2026 Summer Movies Ranked
The summer movie season is done, which means that it is time to reflect on the 2026 summer movie season. We are starting that off with my ranking of all 17 movies that were released in summer 2026. Here is my ranking!
20. Enola Holmes 3: I have never been crazy about any of the Enola Holmes movies. I have only seen the first two films one time each, but this is one on the same level of those earlier films. I do not care about these adventures and mysteries. When you are doing mystery movies focusing on the story of some of the most famous detectives in fiction, that is a big problem and the big reason I have never connected with any of these movies. The weirdest part about this movie is that they waste their best talent with Henry Cavill and Helena Bonham Carter. I do not know why they do these movies or what they get out of them. Helena Bonham Carter has 10-15 minutes of screen-time across this trilogy. Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes should be interesting and great casting, and while he is great in the role, they do not do anything with him. This is the weakest of the bunch, simply because it is the film that made me realize all the wasted potential of this trilogy.
19. Obsession: I know, I know, I know that me having Obsession in next to last place on a list like this is criminal. But as I have said multiple times around, I did not like this movie and I clearly did not see the movie that everybody else saw. Some people saw a commentary on male masculinity and toxic relationships. Some people saw a movie that was creepy and unsettling with great performances. For me, I saw a movie that had a messy script with only one great performance. I feel like this movie doesn’t make any sense if you take a step back and look at it. There’s so many plot holes and moments where the audience should be thinking “wait, why didn’t he do this?”, and that’s not a good thing when the audience or in this case (myself) are asking those questions that the movie never answers. From there, Curry Barker has talent as a director but as a screenwriter he needs some help. Where he clearly does not know how to write the dialogue and this was a concern I had from the opening scene. The dialogue between the friends felt like it was written by an out of touch screenwriter that does not know how modern-day people in their 20s talk (which is odd because he is 26 years old). Inde Navaratte is great in the movie, if she gets awards buzz I am not going to be offended by that. But I do not think this movie works as a whole and left me frustrated and not satisfied.
18. Supergirl: It is going to be even hotter of a take that Supergirl is ranked above on Obsession on this ranking. While I had several frustrations with Supergirl leaving the theater, I was not as polarized or disappointed by it. This is another case of a movie that does not have a great script, and not for the same reasons as Obsession. I feel like the problem with this movie is that it feels like a microwaved script. It felt like James Gunn and DC studios rushed this film into production without ironing out what to focus on and how to make this movie great. It is odd because Gunn has made multiple statements saying that they will not green-light a script until both him and the crew are happy with the script. You watch this movie, and this does not seem like a script that anybody would love or be happy with. Beyond that, the villains of the movie are not interesting at all. These are some of the weakest and most forgettable villains in recent comic book movie history. The main villain feels like he should be the secondary villain to our main villain. That is a problem when the driving force of the film is the villain shooting Krypto, and you do not care about the villains at all. I did not hate this movie; it is far from being one of the worst comic book movies of all time. But it is also not as good as it could have been. However, Milly Alcock and Jason Momoa were the standouts of the film.
17. Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu: Yet again another totally mediocre, bland, and kind of forgettable summer blockbuster and this is one that I’m not as surprised disappointed me because the trailers weren’t really working for me and when the reviews came out and said that the film was mediocre, that wasn’t too surprising to me. It is not that the movie is bad, there’s fun Star Wars action to be had. Grogu has some cute moments here and there, and Mando himself is a fun character. There is novelty with this being the first Star Wars movie in seven years. But that is also the biggest problem with this movie, it is the first Star Wars movie in seven years and it feels so mediocre. Whoever had the idea to make a Mandalorian movie after a disappointing third season is idiotic, because the popularity of The Mandalorian was not where it was in 2020. Beyond that, it does not feel cinematic. It feels like 3-4 episodes of the tv show strung together and if these were episodes of the tv show they would be fine. But there is nothing about this story or this adventure that makes it cinematic enough to be seen on the big screen, and that is why it underperformed at the box office. It was too little too late.
16. One Night Only: A movie that has an interesting concept and idea, but overall, I did not think it was great and lived up to its potential. The basic idea involves pre-material sex being illegal for 364 days out of the year, but one night it’s legal could be an interesting set up for a rom com that could have a lot to say about relationships and whether you’re getting into a relationship for the right reasons. Unfortunately, I did not think the film lived up to its potential. It felt like the most baseline version of this idea, I felt like with both characters that there was more depth to be explored here and having this commentary on relationships. The movie was not bad; it is not one of the worst movies of the year. There are some solid laughs here and there, my audience is enjoying the film enough from beginning to end. I have seen a lot of people criticizing Callum Turner’s performance in the film, I did not think it was bad I thought he fit the role. I would say that Monica Barbaro was the more charming of the two. But I did not have any specific issues with Turner’s performance.
15. Scary Movie (2026): This is a movie that I did not have too many thoughts going into the movie. I had not and still have not seen any of the past Scary Movie films. The early reviews for the film have not been great, with bad critics scores. I watched the film on discount Tuesday…and I laughed a lot more than I thought I would. Does that make this a good movie? Not necessarily, but it means that I had fun with it. I love that the Wayanes brothers made this type of comedy in 2026. We do not get a lot of straightforward comedies and so getting this movie was nice and refreshing. One of the things that comedies should do is push boundaries and given the current state of politics, people are afraid to push boundaries. You watch this movie and its poking fingers at everybody, everybody is a target and I like that about the film. There is one scene in the film that is inspired by K-Pop: Demon Hunters that is the hardest I have laughed at in a movie in a while. But there are a lot of bits that were funny and made me laugh. It is #13 on the list, so it is not like this is a new comedy classic. But it was a fun enough movie.
14. Masters of the Universe: Masters of the Universe is looking to be one of the biggest box office bombs of 2026. This is one that I was hoping would be good, because I liked the trailers well enough and I knew somebody who saw this film back in January and was positive about the film. There are a lot of people that liked this movie. While I did not hate the movie, it still was not as good as I hoped. I gave the film a B- in my review and I stand by that review. But, based on some of the reviews I was hoping it would be higher. For better or for worse, this film is full of energy. It is a film that always has a joke or an action scene happening, so it is never boring and we got to the third act a lot faster than I thought we would. But because it is so high energy, it can get exhausting and takes things too far. It does not give the emotional moments enough time to breathe and hit hard. There is a clear character arc for He-Man himself, and it does work with his relationship with his parents. But it does not hit the same way because it is onto the next joke and trying to make you laugh. Shockingly enough one of the things that worked best was Jared Leto as Skeletor. He has a lot of Jack Sparrow type energy that worked for me.
13. The Devil Wears Prada 2: Another film that I was hoping I could be ranked higher up on a list like this. I really like the original Devil Wears Prada film, and the concept of a sequel sounded interesting to me. It is a film about magazines and given the current state of journalism I thought there was room for a sequel. Overall, I thought The Devil Wears Prada 2 was good enough. I did not think the film was fantastic, but it also was not bad. It was fine, it was fun and good enough. I watched the film back in May when it came out and I had fun with it, but do not remember much about it in August 2026. The four leads of the film, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci are still great, fun, and charming. It is fun to be back in this world with these characters. They have great chemistry, so you enjoy spending time with them. There are moments here that I liked, especially with Stanley Tucci’s character and what they do with him in the third act. But the big issue with the film is that it is overstuffed. There are a lot of subplots going on that it struggles to find a main plot line to focus on. I know it might seem like I am negative about the film, I am not. I did enjoy the film. But it is not as good as it could have been.
12. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma: This movie might win the award for the WTF movie of 2026. This is a movie that I knew nothing about going into. I am not familiar with the director’s earlier movies. I do have some close friends that saw it at Cannes and loved it. I watched it with them and left the theater thinking “what the fuck did I just watch?” This is the perfect example of a movie that proves that Hollywood and creatives are not out of ideas. People say all the time that Hollywood is out of ideas, and we only get sequels, remakes, and reboots and that is false. Something like Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is so original and yet nobody really saw it. It is a movie that is so interesting because it can prevent itself as this meta take on slasher movies, specifically Friday the 13th. But it is also used as a metaphor for describing relationships and finding the perfect one for you and how people can be attracted to one another. It is a much deeper film that has layers and depth to it. It is very metaphoric in the way it presents its story. The film can be very funny at times; there is this whole bit with Mike Myers that was hilarious. I will say this is the type of movie that I can respect more than I enjoyed it. I do not really know the context in which I would watch this movie again. But as a one-time “WTF did I watch” movie, it is very cool and unique.
11. Coyote vs Acme: Quite possibly the film of 2026 that is going to have the most interesting production history and backstory. This film was shot in 2022, but WB wrote it off a tax write-off because they did not think the film would be profitable. But due to fans demanding this movie get released, Ketchup Entertainment bought the rights and released it this past weekend. While I do not think this is one of the best movies of the year, it is far from it. It is still a very charming movie that is the funniest movie of the year. There are so many great sight gags and jokes in this movie that had me and my audience laughing aloud from beginning to end. Along those same lines, this is one of the most entertained in movies of the year. It moves quickly and it never overstays its welcome. I love the fact that they were able to find the humanity in the Coyote and make him this more grounded character that you care about, and you care about his journey. With where the movie goes in the third act and how it pays everything off so incredibly and emotionally satisfying. It is a film that can balance the wackiness of Looney Tunes while also finding the heart and humanity in this story. One of the feel-good movies of the year.
10. Mortal Kombat II: Quite possibly my favorite video game adaptation of all time. But with that said, it is not a super high bar. This movie is an improvement over the 2021 film, a film that I did not hate but I also did not like either. What I liked about this film is that it is about the tournament. Where it does not have a lot of setups, it gets to the tournament and the adventure quickly and there’s multiple great Mortal Kombat fight scenes in this film. It is a film that is never boring, there is always something happening to keep the audience entertained from beginning to end. From there, I love that the recent Mortal Kombat films are leaning into the violent side of the franchise. There are multiple brutal deaths in this film that show that nobody is safe so you can feel the danger of what is going on. There is one death in the film that I was not expecting that had me shocked that they went there and killed that character. What elevates the film is the addition of Karl Urban as Johnny Cage. I am by no means a Mortal Kombat expert, or super familiar with the Johnny Cage character. But since Urban is such a movie star, he can bring that charismatic movie star qualities that gives you a character that you like rooting for. Once again, this is not going to be one of 2026’s best films, it is by no means a perfect film. But overall, it is a fun time at the movies and one that Mortal Kombat fans should be pleased with.
9. The Furious: This is a movie that a lot of people are calling one of the best of the year. It is #9 on the list, so obviously I am not there but I still enjoyed the film and had a fun time with it. I am not a martial arts movie expert; I have seen some martial arts movies of the years. But it is not a genre that I naturally gravitate towards. For me about 70% of the film, I was thinking this is one of the best of the year, and I was really digging this movie. As a martial arts movie, the fight choreography here was fantastic and I was in awe watching it and wondered why more Hollywood movies do not have this level of choreography in their action movies. It is creative with the way it is done, where it has these elements of using the bodies as a fighting mechanism. There is one sequence where they are stacking bodies on top of each other that is awesome. Even with making the lead character a mute, it provides extra dynamics and challenges to what is going on. The basic plot of the film is Taken, but they add his interesting fight choreography to the film that makes it interesting to watch. I do think the film goes on for a bit too long, where it feels like it reaches an end point and then keeps going for another 20-25 minutes. There are multiple lapses in the logic of things, where it gets to a point where it is hard to believe that people would survive this. The last third lost me and knocked the film back a few spots.
8. Disclosure Day: The latest film from Steven Spielberg and a film that turned out to be a lot more polarizing than I thought. Of course, Spielberg is a Hollywood legend that has been putting out great movies for 50 years now. With Disclosure Day, he is returning to the sci-fi genre that he has found success within the past. I watched the film and I really dug it. I liked that it was an alien invasion film that was more philosophical and not the action side of it. You do get some action in here, although the action is distracting. But it is all about the truth and whether the public should or should not know the truth. There are some interesting ideas that are explored in that and finding the truth about humanity. It is a Steven Spielberg film, so it is a high-quality production, some sequences are directed so well, and it is great to see Spielberg is still putting out quality films 50 years into his career. Some of the issues that people have with the film, I think are valid. It is a little bit weird that in 2026 they are still relying on the news to relay this information. It seems like in 2026 they should be using social media, not the news network. It is not a perfect movie by any means; there are certainly flaws but I still dug it.
7. The End of Oak Street: Anne Hathaway’s fourth film of 2026 and she still has one more releasing in October. For me, The End of Oak Street is one of the biggest surprises of 2026. It is weird to say that considering the talent involved and the genre is something that I should enjoy. It stars Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor, and it is them fighting dinosaurs. For whatever reason, the trailers did not hook me as much as I would have liked. I saw the film and I really dug it. It took a little while to get going, it was not a slam dunk from start to finish. But as soon as we got into the dinosaur action, I was on board and really digging this movie. What I liked about this movie is it did a lot of things that Jurassic Park has failed to do. Where all the Jurassic movies take place on an island, and we do not see dinosaurs in the suburbs with normal people. The whole concept of the movie is that it is in the suburbs. There are images in this movie that the Jurassic Park franchise could not do. Also, it is not afraid to take risks and have these shocking moments. There is one thing that happens in the middle of the film that left me shocked and I wish it were something that the Jurassic Park franchise did more. It also this Amblin feel to it with the adventure, and it feels like a movie that Steven Spielberg would have directed. It has the technology of a modern blockbuster but the feel of old school blockbusters. I dug it and it is one of the better dinosaur movies that we have gotten.
6. Backrooms: Another movie that really surprised and is going to be one of the bigger surprises of 2026. Despite being in the target demographic, I was not at all familiar with Backrooms. I had not seen the YouTube shorts, and I did not even see a trailer for the movie. I went into the film hoping to experience a great horror experience and that is what I got. I was appropriately freaked and creeped out at all the right moments. The nature of the Backrooms gives you this uneasy feeling where as soon as our characters go in there, you’re counting the steps and taking note of every turn they make so they don’t get lost and you as the audience know how to get out. I cannot think of a film in recent memory that has done this good of a job with building this creepy atmosphere. That is the thing that really works about this film; it is creepy without having to have jump scares but relying on the creepy environments and the setting. 2026 has given us horror films directed by YouTubers, and obviously I preferred Backrooms much more than I did Obsession. I know that is a bit of a hot take, to prefer this movie over Obsession. But I was more invested in the film, and I left the film much less frustrated.
5. Toy Story 5: I have been wanting to watch this movie again, because I really dug it but just missed watching it again on the big screen. While this is the weakest of the mainline Toy Story films and easily the most flawed, this is a great movie that captures a lot of the magic and charm of the franchise. With this movie, they found a clever new angle to tackle this franchise involving technology. And exploring this idea of iPad kids and how technology is taking over childhoods and not imagination and playing with toys. It ties into nostalgia which is this common theme in this franchise. I think making Jesse the lead was the right direction to go, where it does not undo Woody’s ending in Toy Story 4 and with Woody being gone, it makes sense that Jesse would be the new leader of the group. With the focus on Jesse, you get the typical Pixar emotional moments that do pull at the heartstrings especially the scene with the tree. It is great to see Woody and Buzz together again, as they are one of the best movie duos of all time. The movie is not perfect; this is the most scatter shot of the Toy Story films. It has a few too many plot lines and characters that can be a bit unfocused. As fun as it is to see Woody again, I do question whether he needed to be in the movie. The director Andrew Stanton said there was a version of this movie that did not have Woody in it. I think you can easily see a version where Woody is not in this movie.
4. The Sheep Detectives: A movie that based on the concept sounded stupid, but it had charming trailers. By the time I went into the film I was excited for it. Leaving the theater, I was just completely charmed by the film. Where you have this sweet and heartfelt adventure that at its core is dark with a shepherd being murdered. But they balance the tone of also having a lot of family friendly fun here. From beginning to end, there are some big laughs and lots of heart that really tug at the heart strings as you move in the back half of the film. One of the things I liked about the film was that it felt like a film from a different era. We do not get a lot of PG rated family films, specifically ones that are live action. Those types of movies are gone now, and so the fact we got a live action PG rated film feels unique in the year 2026. It feels like a film that we would’ve gotten 15-20 years ago. You have a stacked cast here with Hugh Jackman in the lead, who of course is a tremendous movie star. But even the sheep are voiced by great actors with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Bryan Cranston who can be charming, even when you are only hearing their voices. I rewatched the film with my mom and once again I really dug the film and it even went up higher on this list. One of 2026’s best films and one that I was constantly charmed by.
3. The Invite: A movie that I heard a lot of buzz about coming out of Sundance and it’s one that I was very intrigued by, and it’s another film that I didn’t know what it was about going into it. I left the movie really digging the film and liking the story, the cast, and the character but also admiring the filmmaking on Olivia Wilde’s part. With this movie, Wilde has shown that she is a talented filmmaker. The thing about the direction that specifically stood out to me was the staging of the shots. You will have characters standing around talking and the way they are standing and where the camera is positioned, it looks cool and it makes you feel like you are in the apartment with the characters. You even watch interviews with Olivia Wilde, and she talked about how they shot the film in order of the script. Which for filmmaking is rare to shoot in order, but by doing it this way it meant they got to discover elements about the characters. Edward Norton’s character gives this powerful monologue in the back half of the film and the reason that happened was because they shot in order and when they came to that scene Norton understood the character. Speaking of Norton, he and the other actors with Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, and Penelope Cruz all do a fantastic job in this movie. This is one of the most interesting movies of 2026, and I love that we got a smaller scale original film that is great that got a wide release.
2. Spider-Man: Brand New Day: What has been missing from Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is him being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and swinging around the city. Despite this being fundamental to the Spider-Man story it feels fresh and different because Marvel and Sony have avoided it for 12 years since The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The other thing that is great about this film, it is the most thematic Spider-Man film. This film is about loneliness, and we see that through Peter Parker as he is exploring life without Aunt May, MJ, and Ned and finding his purpose and he finds that through Spider-Man. They tie that into Punisher and the Hulk and why they are included in the film, and Punisher’s arc in the film ties back to those ideas. It delivers some of the best Spider-Man action that we have ever gotten in a Spider-Man movie. With this film, with the way the camera is angled and shot you get some incredible action set pieces. The camera is moving in some creative ways, during a sequence with the Hulk and the camera is moving around this hallway as Spider-Man is swinging. I have seen this movie two times, and both times I really dug it and think it is one of the best Spider-Man movies that we have gotten. This film is a total crowd pleaser and therefore it is not too terribly surprising that the film is destroying it at the box office.
1. The Odyssey: Christopher Nolan is one of the best directors working today and the Odyssey is some of the best and most influential source material of all time. So, getting a movie that is adapting that source material with Nolan behind the camera, we all expected to get something special and that is what we did. This movie has gone on to make $1.5 billion at the box office, and of course Nolan’s name gave it a box office boost. But it is also a film that is treating the audience with respect, it is a film that is respecting the audience’s time and making sure that it is a film worthy of being seen on the big screen. You’re watching the film and you have these gorgeous images that are truly spectacular to see on the big screen, it helps that this was the first feature length film shot entirely with IMAX cameras and so every shot is gorgeous to look at. It makes every scene feel so big and epic, even if the scenes do not need to look epic it does. Even though this film uses a lot of practical effects and not relying on CGI, it makes the film feel more real and like the audience is being sucked into this world. Whether that is them building a 60-foot-tall puppet to act as a cyclops or having buried underground for one sequence in the film. It is much easier to shoot this film using CGI, but by adding in the practical effects you feel the scope of the world more and the feeling of it being real. Christopher Nolan really had nothing to prove after Oppenheimer, but he once again tops himself and delivers a fantastic movie that is truly worthy of being seen on the big screen.
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