The Faces of 2026: The Actors and Directors Defining the Year in Movies
From Olivia Wilde's directorial leap to Wagner Moura's Cannes-winning turn and Park Chan-wook's latest, these are the filmmakers and performers shaping the best-reviewed movies of 2026.
The most talked-about names in movies right now aren’t only in front of the camera. 2026’s strongest films are being driven by directors reinventing themselves and actors delivering career-best work. Here are the people behind the year’s highest Celluloid Scores — and where to see them.
Which director is having the best year?
Olivia Wilde has quietly made the leap that eluded her earlier features. Her single-apartment comedy-drama The Invite (82%) is being called her sharpest work yet, drawing career-best notices for a cast that includes Seth Rogen in a rare dramatic register, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton.
The performances everyone’s discussing
- Wagner Moura — the Narcos star anchors Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Brazilian thriller The Secret Agent, a performance that took Best Actor at Cannes.
- Lee Byung-hun — reunites with director Park Chan-wook for No Other Choice, turning corporate desperation into pitch-black comedy.
- Edward Norton — proves again in The Invite that he’s one of the most precise character actors working.
The legends still setting the standard
No conversation about screen icons is complete without the performances that defined the medium. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino in The Godfather remain the benchmark every new actor is measured against — a reminder that today’s breakout stars are working in a tradition more than a century deep.
Who should you be watching next?
Keep an eye on Christopher Nolan, whose large-format adaptation of The Odyssey is the most anticipated release of the season — see it on our Coming Soon page. Explore full filmographies and Celluloid Scores for every actor and director on their profile pages, or browse more interviews and features here on Celluloid.