2026 Film Summer

By Alfie Eville

Over the past couple of years, I would say that summer blockbusters have taken a step back. Outside of the yearly superhero film being churned out, theatergoers have only gotten one or two exciting — and good — movies each summer. The last time I remember being excited was 2023 with the releases of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” coinciding on the same day. With that being said, summer 2026 delivered in every capacity, with some of the most hyped projects of this decade. Many were good, some were letdowns, but let us dive into four of the biggest releases that came out while the Broncs were on vacation. 

“Obsession”

Starting off in chronological order with a film that technically did not actually premiere in 2026. “Obsession” had actually debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025, but had not seen a massive theater release until May 15. I distinctly remember hearing about it online, but not really thinking much of it; I actually confused it for a similar indie horror project called “Passenger,” which had received middling reviews. Perhaps this is why when I went to go see it, my expectations were rather low. Although, my opinion had immediately shifted before the halfway mark had arrived. Curry Barker, who had gotten famous off of funny videos posted to social media, penned and directed this as his debut feature. Inde Navarrette stars as Nikki, in what is her first big role, as is true with Michael Johnston, who plays Bear. I say this because it makes what I am about to say even more impressive: this is one of the standout films in not just the horror genre, but of the 21st century. The direction here is stellar, with Barker’s insistence on hiding details in the shadow, keeping the viewer tense, as well as holding shots for uncomfortable lengths and letting the actors carry those extended scenes of terror. As for the aforementioned actors, Johnston did a terrific job in this role, but the true star is Navarrette, who is my long-shot pick to win the Oscar for Best Actress. Her range must be studied, as she so easily goes from calm and normal to violently screaming or mortifyingly bleak. Watching her in this film kept me up at night, and I am grateful that I was able to see her perform in this role. I do not like to say someone “carried a film,” as there are so many moving parts, as is true for “Obsession,” but Navarrette is hard to ignore as the standout part of this nearly-perfect horror film. I thoroughly enjoyed the simplistic plot elevated by these talented young minds. For that, a five star rating is the only appropriate one I see for “Obsession.”

“Disclosure Day”

The next, and probably most disappointing, film is “Disclosure Day,” the latest from legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg. For many, high expectations were all they had after seeing his name attached to a new alien-based project. I, however, had little excitement. I thought I was hallucinating when, at the end of the trailer, it said “Directed by Steven Spielberg.” I would say this will go down as one of his more forgettable projects. Spielberg has made half a dozen alien-adjacent films now, and he peaked with his first. The genre has been exhausted, and that shows, as the film was boring and dry. The most exciting part was Emily Blunt beatboxing on live television halfway through. It was predictable, with little action or commitment to the main cast. Josh O’Connor tried his best, but nothing could have brought life to this script. The worst part has to be how disjointed the themes are. The film’s attempts at trying to be profound about religion and higher beings fall flat, and are more insufferable than inspiring. This, to me, culminates in two stars out of five.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day”

I would be remiss if I did not include this next film here, as it has several broken records at the box office. The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Despite my lethargic outlook on superhero movies as of late, I was hyped beyond belief for this movie. The plot looked exciting, and I could not wait to see where they picked it up after “No Way Home.” So, did it live up to the hype? Was it better than the previous entries? I would say the answer to that is a resounding “yes.” This film does not rely on nostalgia-bait or other storylines and characters from the MCU — while yes, it does feature characters from other series, it does not detract from the story and can easily stand alone. It is simple and down-to-earth. I think the choice to focus heavily on Peter Parker and his life, instead of making Spider-Man the focus, was so refreshing. After all these movies about the man in the costume, I want to see a story about the man in the costume. The struggles that Parker goes through are something any person can relate to, without all the wizard-magic and space monsters. I felt myself connecting and empathizing with Parker, MJ and even Frank — who was such a nice and unexpected addition to the cast. While the action and Spider-Man moments were cool to see, I think it is Tom Holland and Zendaya’s acting as regular people that drive this story, and cut to the themes more than anything else. To me, this is a breath of fresh air for the MCU, and I hope to see films like this more in the future. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” gets four stars out of five, and is without a doubt a top-four Marvel movie. 

“The Odyssey”

Last, and easily the most hyped film, is Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.” Now, I must preface this by saying something controversial: I am not the biggest fan of Nolan’s work. I like several of his films, namely “The Prestige” and “Inception.” However, I think he has got to be the most overrated filmmaker of all time. I would argue “Interstellar” is perfectly alright, and “Dunkirk” is middling at best. So when I heard he was covering “The Odyssey,” I was unphased. After seeing the movie, I thought it was just fine. To me, Nolan makes just regular big-budget action blockbusters and dresses them up as something avant-garde. This movie does not do anything special, and yet it is being heralded as this generation’s “Citizen Kane.” I roll my eyes at that, because people are just so quick to gloss over the blatant flaws of this movie just because “it is Christopher Nolan!” To be succinct, the script is all over the place in terms of dialogue and pacing, the adaptation is poor and, at times, painfully incorrect, Tom Holland is bad, Anne Hathaway is wasted, Travis Scott is here for some reason and Odysseus never pets or acknowledges Argos — the worst offense, in my opinion. Is it bad? Absolutely not. But overhyped to an obnoxious extent. Finally, I want to mention the IMAX debate. I think Nolan’s publicity stunt of filming this in IMAX is nothing more than a gimmick, on par with John Waters providing “scratch-n-sniff” papers for audiences to use while watching Polyester. I get when filmmakers want to use 35 mm or 70 mm film instead of digital, but Nolan choosing to do it in IMAX ostracizes so many filmgoers by clipping off entire parts of the screen. All in all, I give “The Odyssey” three-and-a-half stars out of five. 

As I had said in my introduction, this was a great summer, even despite some of the underwhelming films. Enjoying the lead up and hype to “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” was terrific, and films like “Obsession” were quite the enjoyable watches! Now, if I had to pick my “movie of the summer,” it would have to be “Obsession.” Even if “The Odyssey” had delivered a great story, I would still probably have Barker’s indie-horror project over the big-budget Nolan feature. It just goes to show that money cannot buy a good picture, all that matters is talent and passion. This summer, if I had to give it a rating akin to the films, it would have to be a solid four out of five. It was an exciting time, and got a lot of people out of the house and into the theater to see their favorite directors, characters and storylines! I hope the winter of this year can cap off a terrific all-around 2026.

Alfie Eville a sophomore history and secondary education major