2026 · Year-In-Progress · Ranked
Best Movies and Shows of 2026 So Far, Ranked by IQ Score
The strongest films and series released since the start of 2025, scored on TV Intelligentsia's IQ Score rubric. Updated as new titles are scored.
Critic-aggregator scores are typically locked within weeks of release and rarely revisited. The TVI rubric is built to survive that problem, the Cognitive Stimulation, Educational Value, and Craft & Quality dimensions are structural questions about the work itself, not poll-driven sentiment that drifts with discourse. The titles below are the strongest 2025-2026 releases in the database, ranked by IQ Score.
Project Hail Mary leads the year's narrative film slate, treating its hard-sci-fi premise with the structural discipline the genre rewards. Adolescence demonstrates what sustained-take limited series can do when the form is matched to the subject. Severance's second season cemented its philosophical engagement with personhood and consent. The Brutalist and The Pitt are both rare instances of formal ambition matched to ideational substance.
16 titles · ranked by IQ Score
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
-
6
-
7
-
8
-
9
-
10
-
11
-
12
-
13
-
14
-
15
-
16
Get the Saturday drop.
Every Saturday: 3 new TVI scores, 1 Brain Diet playlist, and the thinking behind what's worth watching. Free.
Questions about this ranking
What is the best movie of 2026 so far?
Project Hail Mary leads TV Intelligentsia's 2026 narrative film rankings at 179/200 (Masterclass tier), treating its hard-sci-fi premise with the structural discipline the genre rewards. New releases stay out of the indexed rankings until their score page is ready to defend.
What is the best show of 2026 so far?
Adolescence leads the 2026 limited-series rankings at 169/200 (Masterclass tier), demonstrating what sustained-take narrative work can do when the form is matched to the subject. Severance's second season also sits in Masterclass tier at 167/200.
How does TV Intelligentsia score new releases?
Recent releases are scored on the same TVI rubric used across the full database: Cognitive Stimulation (40%), Educational Value (35%), Craft & Quality (25%). The rubric is structural, about the work itself rather than poll-driven sentiment, which is why TVI scores often diverge meaningfully from critic-aggregator percentages that drift with discourse.
Founding Circle
Lifetime membership, one payment.
Founders get the monthly founders newsletter, quarterly deep dives with a 30-day founder-first window, two title requests a year, and a place on the founders wall. 100 lifetime spots at $99.
Claim your spot →Browse every ranked list on TV Intelligentsia
202 ranked-by-IQ lists, filmographies, decade hubs, year hubs, character rankings, streaming-platform lists, and editorial curations. All scored on the same published rubric.
See all ranked lists → Open the full database