The best films of 2026 (that we saw in 2025)

Twinless

Roman (Dylan O’Brien) is grieving the death of his more extroverted, more accomplished twin brother when he meets Dennis (James Sweeney) at a support group. Suffering and lost, the two men form a deeply complex friendship, often heartwarming but also sometimes toxic. As they get closer, though, secrets simmer their relationship to a freaky attachment on a tailspin to destruction.

100 Nights of Hero

In a beautiful and understated performance from Emma Corrin, our Hero is narrator, comic relief and our vehicle for awakening, as Maika Monroe's Cherry slowly finds the constraints of her 'destiny' too much to bear. Again - there is no twist here, everything is telegraphed - it is not whether we get there, but how, that is the most delicious element of the film.

The Testament of Ann Lee

This is a story about how pacifism is political. How gender, race, and religion are all precursors for violence, and how the denial of that violence is a radical act. However, the story opens up further, like a deep network of roots underground, the more you observe.

Poetic License

Poetic License is less a Rom-com and more a Com, and yet somehow Hoffman's Ari complicates things. Something very dark and unfortunate - something annoyingly familiar to those of us who recognise it - is happening with Ari, and to a lesser extent, his friend Sam. Maybe some will dismiss the entire film as a discontent-fuelled "episode" for both boys. Still, it's hard to go there and brush it off (though I really did laugh a lot, I promise), when the central conceit of both boys' frustrations and anguish is not so far off from the genuine anguish so many of my generation are having a hard time reconciling.

Rose of Nevada

What does the past mean when the future is the end?There are fishing towns, dry of people, scarred by loss. This is so British — there are towns of all professions that are like this now. Are we grieving from the past or from the future?

Hamnet

Both Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley put in career-defining performances, but it is their little Hamnet, Jacobi Jupe (Noah's Brother), whose performance is one of the most affecting. Never have I seen a young actor understand the weight of their role more, and provide this much of themselves to the audience and to the absolutely terrifying circumstances.

Hamlet

Riz Ahmed puts in the most intense and legible turn as our Prince, mired in grief-stricken madness and making awful, escalating decisions, against the backdrop of a wealthy South Asian Family with a London property empire.

Twelve Moons

What starts as the aftermath of grief upon grief quickly spirals into a dreamlike madness in this incredibly shocking and haunting film from Victoria Franco, starring the ever gripping Ana de la Reguera. It spans a few different modes of grief - where two modes intersect - as Sofia grapples with not being able to start a family, and what that means about motherhood, lineage, and the comfort you sometimes leave behind in search of life.

My Father’s Shadow

Many have highlighted the Father-Son aspect of this film, which, of course, is its core — what people downplay is how affecting the coming-of-age aspect of the film is. Through every element at its disposal, the film crafts a nostalgia trip for a time where your father had all the answers, the world was scary, strange and exciting, you could hold grudges and be angry and learn the right way to be, and you were hyper sensitive to the feelings of the adults around you. We stay at kid height for so much of the film, you start to truly sense that you are one of the brothers, looking up and around at Lagos, with all the overwhelm and magic it invokes.

Blue Heron

Set in the 1990s, Blue Heron is a semi-autobiographical drama that follows the story of a Hungarian-Canadian family of six living on Vancouver Island. The opening scenes depict joyous moments of laughter and play during that time in summer when, as a child, the days seem to last forever, and each one is filled with tiny moments of wonder.

Modern Whore

It's both fun and campy when it needs to be and serious and thoughtful when called for. The cinematography by Nina Djacic is a feast for the eyes - bright pinks, blues, reds, and yellows immerse you in Werhun's world, showing sex workers in a new and humanising light. The storytelling is punctuated by Dylan Glynn's beautiful animation, connecting you to the heart of the story - the desire to be seen as human. It's also funny as hell - we get campy acting moments from Werhun abound, from a "femme fatale" choking on her sultry cigarette smoke to a hilariously unhinged character named "Shame".

Obsession

Obsession balances tone, metaphor and tension expertly. All aspects of the film converge to immerse you in the fantastical, horrifying tale that ensues completely. There are scenes in this film that will stick with me for a very long time - in other words, they are permanently seared into my brain. The sound design is visceral and disturbing - it is all encompassing in a way that makes you unable to retreat or turn away, forcing you to confront the disturbing series of events that you’ve just witnessed.

Bad Apples

“The film was equal parts hilarious and horrifying, the biting satire rocking the crowd in all the ways. Ronan really shone in her role as Maria, showcasing everything from effervescent pride to utter terror, to deep-rooted anger, and so much more. The child actors, particularly Danny (Eddie Waller) and Pauline (Nia Brown), gave awe-inspiring performances that really helped carry the emotional through lines of the film.”

Fior Di Latte

“Mark (Tim Heidecker) is a playwright dangling between a deep creative rut and a tight deadline for his next project. Desperate for relief, he turns to the unusual practice of huffing an old Italian perfume to inspire some great masterpiece. Interspersed with memories of his serene summer vacation once upon ago, Mark’s art block unfurls and becomes a manic, scent-fueled journey in the streets of a surreal New York City—all the while alienating his peers, his friends, from the random strangers he meets—supporting turns from stars like Kevin Kline, Gina Gershon, Julia Fox—to his girlfriend Francesca (Marta Pozzan) in his search for the wayward fragrance”