The first three months of 2026 have been astonishing. Not only has there been a wide array of original IP, but we've also seen a trend of audiences finally returning to cinemas post-COVID. As a celebration of this, let's go through some of the best movies of the first quarter of 2026, in no particular order.
1. Send Help
Send Help is a very interesting mix of genres. In true Sam Raimi fashion, this managed to balance incredible horror with some great laughs throughout, helped in no small part by Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien as the two leads. We follow a rich, 'nepo baby', businessman - who recently inherited his company from his father - and a woman in strategy and planning within that exact company. Lina Liddle (Rachel McAdams) was promised a management position by the previous boss, but his son has other plans, namely by promoting his friends. However, he decides to give Linda one last chance to show her suitability for this job by joining them on a business trip. This trip never gets completed, though, and the only two survivors are forced to make their way on this deserted island - shifting their dynamics completely.
This movie received wide critical success, as well as bringing audiences to the big screen to experience the first of Sam Raimi's original work since 2009's Drag Me To Hell. While this may not have been an undeniable blockbuster, it was by no means a flop and has since grossed $94 million, more than doubling its $40 million budget.
Letterboxd - 3.4
IMDb - 7.0
2. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple continues on from its predecessor, 28 Years Later, picking up almost immediately where we left off. This movie follows two very contained stories, which eventually collide near the climax, those being Spike with The Jimmys, and Dr Ian Kelson learning about the infected. We're shown the horrors that the Jimmys perform, deluding themselves as agents of Satan and grooming Spike into those activities. Contrastingly, we have an almost love story-esque journey between Dr Kelson and an infected. These stories come together when The Jimmys believe Dr Kelson is Satan incarnate and request his time.
Being a continuation of the beloved 28 Days franchise, this was guaranteed to draw attention. However, this didn't work out nearly as well as they'd hoped. Despite raving reviews from critics and (most) audiences alike, this actually lost money. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple only grossed $58 million against it's $63 million budget. There are many reasons this may have occurred, the most obvious two being that this was a much slower instalment, compared to the rest of the franchise, and simply that it was released in mid-January, the worst month for the box office.
Letterboxd - 3.9
IMDb - 7.3
3. Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary is the newest addition to this list, releasing worldwide just 10 days ago. Even so, this is already shaping up to be one of 2026's biggest successes. This follows Ryland Grace, an elementary school science teacher who once had an outlandish hypothesis that thrust him out of science's limelight. Many years later, this hypothesis was actually proved correct, leading him to the responsibility of saving the world from sun-eating bacteria. This mission takes a turn when he discovers another species in the depths of space, with the same mission for their own planet - both are the sole survivors on their ship.
Despite this not even releasing two weeks ago, as of yet, Project Hail Mary has already crossed the 1 million watched landmark on Letterboxd and is the highest-grossing movie of the year, recently crossing $322 million, against it's $200 million budget. This movie is very much on track to be amongst the best-performing and best-received movies of the year by the time we reach 2027.
Letterboxd - 4.4
IMDb - 8.4
4. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die seems to have flown under the radar, for the most part, despite being attached to Gore Verbinski and Sam Rockwell, as well as a whole cast of familiar faces. This follows a man from a post-apocalyptic future who travels back to the past in an effort to save the world from the dangers of AI. He puts together a team of regular people in a diner, who are destined to stop a child from creating a dangerous AI.
This movie flew very far under the radar, only grossing $9.3 million on a budget of $20 million. This may have been for many different reasons, the most obvious being that reviews didn't completely rave about it. While this was called messy, on-the-nose, and lacking momentum at times, there is still a very poignant message within which, in my personal opinion, manages to break through this messiness just enough.
Letterboxd - 3.4
IMDb - 7.1
5. Wasteman
Wasteman is a very personal addition to this list, as it's my favourite movie of this year so far. This movie follows Taylor (David Jonsson) in prison. He's only a few days away from being released, depending on his behaviour. These hopes are jeopardised after he gets a new cellmate, Dee (Tom Blyth). Dee runs a shop within prison, which comes into contact with a competing shop, threatening Dee's business. This causes Taylor to be caught in the crossfire and is forced to resolve this problem in the worst way possible.
I haven't seen Wasteman be spoken about enough, or even at all. This is likely mostly due to it only being released in the UK so far, going to the USA on April 17. So far, it has grossed $1.1 million from solely UK audiences, as well as almost exclusively amazing reviews. If you're going to watch any movie from this list - even though you should watch them all - let it be this one.