The critics’ top 10 films of 2026: what to watch and trailers

How do you choose the best films of the year when the hype, box office takings and critics’ ratings measure completely different things? For this ranking, we have not selected the most talked-about new releases, but rather films released by 13 September 2026 with the highest Metascore on Metacritic. Upcoming releases, even if they already have festival reviews, have been excluded.

The order is determined by the Metacritic score; where Metascores are equal, the film with the higher Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes is ranked higher. If that were also the same, the next criterion would be the number of reviews. The scores are as at 13 September 2026 and may change over time. It is also important to remember that the Tomatometer shows the percentage of positive reviews, not an average score.

Details

Quick rating:

1. Remake — Metacritic 93/100; Rotten Tomatoes 100%.
2. Blue Heron – 92/100; 98 per cent.
3. Seeds — 90/100; 97 per cent.
4. Silent Friend — 90/100; 96 per cent.
5. Sound of Falling — 90/100; 95 per cent.
6. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma — 89/100; 94%.
7. Magellan — 89/100; 90 per cent.
8. The Odyssey — 88/100; 94%.
9. Pompei: Below the Clouds — 87/100; 98%.
10. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert — 86/100; 97%.

Metacritic classifies some films as 2026 releases, even though their festival premieres took place in 2025. Therefore, this list specifically refers to 2026 cinema releases in the aggregator’s database, rather than films whose production is necessarily dated 2026. Metacritic itself excludes from its annual list any films with fewer than seven reviewed.

1. Remake — 93/100 on Metacritic, 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

What a film. Documentary filmmaker Ross McElvey revisits decades of family footage following the death of his son Adrian. At its heart lies not only personal loss, but also the question of what the camera captures and what it fails to notice whilst life unfolds before the lens.

What the critics are saying. On Rotten Tomatoes, all 46 reviews counted are positive: the critical consensus notes that the film avoids cheap sentimentality and transforms a deeply personal exploration of memory into a story that resonates with those who have experienced loss. The Boston Globe describes the film as both a father’s farewell to his son and one of the most powerful documentaries of the year; Salon highlights its introspective nature.

Trailer: the official Madman Films trailer. Rotten Tomatoes reviews.

2. Blue Heron — 92/100 on Metacritic, 98% on Rotten Tomatoes

What a film. Sophie Romvari’s debut transports the viewer back to the late 1990s: eight-year-old Sasha moves to Vancouver Island with her family, but her new life is shattered by her older brother’s increasingly dangerous behaviour. The story is structured as a return to a childhood memory that changes shape over time.

What the critics are saying. Rotten Tomatoes describes the film as a masterfully crafted work about memory, grief and the aftermath of family trauma; 98 per cent of 108 reviews are positive. *Time Out* draws particular attention to how trauma can distort memories, whilst *The Boston Globe* compares the film’s level of personal cinematic expression to the most notable films about memory in recent years.

Trailer: the official Janus Films trailer. Rotten Tomatoes reviews.

3. Seeds — 90/100 on Metacritic, 97% on Rotten Tomatoes

What a film. Brittany Shine’s documentary follows several generations of Black farming families in the American South. Through the land, labour and family heritage, the film shows how economic and historical barriers become part of everyday life.

What the critics are saying. 97 per cent of the 35 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are positive. The review aggregator describes the film as a quiet, humane and visually expressive work. The Guardian notes the blend of melancholy and hope, whilst The New York Times highlights how abstract discussions about funding and discrimination are brought to life through people’s personal stories.

Trailer: the official trailer on IMDb. Rotten Tomatoes reviews.

4. Silent Friend — 90/100 on Metacritic, 96% on Rotten Tomatoes

What a film. Ildikó Enyedi weaves together three stories set in 1908, 1972 and 2020 in a university botanical garden. They are linked by an ancient ginkgo tree and people’s attempts to understand plants, nature and their own place in the world.

What the critics are saying. Rotten Tomatoes records 96 per cent positive reviews out of 71 and calls the film one of Enyedi’s most lyrical and profound works. Vulture praises the unusual perspective, as if the story were gathering details from the tree’s own point of view; The Los Angeles Times notes the unhurried pace and the way the two-and-a-half-hour running time never feels excessive.

Trailer: the official Films Boutique trailer. Reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

5. Sound of Falling — 90/100 on Metacritic, 95 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes

What a film. Masza Shilinska tells the story of four girls who grow up on the same German farm across different decades. Their stories do not follow a conventional chronology: the past, trauma and family secrets layer upon one another as if the house itself holds the memories.

What the critics are saying. 95 per cent of 101 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are positive; the consensus highlights the visual precision and the transformation of a family history into a haunting generational drama. Metacritic cites rave reviews for the director’s control over editing and composition, but there are also dissenting voices: Collider felt that the constant gloom does not always lead to a new understanding of the protagonists’ experiences.

Trailer: the official MUBI trailer. Rotten Tomatoes reviews.

6. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma — 89/100 on Metacritic, 94% on Rotten Tomatoes

What a film. Jane Schönbrunn takes the slasher genre and turns it into a film about cinema itself. A young director attempts to revive the flagging Camp Miasma franchise and forms a bond with the reclusive actress from the original film; from there, the genre-bending exercise evolves into a story of desire, fear and the creation of one’s own image.

What the critics are saying. 94 per cent of 269 reviews are positive. Rotten Tomatoes sees the film as both a love letter to horror and a story of personal self-discovery. That said, the critical consensus is not entirely unanimous: amongst the negative reviews, there are complaints that the film contains more meta-commentary and symbolic layers than it can successfully sustain.

Trailer: the official MUBI trailer. Rotten Tomatoes reviews.

7. Magellan — 89/100 on Metacritic, 90% on Rotten Tomatoes

What a film. Lav Diaz reimagines the story of Ferdinand Magellan not as a celebratory legend of global discovery, but as a harrowing tale of colonial obsession. Gael García Bernal plays the navigator whose expedition gradually transforms from a voyage of discovery into a project of conquest.

What the critics are saying. 90 per cent of 58 reviews are positive. Rotten Tomatoes highlights the combination of Díaz’s slow, contemplative style with the historical epic and describes the result as a hypnotic meditation on power, myth and colonialism. The main warning for viewers is also part of the director’s approach: the film is deliberately long and unhurried.

Trailer: the official Janus Films trailer. Reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

8. The Odyssey — 88/100 on Metacritic, 94% on Rotten Tomatoes

What a film. Christopher Nolan transforms Odysseus’s return from the Trojan War into a large-scale adventure filmed for IMAX. Matt Damon plays Odysseus; he is supported by a large ensemble cast, and the trials familiar from Homer’s epic are presented as a physical journey through a dangerous and mythical world.

What the critics are saying. With 509 reviews, the Tomatometer stands at 94 per cent. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus praises the scale, the ensemble cast and the film’s ability to imbue an ancient myth with a raw, human sense of emotion. This is the most widely reviewed film in our top ten, but in terms of Metascore it trails behind several smaller arthouse films — yet another reminder that popularity and critical acclaim are not one and the same.

Trailer: the official trailer from Universal Pictures. Reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

9. Pompeii: Below the Clouds — 87/100 on Metacritic, 98% on Rotten Tomatoes

What a film. Documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi observes everyday life in Naples in the shadow of Vesuvius: archaeologists work with the past, children go to school, firefighters await call-outs, whilst the threat of the volcano remains a constant backdrop to ordinary life.

What the critics are saying. 98 per cent of 44 reviews are positive. Rotten Tomatoes describes the film as an evocative and unexpectedly hopeful mosaic of a city living alongside a potential catastrophe. Reviews particularly highlight the black-and-white visual style and the way Rosy weaves together archaeology, the present and a sense of time without the usual documentary-style narration.

Trailer: the official MUBI trailer. Rotten Tomatoes reviews.

10. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert — 86/100 on Metacritic, 97% on Rotten Tomatoes

What a film. Baz Luhrmann has pieced together a concert documentary from Elvis Presley’s archive material, including newly discovered recordings. The aim here is not to recount the musician’s entire biography, but to recapture the feeling of a live performance and show why his stage presence became part of the pop-cultural myth.

What the critics are saying. 97 per cent of 120 reviews are positive. Rotten Tomatoes believes the film brings the sheer joy of the show back into the conversation about Elvis and shows him at the peak of his performing powers. The Observer warns that fans are unlikely to learn much that is fundamentally new, but considers the film energetic even for viewers who do not count themselves among his fans.

Trailer: the official trailer from Universal Pictures UK. Rotten Tomatoes reviews.

Why it matters

This ranking clearly illustrates the difference between the ‘biggest film of the year’ in a marketing sense and the film that has garnered the most consistent critical consensus. The top ten includes a multi-billion Hollywood epic alongside intimate feature debuts and documentaries about family, the countryside, music and the city.

Nor is this the definitive ranking for 2026. The Metacritic database already contains highly rated films with release dates in October and November, but including them before their release would mean mixing films already seen by the public with upcoming premieres. Once they are released, the ranking will almost certainly change.

Finally, review aggregators are no substitute for the reviews themselves. The Metascore is handy for sorting, and the Tomatometer shows the breadth of positive consensus, but the meaning of reviews only becomes clear through the arguments: the same slow pace may be hypnotic to one critic, yet excessive to another. That is why, in each point, we not only provide a figure but also briefly explain exactly why the film is being praised or criticised.

Source

• Metacritic: Best Movies This Year, 2026 filter — the basis of the ranking; the service excludes films with fewer than seven critical reviews.
• Rotten Tomatoes: ‘Best New Movies of 2026’ and individual film pages — an additional check on the critical consensus and resolution of tied Metascores.
• Official trailers and distributors’ pages: Madman Films, Janus Films, Films Boutique, MUBI, Universal Pictures and the official trailer for *Seeds* on IMDb; direct links are provided in each entry.
• All ratings and the number of reviews were verified on 13 September 2026. As aggregators continue to add new content, these figures may change.