Introduction
June was one of the most diverse, conversation‑driving months of the year so far at the box office and on streaming, delivering everything from Pixar at its emotional best to a Tribeca slate that sparked genuine critical debate, franchise entries that split audiences and critics alike, and a pair of rom‑com surprises nobody saw coming.
The month had it all—spectacle, controversy, heart—and plenty of films that reminded us why this job is worth doing. When a film like Power Ballad or Voicemails for Isabelle quietly exceeds every expectation, or when Toy Story 5 arrives and reminds an entire generation why Pixar sits at the top of the mountain, it makes the harder work of writing through the lower half of this list feel entirely worth it.
Supergirl and Masters of the Universe sparked the kind of heated discourse between critics and general audiences that has become increasingly common in the superhero space, and while we land closer to the middle on both, we’d remind anyone treating either as a harbinger of doom that one disappointing entry does not erase a foundation worth believing in. June gave us plenty to talk about and even more to recommend. Here is TwilightRoom’s full ranking of every film we checked out and reviewed this month.
15. Scary Movie
42.7/100 - Michael Tiddes - Theaters
Coming in at the very bottom of our June film slate is Scary Movie 6, a legacy sequel in a franchise that’s always been hit‑or‑miss but lands squarely in the latter camp this time. Bringing back the original cast is a step in the right direction, but the comedy feels forced, as if the writers are chasing an audience they don’t quite understand—aiming jokes at viewers who either don’t get the references or aren’t old enough to have grown up with these characters. That mismatch leaves the film a jumbled, oddly targeted entry and, by a wide margin, the least funny installment in the series. It felt like I was constantly missing the joke, with the nods and satire aimed at newer horror films landing as the most lackluster and unclever they’ve ever been—turning what was once a core strength of the franchise into yet another weakness here.
However, there are moments that are genuinely fun. The reunion of the original cast, the callbacks to the earlier films, and a handful of jokes that land with real cleverness keep Scary Movie 6 from being a fully unpleasant experience and hint at a glimmer of potential that never quite gets fully tapped. As longtime fans, there’s plenty we wish had been sharper, but if you go into a Scary Movie entry expecting quality you’re in the wrong place—you should at least be able to expect consistent comedy, and here it’s few and far between, which is why it sits at the very bottom of this list with a 42/100 rating from TwilightRoom.
14. Finnegan's Foursome
60.1/100 - Edward Burns - Digital
Finnegan’s Foursome is Paramount’s Tribeca entry and one of the more straightforward, safe films to premiere at the festival this year, a golf‑centered family dramedy about four Finnegan relatives traveling to spread their late patriarch’s ashes across courses tied to their shared past. There’s a light charm to the group dynamic and an emotional core with real potential, but the film never pushes hard enough in any direction to fully capitalize on either. The comedy is the film’s most consistent weakness, rarely landing with enough energy or creativity to justify its billing as a dramedy, and the dialogue too often sounds forced in ways that make the performances feel weaker than they likely would with a stronger script beneath them.
The rivalry between the two fathers becomes the most entertaining thread once it takes over the second and third acts, and the final golf round is easily the strongest stretch, as the competition tightens and the family dynamic finally feels more naturally connected, ending on a gently heartfelt note with the family establishing a course in their grandfather’s memory. But the film spends too much of its runtime caught between being a laid‑back sports movie and a deeper emotional family drama without fully committing to either, leaving most scenes to blur together without enough conflict or comedic payoff to make them memorable. It’s a light, easy watch that will appeal most to golf fans or anyone in the mood for something calm and unchallenging, earning a 60/100 from TwilightRoom and landing near the bottom of this month’s list.
13. Hungry
61.1/100 - James Nunn - Digital
Hungry earns its spot on this month’s list not because it excels on any particularly high level, but because it fully commits to a genuinely unique concept and delivers enough dumb fun to stand apart from the titles below it—a hippo‑in‑the‑Florida‑swamps creature feature that takes the basic DNA of a shark movie and swaps the ocean for murky bayou water and the apex predator for something far more unexpected. The concept is its greatest asset, and frankly its primary one, because the film around it struggles in all the usual creature‑feature ways. The kill order is oddly sequenced, draining emotional investment before the movie has built enough to lose, and the scares never land with the impact the genre needs, leaving you entertained without ever genuinely being unsettled. What keeps it above the two films below it is that very originality and the fun that comes with it: there’s something entertaining about watching a premise this absurd take itself just seriously enough to function while staying self‑aware enough to never become a chore. It isn’t a good film in any traditional sense, but it’s more interesting and enjoyable than its score suggests, earning a 61/100 from TwilightRoom.
12. Carolina Caroline
64.8/100 - Adam Rehmeier - Digital/Theaters
Carolina Caroline is a film we caught later in the month thanks to a theatrical rollout that was far too small to generate the commentary and attention it deserved. It’s unlikely to crack anyone’s year‑end list or reinvent the Bonnie‑and‑Clyde‑style, on‑the‑run heist genre it operates firmly within, but it’s a perfectly serviceable and entertaining home watch that delivers enough of what it promises to justify the time spent with it.
The genre formula is followed so closely that nothing here will surprise anyone who’s seen the films it’s clearly drawing from, and that lack of originality is the film’s most persistent limitation, keeping it from rising above a crowded field into anything truly memorable. What keeps it from sitting lower on this list are a few genuinely interesting moments and choices that hint at more creativity lurking beneath a screenplay that too often plays it safe, plus an easy watchability that makes it simple enough to settle into on a quiet night at home even if it never quite announces itself as something worth seeking out. It’s the definition of a serviceable entry in a well‑worn genre, earning a 64/100 from TwilightRoom.
11. In the Hand of Dante
66.5/100 - Julian Schnabel - Netflix
Very mixed and largely critical reviews have greeted In the Hand of Dante, the Oscar Isaac-starring, Divine Comedy-inspired crime story out of Tribeca, and while we at TwilightRoom can’t wholeheartedly call it a success, it’s far from deserving the harsher press it’s received. It delivers enough to justify its existence, even if it never quite justifies its runtime. The film is a two‑and‑a‑half‑hour, slow‑moving noir crime story that plays with time through a backwards black‑and‑white and then to color progression, following Isaac’s Nick as he tries to prove that he and a group of dangerous men have discovered the original copy of The Divine Comedy.
As greed seeps into every crack of the narrative, the morality of everyone around him, Nick included, erodes, and the film bounces between the present‑day crime plot and Dante’s own process of writing the poem thousands of years earlier, a role also played by Isaac. It’s an ambitious structural choice the film never fully earns, leaning too hard into philosophical pretension and stretching its ideas across a runtime that often tests your patience. While the writing frequently drifts into nap‑inducing territory, it’s punctuated by sharp lines and striking images that hint at the film it could have been. It won’t land for wide audiences, but Isaac’s work and the visual ambition keep it from disaster, earning a 66/100 from TwilightRoom.
10. Supergirl
66.9/100 - Craig Gillespie - Theaters
Supergirl is a significant step down from Superman and one of the more disappointing entries in what had been a genuinely promising start for the new DCU, trading the color, warmth, and sense of wonder that made its comic adaptation sing for something noticeably more generic and forced in a world that should feel anything but. The source material is genuinely great and the character has more than enough to support a compelling film, which makes the execution here all the more frustrating: the ingredients are there, but the movie never commits to what makes Kara distinct, something My Adventures with Superman captures weekly.
Instead, it settles for a version of the story that could belong to almost any other superhero property. The needle drops are a particular sticking point, among the toughest to sit through in any major release this year, landing with a tonal mismatch that pulls you out of scenes rather than elevating them. We don’t see Supergirl as the catastrophe for the DCU some outlets are warning about; it’s a stumble, not a collapse. The core of what James Gunn is building still feels solid and worth trusting, even if this particular outing lands at a frustrating 66/100 from TwilightRoom.
9. Office Romance
68.7/100 - Ol Parker - Netflix
Office Romance is another streaming rom‑com surprise of the year, a Netflix release that arrives with low expectations baked in and comfortably exceeds them. It’s significantly more entertaining and chemically alive than its trailers suggest, and far better than anything in the genre Jennifer Lopez has put her name to in recent years, Shotgun Wedding very much included. It’s absolutely a brain‑off watch and makes no pretense of being anything more, leaning fully into the fun and the funny rather than reaching for emotional depth it was never built to carry. In doing so, it becomes exactly the kind of easy, genuinely enjoyable Netflix rom‑com the platform has struggled to deliver consistently in recent years.
The chemistry between the leads is the biggest and most pleasant surprise, carrying scenes the writing alone wouldn’t get across the finish line and giving the romance enough warmth to make you actually invest in the outcome. Office Romance doesn’t reach the heights of Voicemails for Isabelle and probably won’t stay in the conversation long once the next release cycle hits, but for what it is, a funny, romantic, purely fun time you and friends or family can enjoy on a simple movie night, it delivers, earning a 68/100 from TwilightRoom.
8. Masters of the Universe
71.9/100 - Travis Knight - Theaters
Masters of the Universe lands as a fun but undeniably flawed fantasy blockbuster, at its best when it leans fully into blending classic He‑Man mythology, colorful world‑building, and energetic action spectacle into a crowd‑pleasing adventure that’s more entertaining than its writing deserves. The setup, Prince Adam fleeing to Earth after Skeletor seizes his kingdom, then returning to reclaim it, couldn’t be more familiar, but the creature designs, magical environments, and nonstop adventure pacing keep things moving at a clip that makes those formulaic bones easy to forgive whenever the action is firing. Skeletor is the film’s biggest standout, with a design and screen presence that consistently elevate the stakes and give the movie a memorable central villain the story around him doesn’t always earn.
The film stumbles most in its emotional writing and comedic timing, with corny dialogue undercutting crucial dramatic moments, tonal whiplash disrupting the momentum of otherwise exciting sequences, and a hero‑speech montage in the climax that slips into unintentional comedy at exactly the wrong moment. Masters of the Universe borrows heavily from the self‑aware, glossy toy‑property style popularized by Barbie, a choice that works more often than not in its action but undercuts scenes that need real emotional weight. There’s still more fun here than in several other big blockbusters this year, and the Castle Grayskull finale delivers enough spectacle to send it out on an entertaining note, earning a 71/100 from TwilightRoom.
7. The Death of Robin Hood
73.1/100 - Michael Sarnoski - Theaters
Hugh Jackman again returns to an older, more reflective version of a beloved character, and his work, along with that of his supporting cast, is easily the best part of an otherwise quite tedious new A24 release. This Robin Hood is not the folk hero you expect, but a man who has killed many and now lives his later years in regret, with the relatives of his victims out for vengeance. He tries to reconcile in a small town, surrounded by a family that treats him with a respect he doesn’t think he deserves. The first 30 minutes are surprisingly effective, action‑packed, emotionally heavy, and visually striking enough to make you believe the rest of the film won’t be a fraction as slow as it ultimately becomes.
The real issue is the sagging middle hour, which is quite hard to get through and never settles into a tone that makes an audience excited or intrigued by what’s happening, no matter how nuanced it is. That’s not to say there aren’t real positives here, and that’s why it lands in the middle of this month’s list, but there are plenty of films that may lack The Death of Robin Hood’s visuals or performances yet manage to hold your attention for their entire runtime and are simply more entertaining overall. For all these reasons, we have the film sitting seventh on our June list with a rating of 73/100 from TwilightRoom.
6. Voicemails For Isabelle
77.3/100 - Leah McKendrick - Netflix
Voicemails for Isabelle is the surprise rom‑com of the year so far and one of the more quietly enjoyable straight‑to‑streaming releases in recent memory, a love story that asks you to look past a central concept that sounds more than a little unsettling on paper and generously rewards you if you do. It’s the kind of film that will make you cry, laugh, and genuinely root for two people finding each other in the way only the best entries in the genre manage to pull off. The concept—voicemails from one sister to her deceased sibling accidentally reaching that sibling’s soulmate instead—has an inherent oddness the film is clearly aware of and navigates carefully enough to keep you on board.
It leans into the emotional vulnerability of the premise instead of letting its strangeness push the audience away. What ultimately makes it work, as with nearly every project she touches, is Zoey Deutch, whose energy and warmth make the film feel more alive than the material alone would suggest, reminding you she’s one of the most reliably magnetic performers in this space and that any project built around her starts from real strength. It’s not a reinvention of the genre and it won’t top anyone’s year‑end list, but as a streaming discovery that delivers genuine emotion and consistent charm with a performer firing on all cylinders at its center, Voicemails for Isabelle earns its place here with a 77/100 from TwilightRoom.
5. The Furious
81.9/100 - Kenji Tanagaki - Theaters
The Furious is the best pure action film of the year so far—and likely to stay that way—and one of the most brutally entertaining All Media screening experiences we’ve had in a long time. It’s a pan‑Asian revenge thriller about a mute father whose daughter is abducted by a trafficking network, only for him to discover the operation runs far deeper and more corrupt than he imagined, eventually joining forces with another man driven by his own grief. The setup works almost entirely as a delivery system for some of the most inventive, physically exhausting fight sequences in recent memory.
The film wears its influences openly, drawing from Oldboy in its close‑quarters hallway brawls and endurance fights where characters visibly struggle to survive rather than looking effortlessly invincible, while channeling the nonstop underworld escalation of John Wick–style storytelling to keep the pacing relentless from the opening minutes to the final frame. The audience at our screening full of critics and press was on board from the first major set piece to the last, with audible shock, laughter, and excitement during some of the wildest, most creative kills of the year, and the sound design—every punch, bone snap, knife impact, knife hit, and bike fight—hits harder than almost anything released this summer. The final act does get somewhat unrealistic, with characters absorbing punishment well beyond the point of believability and the emotional storytelling staying firmly surface level, but the choreography is so consistently entertaining that neither issue ever really derails the experience. The Furious is a love letter to brutal, practical action filmmaking and earns every bit of the reaction it got in that theater, landing fifth on this month’s list with an 81/100 from TwilightRoom.
4. Jack Johnson: Surfilmusic
82.4/100 - Emmett Malloy - Theaters
Surfilmusic, Jack Johnson’s documentary, is a wonderfully creative and deeply heartfelt telling of a life lived across three interconnected worlds—pro surfing, filmmaking, and music—woven together through the actual film cameras he used to document his own journey. That choice gives the film an intimacy and authenticity a more traditional documentary approach simply couldn’t match. It’s a humble, down‑to‑earth portrait of a man who became a genuine star without ever seeming to chase it, emphasizing his friendships, his life with his wife, and the quiet gratitude he carries for everyone who helped him get where he is—making it easy to connect with, regardless of how familiar you are with his music going in.
It’s a film that has quickly found the right community of fans in the months since its premiere, which has been refreshing to see, especially given how short and to‑the‑point it is. That brevity works entirely in its favor, letting it deliver everything it needs to without padding the runtime for the sake of scale. It resonates deeply with longtime fans who already know the story, but also plays as a genuinely compelling introduction for anyone coming in cold—which is about as strong an endorsement as a music documentary can earn—placing fourth on this month’s list at an 82/100 from TwilightRoom.
3. Disclosure Day
83.4/100 - Steven Spielberg - Theaters
Steven Spielberg returns to sci-fi territory with Disclosure Day and delivers a mixed bag that leans more toward great than middling, carried most heavily by its final act and two performers who consistently elevate material that does not always earn what they bring to it. Josh O’Connor continues his fantastic run as Daniel, a man on the run with stolen evidence of alien life who genuinely believes the public has a right to know the truth, while Emily Blunt steals the show as Margeret, a weatherwoman granted alien-bestowed powers who becomes the human communicator bridging both sides of a disclosure event, and her presence is so consistently fantastic that the film gets the benefit of the doubt through stretches where the screenplay alone would not earn it.
The central question the film asks, who actually deserves to know the truth, is compelling enough to drive the whole thing forward, and Spielberg’s sense of wonder is clearly present throughout, particularly in an animal-turned-alien dream sequence that feels deeply personal to the director and a disclosure reveal executed with surprising restraint through a newsroom rather than a traditional spectacle set piece. The middle section is where the film stumbles most noticeably, with pacing that grows inconsistent, dialogue that leans too heavily into blockbuster mode, and a plot that relies on somewhat arbitrary device powers to push things forward, preventing it from reaching the heights Spielberg is known to achieve. But the conclusion wins you over completely, and Blunt and O’Connor are simply too good throughout to let the film’s weaknesses define it, earning a 83/100 from TwilightRoom and third on this month’s list.
2. Power Ballad
83.9/100 - John Carney - Theaters
Power Ballad was one of the standout discoveries of SXSW earlier this year and remains one of the most refreshing and underseen films of 2026 so far, a feel‑good musical comedy from John Carney that’s as heartfelt and emotionally driven as it is funny—and exactly the kind of original filmmaking the current climate desperately needs more of. From the moment it premiered, it stood out as a sharp left turn from the surrounding slate, a film as much about music and comedy as it is about genuine human connection, and that combination lands with a warmth and specificity that’s very hard to manufacture.
Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas are both fantastic, pouring real heart into performances that make the film’s parallel emotional beats in the final act hit far harder than you expect, with Carney balancing comedy, drama, and music with the confident tonal control that has defined his best work. It’s the rare film that walks out of the theater with you, nudging you to see the people around you with a slightly different appreciation, and that feeling comes directly from how much heart is clearly poured into every corner of it by cast and director alike. Awards recognition this early in the year may be unlikely, but Power Ballad is exactly the kind of film that eventually finds its audience and deserves every bit of it, earning an 83/100 from TwilightRoom and the second spot on this month’s list.
1. Toy Story 5
85.9/100 - Andrew Stanton - Theaters
Toy Story 5 tops this month’s Film Monthly and sits as the third best film of the year so far, a fifth entry in Pixar’s magnum opus franchise that had no business being this good and yet arrives as a genuinely worthy continuation of one of the greatest runs in animation history, centered for the first time around Jessie in a decision that pays off beautifully from start to finish. The film weaves three separate storylines together, Jessie’s search for a true friend for Bonnie that leads her back to a piece of her own past, a new wave of Bluetooth Buzz Lightyears who crash-land convinced Jessie is Star Command, and a Buzz-and-Woody reunion full of the lived-in banter the franchise has spent two decades perfecting, and while the juggling act creates some early unevenness in the first seventy minutes, each thread is given enough room to breathe that the payoff for all three lands with real emotional weight.
The animation is stunning, the dream art style used in the play sequences standing as some of the most gorgeous visual work Pixar has produced in years, and the comedy hits that same clever layered tone that has made this franchise so beloved across generations without ever feeling like it is simply recycling what came before. It does not reach the overall heights of the first three films and the stakes never quite achieve the danger of Toy Story 2 or 3, but several individual moments rank among the franchise’s absolute best, and where it lands emotionally, particularly Jessie’s full arc that hits harder than it had any right to making literally everyone cry, is exactly what this franchise has always done better than anyone else. Toy Story 5 is not just the best animated film of the year but also our third‑best film overall, earning an 85/100 from TwilightRoom.
