Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Netflix
Here We Are Only a Few Weeks into 2026 — Last Year’s Netflix Movies Are Winning at Awards Shows in Multiple Categories (Shout Out) frankenstein, train dreams& kpop demon hunter Specifically), and they’ve already released a popular rom-com People we meet on holidays And is set to release a crime film with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Despite all the brouhaha about mergers and acquisition deals, Netflix seems to be keeping its foot on the gas pedal once again this year.
While the streamer has issued a press release for its annual sizzle reel filled with exciting projects and dozens of original films, we caution you that all release dates and windows are subject to change. But let’s err on the side of caution and cross every finger we have as we dive into my top 5 most anticipated Netflix movies of 2026.
honorable mentions: : Narnia, Saturn Return, Potential Love, Good Sex, Don’t Say Good Luck
5
The Whisper Man
Directed by James Ashcroft
mold: Robert De Niro, Michelle Monaghan, Adam Scott, Michael Keaton
PLAINFIELD, NJ – APRIL 04: Atmosphere on the set of “The Whisper Man” on April 4, 2025 in Plainfield, New Jersey. (Photo by Bobby Banks/GC Images)
If there’s a common theme to my list, I’d say it’s betting on big, proven talents starring in genres I can’t resist – and there are some veterans in this film’s cast that you can’t ignore.
Based on the New York Times bestselling novel by Alex North, The Whisper Man presents a multi-generational psychological thriller set in a town with a disturbing dark past. When her 8-year-old son is kidnapped, a widowed crime writer looks to her estranged father, a retired former police detective, for help, but discovers a connection to the decades-old case of a convicted serial killer known as “The Whisper Man.”
Produced by the Russo Brothers, directed by The Rule of Jenny Penn director James Ashcroft, and written by creators like The First Omen and 2017’s IT, the film is packed with talent in front of and behind the camera. The cast is led by two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro as one of the greatest actors of all time, Emmy-nominated actor Adam Scott as the previously mentioned crime writer, Mission: Impossible franchise standout Michelle Monaghan as one of the detectives assigned to the case, “Midnight Mass” head Hamish Linklater, and Batman himself Michael Keaton.
Although some of the roles outside of Scott and Monaghan haven’t been explicitly cast, it’s probably safe to say that a one-on-one between a former detective in De Niro and a convicted serial killer in Keaton is on the table and I, for one, want front row seats.
4
there are floods here
Directed by Fernando Meirelles
mold:Denzel Washington, Robert Pattinson, Daisy Edgar-Jones
Image by: Jose Perez / Splashnews.com
Continuing the theme of big talents working in the genres I love, how about doing a heist movie directed by another great 2 time Oscar winning actor and an Oscar-nominated director?
Written by Simon Kinberg (Sherlock Holmes, Mr and Mrs Smith), this crime thriller has mysteriously few details at the moment, but the main plot appears to surround a bank guard, a teller, and a master thief as they engage in a deadly game of cons and double crosses.
The collection of talent is staggering. Directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God, detective, two pops), the film features one of the best actors on the planet such as Denzel Washington, one of Robert Pattinson’s most versatile talents, and supporting performances from Daisy Edgar-Jones (twisters), Danai Gurira (“walking dead“Franchise), and Sean Harris (Mission: Impossible Franchise).
With the rare opportunity to get Denzel on Netflix alone, this is a 2026 movie that can’t be missed.
3
Ray Gunn
director brad bird
Netflix is currently on a major roll with its animation projects over the past several years: Klaus and I Lost My Body was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars in 2019, Over the Moon and Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon were nominated in 2020, The Mitchells vs. the Machines in 2021, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio for The Sea Beast in 2022. Won with nomination, Nimona was nominated. 2023, Wallace & Gromit: A Vengeance Most Foul was nominated in 2024, and it seems like a surefire nomination for Kpop Demon Hunters this upcoming Oscar Sunday.
How can they come out on top of all this and look to compete again in 2026? You hire one of the absolute legends of animation in Brad Bird, so. A two-time Oscar winner with a long career as a senior creative team member at Pixar, Bird has created some of the most indelible characters in animated film history: The Iron Giant, The Incredibles Family, and of course Remy the Rat. Whenever Brad Bird writes and directs an animated feature, it becomes an all-time classic.
Co-written by frequent Guillermo del Toro collaborator and*Batteries not included Bird’s latest venture from director Matthew Robbins will be Ray Gun, a story set in a future world cohabited by aliens and humans, where the last human private eye is hired to investigate the allegiance of a famous pop star.
2
Animal
Directed by Ben Affleck
mold:Ben Affleck, Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun
Backgrid UK 9 April 2025
While seeing Ben Affleck and best friend Matt Damon reunite in The RIP might be enough for your 2026, may I introduce another crime thriller starring Affleck, but this time also directed by him! Why is that important? Well, because Affleck’s success rate as a director is incredible. Of the 5 films he has directed, 4 have been nominated in various categories at major award shows; 3 of them have been Oscar-nominated, one of which won Best Picture at 2012’s Argo.
Written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Billy Ray (Captain Phillips, Richard Jewell), starring Connor McIntyre and Affleck himself, Animals also deals with a child kidnapping case, this time with the kidnapping of a political figure’s son. When the son of a Los Angeles mayoral candidate is captured, he (Affleck) and his wife have a few hours to pay the ransom. With most of his money spent on his political campaign, he has to get his hands dirty and expose a side of his life that he never intended to see the light of day.
Along with Affleck, the film stars Gillian Anderson (x files, Crown), Kerry Washington (wake up dead man), Steven Yuen (beef, the walking dead), Ray Fisher (Justice League, piano Lesson), and Adriana Paz (Emilia Perez, silent).
With an all-star cast, Affleck covering every aspect of the film, and a genre that Netflix produces so well, expectations from this movie can’t be too high.
1
adventures of cliff booth
Directed by David Fincher
mold: Brad Pitt, Timothy Olyphant, Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Carla Gugino
Backgrid UK 23 September 2025
Although this may be wish-casting as it is not on the official press release of the films coming out in 2026 and shooting being completed this month, adventures of cliff booth Must be in #1 position.
The whole concept sounds like a fever dream for 40s cinema lovers like me. The sequel to an extraordinary film from a talented writer in Quentin Tarantino, directed by one of the rare directors who is on the same level of talent as Tarantino in David Fincher, a script written by Tarantino, and the return of one of the greatest movie stars of all time as Brad Pitt in the lead role.
As the name suggests, the film takes place in Hollywood eight years after the events of 2019’s Once Upon a Time… and follows former stuntman Cliff Booth as he navigates the studio system in his new role as a fixer.
In addition to Pitt reprising his role as Booth, the cast is incredibly deep, including another returning performance from Timothy Olyphant as Jim Stacy and supporting player Scott Caan.ocean’s eleven), Elizabeth Debicki (Principle), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (We, wonder man), and Carla Gugino (hill house haunt).
If this movie is confirmed later this year, it will not only be #1 on this list, but one of my most anticipated movies in my entire list of movies for 2026.