7 Most Exciting Netflix Movies Still To Come In 2026, Ranked By Hype Level

Published Oct 4, 2026, 6:25 PM EDT

Simon Gallagher has worked in movie and TV journalism for more than 17 years. He has written more than 6000 articles and reviews, and edited thousands more. He is an expert in the entertainment industry, particularly in the golden age of screen superheroes. Simon is also a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic.
 

Not so long ago, the later months of the year belonged strictly to theater chains, with a quieter Fall making way to the second, shorter blockbuster season of the Holidays. The streaming era has changed that, with Netflix rewriting the rulebook entirely. Now, as we head into the final stretch of 2026, the streaming giant has some of the year’s most interesting remaining movies.

Netflix rules when it comes to original releases on streaming, with a higher audience share going to new releases than any other company, meaning consolidation of that high benchmark requires considerable investment. As a result, the next 3 months will see notable drops in multiple genres: war, thriller, animation, and crime drama, and there’s some serious talent involved, from Ben Affleck to Jessica Chastain, and David Fincher to Brad Bird.

Outside of streaming, the biggest focus will be on the titanic head-to-head in December of Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part III, with other interesting releases like Whalefall, Artificial, and The Social Reckoning joined by major IP releases from The Hunger Games, Street Fighter, and Jumanji. And for just about the price of a ticket for just one of those releases, Netflix also has an impressive line-up.

2026 has already seen big wins from War Machine, Apex, and Voicemails for Isabelle, and the end of the year has a good mix that should cater to everyone. Starting with a compelling British drama from a genuine master…

8 Honorable Mention: Ink

If you’re a fan of Disney+’s gloriously gauche Rivals, Netflix has the perfect true story to feed you next. Danny Boyle’s explosive adaptation of James Graham's acclaimed stage play tells the story of the birth of the tabloid era, as Rupert Murdoch (Guy Pearce) and editor Larry Lamb (Jack O'Connell) formed ruthless newspaper The Sun. Already screened to critics in Venice, Ink has scored strong reviews, and only misses out on full inclusion here because it releases theatrically on December 11, but doesn’t come to Netflix until January 8, 2027.

7 Steps

Another revisionist fairy tale, Steps is Netflix’s ambitious animated musical comedy directed by John Ripa and Alyce Tzue that retells Cinderella from the perspective of her stepsisters, who aren’t at all like the traditional version of the story. Subversive and stacked with a great cast, including Ali Wong, Amanda Seyfried, Daniel Radcliffe, and Peter Dinklage, this is not the Disney story you’ll recognize.

The songs come from the pens of Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci alongside composer Kristopher Bowers, and the hints so far suggest a funny twist on the Cinderella story that should capture the family audience from November 20.

6 Heartland

Not to be confused with the long-running Canadian family drama series, Heartland is the latest from Shana Feste, which sees Jessica Chastain play a former country music star hunting for her missing niece in the rotten underbelly of Nashville. The excellent John Hawkes also stars, with support from Carter Faith and Garrett Hedlund.

The concept of Chastain playing an isolated former music star taking her investigation to the streets and confronting both the unseen dirty secrets of Nashville and her own past sounds excellent, and the continued success of country music should bring lots of interest. It definitely feels like a Tyler Sheridan/Nashville mash-up, with a side of Taken thrown in, which doesn’t sound like anything else coming up. Heartland releases on Netflix on November 13.

5 In Waves

Already critically acclaimed thanks to its festival release at Cannes earlier this year, In Waves is adapted from AJ Dungo’s deeply moving graphic novel. It currently sits on 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviews confirming director Phuong-Mai Nguyen has painted a poignant mix of romance, tragedy, and ocean culture.

The animated movie AJ (Rio Vega), a quiet teenager who finds joy in skateboarding and drawing, who meets and falls for Kristen (Lyna Khoudri), who lives for the ocean but who faces a devastating illness that prompts a spiritual journey to find healing in the Southern California surf scene. Visually beautiful, it’s billed as a heavy, mournful tale of grief, love, and recovery, and will be essential viewing for indie animation fans when it arrives on December 11.

4 The Mosquito Bowl

Netflix’s latest war movie, The Mosquito Bowl, is an epic historical sports-war drama based on Buzz Bissinger’s bestselling book, which reunites Bissinger’s work with director Peter Berg and producer Brian Grazer, who made the incredible Friday Night Lights more than 20 years ago.

It tells the extraordinary true story of the former college football stars who staged a game on the island of Guadalcanal on the eve of the brutal, bloody invasion of Okinawa. Starring Nicholas Galitzine and Bill Skarsgård as rising college stars and rivals, it combines Berg’s eye for high-stakes action and heart, and already looks like Netflix’s best war movie in years. It lands on Netflix on November 25, and has all the makings of an intense, sweeping crowd-pleaser that should be popular over Thanksgiving.

3 Animals

Ben Affleck has made headlines recently thanks to his open embrace of AI, which he says his upcoming crime thriller Animals used “ethically,” but if you put aside moral concerns about the technology (as he would very much like you to), it sounds like a winner. Affleck co-wrote the story alongside Billy Ray, and stars as Mark Kimball, an LA mayoral candidate whose son is kidnapped and must turn to less than moral means to make money. There’s a cutting AI joke in there somewhere…

Affleck stars alongside a host of talent, including Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun, and his DCEU co-star Ray Fisher, and Animals promises a high-pressure thriller taking in political corruption, personal secrets, and a desperate family’s attempts to save their son. There’s already lots of hype, and the director has built up enough goodwill with his work in thrillers to convince of the quality of the final product, which will release on Netflix and in selected theaters on October 9.

2 Ray Gunn

8 years after he returned to Pixar for The Incredibles 2, Brad Bird has an exciting new animation that once again channels his affection for retro-futuristic worlds. The long-awaited Ray Gunn, is set in the 1940s film Noir-inspired city of Metropia, and follows a grizzled private detective (played by Sam Rockwell), who is dragged into a web of conspiracy and murder. It’s also a sweeping sci-fi, allowing Bird to crack open his imagination.

When Ray Gunn finally arrives on December 18, it will be the realization of a long-running dream for Bird, who first had the idea back in the late 1980s. It will also be the only movie inspired by a B-52s song ("Planet Claire"). Alongside Rockwell, the cast is very impressive, with Scarlett Johansson, Tom Waits, Matt Berry, Alan Tudyk, Patton Oswalt, and John Ratzenberger. The wit is guaranteed, and Bird’s eye for visuals has absolutely been delivered in the footage revealed so far.

1 The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth

Not only is David Fincher’s The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth Netflix’s most exciting remaining movie of the year, it’s also right up there in the top tier of the biggest movies of the year more generally. Quentin Tarantino not returning to tackle the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is obviously a shame, but in Fincher, Netflix has a hell of a replacement.

The sequel sees Brad Pitt’s former stuntman re-assigned as a Hollywood “fixer” in the sun-drenched alternate 1970s Tarantino originally created. Fixers were hired to manage the reputations of Hollywood’s biggest stars, covering up scandals and crime, and often resorting to questionably legal practices themselves. It’s a great escalation for Booth, and an interesting added layer to the mythology Tarantino wrote, without simply rehashing OUATIH.

Anything Fincher makes is obviously a huge deal, and Pitt’s performance as Booth was so cool it might as well have been a Steve McQueen performance. And if you can’t get massively excited about the convergence of those two things, you might already be dead. If you’re not, The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth arrives on Netflix on December 23, following an exclusive IMAX run.