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. Then again, there are still six months left to the year, and studios tend to save their quality works, most of the Oscar contenders, for the fall months.
The rules were simple: participants were invited to submit an unranked list of five films released in the U.S. between January 1, 2026 and June 12, 2026 that they considered the best of the year so far.
The final tally? Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s “Project Hail Mary” landed comfortably at the top with 48 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 thirteen 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 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 eighth-most votes in the poll.
Another unexpected entry was Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride!,” which appears to have a particularly passionate contingent of supporters. Despite receiving mixed reviews and posting a 57% on Rotten Tomatoes, it still managed to land at No. 12.
The same can be said for David Lowery’s “Mother Mary,” which ranked slightly lower at No. 20 and likewise drew a sharply divided critical response upon release.
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) — 66 votes
2) Blue Heron (Sophy Romvari) — 50
3) The Bone Temple (Nia DaCosta) — 46
4) Obsession (Curry Barker) — 45
5) Send Help (Sam Raimi) — 42
6) Disclosure Day (Steven Spielberg) — 41
7) Backrooms (Kane Parsons) — 37
8) Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie (Matt Johnson) —25
9) The Drama (Kristoffer Borgli) — 24
10) Pillion (Harry Lighton) — 19
11) Tuner (Daniel Roher) — 20
12) The Sheep Detectives (Kyle Balda) — 20
13) Is God Is (Aleshea Harris) — 18
14) The Christopher (Steven Soderbergh) — 15
15) The Furious (Kenji Tanigaki) — 15
16) I Love Boosters (Boots Riley) — 15
17) EPIC (Baz Luhrmann) — 14
18) The Bride! (Maggie Gyllenhaal) — 14
19) Silent Friend (Ildiko Enyedi) — 11
20) Crime 101 (Bart Layton) — 8
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), Liz Braun (Toronto Star), Jim Brunzell (Dark Star Pictures), Christopher Bumbray (Joblo), Daryl Chin (Freelance), Laura Clifford (Reeling Reviews), Adam Cook (Cinema Scope), Peter Debruge (Variety), Steve Dollar (Freelance), Edward Douglas (The Weekend Warrior), Matt Fagerholm (Roger Ebert), Scott Feinberg (THR), Adam Frazier (/Film), Jean Jacky Goldberg (Les Inrockuptibles), Bill Goodykoontz (Arizona Republic), Karen Gordon (Freelance), David Greven (USC), Zaki Hasan (The Film Stage), Patrick Heidmann (FAZ), 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), Larry Karazewski (Screenwriter), 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), Joanna Langfield (The Movie Minute), 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 (NPR’s Film of the Week), Mara Reinstein (US Weekly), Timothy Rhys (Movie Maker), Ruben Rosario (WSVN-TV), Dan Sallitt (Filmmaker), Thomas Schultze (The Spot), Diego Semerene (Slant Magazine), Ian Schultz (PsychothronicCinema), Niles Schwartz (Slant Magazine), Don Shanahan (Film Obsessive), Jason Shawan (Nashville Scene), Viguen Shirvanian (Culturopoing), Yael Shuv (Time Out Tel Aviv), Alex Simon (AFI), Amie Simon (I Love Splatter), Jeff Sneider (TheInSneider), Emma Stefansky (The Atlantic/The Daily Beast), 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), Benjamin Tovias (Yedioth Ahronoth), 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), David Rooney (THR), Rob Thomas (Substack), Chris Tilly (Dexerto), James Granados (Complex), Samuel L. Marrian (Collider), David Fear (Rolling Stone), Chuck Bowen (Style Weekly), Jake Coyle & Lindsey Bahr (AP News), Adam Graham (The Detroit News), Aaron Neuwirth (We Live Entertainment), Sean Fennessey (The Big Picture), Julian Malandruccolo (High on Films), Gerard Hall (Entertainment Weekly), William Bibbiani (The Wrap), Pruett Norris (828 News Now), Hunter Friesen (Eden Prairie), Gordon Briggs (Athens County Independent), The New York Times, Variety, ABC News & Headlines
The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.