Film 26

Every new-to-me film I watch in 2026, by @stuarthoughton.bsky.social

War Machine (Patrick Hughes, 2026)⭐⭐

What if Predator, but exploding and not as good? is the question asked and answered by this Alan Ritchson vehicle.

March 10, 2026

Shelter (Ric Roman Waugh, 2026)⭐⭐

Groundbreaking action thriller in which Jason Statham plays against type as a taciturn ex-special forces operator who is trying to escape his past but ends up back in the game when he is forced to defend an innocent. Honestly, where do they get these crazy ideas?

March 06, 2026

Mercy (Timur Bekmambetov, 2026)

A strong contender for the most aggressively stupid film I have seen since The Room, Mercy is a dystopian AI fable that, among its many other faults, somehow manages to mangle its message such that it ends up as pro-dystopia.

February 25, 2026

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Nia DaCosta, 2026)⭐⭐⭐⭐

The first part of the intended 28 Days Later sequel trilogy, directed by Danny Boyle, ended on an almighty WTF of a cliffhanger with young survivor Spike being rescued from a horde of infected by... a team of ninja Jimmy Savile cosplayers? Nia DaCosta picks up the reins to let you know that, no, in fact you really did see that and you were not hallucinating. In so doing, she has crafted, with series writer Alex Garland, arguably the best and most moving entry yet.

February 24, 2026

Send Help (Sam Raimi, 2026)⭐⭐⭐

This was a fun ride that does an interesting trick of subverting the formulaic thriller you think it will be, by cramming in about two film's worth of reversals, while still kind of being that formulaic thriller.

February 09, 2026

The Wrecking Crew (Ángel Manuel Soto,2025)⭐

This is an absolutely by the number buddy action movie that is only slightly elevated by the presence of Dave Bautista and Jason Mamoa, both of whom are far better than this material. Bautista in particular seems to have gotten all the 'I am an acTOR, actually' stuff out of his system with his excellent work in Blade Runner 2049 and Knock on the Cabin Door and realised he can make bank by just doing... well, this.

February 02, 2026

Odyssey (Gerard Johnson, 2025)⭐⭐

A film doomed to be ungoogleable thanks to Christopher Nolan's Homeric hyperbole, Odyssey is a micro-budget thriller of sorts that focuses on Natasha (Polly Maberly), an estate agent in financial trouble who owes money to 'the wrong people'.

January 30, 2026

Tron:Ares (Joachim Rønning, 2025)⭐⭐⭐

As a third installment to a franchise that almost nobody is invested in - some 15 years after Tron:Legacy and 43(!) years after the original Tron - Tron:Ares is... not bad? It might even be good if you can overlook a few major flaws.

January 22, 2026

The Rip (Joe Carnahan, 2026)⭐

Matt Damon & Ben Affleck team up again to play narcotics cops who have recently lost one of their team to murder.

January 21, 2026

2

Dust Bunny (Brian Fuller, 2025)⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anyone hoping for a retread or continuation of Hannibal - Brian Fuller's previous collaboration with Mads Mikkelsen - will be disappointed at the dearth of artfully-flayed corpses and Turner Prize-baiting murder scenes, but Dust Bunny does share Fuller's distinctive eye for a captivating image and the subject matter is, on the face if it, quite grim.

January 17, 2026

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Rian Johnson 2025)⭐⭐

Benoit, I say, MISTAH Ben-wah Blanc does make his ree-turn to cogitate upon a most intriguing... oh sod it I'll just do it normally. It's Knives Out 3, this time set in a small parish in upstate New York (actually, High Beach in Epping Forest, Essex) where a local preacher (Josh Brolin, somehow more sinister here than as Thanos) has been puzzlingly murdered during one of his fire and brimstone services and his younger would-be replacement (Josh O'Connor) is the chief suspect.

January 14, 2026

2

She Rides Shotgun (Nick Rowland, 2025)⭐⭐⭐

Fairly formulaic but smart thriller in which ex-con Nate (Taron Egerton) either kidnaps or rescues his estranged daughter Polly (a brilliant turn by 11-year-old Ana Sophia Heger) in order to protect her from a kill order from the Aryan Nation-style gang he was forced to join, then betray while in the joint.

January 13, 2026

What is this?

This is my 2026 film log.

January 13, 2026

2