10 Movies You Should Put on Your 2026 Watchlist
2026 is here, and I've seen the future. Or to be more specific, I’ve seen a lot of good indie shit across my film festival travels. Thankfully, many that you see on this listicle have secured distribution and are slated for a 2026 release. This year is ripe with many stellar original debuts from new voices, several of whom operate in the acting space and are now at the helm, underrated filmmakers making bold ventures, new filmmakers that should be on your radar, and Canadians. A LOT of Canadians. Some of these are great, many are weird, and most are affecting.
These are just a few of the great features dropping in 2026 that should be on your watchlist/radar/whatever you call it. These are all highly recommended works that should embolden you to rush to your nearest (probably arthouse) theater.
1) Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (Feb 13)
Canada’s coolest nerds, Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, made the leap from YouTube shorts to web series to Vice TV series to feature film with Nirvanna the Band the Show. All it took was 17 years! If you’re familiar with their works, let me tell you this movie delivers everything the fans want and more. But with my exposure coming from SXSW, I will say it’s the funniest comedy of the year. It’s part Bad Grandpa/guerilla-styled filmmaking at its finest, part hilarious riff on Back to the Future, and part love letter to Toronto, all bottled under an S-tier buddy-comedy. Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is a hilarious, breezy romp that shakes up the format of its source material to benefit an introspective dissection of two best friends with a passion for playing at the Rivoli, and their zany antics being put to the test across a time-traveling romp. It’s clever, inventive, nerdy as hell, and so Canadian. It compelled me to venture into their archives and watch the series. It's that good, darn it.
2) Poetic License (May 15)
There’s a new Apatow director on the block, and with just one movie, Maude proves she has more juice than her daddy! With Poetic License, Maude Apatow makes her debut in a charming and funny story about two college senior best friends – safe boy, Sam (Andrew Barth Feldman), and filterless, self-absorbed old soul Ari (a remarkable Cooper Hoffman) – befriending Liz (Leslie Mann), a lonely retired therapist turned college auditor. Liz, struggling to find her footing after her professor husband (Method Man) moves them to a college town and her high school senior daughter (Nico Parker) wants her personal space, finds solace and appreciation in her college-aged colleagues. What follows is a deeply earnest portrait of human connectivity and purpose. Bolstered by Raffi Donatich’s incredible and complex script, the central trio is fantastic across the board, with Feldman and Hoffman playing a comedic duo with boundless chemistry. Plus, Leslie Mann delivers an all-time career-best performance that grounds the film in nuance. The film serves as a strong calling card for Apatow and will likely be one of the best things to come out in 2026.
3) Carolina Caroline (TBD 2026)
*AHEM* Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner as a contemporary Bonnie and Clyde! Stop drooling, dear readers. I know it’s hot. It’s romantic, thrilling, and of course, has an emotional core. Writer/director Adam Rehmeier reunites with Gallner after Dinner in America, which became a cult classic (I didn’t enjoy it when I saw it at Sundance, but am willing to give it another shot). Nevertheless, his latest centers on a temperamental young woman on the run from Kentucky to Texas to find her mother, and she crosses paths with a hotshot con man. Together, they become criminals on the lam, going scorched earth on their road trip with everyone except each other. It’s so familiar, but its enthralling, grounded approach, character-driven writing, and the sincere dynamic between Gallner and Weaving make this cross-country journey worth the trip.
4) It Ends (TBD 2026)
Imagine this: you’re with your best friends from college, driving back to your hometown, and the road just NEVER ENDS! That’s the setup of Alex Ullom’s Gen-Z psychological horror, It Ends. The film makes the most of its journey with a strong, relatable depiction of Gen-Z ennui, driven by stellar performances from its central ensemble, fantastic pacing, and some horrifying sequences that made me feel like I was riding shotgun with them. One of the best movies I saw during SXSW this year, right next to Nirvanna. I’m so glad NEON picked up both films. #GoodGets!
5) Maddie’s Secret (TBD 2026)
It’s common knowledge that John Early is a comedic actor. His debut feature, Maddie’s Secret, sees him behind the lens and on the screen, but dressing as a woman. Not in the way that Tyler Perry does, but in a bold, singular manner to discuss a woman’s navigation through her eating disorder. It’s a perfectly toned Almodovar-like dramedy with a balance of satire on LA media culture and a John Hughes riff on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, shot like a telenovela. The film follows Maddie (Early), a dishwasher at a food content creation company, who rises in her field when one of her chilli videos goes viral. But she holds a secret unbeknownst to everyone, including her lesbian best friend (Kate Berlant in a dazzling showcase of range) and her husband (Eric Rahill): she has bulimia. At first, you think it’s a joke as Early cast himself as the lead of his project. As the film progresses, the reason behind his casting and the thematic story of trauma, perfectionism, and the link to her eating disorder underscores a thoughtful character portrait. Well-paced, deeply emotional, and delightfully funny on many occasions, Maddie’s Secret is one of the best surprises you’ll be lucky to find next year.
6) Late Fame (TBD 2026)
A contemporary reimagining of Arthur Schnitzler’s novella, written by May December’s Samy Burch, Late Fame is a visceral portrait of the current state of the art scene and the co-opting of it by NYU Nepo Babies. It stars Willem Dafoe as Ed Saxberger, a mailman who is approached by a fan of his old poetry works and is taken to meet his comrades, who are part of a poetry club. They all assume he was part of the heyday of NYC poets, where everyone was in a community, but that wasn’t the case. These boys come from money, but Gloria (Greta Lee), a Blanche DuBois-like musical theater actress, entertains affections from the boys. Saxberger is asked to write a new poem for their show, but struggles to reignite that spark. The movie scathingly aims and shoots at the modern New York art scene and the lack of originality, beyond the shield of family wealth. Late Fame features great performances by Dafoe, Lee, and Edmund Donovan. It’s one of the underrated titles from NYFF this year.
7) Tuner (TBD 2026)
Tuner is a caper thriller that I can best describe as having ‘90s energy but in a 2025 coat. Daniel Roher’s first feature is a rare gem I saw at TIFF about Niki (Leo Woodall), a former piano prodigy who had to hang up his keys when he developed a sensitive hearing condition. Now he’s the piano tuner assistant to his uncle-like figure Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman). But when Henry’s hospitalized and Niki wants to help pay for his medical bills, he falls into a life of crime, working for an Israeli gang and becoming their safecracker. He also starts a romance with a pianist prodigy in the making. It’s very well-paced, solidly written, genuinely thrilling, and features great work from Leo Woodall. I haven’t seen One Day, but I loved him in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. Tuner also has strong sound mixing and design that make the music sequences immersive.
8) Mile End Kicks (TBD 2026)
Chandler Levack’s latest is like a Canadian The Summer I Turned Pretty, but for the Almost Famous crowd. It’s about 22-year-old Grace (Barbie Ferreira), a sheltered and coddled music journalist getting out of the house and learning about responsibilities for the first time as she moves from Toronto to Montreal. Upon moving into her first space with a roommate, she makes a to-do list in her notes app – mostly wanting to have sex and write more. She then integrates herself into her roommates’ boyfriend’s local band, thirsting for the douchey lead vocalist Chevy (Stanley Simons) while befriending the nice-guy guitarist Archie (Devon Bostick). It’s very visceral in how it captures the epitome of the early-20-something experience, especially for kids who moved out of the house too late with little guidance, while also struggling with low self-esteem. The film is excellently led by Barbie Ferreira’s passionate and powerful lead performance. I saw far too much of myself within Grace, especially in her pursuit of validation and ignorance of roommating. Chandler Levack crafts a charming, thoughtful, and funny coming-of-age Canadian comedic classic in the making.
9) Dead Lover (TBD 2026)
For the gothic, horny freaks wanting a theatrical DIY take on Frankenstein that’s absurdist, queer, and outright weird: this one’s for you. Grace Glowicki’s Dead Lover is a delightful riff of the familiar story told through the guise of a lonely and stinky gravedigger (Glowicki) who at long last finds herself a lover (Glowicki’s husband/and co-writer Ben Petrie). But when he drowns at sea, and all that remains is a severed finger, Gravedigger goes from Miss Freaky to Miss Frankie and resurrects him. Well, she attaches the finger to a deceased woman (Leah Doz), with a battle over whose mind is in charge as she’s resurrected. It’s absurdist, raunchy, hella bizarre, and fun. Granted, it runs out of steam in the second half, but if you love freaky fucked-up macabre with a hint of Monty Python meets Masterpiece Theatre, you’ll love Dead Lover.
10) Bunnylovr (TBD 2026)
Katarina Zhu’s directorial debut is a very thoughtful, empathetic, and affecting look at introverts longing for connectivity within NYC. This one in particular is about a cam girl who comes alive via her chats, and one of her clients (Austin Amelio) gives her a cute white bunny, which she names Milk. Meanwhile, she’s aimless and young, wandering around with her artist best friend (Rachel Sennott), hooking up with her ex-boyfriend (Jack Kilmer), and gets caught in the crossroads reestablishing her relationship with her estranged dad, William (Perry Yung). Alas, this bunny becomes something of a mirror to her and her self-esteem. It’s an affecting character study that speaks to the mundanity of life, 20-something loneliness, and the little things that make us feel alive and seen, even if at times we think of ourselves as our worst enemy. It’s very much, “We’re All Going to the Cam Girl’s Fair,” mixed with Tiny Furniture. It’s a damn good debut and lead performance from Zhu – one of my favorites from the past Sundance – and a debut worth checking out.
