A month later than planned: a continuation of my top films from 2026.
Unlike last year’s mid-year dip, there’s been some excellent movies as 2026 has gone through a hot summer and into a damper winter (here in the UK). I’ve now got candidates for the scariest and funniest films of 2026 – see below for more!
So, here’s my 4 top films from the year’s mid-point:
OBSESSION: Barker’s Horror Debut Is A Terrifying Tour de Force.
Director: Curry Barker / Screenplay: Curry Barker
Although its premise is surprisingly simple, Curry Barker’s theatrical debut uses it to deliver one of the most palpitatingly disturbing yet also insightful horror movies of the last few years. Unexpectedly rounding on its supposed victim, the writer-director exposes the entitlement and selfishness of the ‘nice guy’ stereotype.
Shy guy ‘Bear’ Bailey (Michael Johnston) has romantic feelings for his friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) but struggles to express them. One night, he decides to buy a novelty toy that will grant the user one wish when broken. In a pique of frustration, he wishes for Nikki to love him above all else. But this wish becomes a nightmare when her sudden devotion turns erratic. By degrees, her obsessive behaviour becomes more alarming, and Bear’s life begins to fall apart.
While its dimly lit, ‘80s-vintage horror aesthetic and suburban setting are reminiscent of Weapons (2025) and Longlegs (2024), Obsession makes those recent horror flicks look silly. Despite being in similar occult territory, both of those films crash out on ridiculously conceived villains and their dark powers. This time, the ‘hokey’ occult object granting a dark wish is a familiar, perhaps even tedious, trope, but its implications are used to startlingly revealing effect. Barker depicts not only the hysterical limits of obsessive behaviour – its utter self-delusion and ultimate self-destruction – but also the psychology of someone who’d make such a wish.
Navarrette and Johnston accomplish something rare in a genre that often treats its characters as foul or fodder: empathy and understanding. For all the fear her unpredictable performance generates, Navarrette also draws out the pitiable position that her accursed character is in. Not so much pity is on hand for Johnston’s anti-hero, who, despite all he must endure, never loses that unsympathetic self-pity that causes so much harm for everyone around him.
While Obsession occasionally droops into the typical (shadowy figures, mutilated animals, monstrous and uncanny movements), the telegraphing of inevitable atrocities creates truly stomach-twisting tension that refuses to abate. Barker’s debut is a triumph, and I’m obsessed with seeing what he does next.
Where to Watch: Obsession is available to watch now on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
My Verdict // ★★★★☆
THE ODYSSEY: Nolan Embarks On An Another Ambitious Voyage Into Myth, Morality and Male Hubris.
Director: Christopher Nolan / Screenplay: Christopher Nolan – based on the epic Greek poem of the same name by Homer.
Male hubris remains on the mind of acclaimed director Christopher Nolan in his star-studded, epically sprawling adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey. Arguably Oppenheimer (2023) with more swords, sandals and saddles, Nolan’s latest blockbuster not only boasts more of his powerful filmmaking but is, unexpectedly, emotionally stirring.
Spoiler alert for an almost 3000-year-old piece of Greek poetry. Years after Odysseus (Matt Damon) won the siege of Troy by cunningly flouting ancient customs to infiltrate the impenetrable walls of the city, the general has not returned. Vulturous suitors circle his throne at Ithaca, but his Queen Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland) still hold out hope for his arrival. But impatience is growing, and plots are being hatched among the most vainglorious of the suitors (Robert Pattinson). Out on the tides, Odysseus must face the consequences of his choices during the Trojan War, especially for those who decided to follow him.
In many ways, The Odyssey has all the hallmarks of what has become Nolan’s distinctive cinematic style: tangible, sweeping, intense and intimate. The director is as comfortable mastering the visuals of his wind-and sea-swept sequences (as palpable and overpowering as 2017’s Dunkirk) as he is weaving between the personal history and memories of his characters (seen as recently as Oppenheimer but going as far back as 2006’s The Prestige and 2010’s Inception). However, in a satisfying break from how convoluted his narrative structures can be (2020’s Tenet – the low-point of Nolan’s ‘experimental’ filmmaking), The Odyssey is far more conventionally told and thematically pointed.
Like Cillian Murphy’s dour scientist, Damon’s adventurer is a stoic man of regret, afflicted by a hubristic decision from which he can never return. Nolan seemingly takes a leaf out of the philosopher Simone Weil’s famous interpretation of Homer’s Iliad: that war is a force that turns people into things and blinds those who wield it to shared humanity. His overall conclusion is more contemporary, though, with post-traumatic stress and self-destruction at its core.
Much as Odysseus returns in full vengeful fashion – which Nolan doesn’t shy from in the film’s bloody climax – the director-writer underlines the idea that Odysseus never truly came back psychologically, as many traumatised soldiers never do. A late scene between Odysseus and Penelope, in which the wandering warrior reveals what truly happened at Troy, is surprisingly moving. It leaves a lingering impression that war does to people: changed beyond recognition and perhaps beyond reconciliation.
There are a few bumps on this cinematic voyage, however. Hathaway and Holland are affecting enough as the beleaguered mother and son, alternating between forlorn and furious at the absent king, but this subplot feels underdeveloped. Despite the practical effects used to create the poem’s creature-heavy moments, there’s an awful lot of running off beaches, escaping unfriendly monsters of one form or another. Samantha Morton as the witch Circe, serving up a deceptively transformative dinner, makes for a hauntingly powerful scene admittedly. Then there’s Benny Safdie’s Agamemnon stomping around like Darth Vader, which, even for a film with operatic ambitions, is just too melodramatic.
Still, The Odyssey succeeds in its deconstruction of war myths and morality. It strikes a chord that feels relevant to our times: that when moral order breaks down, we can all find ourselves lost at sea.
Where to Watch: The Odyssey will be available to stream soon.
My Verdict // ★★★★☆
SPIDER-MAN – BRAND NEW DAY: Holland and Co Mature In Superb Marvel Sequel.
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton / Screenplay: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers
Almost a decade ago, I wrote that Spider-Man: Homecoming had started a suitably adolescent, optimistic future for the friendly neighbourhood hero. A successful trilogy later- culminating in the wonderful multi-frachise tribute No Way Home (2021)- Tom Holland and co are back in Brand New Day. And it’s certain those carefree kids have grown up.
Set a few years after Peter Parker decided to erase all knowledge of his identity to spare his loved ones, the grad student is devoting most of his energy to rebuilding his career as the local crime-busting vigilante. His dedication gains him the admiration of New York’s police and public alike. But privately, Peter is still tortured by his decision and the loss of his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), while his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) remain without memories of his existence. When a powerful telepathic mutant begins to cause chaos, tearing up the city in a vengeful campaign to destroy a national security firm, Peter is drawn into a fight that will confront him with this past – while also struggling with unexpected changes to his own physiology.
It’s rare for a third outing for the web-slinger to be successful: Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 3 was an over-bloated movie mess, while Andrew Garfield didn’t even make it to a three-quel after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 proved too divisive. That Holland’s fourth entry is brilliant is itself a cinematic marvel (no pun intended). Brand New Day has a firm grip on the ever-sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe, including keeping fan favourites to efficient cameos (Florence Pugh and Mark Ruffalo), and some excellent character arcs are teased for the future. Looks like the antagonist played by Sadie Sink is going to have a lot to work with in future – that’s all I’ll say.
But much is owed to the way director Destin Daniel Cretton boosts the maturity of Peter and his world: a slightly darker vision of the Big Apple, with Peter often bruised and battered by his daily crime-fighting and joined by an anti-sidekick in Frank Castle AKA “The Punisher” (Jon Bernthal). Bernthal brings this gritty, shotgun-wielding, foul mouthed anti-hero to the big screen amusingly (returning to the role after the Netflix TV series died off in 2019), and the bickering chemistry with Holland makes for the film’s funniest exchanges.
And Holland is fantastic with all the new material, bearing the emotional and physical weight of his hero believably while capturing the desperation and difficulty of those past decisions and his altering body. He keeps up Spidey’s trademark wittiness, but the actor gets to contend with some body gore as well, not to mention his more introspective, vulnerable moments. Holland deserves to be a defining iteration of this character and hopefully there’s more to come from him.
Most importantly, for those just following the arc of Parker, MJ and Ned, this feels like a satisfying, consequential continuation of the journey that began in 2017. While the twists, turns and tangles of Brand New Day are thrilling, it is often the emotional beats between Holland, Batalon and Zendaya that really stand out. The MCU’s Spider-Man remains optimistic but more mature and just a little world-wearier. And that isn’t a bad thing for a franchise now whose characters are making their way in the ‘big world’.
Where to Watch: Spider-Man- Brand New Day will be available to stream soon.
My Verdict // ★★★★☆
THE INCOMER: Paxton’s Odd Island Dramedy Is Unexpectedly Sweet and Alarming.
Director: Louis Paxton / Screenplay: Louis Paxton
I didn’t think that the funniest film of the year so far would involve seagulls, Scottish recluses, and an overzealous bailiff styled after Rambo. But here comes Louis Paxton’s sweet, alarming and undeniably amusing The Incomer to claim that award.
Living in seclusion off the coast of north-eastern Scotland for thirty years, siblings Isla and Sandy (Gayle Rankin and Grant O’Rourke) have their own way of doing things. The pair are quarrelsome and restless, and their daily routine involves a lot of squawking and fighting, but they’ve managed to protect their home from ‘the incomers’.
Yet their way of life collides with a new threat from the mainland, the hapless, reserved Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson), who must tell them they’re being evicted. Capturing the incomer, the siblings must decide what to do with him: throw him from the cliffs, induct him into their tribe, or listen to the inevitable. No one will leave this encounter unchanged.
Paxton’s dramedy is predictable in places, especially in how an outsider is soon beguiled by the islanders’ ways, but the performances, the humour and the film’s darker side raise it considerably. Rankin and O’Rourke bring a believable childishness to the orphaned recluses, delivering spitefulness, naivety, wariness and vulnerability. They both amuse and alarm in equal measure. Gleeson is also good, even if the role is familiar territory: a nerdy, quivering, pink-faced man out of his depth.
And they are all perfect for the film’s folksy, odd but well-timed humour. There’s a not-so-subtle indication that the mainland characters are just as strange as the remote island inhabitants, supported by Michelle Gomez’s usual pantomimic villainess as Gleeson’s overbearing boss and Emun Elliott’s weird hitman-like bailiff who has survivalist delusions.
Beneath the high jinks though, Paxton also gestures to the orphans’ depressive circumstances (embodied by a disarming John Hannah as a seal-man) and family stories designed to hide trauma. There’s a suitable balance of tragedy and comedy that makes The Incomer a blunt but hopeful tale worth seeing.
Where To Watch: The Incomer is will be available to watch on Amazon Prime Video soon.
My Verdict // ★★★★☆
And, finally, some short reviews of a few more movies I’ve seen this year, many of which are now available on a number of streaming services…
Avatar Aang – The Last Airbender (Dir. Lauren Montgomery Screenplay. Tim Hedrick, Christopher Yost): The beloved animated series finally gets the cinematic treatment it deserves (and yes, we’re ignoring 2010’s live-action adaptation which may well be the worst movie ever made, deservedly so). Aang and the gang return over a decade after the series, joining a quest led by a surviving airbender named Tagah (Dave Bautista) to resurrect the Air Nomads. While some of the childish charm of the original series is gone as the characters have grown up, the sublime, detailed animation elevates the adventure. It’s a worthy return to the Avatar universe, gloriously continued in the only medium in which this series really deserves to be seen. It’s just a shame those sweeping vistas and spectacular bending visuals can only be seen on Paramount+ and not in the cinema. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆
The Devil Wears Prada 2 (Dir. David Frankl, Screenplay. Aline Brosh McKenna): Prepare to gird your loins again – the quartet are back! Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci don the designer wear and sassy attitudes in this fun, if entirely unneeded, sequel. Hathaway’s Andy Sachs and Streep’s Miranda Priestley are forced together to face down modern threats of ethical work environments and a frenzied, increasingly online media cycle. It’s clear the foursome are enjoying themselves, even if Aline Brosh McKenna’s script doesn’t have anywhere near enough bitchy zingers. Overall, the desperate didacticism about the precarious fashion journalism world of the 2020s is undercut by the glamorous wardrobe and our characters speeding around NYC and Milan with pomp and pizzazz. It’s lacking that bit of grounding that raised the stakes in David Frankel’s 2006 original, and while Miranda and co do face up to being toppled from the top, it’s inevitable they’ll land on their well-heeled feet. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆
L’Étranger (The Stranger) (Dir. François Ozon, Screenplay. François Ozon – based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Albert Camus): Meursault (Benjamin Voisin), a young Frenchman living in mid-20th century French Algeria, receives a telegram that his mother has died. His apparent disinterest leads to an absurd confrontation with life, death, society and meaning. Albert Camus’ famous existential novel isn’t the easiest to bring to screen, but director-writer François Ozon does it handsomely at least. The monochromatic palette and noirish style are beautifully evocative. Voisin is also easy on the eyes. However, barring moments of narration, the lead actor must do a lot of heavy lifting with his withdrawn, ambivalent persona and this mostly pays off. It’s a quiet, unassuming movie that borders on tedious at times. And the modern moralising over the Arab family caught up in Meursault’s tragic absurdism cuts against the novel’s philosophical message: we’re all at the mercy of our own meaning making. . My Verdict // ★★★☆☆
The Christophers (Dir. Steven Soderbergh, Screenplay. Ed Solomon): When Lori Butler (Michaela Coel) is employed by a notorious artist’s adult children (James Corden, Jessica Gunning) to finish a series of infamous sketches behind his back, the art restorer, sometime forger, thinks this will be a simple con. But Julian Sklar (Ian McKellen) isn’t so easily hoodwinked, and things take a surprising turn when Lori’s secret is out soon after she arrives. Steven Soderburgh’s essentially ‘two-hander’ film is a curious, amusing project and sold entirely by the endearing performances of the duo at its thorny centre. Despite being a woman-hating, bohemian eccentric, McKellen is still loveably twinkly, campily bitchy, and noisily theatrical in the role. Coel, meanwhile, strikes against him as the cool, dour forger but Soderbergh gives her some of the best comic lines and expressions. Their tête-à-têtes peel away the layers, and there’s a lot of them considering the costumes seem about three layers too thick, even for London’s damp climate. Its ending is mawkish and predictable but its thematic brushstrokes on cancellation, inspiration and regret are illuminating. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆
Star Wars – The Mandalorian and Grogu (Dir. Jon Favreau, Screenplay. Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Noah Kloor): Perhaps we really are at the nadir of Star Wars movies. For every television series that attempts to raise this space saga (last ones being the fantastic Andor and the animated Maul: Shadow Lord), the next cinematic outing is always to be a nosedive into a cinematic asteroid field. Jumping from small screen to big screen, lone wolf Mando (Pedro Pascal) and green ‘cub’ Grogu (Baby Yoda), go on another rip-roaring adventure to rescue the son of Return of the Jedi’s big-big-bad Jabba the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White). As a story, The Mandalorian ran out of steam on Disney+ a long, long time ago and Jon Favreau’s cinematic version is just pointless excess. Unable to decide between kiddie silliness and ultra-violence, the film doesn’t satisfy either itch. It ends up being littered with superfluous star cameos (Sigourney Weaver – why were you in this movie?) and weird, weightless, grotesque CGI monsters. If this was the fourth season of the show, now packaged in this cutesy, pathetic two-hour package, then I’m glad that at least we weren’t strung out for another eight hours. My Verdict // ★☆☆☆☆
Enzo (Dir. Robin Campillo, Screenplay. Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Gilles Marchand): Sixteen-year-old rich kid Enzo (Eloy Pohu) is aimless and toils away half-heartedly on a building site in southern France. While coming from a family of high achievers, he seems to eschew the privileges that he could – and his father (Pierfrancesco Favino) thinks he should – use to get ahead. It’s only when he meets Ukrainian migrant bricklayer Vlad (Maksym Slivinskyi) that he begins to awaken to his potential. Meanwhile, Vlad faces difficulties of his own as the Ukraine-Russia war lurks in the background. While certainly a sincere story from filmmaker and co-writer Robin Campillo (picking up the reins of the movie after the death of its original director and co-writer Laurent Cantet), it ends up being quite uncertain on its characterisation and message. As much a film about class, nationality, commitment, as it is about sexuality, Campillo fumbles through it all, unclear on the emotional stakes. Perhaps this is true to the film’s truculent protagonist and ambiguous central dynamic (convincingly performed by Pohu and Slivinskyi), but it results in a film that feels underwhelming. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆
Masters of the Universe (Dir. Travis Knight, Screenplay. Chris Butler, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, David Callaham): Another 80’s fad gets a fresh cinematic reboot in Travis Knight’s decidedly not He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, just Masters of the Universe (begging the question, why drop the moniker?). Young Prince Adam is dropped on Earth via a time-space vortex and must find the elusive Sword of Power to save his homeworld Eternia from the wicked Skeletor (Jared Leto). Fifteen years later, Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) reclaims his destiny and returns home to find it changed and not for the better. Unlike 2023’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, Knight’s fantasy reboot is all over the place with its tone. It struggles to straddle campy cringe and a more po-faced action-adventure blockbuster. Its humour is unable to balance between sexual innuendo and family-friendly jokes, resulting in a movie that feels plain awkward. While Galitzine is perfect with his gravity-defying locks and bulging biceps, even he can’t really make this material work. Shockingly, it’s Leto’s do-eviler that manages to get the laughs. Other than that, the only enjoyment I had was at the expense of this rock musical-fantasy mash-up. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆
Toy Story 5 (Dir. Andrew Stanton, Screenplay. Andrew Stanton, Kenna Harris): Pixar’s favourite toys get a fifth outing in this funny and heartwarming adventure that is certainly more memorable than 2019’s Toy Story 4. While Bonnie still enjoys playing with Andy’s former prized possessions, she’s drawn into the addictive world of tech. The froggy, fixatedly organised ‘Lilypad’ (voiced by Greta Lee) threatens to usurp the toys in a desperate attempt to get Bonnie some friends. Soon, Buzz (Tim Allen) and Jessie (Joan Cusack) are calling on their old friend – now toy vigilante – Woody (Tom Hanks) for aid. Considering this animated franchise is over thirty years old, it really is a case of diminishing returns, but a topical antagonist and an elaboration on imagination give Andrew Stanton and Kenna Harris enough to play with. Convenient, too, that for all its alarm over tech, the film’s provocative critique gets softened by the end. Those ‘Lilypad’ toys and Disney+ applications do need to sell after all. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆
Vie privée (A Private Life) (Dir. Rebecca Zlotwoski , Screenplay. Rebecca Zlotowski, Anne Berest, Gaëlle Macé ): Jodie Foster plays a Jewish-American psychiatrist with quite a few problematic neuroses of her own. Rebecca Zlotowski’s romp of psycho-mystery thriller showcases the acclaimed American actor’s fluent French accent while playing a woman spiralling out of control in her attempt to solve a patient’s suicide (just in case you didn’t quite grasp what all those shots of spiralling staircases meant). The premise of a psychiatrist with a real deficit in listening skills is inherently amusing, and the transference on display, as her investigation becomes ever more unmoored from reality, grows funnier by the scene. Yet, as ever, Foster brings the vulnerability out beneath her lead character’s brittleness and A Private Life ends up unearthing the ways personal, sexual and ethnic trauma has an unexpected influence over our lives. . My Verdict // ★★★☆☆
