POLL: First Half of 2026 — The Best Films

Our members were polled about their favorite films from 2026 thus far (released theatrically in the US between January 1st and June 30th). Each was asked to submit an unranked list of no more than ten films. Check out those individual submissions below to see what we think you should keep on your radar individually.

Here are the overall results:

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s Project Hail Mary (March 20th) leads the way with 6 votes from the twelve critics who submitted a list (45 unique films were highlighted). Next is Sam Raimi’s Send Help (January 30th) with 5 votes, followed by Sophy Romvari’s Blue Heron (May 8th), Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama (April 3rd), Gore Verbinski’s Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (February 13th), and Kyle Balda’s The Sheep Detectives (May 8th) with 4 votes each. We’ve capped the list off there as a Top Six with the next five films each garnering 3 votes.

GWNYFCA Top Films from the First Half of 2026:

• Project Hail Mary, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (6) (reviews)
• Send Help, directed by Sam Raimi (5) (reviews)
• Blue Heron, directed by Sophy Romvari (4) (reviews)
• The Drama, directed by Kristoffer Borgli (4) (reviews)
• Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, directed by Gore Verbinski (4) (reviews)
• The Sheep Detectives, directed by Kyle Balda (4) (reviews)

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OUR MEMBER SUBMISSIONS (ALPHABETICAL):

2 Film Critics (Dianne Bennett & William Graebner) –

• Backrooms
• The Christophers
• The Drama
• Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
• The Invite
• Is God Is
• Obsession
• Project Hail Mary
• Tuner

George Elkind –

• Blue Heron
• Send Help
• Miroirs No. 3

M. Faust –

• The Bride!
• The Furious
• Fuze
• Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
• I Swear

Frank Housh –

• Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It
• The Drama
• For The Love Of A Woman
• Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
• I Love Boosters
• The Last One For The Road
• Pike River
• Send Help
• The Sheep Detectives
• Tuner

Johanna Lester –

• 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
• Apex
• The Devil Wears Prada 2
• Send Help
• The Sheep Detectives
• Voicemails for Isabelle

Adam Lubitow –

• Backrooms
• Blue Heron
• By Design
• Hoppers
• I Love Boosters
• Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
• Project Hail Mary
• Rose of Nevada
• The Sheep Detectives
• Silent Friend

Matt Marshall –

• The Mandalorian and Grogu
• Project Hail Mary
• Send Help

Jared Mobarak –

• Amrum
• Blue Heron
• Carolina Caroline
• The Christophers
• Decorado
• Disclosure Day
• Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
• Mārama
• Project Hail Mary
• Redux Redux

David Palmer –

• 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
• The Drama
• Hokum
• Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
• Obsession
• Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
• Pressure
• Project Hail Mary
• The Rip
• Wasteman

Matthew Passantino –

• Blue Heron
• The Furious
• Is God Is

Christopher Schobert –

• Disclosure Day
• The Drama
• EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert
• Erupcja
• Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

Joel Woytila –

• Backrooms
• Send Help
• Tuner
• 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
• The Sheep Detectives
• Obsession
• Project Hail Mary