Last updated: August 2026.
There’s always more in cinemas than the marketing budget of any one film would suggest. Alongside the blockbuster everyone’s already talking about, there are usually two or three smaller releases quietly doing better, more interesting work. Here’s the ranked list for right now — what’s actually worth the ticket price this week.
1. The Odyssey
Christopher Nolan’s first film since Oppenheimer is exactly the kind of swing-for-the-fences filmmaking cinemas need more of. Shot entirely on IMAX film technology and adapted from Homer’s epic with a cast that includes Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron, it’s become Nolan’s highest-rated film with critics to date and has already crossed $700 million worldwide. This is one to see on the biggest screen and loudest sound system you can find — it’s built for exactly that, and the three-hour runtime earns its length.
2. Hamnet
A quieter, more devastating watch than anything else on this list. Chloé Zhao’s adaptation follows Shakespeare’s family in the wake of his son’s death, and it’s anchored by a genuinely exceptional lead performance that’s already generating serious awards conversation. Bring tissues; this one doesn’t let you off easy.
3. GOAT
A well-reviewed family drama with real emotional stakes underneath its high-concept survival premise. It’s bigger in scale than you’d expect from the setup, and the performances — including some remarkably good work from its animal cast members — keep it from ever tipping into melodrama.
4. I Swear
A biographical drama about disability advocate John Davidson, built around a genuinely extraordinary lead performance that’s already picked up major awards attention. It’s a heartwarming film that earns its sentimentality rather than reaching for it cheaply — a rare thing in the biopic genre.
5. Pompei: Below the Clouds
Gianfranco Rosi’s documentary about life in modern Naples, lived out in the shadow of Vesuvius, is a genuinely lovely piece of observational filmmaking — patient, visually rich, and more hopeful than its premise suggests. If you want something meditative between the bigger releases, this is it.
6. Ghost Elephants
Werner Herzog turns his camera on elephants and, unsurprisingly, finds something haunting and strange in the process. It’s a visually stunning documentary that’s less about elephants specifically than about the particular way Herzog looks at the natural world — worth seeing on a big screen for the photography alone.
The One to Prioritise
If you only see one thing on this list, make it The Odyssey — it’s the rare blockbuster that’s actually using the format it’s built for, and it’s the kind of theatrical experience that genuinely loses something on a home screen. If you want something smaller and more emotionally direct, Hamnet is the pick.
Written by Scott Townsley, Director