6 new Netflix movies I'm looking forward to this year

Published Jul 18, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT After graduating from Marist University with a degree in communications and journalism, Dan Girolamo has over 10 years of experience writing about entertainment and sports. Dan's work can be seen in various publications, including Digital Trends, SportsCasting, and Tom's Guide. Throughout his career, Dan has interviewed several high-profile filmmakers and creatives, including Brendan Fraser, Jamie Lee Curtis, Caitriona Balfe, Frank Grillo, Miranda Cosgrove, Jai Courtney, Chris Columbus and James Cameron. Dan joins How-To Geek as a Senior Editor. When he's not writing about entertainment, Dan is either watching a movie or praying for the New York Knicks to win a championship. We're at the halfway point of 2026, making it a great time to look back at what Netflix has released so far while also looking ahead to the rest of the year. Personally, my two favorite Netflix movies from earlier this year are The Rip and War Machine. As for what's in store for the rest of the year, it's a mix of horror, animation, crime, and drama. Three of the six movies on this list have release dates. The horror movie arrives next month, while the other two have Oscar aspirations with December release dates. The other three are expected to come out in 2026, but they remain undated. I'm hoping that the heist movie with Denzel Washington streams sooner rather than later. All six movies will be available in the U.S. The Last House Stay inside or face an uncertain future You might think that The Last House would be a haunted house movie. Instead, it's a sci-fi thriller where a family must remain inside, not outside, the house to ensure their survival. Greta Lee and Wagner Moura star as Riley and Jason, a married couple trapped inside a house with their two children. They try to escape, but to no avail. Quiz 8 Questions · Test Your KnowledgeName that Netflix sci-fi movieTrivia challenge From clones to comets — how well do you know Netflix's biggest sci-fi films? Sci-FiNetflixMoviesCharactersPlot Twists Begin In The Adam Project, who does time-traveling pilot Adam Reed team up with to save the future? AHis future wife LauraBHis younger selfCHis deceased motherDA rogue AI named Atlas Correct! Adult Adam, played by Ryan Reynolds, teams up with his 12-year-old self in this 2022 time-travel adventure. The dynamic between the two versions of Adam is the emotional core of the film. Not quite. The answer is his younger self. Ryan Reynolds plays the adult Adam who travels back in time and ends up partnering with his 12-year-old self, played by Walker Scobell, to fix a fractured timeline. Continue In Don't Look Up, what is the central threat that astronomers Kate Dibiasky and Randall Mindy discover? AA rogue black hole approaching EarthBAn alien signal from deep spaceCA planet-killing comet on a collision course with EarthDA deadly solar flare set to wipe out all electronics Correct! Kate and Randall discover a massive comet that will destroy Earth in roughly six months. The 2021 film uses this premise as a sharp satire of media sensationalism and political inaction. Not quite. The threat is a planet-killing comet. Adam McKay's 2021 satire follows two astronomers who struggle to get anyone to take seriously the very literal end of the world heading straight for Earth. Continue Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, currently in production for Netflix, stars which actor in the role of the creature? AOscar IsaacBAndrew GarfieldCJacob ElordiDTimothée Chalamet Correct! Jacob Elordi, known for Saltburn and Priscilla, is set to play Frankenstein's creature in del Toro's long-awaited adaptation. Oscar Isaac is also attached to the project, playing Victor Frankenstein. Not quite. Jacob Elordi is cast as the creature. The film also stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, making it one of the most anticipated Netflix productions from visionary director Guillermo del Toro. Continue In They Cloned Tyrone, in what fictional community does most of the story take place? AComptonBThe GlenCHarlemDEast Point Correct! The 2023 film is set in The Glen, a fictional low-income neighborhood where Fontaine, Slick Charles, and Yo-Yo uncover a sinister government conspiracy operating right beneath their streets. Not quite. The setting is The Glen, a fictional community inspired by real American inner-city neighborhoods. The location is integral to the film's themes about systemic racism and government exploitation of Black communities. Continue In Spiderhead, what do the drugs administered by Jeff Abnesti primarily affect in the prisoners who volunteer for testing? APhysical strength and enduranceBMemory formation and recallCEmotions and behaviorDPain tolerance and hunger Correct! The experimental drugs in Spiderhead manipulate the prisoners' emotions and behavior — from inducing intense love to uncontrollable laughter to fear. The 2022 film is based on George Saunders' short story Escape from Spiderhead. Not quite. The drugs control emotions and behavior. Spiderhead explores what happens when human feelings can be chemically switched on and off, raising dark ethical questions about free will and consent in a near-future prison facility. Continue The Cloverfield Paradox serves as a prequel of sorts to the Cloverfield franchise. What does the Shepherd space station attempt to do that triggers the film's chaos? ADestroy an incoming asteroidBSolve Earth's energy crisis using a particle acceleratorCEstablish first contact with an alien civilizationDTest a warp drive for interstellar travel Correct! The crew of the Shepherd fires a particle accelerator to solve Earth's catastrophic energy shortage, accidentally ripping a hole in spacetime and unleashing interdimensional horrors. The 2018 film was famously dropped on Netflix right after the Super Bowl. Not quite. They're trying to solve Earth's energy crisis with a particle accelerator. When the experiment goes wrong, it tears open dimensions and sets the events of the entire Cloverfield universe in motion — at a very steep cost. Continue Rebel Moon was directed by Zack Snyder and drew heavy comparisons to which classic sci-fi film franchise? AThe MatrixBStar TrekCStar WarsDDune Correct! Rebel Moon was widely compared to Star Wars, and for good reason — Snyder originally pitched the concept as a Star Wars story before developing it independently with Netflix. It features a ragtag group of warriors defending a peaceful colony from a tyrannical empire. Not quite. The comparisons were overwhelmingly to Star Wars. Zack Snyder actually conceived Rebel Moon as a potential Star Wars project years before it became a standalone Netflix film, which explains the many familiar beats and archetypes. Continue In Atlas, Jennifer Lopez plays a data analyst named Atlas Shepherd who is hunting a rogue AI. What is the name of that villainous AI? AHarlanBCASCACSilasDNexus Correct! The rogue AI antagonist in Atlas is named Harlan, a terrorist android who escapes Earth and plans to wipe out humanity. The 2024 Netflix film follows Atlas as she reluctantly partners with a mech suit AI to take him down. Not quite. The villain is Harlan. In the 2024 Netflix film, Harlan is a rogue AI who was once created to help humanity but turned against it, forcing Atlas Shepherd on a dangerous mission across the galaxy to stop his genocidal plan. See My Score Challenge CompleteYour Score / 8 Thanks for playing! Try Again Over three years later, the family remains inside, but they start to learn about an impending threat that exists outside. Is it a mythical force, an extraterrestrial creature, or a combination of both? Netflix cut an excellent trailer that builds up the supernatural suspense and impending dread. These are the thrillers that Netflix should continue making in the future. The Last House streams on August 7. The Last House Release Date August 7, 2026 Cast La Bola Negra (The Black Ball) Netflix has found its prestige play for awards season Credit: Carla Oset/Netflix It's no secret that Netflix wants to win Oscars. Every year, Netflix picks about two to three movies to invest heavily in the awards race in hopes of cracking the Best Picture category at the Oscars. La Bola Negra (The Black Ball) is the likely candidate that the studio will back during awards season. Directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, La Bola Negra explores the lives of three interconnected men across Spanish history in the 20th and 21st centuries. The cast includes Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos González, Milo Quifes, Lola Dueñas, Julio Torres, Penélope Cruz, and Glenn Close. The queer epic film competed at Cannes for the Palme d'Or and won Best Director. For cinephiles in the U.S., pay attention to La Bola Negra because it will certainly get a huge push from Netflix for Best Picture and Best International Feature Film. La Bola Negra streams on December 4. Ray Gunn An Oscar-winning filmmaker's next movie premieres on streaming Credit: Skydance Animation/Netflix Brad Bird is one of the most innovative directors in animation. The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and both Incredibles movies set high benchmarks for what an animated movie could do and what kinds of stories it can tell. His newest film, Ray Gunn, might be the most ambitious project of his career. Described as The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers, Ray Gunn is a sci-fi crime caper, with Sam Rockwell voicing private investigator Raymond Gunn. In a futuristic world inhabited by people and aliens, Ray is the last human private eye, and his next case involves supernatural creatures, crime, and multimedia star Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson). Can Bird go five-for-five with his animated movies? Ray Gunn streams on December 18. Ray Gunn Release Date December 18, 2026 Director Brad Bird Writers Brad Bird, Matthew Robbins Animals Ben Affleck hops back into the director's chair Credit: Getty Images for Netflix Ben Affleck is quickly becoming one of Netflix's most valuable stars. He starred alongside Matt Damon in The Rip, one of Netflix's best movies this year. Netflix then acquired Affleck's AI startup company, InterPositive, for $587 million. Later this year, Affleck co-writes, directs, and stars in the crime thriller Animals. Affleck plays Los Angeles mayoral candidate Milo Bradford, whose son is kidnapped and held for ransom. With the help of his wife (Gillian Anderson), Milo races to pay the ransom through whatever means necessary. In other words, some of that money has likely been obtained through nefarious methods. I fully support Affleck and his decision to make B-movie-style thrillers like The Rip and Animals. Animals is scheduled to be released in 2026. Apple TV 4K Operating System tvOS Resolution 4K The Mosquito Bowl Peter Berg's return to football movies Credit: Kane Skennar/Netflix Filmmaker Peter Berg knows his football. He directed 2004's Friday Night Lights, an excellent high school football movie. Berg then developed that movie into the Friday Night Lights series, which some believe is the greatest show of all time. In 2026, Berg's next football movie heads back to the 1940s in The Mosquito Bowl, based on Buzz Bissinger's nonfiction book The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II. In WWII, some of the Marines preparing for the Battle of Okinawa played college football at the highest level. On Christmas Eve in 1944, the Marines held a football game featuring four top American college football stars. The film stars Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson, and Tom Francis. Considering many of the players in the game would die in battle months later, expect The Mosquito Bowl to be an emotional tribute to these fallen heroes. The Mosquito Bowl is scheduled to be released in 2026. Here Comes the Flood Denzel in a heist movie—need I say more? Credit: Apple TV Of all the movies on this list, Here Comes the Flood is the one I have circled and highlighted. Here's the logline via Netflix: "An unconventional heist movie about a bank guard, a teller, and a master thief in a deadly game of cons and double crosses." If that doesn't get your blood racing, this cast might. Here Comes the Flood stars Denzel Washington, Robert Pattinson, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Danai Gurira, Sean Harris, Moisés Arias, and Justin Kirk. So you're telling me Denzel and two young stars are teaming up in a heist thriller? Sign me up. The movie is rumored to premiere at the Venice Film Festival later this summer. If that happens, I'd expect an October or November release on Netflix. Here Comes the Flood is scheduled to be released in 2026. What else can you watch on Netflix? You'll have to wait a while to watch several of these movies. In the meantime, check out what else Netflix has to offer, including exciting thrillers like Memento and 28 Days Later. Plus, make sure to watch some award-winning movies, including Apollo 13 and Gone Girl. Subscription with ads Yes, $8/month Simultaneous streams Two or four