The Best New Movies This Month: August 2026
Release Date: August 28, 2026 Where to Watch: Cinemas (nationwide) Genre: Animated/live-action comedy Director: Dave Green Cast: Will Forte, Lana Condor, John Cena Rating: PG Distributor: Ketchup Entertainment Rotten Tomatoes: 95–96% critics (Popcornmeter pending at time of writing) Metacritic: 75 Release Type: 🎬 Theatrical
What It’s About: Wile E. Coyote finally sues the Acme Corporation over three decades of exploding, malfunctioning products. He hires a struggling lawyer (Forte) to take on Acme’s undefeated in-house counsel (Cena).
Why It’s Worth Watching: This is the highest-scored wide release of the month and one of the best-reviewed wide releases of the entire year. Critics have compared it favourably to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which is not a comparison anyone makes casually.
What Makes It Stand Out: The backstory is nearly as good as the film. Warner Bros. shelved the completed movie in 2023 for a roughly $30 million tax write-off, filmmakers and fans campaigned publicly, and Ketchup Entertainment eventually bought it for around $50 million. It took three years to reach a screen. Story credit goes to James Gunn, Jeremy Slater and Samy Burch, with Burch writing the screenplay.
Verdict: Must-watch. The best-reviewed film in cinemas this month and the strongest family option by a wide margin.
#2. The End of Oak Street
Release Date: August 14, 2026 Where to Watch: Cinemas; streaming from September 28 Genre: Sci-fi survival thriller Director: David Robert Mitchell Cast: Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella, Christian Convery Runtime: 1h 39m Rating: PG-13 Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures Rotten Tomatoes: 86% critics / 77% audience Metacritic: 69 Release Type: 🎬 Theatrical
What It’s About: A 1982 suburban neighbourhood is torn from its world by a cosmic event and dropped into a prehistoric landscape. The Platt family — a marriage already collapsing — has to survive.
Why It’s Worth Watching: It’s the most interesting original studio film of the month. Mitchell (It Follows) treats the dinosaurs as horror-movie predators rather than objects of wonder, and pushes the PG-13 rating hard.
What Makes It Stand Out: Hathaway’s performance, which critics have consistently called the film’s engine, and a cinematography-and-score pairing (Michael Gioulakis, Michael Giacchino) that gives it a real identity.
Verdict: Worth watching — if you want a tense creature feature rather than a warm family adventure. It underperformed commercially, so catch it before it leaves screens.
#3. The Dog Stars
Release Date: August 28, 2026 Where to Watch: Cinemas Genre: Post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, Allison Janney Distributor: 20th Century Studios Rotten Tomatoes: 84% critics Release Type: 🎬 Theatrical
What It’s About: Years after a superflu wipes out most of humanity, a man lives in an abandoned airport hangar with his dog, flying the perimeter in a small plane. A distant radio transmission convinces him something better might exist out there.
Why It’s Worth Watching: Ridley Scott directing a quiet, character-driven end-of-the-world story is a different proposition from Ridley Scott directing spectacle, and the reviews suggest the restraint pays off.
What Makes It Stand Out: A $110 million budget on adapted literary material (Peter Heller’s novel), plus one of the deepest casts of the month. Elordi is having a significant year.
Verdict: Worth watching, especially if you like your sci-fi melancholy rather than loud.
#4. The Whisper Man
Release Date: August 28, 2026 Where to Watch: Netflix Genre: Crime thriller Director: James Ashcroft Cast: Robert De Niro, Michelle Monaghan, Adam Scott, Michael Keaton, Hamish Linklater, Owen Teague Runtime: Approximately 1h 51m Rating: R Release Type: 📺 Streaming
What It’s About: A widowed writer’s young son is abducted in a town once terrorised by a serial killer known as the Whisper Man. He turns to his estranged father, the retired detective who caught the original killer.
Why It’s Worth Watching: It’s the biggest streaming release of the month by cast alone, adapted from Alex North’s bestseller and produced by the Russo brothers’ AGBO.
What Makes It Stand Out: Ashcroft (The Rule of Jenny Pen) brings genuine menace to what critics describe as a fairly conventional procedural. Reviews are mixed-to-positive: Deadline found it pulpy but propulsive, while Variety and SlashFilm both felt De Niro was coasting.
Verdict: Wait for reviews if you’re picky — or just watch it, since it’s already in your subscription. Best for fans of 1990s star-driven thrillers.
#5. Finding Emily
Release Date: August 28, 2026 (US); released May 22, 2026 in the UK Where to Watch: Cinemas Genre: Romantic comedy Director: Alicia MacDonald Cast: Angourie Rice, Spike Fearn, Minnie Driver Runtime: 110 minutes Distributor: Universal Pictures / Focus Features (Working Title) Rotten Tomatoes: 90% critics / 95% audience Release Type: 🎬 Theatrical
What It’s About: A lovesick musician is given the wrong phone number for the girl he’s looking for, and teams up with a psychology student to find her — sparking a campus-wide search.
Why It’s Worth Watching: It’s the best-reviewed romance of the month and, unusually, audiences rate it even higher than critics do. Variety described it as a fresh, funny Gen-Z update of the Working Title formula.
What Makes It Stand Out: A proper Working Title romcom in cinemas, which barely happens anymore. Note the release gap — UK audiences got this in May.
Verdict: Must-watch for romcom fans.
#6. Buddy
Release Date: August 28, 2026 Where to Watch: Cinemas Genre: Horror Cast: Keegan-Michael Key (voice), Cristin Milioti, Patton Oswalt, Topher Grace, Michael Shannon Rating: R (bloody violence, drug content and language, all involving children) Rotten Tomatoes: 79% critics Release Type: 🎬 Theatrical
What It’s About: Inside the world of a fictional 1999 children’s show, kids sing and dance for a bright orange unicorn. One child refuses to play along, and the perfect world starts to crack.
Why It’s Worth Watching: It premiered at Sundance 2026 and has the sharpest hook of any horror release this month. That R rating tells you exactly how far it goes.
What Makes It Stand Out: The cast is stacked with comic actors playing it very straight, and the corrupted-children’s-TV premise has generated the most online discussion of any August horror title.
Verdict: Best for horror fans who like their concepts nasty. Definitely not for kids, despite appearances.
#7. Is God Is
Release Date: August 14, 2026 (streaming) Where to Watch: HBO Max Genre: Revenge thriller Director: Aleshea Harris (adapting her own play) Release Type: 📺 Streaming
What It’s About: Two sisters set out for revenge against the father who set their childhood home on fire.
Why It’s Worth Watching: This is one of the highest-rated films of 2026 on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, and it went badly under-seen theatrically. Streaming is its real chance.
What Makes It Stand Out: A stage-to-screen adaptation by the playwright herself, with a stylised approach that separates it from every other revenge film.
Verdict: Must-watch — the hidden gem of the month.
#8. Insidious: Out of the Further
Release Date: August 21, 2026 Where to Watch: Cinemas Genre: Horror Distributor: Sony / Blumhouse Rotten Tomatoes: 58% critics Release Type: 🎬 Theatrical
What It’s About: The sixth entry in the Insidious franchise.
Why It’s Worth Watching: Made for roughly $18 million and opening around $25 million, this is a commercial success regardless of what critics think — and 58% is a step up from Red Door‘s 40%.
What Makes It Stand Out: Franchise familiarity, mostly. It knows exactly what it is.
Verdict: Best for fans of the series. Everyone else can skip it.
#9. PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie
Release Date: August 14, 2026 Where to Watch: Cinemas Genre: Animation / family Director: Cal Brunker Distributor: Paramount Pictures Release Type: 🎬 Theatrical
What It’s About: The PAW Patrol wash up on a dinosaur island after a storm and meet a stranded pup named Rex.
Why It’s Worth Watching: For young kids specifically, this is the safest bet in cinemas. It opened around $20 million, in line with the previous entry.
What Makes It Stand Out: It arrived the same day as The End of Oak Street — two dinosaur films, opposite ends of the age spectrum.
Verdict: Best for families with young children. Adults will get more out of Coyote vs. Acme.
#10. Tony
Release Date: August 7, 2026 Where to Watch: Cinemas (limited) Genre: Biographical drama Director: Matt Johnson Cast: Dominic Sessa, Antonio Banderas Distributor: A24 Rotten Tomatoes: Certified Fresh Release Type: 🎬 Theatrical (limited)
What It’s About: An Anthony Bourdain biopic, from the director of BlackBerry.
Why It’s Worth Watching: It premiered at Sundance and has carried strong reviews since. Matt Johnson is one of the more distinctive voices working in biographical film.
What Makes It Stand Out: Sessa is a genuinely interesting casting choice for Bourdain, and A24 rarely puts this much muscle behind a limited release without reason.
Verdict: Worth watching — check whether it’s playing near you, as availability is limited.
The Biggest Releases Still Playing
If you only care about scale, three films dominated August’s box office and are still in cinemas:
Spider-Man: Brand New Day technically opened July 31, but it owned August. It passed $2 billion worldwide in 17 days — the second-fastest ever — and held the number one spot for four straight weekends. It’s at 89% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 98% audience score.