Here’s our annual World of Reel mid-year poll. The broader consensus among the 100+ critics who participated was mixed. Many felt that the first half of 2026 was disappointing for movies.
The final tally? Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s “Project Hail Mary” landed comfortably at the top with 35 votes — yet it appeared on only 40% of the lists. Last year’s winner, Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” showed up on a whopping 70% of the submitted lists.
It’s no surprise that “Project Hail Mary” topped the poll: a domestic box-office success with great reviews, and likely the only major Oscar contender released so far this year, with Best Picture and Best Director on its radar.
Coming in second was Sophy Romvari’s “Blue Heron,” trailing Lord and Miller’s film by eight votes. A hauntingly intimate debut, it’s an absolute example of personal cinema, very much in the same wavelength as “Aftersun.” Set in 1990s Vancouver, the film follows Sasha (Eylul Guven), a young girl in a Hungarian immigrant family, as she navigates the complexities surrounding her troubled older brother.
Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day,” which hit theaters yesterday, finished at No. 5, despite generating a wide range of opinions — from great to awful. It’s currently at 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, the film’s passionate defenders helped propel it into the top five.
As for Curry Barker’s “Obsession” and Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms,” two totally different films in tone and execution that are impossible to separate at the moment due to the box-office rise of their internet-native filmmakers, they were practically tied throughout the voting at No. 6. In the end, Barker’s film finished with one more vote than Parsons’.
A welcome surprise came in the form of Daniel Roher’s “Tuner” — a small-scale indie that somehow broke into the top 10. Quietly premiering at Telluride last year, the film has since built a loyal following within the critical community. It ended up tied for the ninth-most votes in the poll. Another surprise was Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride!,” which turns out to have a passionate group of defenders. Despite mixed reviews, it managed to finish at #12.
Thanks to everyone who got their picks in on short notice. IndieWire used to run a mid-year poll before dropping it. I took over in 2016, initially with Sasha Stone’s Awards Daily, and since 2019, it’s been a World of Reel tradition. This is year eleven.
BEST FILMS OF 2026 (So Far):
1) “Project Hail Mary” (Lord/Miller) — 45 votes
2) “Blue Heron” (Sophy Romvari) — 37
3) “The Bone Temple” (Nia DaCosta) — 34
4) “Send Help” (Sam Raimi) — 31
5) “Disclosure Day” (Steven Spielberg) — 29
6) “Obsession” (Curry Barker) — 29
7) “Backrooms” (Kane Parsons) — 28
8) “Pillion” (Harry Lighton) — 16
9) “Tuner” (Daniel Roher) — 15
10) “Nirvanna The Band the Show the Movie” (Matt Johnson) — 15
11) “The Drama” (Kristoffer Borgli) — 13
12) “The Bride!” (Maggie Gyllenhaal) — 11
13) “The Furious” — 10
14) “I Love Boosters” (Boots Riley) — 9
15) “The Sheep Detective” — 9
16) “EPIC” (Baz Luhrmann) — 9
17) “Silent Friend” (Ildiko Enyedi) — 8
18) “Is God Is” — 8
19) “Crime 101” (Bart Layton) — 8
20) “Mother Mary” (David Lowery) — 7
PARTIAL LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
Thelma Adams (AARP), Ethan Alter (Gold Derby), Jeffrey M. Anderson (San Francisco Examiner), Michael Atkinson (The Village Voice), Nicolas Bell (IONCINEMA), Alex Billington (First Showing), John Bleasdale (Variety), Jim Brunzell (Dark Star Pictures), Christopher Bumbray (Joblo), Daryl Chin (Freelance), Laura Clifford (Reeling Reviews), Adam Cook (Cinema Scope), Steve Dollar (Freelance), Edward Douglas (The Weekend Warrior), Matt Fagerholm (Roger Ebert), Scott Feinberg (THR), Adam Frazier (/Film), Jean Jacky Goldberg (Les Inrockuptibles), Karen Gordon (Freelance), David Greven (USC), Zaki Hasan (The Film Stage), Patrick Heidmann (Financial Times), Barry Hertz (The Globe and Mail), Matt Hoffman (Film School Rejects), Robert Horton (Seattle Weekly), Peter Howell (The Toronto Star), Andrea Hudson (Freelance) Richard T. Jameson (Film Comment), Mark Johnson (Awards Daily), Dave Karger (TCM), Don Kaye (Den of Geek), Peter Keough (The Arts Fuse), Harry Knowles (Aint it Cool), Eric Kohn (EDGLRD), Kevin Laforest (Extra Beurre), William LaRochelle (Freelance), Eric Lavallee (IONCINEMA), Marcos Levy (Freelance), Wade Major (NPR Los Angeles), Steve Mears (Film Comment), Scott Mendelson (Puck), Myron Meisel (LAFCA), Scott Menzel (HFCA), Matt Neglia (Next Best Picture), Johnny Oleksinski (NY Post), Gerald Peary (The Arts Fuse), Claudia Puig (USA Today), Mara Reinstein (US Weekly), Timothy Rhys (Movie Maker), Ruben Rosario (WSVN-TV), Dan Sallitt (Filmmaker), Thomas Schultze (FIPRESCI), Diego Semerene (Slant Magazine), Ian Schultz (PsychothronicCinema), Niles Schwartz (Slant Magazine), Don Shanahan (Every Movie Has A Lesson), Jason Shawan (Nashville Scene), Viguen Shirvanian (Culturopoing), Yael Shuv (Time Out Tel Aviv), Alex Simon (AFI), Amie Simon (I Love Splatter), Jeff Sneider (TheInSneider), Tony Stemme (Freelance), David Sterritt (Christian Science Monitor), Marlow Stern (Variety), Herb Stratford (KMSB 11- FOX), Bob Strauss (Los Angeles Daily News), Andrea Thompson (Chicago Reader), Christian Toto (Toto in Hollywood), Brian Truitt (USA Today), Mel Valentin (Freelance), Daniel Waters (Screenwriter), Max Weiss (Baltimore Magazine), Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere), Richard Whittaker (Austin Chronicle), Matthew Wilder (Filmmaker), Chuck Wilson (LA Weekly), Addison Wyle (The Wire)
MORE ONLINE PUBLISHED LISTS
Jordan Raup (The Film Stage), David Sims (The Atlantic) Matt Singer (Screen Crush), Coleman Splide (Salon), Kristy Puchko (Mashable), Phil de Semlyen (Time Out), , Mike D’Angelo (The Man Who Viewed Too Much), Brian Tallerico (Roger Ebert), Austin Burke (YouTube), Esther Zuckerman (The Wall Street Journal), CJ Prince (The Film Stage), Katie Walsh (Tribune News Service), Kenji Fujishima (Slant Magazine), Marya E. Gates (RogerEbert), Brandon Streussnig (The Playlist)