The Highest-Rated Movies of 2026 (So Far)

Ratings don't lie — well, mostly. We dug into CineVault's viewer scores for every 2026 release in the vault to find the films audiences loved most. Here are the standouts, ranked by their TMDB viewer scores.

The top of the class

• Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (9.1) — The animated continuation of Aang's story sits at the very top. The last Airbender's quest for an ancient power clearly struck a chord with fans old and new.
• Swapped (8.9) — A woodland creature and a bird magically trade places in this charming animated adventure. Proof that a simple, heartfelt premise still wins big.
• Project Hail Mary (8.6) — The sci-fi survival epic about a lone astronaut racing to save the sun. Smart, tense, and emotional in equal measure.
• Michael (8.6) — The story of Michael Jackson, from Jackson Five prodigy to global icon. Music biopics live or die on their subject, and this one soars.
• Remarkably Bright Creatures (8.4) — The quiet charmer of the year, winning over viewers with warmth rather than spectacle.
• Toy Story 5 (8.3) — Pixar does it again. The toys-versus-tablet storyline could have felt gimmicky; instead it's one of the year's best-reviewed family films.
• The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (8.2) — Mario and Luigi head to the stars to stop Bowser Jr. A sugar rush of color and nostalgia.
• Obsession (8.2) — A hopeless romantic breaks a mysterious wishing willow and learns that desires come at a price. The year's sleeper hit.

What the scores mean

How to use this list

Start at the top if you want the safest bets — films almost everyone agrees on. But don't sleep on the middle of the list: an 8.2 like Obsession or The Super Mario Galaxy Movie often means a film that thrilled its target audience even if it wasn't for everyone. And remember that newer releases have fewer votes, so their scores can swing more dramatically in either direction.

These are viewer scores from TMDB's community of millions — not critic scores, not our opinion. They reflect what regular moviegoers thought after watching. Scores shift as more people vote, so the order may have moved since this article was published. Check the live rankings for the latest.