A Glean movie guide
The Best Movies to Watch Right Now
The Essential Early 2026 Guide
From award-winning masterpieces to the year's biggest thrillers, here is what’s worth your time.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
One Battle After Another
Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling masterpiece is widely cited as the top-rated film of the year.
Washed-up revolutionary Bob exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa. When his evil nemesis resurfaces after 16 years and she goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her, father and daughter both battling the consequences of his past.
- 02
Marty Supreme
Timothée Chalamet shines in this stylish, highly acclaimed dramedy from director Josh Safdie.
Marty Mauser, a young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.
- 03
It Was Just an Accident
This Palme d'Or winner is a masterfully tense thriller with a sharp, blackly comic edge.
An unassuming mechanic is reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he encounters a man he suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor.
- 04
Sinners
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan reunite for a haunting, Jim Crow-era supernatural thriller.
Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
- 05
Black Bag
Steven Soderbergh delivers a sleek, high-stakes spy thriller led by Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett.
When intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse is suspected of betraying the nation, her husband – also a legendary agent – faces the ultimate test of whether to be loyal to his marriage, or his country.
- 06
No Other Choice
Park Chan-wook’s satirical thriller is a lethal and visually stunning look at modern competition.
After being laid off and humiliated by a ruthless job market, a veteran paper mill manager descends into violence in a desperate bid to reclaim his dignity.
- 07
Sentimental Value
A deeply moving Cannes Grand Prix winner exploring the complex reunion of an estranged family.
Sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav, a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star.
- 08
The Secret Agent
A masterful, politically charged thriller named the year's best international film by critics.
Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, is on the run. Hoping to reunite with his son, he travels to Recife during Carnival but soon realizes that the city is not the safe haven he was expecting.
- 09
Scream 7
The legendary slasher franchise returns to its roots with a terrifying and highly anticipated new chapter.
When a new Ghostface killer emerges in the quiet town where Sidney Prescott has built a new life, her darkest fears are realized as her daughter becomes the next target. Determined to protect her family, Sidney must face the horrors of her past to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all.
- 10
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
Nia DaCosta breathes terrifying new life into the post-apocalyptic zombie genre.
Dr. Kelson finds himself in a shocking new relationship - with consequences that could change the world as they know it - and Spike's encounter with Jimmy Crystal becomes a nightmare he can't escape.
- 11
Seeds
A visually striking, award-winning documentary offering an intimate look at Black farmers in the South.
A Mohawk woman is hired as a social media influencer but gets caught in a deadly cat-and-mouse game, as she's forced to go to war to preserve her people's heritage from corporate interests.
- 12
Resurrection
A visionary sci-fi odyssey named the best of its genre for its innovative style and score.
In a future where humanity has surrendered its ability to dream in exchange for immortality, an outcast finds illusion, nightmarish visions, and beauty in an intoxicating world of his own making.