Reports of the death of cinema are greatly exaggerated. Well, at least a little. Whatever the case, The Movies have proven surprisingly resilient in 2026: whether we’re talking about Ryan Gosling taking sci-fi flick Project Hail Mary to the stars with a $600-million-and-counting global gross, the MJ film Michael moonwalking its way to the biggest opening ever for a musical biopic, or box office power star The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the weekends have been crammed with wins for the multiplex.

It’s a reassuringly upward trend that shows few signs of stopping. In May, both The Devil Wears Prada 2 and the new Mandalorian sequel are both projected to have nine-figure debuts. And then comes the new slew of big screen bangers that traditionally get butts in seats: there are your Spider-Mans and your Supergirls, of course, but also hot new films from go-to auteurs like Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan, injecting the months to come with a shot of prestige. Beyond the box office, there are cool-sounding indies and buzzy horrors. And, of course, there is the new Jackass movie. (Hell yeah.)

With such a packed film calendar from May to August, these are the seven actually good summer movies that you need to see.

Backrooms

May 31

There’s something about an empty, eerily liminal office space that just makes you shiver to your bones. The A24 horror Backrooms seems to be latching onto this admittedly specific half-phobia for a movie that combines cosmic horror with the terror of the nine-to-five, centering on some poor saps (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve) who stumble upon a parallel universe hidden behind the back wall of a home goods store. It’s seemingly made up of a maze of vacant office blocks, throwing in a dose of Severance-coded sci-fi surrealism. Based on a viral found footage YouTube series from 2022, it’s directed by the original (20-year old!) creator Kane Parsons.