cameo is fun. Our full Devil Wears Prada 2 review has all the details.
#13 — Send Help (2026)
Verdict: 7/10
Sam Raimi returning to horror-comedy is the crossover event the genre desperately needed. After Sam Raimi followed his nine-year break from directing movies with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the director returned to his horror-comedy roots with Send Help. The delightful survival thriller features some of the career-best work from both stars, Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien. Raimi brought his trademark style, including inventive camera work and a giddy joy toward showing carnage, to an excellent script. Send Help was an original film that audiences gravitated to, and it’s still one of the highlights of the year, five months after its release. It is unhinged in the best possible way. If you’ve been waiting for a film that makes you flinch and cackle within the same ten-second window, this is the one.
#12 — Scary Movie 6 (2026)
Verdict: 7/10
Scary Movie 6 doesn’t reinvent the game but serves as a fun trip down memory lane. When the movie works, it really works. There are a handful of genuine, laugh-out-loud moments that capture the chaotic magic of the original trilogy. The film is at its peak when it takes sharp, absurd swings at recent horror trends, along with tongue-in-cheek moments on current polticial times.
#11 — Masters of The Universe (2026)
Verdict: See it in cinemas! 8/10
What makes the recent Masters of the Universe film such a surprising triumph is its brilliant balancing act: it is a movie that possesses the rare confidence to laugh at its own inherently campy mythology, while still retaining the narrative power to deliver a truly meaningful message about what makes a man genuinely strong. Rather than just celebrating raw, physical muscle, the film redefines power by showing that He-Man’s true strength doesn’t come from a magical sword, but from vulnerability, empathy, and the courage to protect others—resulting in a rare blockbuster that manages to be both delightfully fun and genuinely inspiring.
#10 — 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)
Verdict: 7.5/10
Nia DaCosta picked up this franchise and immediately ran somewhere nobody expected. DaCosta elevates the franchise with richer themes, stronger performances, and some of the year’s most memorable dramatic moments. Far better than the rather mediocre return to the franchise, this is elevated by two bravura performances from Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell as they battle for the soul of the story’s young protagonist. Taking the reins of Danny Boyle’s zombie franchise, Nia DaCosta turns down the ruminations on grief, amps up the gore and cranks the Iron Maiden, delivering a brutally entertaining sequel. Arriving just six months after its predecessor, the focus shifts to its two most compelling characters: Jack O’Connell’s malevolent cult leader and Ralph Fiennes’ iodine-slathered doctor. It’s divisive, it’s bleak, it has the needle drop of the year. You will not be emotionally prepared. That’s the point.
#9 Scream 7
Verdict: 6/10
Ultimately, Scream 7 isn’t a total disaster, but it completely lacks the sharp meta-commentary and genuine surprises that once defined the franchise. It plays the hits, checks the boxes, and delivers a highly convoluted, underwhelming killer reveal that will leave you shrugging. It’s a decent enough popcorn flick for a Friday night, but in a series known for subverting expectations, being “just okay” feels like the biggest disappointment of all.
#8 — The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Verdict: 7/10
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie lands right in the comfortable middle. It lacks the emotional depth of top-tier modern animation, but it makes up for it with sheer enthusiasm, gorgeous visuals, and pure Nintendo charm.
#7 — Wuthering Heights
Verdict: 8/10
Wuthering Heights doesn’t ask you to like its characters; it demands that you watch them consume one another. One of the most thrilling, talked-about films of the year.
#6 — Toy Story 5
Verdict: 8/10
Toy Story 5 pulls off the trick most legacy sequels miss. It gives you the comfort of returning characters, smart new additions and a big nod to the past,. More importantly, it understands that today’s kids are not growing up in the same world Andy/Millenials did and builds a whole story around that tension.
#5 — Michael
Verdict: Watch in theatres / 8.5/10
The film will take you on a journey down memory lane, inviting you to sing along to those timeless songs and relive the thrill of watching Michael Jackson light up the stage. The incredible performances will surely remind you of the magic that made him the king of pop. You’ll find yourself moonwalking back to cherished memories as you leave the cinema! This is a nostalgic experience that everyone should savor.
#4 — Project Hail Mary (2026)
Verdict: Watch in theatres / 8/10
On Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus reads: “A visually dazzling space odyssey that’s carried along effortlessly by the gravitational… pull of Ryan Gosling at his most winning.” That last bit is the key. Project Hail Mary is the type of movie that theaters have been lacking for quite some time: a heady sci-fi saga and an irreverent buddy comedy, stuffed with hijinks that keep the film moving at the speed of light. Lord and Miller are some of the most naturally funny filmmakers currently working. Where Ridley Scott’s The Martian is a sci-fi drama with occasional moments of levity, Project Hail Mary is more like an intergalactic Odd Couple, or Planes, Trains and Automobiles on a cosmic scale. With a record-breaking $140.9 million worldwide opening weekend, the sci-fi super sleeper scored the biggest March opening for a non-franchise film. Rocky the alien is the best screen companion since Wilson the volleyball. You will cry. We are all crying. This is fine.
#3— Disclosure Day (2026)
Verdict: Watch in theatres / 8.5/10
Spielberg is back and he came to remind you what blockbusters are supposed to feel like. Disclosure Day is a movie that reminds viewers that blockbusters can be morally and thematically complex while they’re entertaining the hell out of you. The film stars Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor and explores what might happen if humanity received proof we are not alone. Critics called it “a dense roller coaster ride blending chase film, love story, and mystery, all wrapped in sci-fi wonder” and declared it Spielberg’s best film in 20 years, “filled with all the magic that makes his films so special, plus an all-time character/performance by Emily Blunt.” The John Williams score will live rent-free in your head for weeks. The third act polarizes — some found it too sentimental, sentimentality does ultimately overwhelm the finale, when the movie strains to bring its characters and indeed all of humanity together, making a third-act lurch toward catharsis — but getting there is an absolute ride. Our full Disclosure Day review breaks down everything from the Emily Blunt performance to that climactic sequence.
#2 — The Drama
Verdict: 8/10
What makes The Drama stand out as comfortably the second-best film of the year so far is the sheer, uncompromising depth with which it explores just how far love can go when pushed to its absolute limits. Rather than delivering a conventional, idealized romance, the film serves as a brilliant, hauntingly beautiful examination of devotion, mapping the extreme lengths to which human beings will go to protect, preserve, and fight for the people they care about.
#1 — Obsession (2026)
Verdict: Watch in theatres / 8/10
The internet was not lying when it told you to watch this one. Curry Barker, a 26-year-old YouTuber-turned-filmmaker, made his horror film Obsession in just 20 days on a mere $750,000 budget. As of June 19, 2026, it has grossed a worldwide total of $333.3 million. That number keeps climbing. The premise is deceptively simple: a guy uses a supernatural wish to make his crush fall in love with him, and then watches in horror as that wish spirals into something monstrous. Like all phenomenal horror, the key is how it highlights real ills in society. Like a romcom that goes majorly off the rails, Obsession picks away at the darkest side of infatuation in icky, unsettling and often hilarious style. Critics drew comparisons to Zach Cregger’s Barbarian, pointing to the film’s sharp combination of sadistic tension, darkly comedic needle drops, and horror rooted in pathetically recognizable human behaviour. This is a film about how men relate to women’s autonomy. It’s also just terrifying. Read our full Obsession review if you want the deep dive before committing.
We’ll be updating this list throughout the year — Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, and more are all incoming. The second half of 2026 is stacked, and we’ve got every frame covered.
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