Here are the results of our readers’ poll at the midyear mark for the best films of 2026 so far.
More than 350 readers voted, either via the comments section or by email, and the results differ somewhat from the critics’ poll. While critics crowned “Project Hail Mary” as the year’s best film so far, readers instead chose Curry Barker’s “Obsession” as their #1 film of 2026. That result isn’t particularly surprising. Through sheer word of mouth, Barker’s film has become an unexpected blockbuster.
“Obsession” edged out Kristoffer Borgli’s “The Drama” by just six votes. Borgli’s film received mixed reviews upon release and failed to crack the Top 10 in our critics’ poll, highlighting the audience-critic divide that seems especially pronounced at the moment.
It’s also worth noting that readers were much more enthusiastic about “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” than critics were. The film finished in the Top 5 of the readers’ poll, compared to #8 among critics. The same trend applies to Pixar’s “Hoppers,” which ranked No. 10 with readers but only #24 with critics.
Given the limited rollout it’s gotten, Sophy Romvari’s “Blue Heron,” which placed second with critics, only finished ninth with readers — I’m sure once it hits digital it’ll garner more fans.
By the end of the summer, this Top 10 could look very different, especially with “The Odyssey,” “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” and “The End of Oak Street” still on the horizon.
Here are the results:
“Obsession” — 69 votes
“The Drama” — 63
“Project Hail Mary” — 62
“The Bone Temple” — 61
“Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” — 49
“Send Help” — 48
“Backrooms” — 45
“Disclosure Day” — 38
“Blue Heron” — 35
“Hoppers” — 34
“Is God Is” — 22
“The Sheep Detectives” — 19
“The Furious” — 18
“The Christophers” — 18
“Silent Friend” — 17
“I Love Boosters” — 15
“Hokum” — 13
“Tuner” — 12
To refresh your memory, last year’s midyear Top 10, which came just before “28 Years Later,” “F1,” “Superman,” “Weapons” and “Caught Stealing” would cap off the summer.
“Sinners” (Coogler) — 59 votes
“Black Bag” (Soderbergh) — 45
“Warfare” (Garland) — 41
“Friendship” (DeYoung) — 27
“Bring Her Back” (Phillippou) — 23
“Companion” (Hancock) — 16
“Mickey 17” (Bong) — 15
“Presence” (Soderbergh) — 12
“The Shrouds” (Cronenberg) — 11
“Mission: Impossible 8” (McQuarrie)
And the year before, in 2024:
“Challengers” (Guadagnino)
“Dune” (Villeneuve)
“Civil War” (Garland)
“Furiosa” (Miller)
“Love Lies Bleeding” (Glass)
“I Saw the TV Glow” (Schoenbrun)
“Hit Man” (Linklater)
“La Chimera” (Rohrwacher)
“The Beast” (Bonello)
“Evil Does Not Exist” (Hamaguchi)