10 Most Underrated Movies Of 2026 (so Far)

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Over halfway through the year, and 2026 has quietly been a stacked year for cinema, with many impressive movies making their debut. Everything from indie horror flicks to big-budget animated movies have made waves throughout 2026, often with both critical acclaim and solid box office earnings. By the opposite token, there are plenty of movies released this year that haven't received those universal levels of critical acclaim and box office success for whatever reason. With that in mind, we're highlighting the films that deserve a better critical reception than they received on aggregate sites like Rotten Tomatoes.

To be clear, underrated doesn't always equate to these movies being unsuccessful at the box office during their respective theatrical runs. Some of the most widely acclaimed movies of the year, like "Leviticus" or "I Love Boosters," only saw modest box office returns. At the same time, underrated movies could have been commercially successful but critically lambasted, though perhaps not quite as deserving of the ridicule that they received. 

These are the 10 most underrated movies of 2026 so far, each worth checking out with some caveats to keep in mind.

Sony Pictures Classics

If you've ever seen "Zombieland 2: Double Tap," you know that Zoey Deutch has no problem turning in a wacky performance to carry a comedy. Working with filmmakers David Wain and Ken Marino, along with plenty of their movie star friends, Deutch goes for broke in "Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass." Deutch stars as the titular hairdresser, who has a sex pass with her fiancé over which famous people they're allowed to have sex with without it being considered cheating. This leads to a road trip involving Gail's sex pass celebrity Jon Hamm, gamely playing himself, as she uncovers an explosive criminal conspiracy.

With everyone from Jennifer Aniston to "Weird Al" Yankovic playing themselves throughout the movie, "Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass" fully leans into its wild premise. The narrative itself plays out like a star-studded sex comedy variation of "The Wizard of Oz," with Gail a clear nod to that story's protagonist, Dorothy Gale. Deutch's zany energy elevates a lot of the proceedings, with Hamm continuing to prove himself as an underrated comedic actor. "Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass" has a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it feels like the movie deserves a much higher score and wider attention.

Warner Bros.

Written, directed, and produced by Maggie Gyllenhaal, "The Bride!" offers a bold, genre-defying revamp of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein." The movie opens with the ghost of Shelley possessing Ida (Jessie Buckley), a young woman living in 1930s Chicago. After Ida is killed, her body is revived to serve as the bride of Frank (Christian Bale), Frankenstein's monster who has been seeking companionship since the 19th century. The couple goes on a crime spree to New York City as a sort of macabre twist on Bonnie and Clyde.

"The Bride!" is a beautifully messy monster movie, uneven and with not all of its big swings connecting, but it's still a wildly ambitious delight. This inspired take on the material certainly isn't for everyone, critics included, with the movie earning a 57% Rotten Tomatoes score. Gyllenhaal is clearly having a great time radically reinventing the source material, with Buckley and Bale elevating her work, completely understanding the assignment. On some level, "The Bride!" was never going to be a box office smash, but it should become a cult classic whose reputation will grow over time.

IFC Films/Shudder

2026 has been a good year for horror comedies and horror in general, but one flick that should've gotten more love during its theatrical run is "Forbidden Fruits." The movie follows a young woman named Pumpkin (Lola Tung) befriending a coven of witches who work at a local shopping mall. As Pumpkin gets to know each of the three witches better, she learns their dark secrets and disturbing backstories. After a tragic incident, the group grows increasingly paranoid and begin to turn on each other as deep-rooted tensions escalate.

Another cult classic in the making, "Forbidden Fruits" is poised to become more widely loved and recognized in the years to come. That enjoyment is fueled by mixing malevolently magical mean girls with a healthy dose of self-aware campy comedy. The movie holds a 75% Rotten Tomatoes score, though, like other comedies on this list, it does feel like a relatively lower rating than it deserves. Bringing a supernatural edge to its toxic friend group, "Forbidden Fruits" will keep audiences guessing where the story will go next through to its ending.

Universal Pictures

2023's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" was a gorgeously rendered, if largely unremarkable adaptation of the iconic gaming franchise, with Jack Black saying the word "peaches" many, many times. This was followed by the cosmic sequel "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," the first Hollywood movie to hit $1 billion at the box office in 2026. The movie has Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day), with their friends, setting out to rescue Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson) from Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), with some help from their new pal Yoshi (Donald Glover). Despite the film's commercial success, however, "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" sits at 42% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes.

In our own review of "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," we called the animated film cute, flashy, and mostly empty. While the movie is far from the best animated flick we've seen so far this year, it's also not as unwatchable as its critical reception would suggest. More than just being a visual marvel like our review suggests, the movie does have nods to the entire history of the franchise, including both its 8-bit and 16-bit eras. Offering a bit more to longtime Nintendo fans and slightly less grating than its predecessor, "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" is a serviceable sequel.

IFC Films

The original "Faces of Death" was a low-budget 1978 movie purported to be an actual snuff film, though it wasn't. The movie received a reimagining of sorts this year, not quite a remake, but instead something that honors the infamous legacy of the original film. The revival centers on Margot Romero (Barbie Ferreira), who reviews and moderates content on a shortform online video platform. As Margot receives increasingly gruesome disturbing snuff videos, she learns about the legacy of the 1978 "Faces of Death" just in time to be targeted as the next video subject.

In our review of the movie, we declare that "Faces of Death" reimagines its legacy as a smart meta slasher, an assessment we continue to stand by. Not all other professional critics felt the same way, with the movie carrying a 69% Rotten Tomatoes score, though common praise lauded its sharp storytelling. But in a way, "Faces of Death" always thrived on the fringes rather than in the spotlight and its reception feels right on brand for it. A must-watch for any horror fan, especially for those aware of the original film, "Faces of Death" is an inventive take on the material taking advantage of modern sensibilities.

Focus Features

With "Saturday Night Live" having recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, the sketch comedy show's creator Lorne Michaels is the subject of a new documentary film. Simply titled "Lorne," the documentary delves deeply into exploring its normally reclusive and mercurial television titan as he continues to helm the show. Interspersed between interviews with Michaels and his colleagues, the movie chronicles his career in show business including his origins before "SNL" and his five-year hiatus from the show. These elements help shine a light on who Michaels actually is as he regularly guides the controlled chaos of running a live television series every week.

"Lorne" has a 73% Rotten Tomatoes score, with critics remarking that the documentary only covers its elusive subject at a surface level. Despite this, the movie is a fun watch overall, especially for "SNL" fans who relish a chance at any sneak peek behind its production. The most eyeroll-inducing moments in the movie are crudely animated sequences with a bad imitation of Michaels, but fortunately those are few and far between. While it doesn't reach the same crackling heights as 2024's "Saturday Night," "Lorne" is an entertaining glimpse at the man behind an enduring television institution.

A24

Anne Hathaway is in the middle of a particularly busy year, starring in movies like "The Devil Wears Prada 2," "The Odyssey," and "The End of Oak Street." One film of Hathaway's that seemingly came and went was the indie fantasy drama "Mother Mary," released by A24 this past April. Hathaway stars as the titular pop star who's trying to stage a comeback, reuniting with former lover and collaborator Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel) in England. Tensions between the two escalate as they recall what led to their personal rupture while evidently being haunted by a malevolent spirit.

Our review of the movie called "Mother Mary" an emotionally distant misfire helmed by "The Green Knight" filmmaker David Lowery. Many critics agreed with that assessment, with the film earning a 70% Rotten Tomatoes score, but the movie isn't without merit. Hathaway and Coel both turn in reliably solid performances and play off of each other well, finding the emotional grounding in an esoteric story. For his part, David Lowery is happy viewers argue about his movies, and in that regard, "Mother Mary" certainly should inspire healthy debate about what is actually going on.

Warner Bros.

The 2021 cinematic reboot of "Mortal Kombat" was a modest success, particularly within the context of Warner Bros. releasing its movies simultaneously on HBO Max that year. But while the movie certainly brought the blood and fury, it lacked its titular martial arts tournament and fan-favorite fighter Johnny Cage to the chagrin of franchise fans. "Mortal Kombat II" fixed both of these omissions right away, making both elements the centerpiece of the sequel while dialing up the hard-hitting intensity. Despite this, the movie only stands at a 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, a clear improvement over its 2021 predecessor though not as much as one might expect.

In our own positive review of the movie, we called "Mortal Kombat II" a mostly flawless victory for video game fans, and that assessment still holds. I would even go as far to call "Mortal Kombat II" not just the best film in the franchise but the best live-action adaptation of any fighting game to date. The fights directly evoke the video games, from their moody levels to, of course, the gruesome finishing movies while telling a compelling story between set pieces. But the movie's real MVP in that regard is Adeline Rudolph as Princess Kitana, bringing both pathos and spectacle to "Mortal Kombat II" as its true protagonist.

Amazon MGM Studios

With its soaring guitars and intentionally campy elements, the 2026 "Masters of the Universe" reboot is a self-aware love letter to the '80s era from which the franchise came. The movie initially presents its fantasy hero as a fish-out-of-water, sheltering on contemporary Earth for 15 years as the villainous Skeletor (Jared Leto) conquers the fantasy realm of Eternia. Brought back to Eternia after reclaiming the Power Sword, Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) rallies his allies to overthrow the muscular skeletal warlord. This is done with plenty of nods acknowledging how ridiculous the source material is, albeit in a relatively goodnatured way.

Despite its '80s stylistic aesthetics, "Masters of the Universe" is much more than a nostalgia play, using those elements as more of a tonal springboard. The movie essentially deconstructs the franchise's mythos under a modern lens while celebrating the core ethos of its self-empowerment themes. Critics were generally mixed on this approach, with the movie featuring a 67% Rotten Tomatoes score, feeling its gags derailed any sense of investment in its story. But even though the movie was a box office bomb, "Masters of the Universe" finally found its audience on Prime Video keeping hope alive for the sequel that it teases.

Warner Bros.

After being teased at the end of last year's "Superman," Milly Alcock took center stage as the DC Comics superhero in "Supergirl." The movie has Supergirl celebrate her 23rd birthday far away from Earth and its yellow sun radiation to go on an off-world bender. However, the vulnerable young superhero finds herself drawn into a conflict against a murderous group of spacefaring crooks. Our review of the movie praised Milly Alcock's performance as the self-destructive Supergirl as the best thing about the film overall.

Unfortunately, this opinion wasn't as widely shared by other professional critics, as "Supergirl" earned a 53% Rotten Tomatoes score. Adding insult to injury, things went from bad to worse for "Supergirl" at the box office, with the movie shaping up to be one of the biggest superhero bombs ever. That said, while the movie occasionally feels like a weaker imitation of "Superman," it does have its rousing moments, including Jason Momoa delightfully chewing scenery as Lobo. The future of the DC Universe on the big screen may be on shaky ground, but "Supergirl" is far from the worst DC Comics movie released in the 21st century.