Outside of "good" or "bad," 2026's finest films have enough risk-taking creativity to restore your faith in movies
Published
June 10, 2026 12:00PM (EDT)
(Illustration by Salon / A24 / Bleeker Street Media / Warner Bros. Pictures / Music Box Films / Ad Vitam)
You hear it all the time. Hell, you might have even said it yourself (I know I have): “Hollywood’s out of ideas!” That sentiment can often seem true in a market where studio executives favor sequels and drab intellectual property over originality and fresh takes. But so far in 2026, curious viewers have had no shortage of interesting, innovative films to run to the theater for. With movies like “Obsession” and “Backrooms” already dominating the early-summer box office, the industry is rethinking its iron-grip commitment to regurgitating the same films audiences have seen 100 times before, in slightly different ways.
