We're at the tail end of a historically great summer movie season—The Odyssey, Spider-Man, Toy Story 5—you already know that. But have you heard of the nutso comedy Maddie's Secret, which has the most insane dance sequence you'll see all year? How about Late Fame, which quietly shows one of Willem Dafoe's greatest performances? For more, Max Cea rounded up the best movies of 2026 below. —Brady Langmann, senior entertainment editor
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Hollywood’s banner year continues with record-breaking new blockbusters—plus, some really great independent comedies.
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When I last updated this list, the movie discourse was fixated on what seemed like the story of the year—a pair of runaway successes from 20-something YouTuber wunderkinds Curry Barker and Kane Parsons. A couple months later, Obsession and Backrooms are each still drawing hordes of moviegoers to theaters. (And fellow Zoomer Alex Ullom’s It Ends will soon vie to join their ranks.)
But more recently, those films have been overshadowed by two giant studio properties that were expected to be big hits—just not this big. The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day are setting records and powering Hollywood’s best box-office numbers since the pandemic. IMAX screenings are selling out at all hours of the night; resale tickets are going for astronomical sums; Tom Holland and Zendaya (Zendolland? Tomdaya?) are suddenly inescapable.
As an actual individual moviegoer, though, what’s been even more thrilling has been the surprising number of strong comedies and comedy-adjacent flicks we’ve gotten this summer.
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These days, I catch myself checking the mirror before I head over to their house. I make sure my hair is sitting just right. I pull out my better shirts, the ones that fit a little closer to the chest that she always compliments. It’s an involuntary vanity, a quiet preparation for the moment.
I arrive to find Elena wrestling dinner while her husband, Mark, rests upstairs. I’ll slide right into the routine, spooning mashed potatoes and peas into their three-year-old son’s mouth, wiping avocado off his chin, and trading quiet, exhausted nods with Elena over the high chair. Every time we’re in that room together, passing a cutting board or reaching for the same bottle of wine, I feel a spark in the space between us.
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Finally, you get the bartender’s attention at the trendy new spot in town. So what do you order? Probably something tried-and-true that you know you’ll like, right? A martini or Negroni, maybe a tequila soda? After you’ve managed to take a sip to lighten your mood, ask yourself: Did I even look at the menu?
But I know what I like, you’re probably saying to yourself. And yes, your bartender will smile and nod and make the best damn tequila soda you’ve ever had, because their job is to serve you your drink the way you want it. However, the order itself isn’t the problem; the problem is ordering without even considering the menu. Mixologists spend months developing a culturally relevant, epicurean cocktail menu before meticulously infusing liqueurs and fat-washing and hand-making garnishes, only for you to order a two-part mixed drink.
“I notice this mostly with men. By courtesy, I will always pass someone a menu, but most guys already have it in their minds what they want,” says Lauren Rojas, the head bartender at Jac’s on Bond in New York’s NoHo neighborhood, who helped craft the Esquire campfire martini. “More often than not, the guy will just lay the menu back down and be like, ‘We already know what we’re getting.’ ”
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