As we roll into the final stretch of 2026, we’re getting that year-end push from the studios on the films that they’ve either put millions into advertising (“Dune: Chapter 3” and “Avengers: Doomsday) or the ones they think will be critically heralded awards contenders (“Paper Tiger” and “The Debut”). I’m certainly excited for the last few weeks of releases we have to look forward to, but there’ve also been some really interesting films that were either completely ignored or criminally misunderstood so far this year. Before we get to the end, let’s take a look at a few of the ones that came before that deserve a more thorough look.
“Love of Your Life”— It’s hard to quantify how good Margaret Qualley can be onscreen. There’s an effortlessness to her charisma that makes her so imminently watchable that when she’s doing something mundane like kicking off her shoes or eating a piece of cake, she’s mesmerizing. “Love of Your Life” stars Qualley as a nurse who meets the love of her life and then loses him during COVID. It could have so easily been a sappy, melodramatic tearjerker that manipulates emotions like the strings on a violin, but instead director Rachel Morrison uses her training as a cinematographer to find the subtle grace notes of a life. Emotionally mature in ways I wasn’t ready for.
Watch it here.
“The X-Files: I Want to Believe—Vrach Frankenshteyn” — Bear with me for a second. This is the Director’s Cut (released in 2026) of the terrible 2008 “X-Files” movie that was about organ trafficking and mad scientists instead of aliens or Bigfeet. This Director’s Cut is around 10 minutes shorter than the original, which definitely gives the movie a more propulsive pacing, but it still plays like a middling two-part episode than it does a full-blown theatrical release. Does it make the movie better? Yeah, a little, but it’s still borderline incomprehensible and only worth watching for two reasons: 1) The nostalgia for watching David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson is so powerful and it’s still electrifying watching them solve mysteries…even if the mystery is pretty lame but also, 2) The movie got me so hyped for Ryan Coogler’s upcoming reboot starring “Station Eleven’s” Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel (with guest stars including Steve Buscemi and Amy Madigan). I need more “X-Files” and I need someone other than creator Chris Carter producing it.
Watch it here.
“Rose of Nevada” — A strange, lo-fi little sci-fi drama starring the (possible) future James Bond, Callum Turner and George MacKay as two fishermen who come back to shore after a few days out and discover that they’ve traveled back a few decades in the past. It’s a starkly low-budget and atmospheric film that proves how, armed with strong performances, a haunting location and an auteur behind the lens, singular and lasting art is within grasp, regardless of the pursestrings. This won’t be for everyone (or even anyone else but me), but I found it to be a moving, slow-burn brain worm that I haven’t stopped thinking about since its release. Writer, editor, composer and director Mark Jenkin is one to keep an eye on.
Watch here.
“Heel” — What could have easily ended up as a goofy psychological thriller plays like a surprisingly sweet look at taking grief to its most extreme ends and finding something beautiful on the other side. A violent teenage prick named Tommy (a magnetic Anton Boon) is kidnapped by a couple suffering from an unimaginable loss, living in a large estate out in the country. They put a collar on Tommy and start training him to be a good boy. They give him books, show him inspirational videos and try to deprogram him from his life of drugs and nihilism. What follows is not only a fascinating look at nature vs. nurture, but a deeply affecting character study with multi-layered, complex performances from the great Stephen Graham and the greater-er Andrea Riseborough. Just when you think you have an idea where this is going, it swerves in a completely different direction.
Watch here.
“Sirāt” — It’s such a cliche when critics use the word “alive” to describe a movie because what film actually captures is closer to the ghost of a memory of a lie than a living article. But I can’t think of a better word to describe “Sirāt,” a movie so immediate and visceral that there are images that will stay seared in your front brain forever. Some are dark and disturbing but others are so beautiful and vibrant that this desert-bound thriller feels like a captured supernova on film. Go into it knowing nothing and you will be transported to the deserts of southern Morocco immediately.
Watch here.
There are so many more films of 2026 that I wish found the audiences they deserved. From the quietly epic “Magellan” (streaming on Criterion Channel), the unconventionally romantic “Pillion” (streaming on HBO Max) or the chilling and challenging “Our Hero, Balthazar” (streaming on Tubi), truly independent film can easily get lost in the margins of all the other noise. I could name two dozen more indie films that could use some love, so check back through the end of the year for more recommendations.
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