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From Pixar's latest animated gem to a sci-fi epic starring Ryan Gosling, 2026 has already delivered some truly unforgettable cinema! Join us as we count down our picks for the best films of 2026 so far! Which movie has been your favorite trip to the theater this year? Let us know in the comments below!
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00:00Bear, I love you so, so, so, so, so much.
00:03I don't think I could live without you.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the best movies that saw a wide American release
00:11in the first half of 2026.
00:16Jeremy, look at me.
00:18Look at me, please.
00:21Number 10. Hoppers.
00:23So let me get this straight. You created a fake animal.
00:26Yes.
00:27Which makes the other animals think you're an animal.
00:29Yes!
00:30Whoa, you guys. This is like Avatar.
00:33Pixar strikes gold once again, and after a bit of a creative rut.
00:37When a young animal lover transfers her consciousness into a robotic beaver, the stage is set for absolute hilarity.
00:43But beneath the slapstick animal antics and beautifully rendered wilderness lies a touching narrative about environmentalism, empathy, and what it
00:50truly means to connect.
00:51She was gonna eat you!
00:53Well, yeah, she caught me. It's pawn rules.
00:55Mm-hmm.
00:55Pawn rules.
00:57Wait, I'm confused.
00:58How could you be cool with that?
01:00I mean, she's gotta eat someone.
01:02The vocal performances are top-notch, injecting heart into characters that could have easily felt like caricatures.
01:07Visually, the animation pushes boundaries, offering hyper-realistic textures juxtaposed with that cartoonish Pixar charm.
01:14Hopper seamlessly balances belly laughs for the kids with poignant existential questions for adults, proving that the legendary studio still
01:21possesses that magical spark.
01:23Humans have overrun your glade and driven its residents onto your badly overcrowded shores.
01:30Now you seek our help in reclaiming it.
01:33Do I have that right?
01:35Yes.
01:35Will you help us?
01:37No.
01:37Oh.
01:38Is that it?
01:39Can we leave?
01:40Good meeting.
01:41Sure.
01:41Number nine.
01:42Nirvana the Band, the show, the movie.
01:44You there in the stands!
01:46Do you have a show at the Rivoli?
01:48I'm actually asking that for me, actually.
01:50We don't have a show at the Rivoli.
01:51I know the answer.
01:52I know, but don't you see?
01:53So we're telling everybody to go to a show that we don't have.
01:55If you build it, they will come.
01:57How do you top a cult classic TV show?
01:59By taking your ridiculous quest to play the Rivoli straight to the big screen.
02:03Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll elevate their guerrilla-style comedy to absurd new heights in this chaotic mockumentary.
02:08Filmed on a shoestring budget with actual members of the public, the sheer audacity of their stunts is breathtaking.
02:14You alright?
02:16You alright?
02:16Get off of me!
02:17Whoa!
02:17You pushed me off the tower!
02:19What are you, crazy?
02:20I thought I was gonna die!
02:22The pacing is frantic, blending rapid-fire pop culture references with cringe-inducing public pranks.
02:28Yet beneath the chaotic exterior lies a bizarrely endearing story about friendship and delusion.
02:33It's incredibly rare to find a comedy this fiercely original and unapologetically joyful.
02:38Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie proves that the genre is still alive and well.
02:43Hi, welcome to Toronto.
02:45Come check us out at the Rivoli later.
02:47Well, we don't have a show.
02:49Well, we could be playing any day.
02:51Number 8.
02:52Send Help
02:53How long?
02:55Have you been out?
02:56Day and a half?
03:00Scared me for a minute there.
03:03But you look much better now.
03:08Sam Raimi makes a triumphant return to his gruesome roots with Send Help.
03:12Starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien, this survival thriller maroons its protagonists on a remote island.
03:18But nature is the least of their worries.
03:20Blending Raimi's signature kinetic camera work and gore with pitch-black comedy,
03:24the film constantly pulls the rug out from under you.
03:27A conch!
03:28Woohoo!
03:30I have the conch!
03:34I have the conch.
03:37I have a conch.
03:39Well, actually people call it conch, but it's conch.
03:42One moment you're laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the whole thing.
03:45The next, you're watching through your fingers as the practical effects go fully unhinged.
03:49The chemistry between the leads grounds the escalating madness.
03:52And dare we say, this might just be the best that Rachel McAdams has ever been.
03:57Send Help reminds everyone why Sam Raimi remains a legend of the macabre.
04:01Would you say you underestimated me?
04:03Yeah.
04:04I would say I gravely underestimated you.
04:07That's exactly right.
04:08Number 7.
04:09Exit 8.
04:23Have you ever felt like your daily commute is an endless loop?
04:27Director Genki Kawamura takes that universal anxiety and cranks it to 11 in this psychological nightmare.
04:33Adapted from a viral indie game, the premise is deceptively simple.
04:37Walk down a subway corridor, spot the anomalies, and try to escape.
04:53However, translating a walking simulator to the silver screen required a precise set of skills, and the filmmakers had them.
05:00The creeping dread builds not through cheap jump scares, but via subtle and unsettling shifts in the environment.
05:06It's a claustrophobic exercise in paranoia that turns a mundane public transit station into an inescapable purgatory.
05:27Number 6.
05:28Is God Is.
05:29Their mother, Angie, is doing exactly what she's always done.
05:33Wiping and dusting and polishing and scrubbing every inch of their very nice house exactly the way he likes it.
05:39Brace yourself for an odyssey of vengeance
05:42Based on the acclaimed stage play
05:44This adaptation follows twin sisters
05:46Who embark on a violent cross-country crusade
05:48To kill their father
05:49Per their dying mother's final request
05:50Director Alicia Harris
05:52Translates her own work to film
05:53With staggering flair
05:55Utilizing an inventive score
05:56And a southern gothic aesthetic
05:58Girls, I'm gonna make this real simple
06:02Make your daddy dead
06:05Real dead
06:06The dialogue crackles with dark humor
06:09And poetic rhythm
06:10Delivered flawlessly by Carrie Young
06:11And Mallory Johnson
06:12In star-making performances
06:14It also subverts every known trope
06:16Of the revenge genre
06:17Offering instead an exploration
06:19Of generational trauma
06:20Drenched in stylized gore
06:22Visceral, tragic, and undeniably cool
06:25This modern myth grabs you
06:26By the throat immediately
06:35Number 5
06:36Obsession
06:37If she means this much to you
06:38And I know she does
06:41Say, Nikki
06:43I think we should grab a drink sometime
06:45If 2026 proves anything
06:47It's that general audiences
06:49Are hungry for original ideas
06:51Especially if it's horror
06:52And directed by YouTubers
06:54Made by YouTube sketch comedian
06:56Curry Barker
06:56In his directorial debut
06:58Obsession is arguably
06:59The surprise hit of 2026 so far
07:07Made for less than a million dollars
07:10It became a bona fide cultural phenomenon
07:12Based purely on strong word of mouth
07:14It's like the Blair Witch Project
07:16Of the modern day
07:16The movie takes a familiar concept
07:18And twists it in many unique
07:20And imaginative ways
07:21Proving that Curry Barker
07:22Is already a master of his craft
07:24But best of all
07:25Is Indie Navarrete
07:26Whose gloriously unhinged performance
07:28Helped make Obsession a sleeper hit
07:30No
07:31No
07:32No
07:34What?
07:35No
07:35No
07:36No
07:37No
07:37No
07:38No
07:39No
07:39No
07:39Don't do it!
07:41Number 4
07:4228 years later
07:43The Bone Temple
07:44What are you doing here?
07:48Uh
07:51Enjoying the hospitality of good folk
07:54We a group of wanderers
07:56Hungry and tired
07:58Brought in
07:59With open arms and broad smiles
08:01And nourished
08:02Brought in
08:05You broke my flow
08:06Following up Danny Boyle
08:08Is no easy task
08:09But Nia DaCosta delivers a sequel
08:11That is even more disturbing
08:12And disgusting
08:13The Bone Temple
08:14Is a direct continuation
08:15Of 28 years later
08:16Following young Spike
08:17As he encounters a cult of psychopaths
08:19As always
08:20The uninfected humans
08:22Remain the most dangerous monsters
08:23On the screen
08:24And you shall have seven fingers
08:26And each finger shall be a claw
08:28And you shall offer charity
08:30To the world of man
08:31And for this
08:32You alone
08:34Shall be my heir
08:36And your seven fingers
08:37Shall hold
08:38Your
08:39Crown
08:42How's that?
08:43Jack O'Connell is wild
08:45As Lord Jimmy Crystal
08:46The leader of the cult
08:47And the violence throughout
08:48Is genuinely horrific
08:50That barn sequence
08:51Will stick with us
08:52For a long
08:53Long time
08:54Ralph Fiennes
08:55Is also terrific
08:56As Ian Kelson
08:56Who provides one of the
08:58Wildest climaxes
08:59In recent horror
09:00It won't be for everyone
09:01Especially those
09:02Who want a traditional
09:03Zombie movie
09:04But those willing
09:05To engage with it
09:06Will find plenty to enjoy
09:07I'm in a bit of a bind
09:09Ian
09:10Why is that?
09:13The others
09:14My peeps
09:15I told them that
09:16You were old neck
09:17But you aren't
09:18And now they're expecting
09:19To meet you
09:20I see
09:21You're in a bit of a bind too
09:25How so?
09:26Because if you can't help me
09:27With my problem
09:29I'm going to force feed you
09:30Your own intestines
09:31Until you can no longer breathe
09:32Number 3
09:33Blue Heron
09:34Who is that?
09:35Jason
09:36He wanted to let us know
09:37That our son is dead
09:39On the front step
09:39I told him not to worry
09:41He will come back to life soon
09:42Here we come to
09:44What is arguably
09:45The intimate masterpiece
09:46Of 2026
09:47This beautiful movie
09:48From Sophie Ramvari
09:49Is centered on memory
09:50And grief
09:51And it takes viewers
09:52On a hauntingly
09:53Subjective journey
09:53Instead of spoon feeding
09:55The narrative
09:55Blue Heron demands
09:56Your active participation
09:58In the text
09:58And asks you
09:59To piece together
10:00Fragments of a fractured past
10:01He doesn't want
10:03To listen to anybody
10:04Stop it
10:05Talk to me
10:06Hey
10:06Talk to me
10:08Its unique narrative structure
10:09Highlights the very act
10:11Of memory reconstruction
10:12The cinematography
10:13Is achingly gorgeous
10:14And critics have
10:15Rightfully highlighted
10:16The movie's
10:16Deeply personal resonance
10:18Making it an early contender
10:19For award season
10:20While it might lack
10:21The spectacle
10:22Of a crowd-pleasing blockbuster
10:24Its emotional payload
10:25Is entirely unmatched
10:26Have you ever heard
10:29About a family like this
10:31Number 2
10:32Backrooms
10:33I found something
10:36In the store
10:37Okay
10:40What did you find?
10:41The internet's most infamous
10:43Creepypasta
10:44Finally gets the blockbuster
10:45Treatment it deserves
10:46Courtesy of A24
10:47And Kane Parsons
10:48Tapping into our collective
10:50Fear of liminal spaces
10:51Backrooms traps us
10:52In an endless maze
10:53Of damp yellow hallways
10:54And humming fluorescent lights
10:56Hello?
11:00Good thing
11:02Anyone there?
11:03Unlike typical monster movies
11:05The true villain here
11:06Is the architecture itself
11:08The agonizingly slow
11:09Tracking shots
11:10And found footage aesthetic
11:11Make the horror feel
11:13Uncomfortably tangible
11:14And the production design
11:15Is wonderfully creative
11:16It's a grueling
11:18Sensory depriving nightmare
11:19That redefines
11:20Modern cosmic dread
11:21And it has rightfully
11:23Staked its status
11:24As one of the year's
11:25Defining films
11:26Alright, you feel me?
11:27Yeah
11:28Follow my lead
11:29Clark, what is this?
11:30That's what I'm trying
11:31To figure out
11:33Before we continue
11:34Be sure to check out
11:35WatchMojo's 24-hour live stream
11:37All of your favorite videos
11:38In one place
11:3924-7
11:40Always on
11:41Always live
11:42Are you not entertained?
11:57Taking the top spot
11:59Is a science fiction film
12:00That effortlessly balances
12:01Hard science with humor
12:03And crowd-pleasing emotion
12:04Ryan Gosling stars
12:05As an astronaut with amnesia
12:07Who wakes up
12:08Light years from Earth
12:09Tasked with saving humanity
12:10From a star-eating organism
12:12And then he meets an alien
12:14So, uh
12:16I met an alien
12:18And we're learning to communicate
12:20Let's do names
12:23Okay, let's start with you
12:24Rocky
12:34You done?
12:36Directors Phil Lord
12:37And Chris Miller
12:38Somehow wrangle
12:39Andy Weir's complex
12:40Physics-heavy novel
12:41Into a thrilling
12:42And accessible blockbuster
12:43The visual effects
12:44Are breathtaking
12:45And the editing
12:46Is both rapid
12:47And engaging
12:47Yet the core of the film
12:49Is a beautiful
12:50Buddy comedy dynamic
12:51That yields some of the most
12:52Moving scenes of the year
12:53And it's all thanks
12:54To Gosling's
12:55Sublime one-man performance
12:56It's an optimistic
12:57Celebration of intelligence
12:59And cooperation
13:00Proving that
13:00Big-budget cinema
13:01Can still be
13:02Exceptionally smart
13:03Rocky watch crew die
13:07Could not fix
13:09Grace say
13:10Grace will die
13:12Rocky fix
13:13What movies did we forget?
13:14Let us know in the comments
13:16beowe's In
13:16the comments Thanks
13:18We'll
13:18be right back to you
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