5 Best Fantasy Movies Of 2026 (So Far)

Before 2026 is out, we'll finally get a chance to see some of the year's most anticipated fantasy movies. From long-awaited animated efforts like Laika's "Wildwood" and Dreamworks' "Forgotten Island" to gruesome horror hybrids like Robert Eggers' 13th century folktale "Werwulf," there will be stories to satisfy adventurous viewers of all ages, and we won't be surprised if they all wind up in our final ranking of the best films of 2026.

With so much on the way in the next few months, we want to make sure we don't miss anything, which is why we're looking back at the year to date to give you a selection of 2026's best fantasy movies so far. This ranking is based on personal preference, but all the titles below have also received mostly warm receptions from critics so far, with a mix of big blockbusters and under-the-radar stories worth seeking out. We won't get too obscure though — all the films below either received a wide theatrical release in the U.S., or are readily available to watch on your streaming services.

A box office flop in the States that made enough money in the U.K. to have two sequels greenlit, "The Magic Faraway Tree" is one of the most critically acclaimed titles on this list — thanks, in no small part, to the pun-heavy screenplay from "Paddington" co-writer Simon Farnaby. The same offbeat British charm he brought to that family franchise is present in this rejuvenation of Enid Blyton's series of children's books, published between 1939 and 1959. In this update, Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy play the two put-upon parents of three tech-addicted siblings — Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy), Fran (Billie Gadsdon) and Joe (Phoenix Laroche) — who reluctantly move to the countryside when the dad wants to fulfill his dream of opening a tomato sauce business.

Sold a barn for cheap by two farmers, the family realize upon arrival that it's completely run down, with no electricity or running water. But mute middle daughter Fran soon discovers that it's nestled next to the doorway to a magical kingdom. It's escapism primarily aimed at young ones — the realm contains different zones filled with sweets and birthday wishes, and the villain (Rebecca Ferguson's Dame Snap) simply puts the unruly kids in a school detention — but it's made palatable to the whole family via the comic eccentricities of Farnaby's script. Your mileage may vary based on your tolerance for wall-to-wall wordplay and dad jokes for 110 minutes, but if you can get on its very British, very cheesy wavelength, then it should bring a smile to your face.

Delayed multiple times before finally arriving at the start of summer blockbuster season, "Mortal Kombat II" was a significant improvement on its 2021 predecessor. For starters, the action this time actually included the titular interdimensional tournament, with returning director Simon McQuoid easily besting his work on the prior film with the crazy, bloody, well-choreographed fights that fans of the video game series had hoped to see translated to the screen.

The lore of the source material, difficult to take seriously because of its inherent silliness and band of oddball fighters, finally felt like something more than an awkward attempt to translate the loose world-building of one medium to another, and was reconfigured into a sincere fantasy epic you didn't need to be a fanboy gamer to appreciate.

The other advantage "Mortal Kombat II" had over the prior movie was the addition of Karl Urban as fan favorite character Johnny Cage, and the actor has the time of his life playing a washed-up blockbuster action hero given an unexpected second chance. The film pulls off the difficult trick of mining laughs from a Z-list performer who had long relied on stunt doubles having to fight for humanity's future, without undermining the world-ending stakes the movie is built around. That alone makes it easier to recommend than the comparatively generic first movie, as well as the cheesy 1990s adaptations; it's fun without ever becoming embarrassing kitsch.

Possibly the most underseen movie on this list, "I Am Frankelda" is also the easiest to catch up with, since it's been on Netflix since June. The first feature-length stop-motion animated film from Mexico, "I Am Frankelda" serves as a prequel to a Cartoon Network series ("Frankelda's Book of Spooks"), but no prior knowledge of the source material is needed to be swept up in its Gothic charms. 

Directors Arturo and Roy Ambriz — also the writers and directors of the TV show — have crafted a beautifully realized period film, bringing to life 19th century Mexico and the supernatural world with which it co-exists with the same attention to detail and recurring thematic obsessions as Guillermo Del Toro. You probably won't be surprised to learn that the brothers were personally mentored by the Oscar-winner, as a shared love for misfit monsters resonates through their film.

Set in 1866, the film follows young Francisca, a budding horror writer who soon learns her stories have become real in a parallel universe. That's where young Prince Herneval learns of humanity and needs our help to stop his kingdom from being destroyed. His people have barred any relationship with humankind — like in "Monsters Inc," this kingdom thrives on human fear — but many years later, he brings her over to battle over who owns the stories she tells. As the first film by the brothers' studio Cinema Fantasma, it's a promising calling card for what comes next. They're already in production on their next film, the first project set outside the universe of "Frankelda."

It wasn't surprising that "Masters of the Universe" was a box office flop, as the Mattel toy line and various animated adaptations have long existed outside of the mainstream, appealing exclusively to 1980s kids rather than new generations of fans. However, in Laika CEO Travis Knight — whose prior live-action movie "Bumblebee" similarly breathed new cinematic life into a toy franchise that was looked down upon — the film found a director who could transform the cheesiest of properties into a sincere sword-and-sandal adventure with a hopeful, optimistic message for a young audience. 

Nicholas Galitzine plays Prince Adam, cast out of Eternia as a child and stranded on Earth for 15 years after Skeletor's forces capture the city. One of the screenplay's smartest decisions is to reframe the silly world-building (where an important weapon is called the "Sword of Power," and another character called "Fisto") from the perspective of a child whose imagination names things bluntly, which only makes him seem more like an oddball as he tries to recount his story to anybody who'll listen.

Returning to save Eternia as an adult, Adam realizes that the sensitivity he learned on Earth is arguably more important than becoming the brawny fighter his parents tried to mold him into — a broad message, yes, but one that can be embedded in young viewers' minds as a positive response to the Manosphere. Now that it's finally finding an audience at home on Prime Video, we hope "Masters" will have a long afterlife with young film fans.

Christopher Nolan's adaptation of Homer's epic poem may be the defining fantasy epic of the decade so far. That's partially due to how Nolan managed to streamline the original hero's journey narrative, spanning multiple decades, into a single story, which would be a gargantuan achievement in itself even if the film fell short of the director's typical high standard. 

However, the main reason the movie resonated was because this felt like the story Nolan had been building up to for his entire career. Odysseus' (Matt Damon) quest echoes that of several of his prior protagonists, from Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) in "Inception" spending years trapped inside a dream, to Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) in "Interstellar," whose voyage to save the planet is defined by the physical and emotional distance from the family he aims to protect.

Backed by an all-killer, no-filler supporting ensemble, and boasting some of the most ambitious set pieces of Nolan's career — including a foray into body horror that we hope leads to a full movie in the genre — it is one of his biggest, most indisputable triumphs. The only question that remains is where it'll rank in Nolan's filmography once the hype fully dies down. In our opinion, this is one we fully predict will be obsessively rewatched and analyzed for generations to come.