2026 Film Releases in South Africa

by ·Comments Off on 2026 Film Releases in South Africa

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR MORE INFO

FROM PAGE TO SCREEN / THE ART AND CRAFT OF WRITING FILMS / SOUTH AFRICAN FILMS / ARCHIVE: 2014 / 2015 /2016 /2017 /2018 / 2019 / 2020 / 2021/ 2022 / 2023 / 2024 / 2025

MET Opera Live In Cinemas 2026 /

2026 Golden Globe Awards / Oscar Nominations 2026 / BAFTA Nominations 2026

NEW RELEASES: Is This Thing On?  /  The Strangers: Chapter 3 / Wildcat

NOW SHOWING: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple  / Charlie The Wonderdog / Dead Man’s Wire / Greenland 2: Migration / Hamnet / Kiss of the Spider Woman Mercy / Melania / Nuremberg / Primate  / Rental Family / Send Help  / Shelter / Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass

TV / STREAMING: Heated Rivals / Truth & Reason / I Swear / The History Of Sound / Merrily We Roll Along / Pillion

REVIEWS: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple / Hamnet / Kiss Of The Spider Woman / Mercy / Marty Supreme / Nuremberg / Primate / Send Help /

TOP FILMS OF 2026 (Listed Alphabetically) : Hamnet / The History Of Sound / I Swear / Kiss of the Spider Woman / Marty Supreme / Merrily We Roll Along / Nuremberg / Pillion

NEW RELEASES:

Wuthering Heights is a sweeping, modernised period romance where Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) navigate a passionate, destructive love against the haunting backdrop of the Yorkshire moors. Written and directed by Emerald Fennell (adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel).

Whistle is a supernatural horror film in which a group of misfit high‑school students discovers an ancient Aztec death whistle, unleashing a curse that summons their own future deaths to hunt them down. Led by Dafne Keen and Sophie Nélisse, the story follows the teens’ desperate attempt to understand the artefact’s origins as the body count rises. Directed by Corin Hardy, the film mixes teen‑horror energy with folkloric dread, building tension around the eerie sound of the whistle and the unstoppable force it awakens. In cinemas 13 February

Crime 101 is a gritty crime thriller where an elusive jewel thief, a disillusioned insurance broker, and a relentless detective collide in a high-stakes heist along Los Angeles’ 101 freeway. Written and directed by Bart Layton (based on Don Winslow’s novella), starring Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Halle Berry, Monica Barbaro. In cinemas 13 February

F Valentine’s Day is a romantic comedy about Gina, born on Valentine’s Day she despises, who schemes to stop her boyfriend’s proposal during a getaway, only to discover she might be with the wrong guy. Directed by Mark Gantt, screenplay by Steve Bencich, starring Virginia Gardner, Marisa Tomei, Skylar Astin, Jake Cannavale, Lil Rel Howery. Only in cinemas on 13 February

Goat is an animated sports comedy about Will, a small goat with big dreams who defies the odds to join the pros in roarball, proving once and for all that “smalls can ball”. Directed by Tyree Dillihay (co-dir. Adam Rosette), screenplay by Aaron Buchsbaum, Teddy Riley. Only in cinemas on 13 February

Set in the turbulent decades following India’s independence, O’ Romeo reimagines the emotional core of Romeo and Juliet within the world of gang wars, political alliances, and the shifting power structures of Mumbai’s underworld. Only in cinemas on 13 February

SCROLL DOWN FOR FEBRUARY FILM RELEASES

FEBRUARY 2026

20 February

  • Cold Storage is a comedy-horror thriller where two storage workers and a veteran bioterror agent battle a mutating parasitic fungus that escapes from a sealed military base, threatening humanity’s extinction. Directed by Jonny Campbell, screenplay by David Koepp (based on his novel), starring Georgina Campbell, Joe Keery, Sosie Bacon, Liam Neeson, Vanessa Redgrave, Lesley Manville.
  • Die My Love is a psychological drama about a young mother in rural Montana whose descent into postpartum depression and psychosis unravels her marriage and grip on reality. Directed by Lynne Ramsay, screenplay by Lynne Ramsay, Enda Walsh, Alice Birch (based on Ariana Harwicz novel), starring Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, LaKeith Stanfield, Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek – 20/2
  • Elvis sings and tells his story like never before in EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, a new cinematic experience from visionary filmmaker Baz Luhrmann. Elvis takes the audience through the journey of his life, through both classic and contemporary musical prisms, weaving unseen footage with iconic performances that have never been presented in this way. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is a leap of the musical imagination and a tribute to one of the greatest performers of all time.
  • The South African film Pretty How Town is a story about learning to trust yourself and being accepted by your family and community. Told poignantly and emotionally with a touch of humour, it will leave you with a positive and uplifting feeling. 

27 February

  • Scream 7 is a slasher thriller where Sidney Prescott must confront a new Ghostface targeting her daughter, forcing her to face past horrors to protect her family. Directed by Kevin Williamson, screenplay by Williamson, Guy Busick (story by James Vanderbilt & Busick), starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Isabel May.
  • How to Make a Killing is a darkly comic thriller where disowned outcast Becket Redfellow schemes to reclaim his wealthy family’s inheritance—by eliminating every relative in his way. Written and directed by John Patton Ford (story inspired by Kind Hearts and Coronets), starring Glen Powell, Margaret Qualley, Jessica Henwick, Ed Harris, Zach Woods, Topher Grace.
  • The South African film GR 10 D is inspired by the lived realities of township and inner‑city schooling—spaces where overcrowded classrooms, under‑resourced facilities, and exhausted teachers collide with the boundless energy, creativity, and defiance of youth.

PREVIEW OF MARCH RELEASES

  • The Bride (6 March) written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, stars Vicky Krieps as the escaped creation fighting to claim her own identity and Christian Bale as the obsessive scientist determined to pull her back under his control. As she uncovers the truth of her engineered origins, her struggle for autonomy ignites a dangerous collision between creation and creator.
  • The Heart is a Muscle (6 March) The Heart Is a Muscle is a South African drama-thriller written and directed by Imran Hamdulay, marking his debut feature. At a birthday barbecue, Ryan’s five-year-old son briefly goes missing. His violent reaction sets off a chain of events that unearth buried secrets, forcing a reckoning with masculinity, memory, and the fragile bonds between fathers and sons.
  • Hoppers (6 March) is written and directed by Jordan Peele, who brings his signature blend of dread, social tension, and dark humour to a rural coming‑of‑age thriller. The film stars Caleb McLaughlin, Thomasin McKenzie, and Justice Smith as teenagers who witness a violent crime and find themselves hunted by the men responsible. As fear fractures their friendships and the town closes ranks, the trio must decide whether to run, hide, or fight back before the danger consuming their isolated community closes in.
  • Testament of Ann Lee (13 March) is written and directed by Rose Glass, who brings her fierce, intimate style to a story of faith, desire, and spiritual rupture. The film stars Jessie Buckley as Ann Lee, the visionary and controversial founder of the Shaker movement, and Rooney Mara as a young follower drawn into Ann’s radical, ascetic world. As Ann’s revelations intensify and her community fractures under the weight of devotion, doubt, and forbidden longing, the film traces the cost of becoming a prophet in a world unprepared for a woman who claims divine authority.
  • Protector (13 March) is written and directed by Karyn Kusama, who brings her taut, character‑driven intensity to a story of survival and moral reckoning. The film stars Florence Pugh as a former bodyguard forced out of hiding when the child she once failed to protect resurfaces, and Mahershala Ali as the enigmatic figure who may be either ally or threat. As past and present collide, she must confront the violence she left behind to save the life she couldn’t save before.
  • Giant (13 March) is written and directed by David Lowery, who brings his lyrical, myth‑infused sensibility to a story of ambition, inheritance, and the cost of becoming larger than life. The film stars Paul Mescal as a young drifter drawn into the orbit of a reclusive oil magnate played by Ralph Fiennes, and Lily James as the woman whose loyalty is tested as the men around her chase power at any cost. As fortunes rise and fracture, Giant charts the making—and unmaking—of a legend in a landscape where dreams harden into destiny.
  • Project Hail Mary (20 March) Project Hail Mary (2026) s directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and written by Drew Goddard, adapting Andy Weir’s bestselling novel. The film stars Ryan Gosling as astronaut Ryland Grace, alongside Sandra Hüller, Milana Vayntrub, Ken Leung, and Lionel Boyce, following a lone scientist who awakens on a spacecraft with no memory—only to discover he may be humanity’s last hope.
  • Finnick 2: Little Monsters (20 March) is written and directed by Dean DeBlois, returning to expand the world of the mischievous household spirits. The film features Finn Wolfhard voicing Finnick, joined by Ariana Greenblatt and Jacob Tremblay as new kids who discover a hidden colony of “little monsters” living beneath their neighbourhood. When a corporate development threatens the creatures’ home, the trio must band together to protect the magical world only they can see.
  • Reminders of Him (20 March) is directed by Vanessa Caswill and written by Colleen Hoover and Lauren Levine, adapting Hoover’s bestselling novel. The film stars Maika Monroe, Tyriq Withers, Rudy Pankow, Lainey Wilson, Lauren Graham, and Bradley Whitford, following a woman who, after serving seven years in prison, returns home to rebuild her life and fight for a second chance with the daughter she’s never known.
  • Wardriver (27 March) is directed by Rebecca Thomas and written by Daniel Casey, bringing a tense, contemporary edge to a story of hacking, coercion, and survival. The film stars Dane DeHaan, Sasha Calle, Mamoudou Athie, Jeffrey Donovan, William Belleau, Karina Gale, and Cameron Lee Price, following a young hacker pulled into a dangerous cyber‑heist that spirals into violence and betrayal.
  • They will kill you (27 March) is written and directed by Babak Anvari, bringing his atmospheric, slow‑burn tension to a story of paranoia and survival. The film stars Anya Taylor‑Joy as a woman who uncovers a list of names—each belonging to someone who has recently died under mysterious circumstances—and John Boyega as the detective who reluctantly joins her search for the truth. As the pattern sharpens and the threat closes in, the two are forced into a race against an unseen enemy that always seems one step ahead.

FILMS RELEASED IN 2026

Listed Alphabetically. Click on title for more information about the film

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple  / Charlie The Wonderdog / Dead Man’s Wire / Greenland 2: Migration / Hamnet / Kiss of the Spider Woman / Marty Supreme  / Melania / Mercy  / Nuremberg / Primate  / Rental Family / Send Help  / Shelter / Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass