If you think Disney+ is just a vault for animated classics and kids’ shows, you’re missing half the story. In 2026, the platform has quietly become a massive destination for cinephiles, thanks to the deep Searchlight Pictures library and high-budget 2025–2026 releases that actually care about craft. We’re talking about movies where the sound design makes your walls shake and the blocking is so tight it feels like a stage play.
Finding the best movies on Disney+ right now is about looking past the “Princess” tab and digging into the auteur-driven sci-fi and gritty dramas that define the platform’s prestige side. Whether you want a retro-futuristic spectacle or a slow-burn character study with surgical directing, these are the high-confidence picks that prove the mouse house has a serious cinematic edge. We’ve avoided every movie mentioned in our previous lists to give you 10 fresh, pro-level options for your next movie night.
Best for: Cinephiles looking for top-rated streaming movies that blend massive scale with unique visual authorship and high-level technical execution.
Common cinephile pain points this list solves: Thinking Disney+ is “only for kids” / Wasting time on generic franchise filler / Finding movies with real visual soul / Not knowing where the Searchlight masterpieces are hidden.
Related Lists: The Best Movies Across All Streaming Platforms / Editor’s Picks: The Best Movies / Handpicked Movies Worth Watching / Movies That Set the Standards in Cinema
What to watch for
For these Disney+ essentials, keep an eye on the production design. Whether it’s the 1960s retro-futurism of the new Marvel era or the tactile, practical world of recent sci-fi, these films win because they build worlds you can actually feel. Pay attention to the spatial awareness in the action scenes—these directors are moving away from “shaky cam” and back to clear, readable geography. That’s the real pro-level filmmaking.
10 best movies on Disney+ right now
1. Tron: Ares (2025) 🇺🇸
Director/Creator: Joachim Rønning
Plot: A highly sophisticated A.I. program is sent from the digital world into the real world on a high-stakes mission, marking humanity’s first physical encounter with a digital being.
IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
Where to Watch: Disney+
Why it delivers: It is the best popular movie right now for fans of atmospheric style. The visual design—aided by a pounding score by Nine Inch Nails—creates a hypnotic, high-contrast look that defines 2026 sci-fi. The blocking in the real-world chase scenes is incredibly sleek and visually authored.
2. Kinds of Kindness (2024) 🇬🇧🇺🇸
Director/Creator: Yorgos Lanthimos
Plot: A triptych fable following a man without choice who tries to take control of his life, a policeman alarmed by his wife’s return from the sea, and a woman determined to find a specific spiritual leader.
IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
Where to Watch: Disney+ (Searchlight)
Why it delivers: Lanthimos is a god of surgical blocking and tonal control. This is auteur cinema at its most playful and unsettling. The static camera work and deadpan performances create a persistent sense of unease that rewards cinephiles who want something totally original.
3. Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) 🇺🇸
Director/Creator: James Cameron
Plot: The Sully family faces off against a nomadic and aggressive Na’vi tribe known as the “Ash People,” who challenge the balance of life on Pandora with fire and vengeance.
IMDb Rating: 7.8/10
Where to Watch: Disney+
Why it delivers: Cameron is the undisputed king of technical mastery. The underwater and fire-based visual effects are so physically “heavy” they stop feeling like CGI. It’s an immersive event watch that sets the standard in cinema for how to use scale to tell an emotional story.
4. Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) 🇺🇸
Director/Creator: Matt Shakman
Plot: Set in a retro-futuristic 1960s, four astronauts gain incredible abilities and must defend a vibrant, alternate-reality New York from a cosmic threat that hungers for worlds.
IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
Where to Watch: Disney+
Why it delivers: This is production design as storytelling. The 1960s aesthetic isn’t just a gimmick—it’s a fully realized world with a specific color palette and architectural style. The ensemble blocking makes the team feel like a real family, which is a massive craft win for the genre.
5. A Real Pain (2024) 🇺🇸🇵🇱
Director/Creator: Jesse Eisenberg
Plot: Two mismatched cousins travel to Poland after their grandmother’s death to see where she came from and end up joining a Holocaust tourism group.
IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
Where to Watch: Disney+ (Searchlight)
Why it delivers: It features surgical script economy and incredible character work. The film manages a difficult tonal tightrope between sharp comedy and profound grief. The naturalistic blocking on the trains and city streets makes the personal stakes feel heavy and authentic.
6. The French Dispatch (2021) 🇺🇸🇩🇪
Director/Creator: Wes Anderson
Plot: A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th-century French city, bringing to life a collection of stories published in “The French Dispatch Magazine.”
IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
Where to Watch: Disney+
Why it delivers: It is symmetrical craft at its peak. Every single frame is composed with an obsessive attention to detail, using visual information as the primary way to tell the joke. It’s a series of moving paintings that rewards viewers who pause to look at the background details.
7. Prey (2022) 🇺🇸
Director/Creator: Dan Trachtenberg
Plot: In the Comanche Nation 300 years ago, a skilled female warrior fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly evolved Predators to land on Earth.
IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
Where to Watch: Disney+ / Hulu
Why it delivers: This is a masterclass in spatial action and sound design. Trachtenberg uses the wide-open landscape to build tension through “sightlines”—you often see the threat before the characters do. It’s a lean, mean, and properly made thriller that respects the audience’s intelligence.
8. A Hidden Life (2019) 🇺🇸🇩🇪
Director/Creator: Terrence Malick
Plot: The true story of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer who refused to fight for the Nazis in World War II and faced the crushing weight of the system as a result.
IMDb Rating: 7.4/10
Where to Watch: Disney+ (Searchlight)
Why it delivers: It is visually authored spiritual cinema. Malick uses wide-angle lenses and natural light to turn a historical drama into a poetic experience. The atmospheric soundscape and the use of scale—making the mountains feel as big as the moral stakes—make it one of the most beautiful films on the platform.
9. Nightbitch (2024) 🇺🇸
Director/Creator: Marielle Heller
Plot: An artist who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom becomes increasingly worried that she’s turning into a dog, as her maternal instincts take on a surreal and physical form.
IMDb Rating: 6.8/10
Where to Watch: Disney+ (Searchlight)
Why it delivers: It is tonal control at a pro level. The film moves from domestic frustration to body-horror surrealism with total confidence. The intimate framing and sound design of the house make the protagonist’s transformation feel visceral and uncomfortably real.
10. Rye Lane (2023) 🇬🇧
Director/Creator: Raine Allen-Miller
Plot: Two strangers reeling from bad break-ups connect over the course of an eventful day in South London, helping each other deal with their nightmare exes and regaining their faith in romance.
IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
Where to Watch: Disney+ / Hulu
Why it delivers: It’s visually vibrant storytelling. Raine Allen-Miller uses fish-eye lenses, bold colors, and creative blocking to make a romantic comedy feel fresh and energetic. It is a stylish, handpicked gem that uses the city of London as a playground for visual jokes and heart.
What to watch next
Next category: The Best TV Shows on Disney+ Right Now (for the high-momentum series that match this level of prestige filmmaking).
FAQ: Best Movies on Disney+ Right Now (2026)
Q: Does Disney+ have R-rated movies?
A: Yes. Thanks to the addition of Searchlight Pictures and 20th Century Studios, you can find adult-oriented, high-craft films like Kinds of Kindness and A Hidden Life on the platform.
Q: What are the best movies on Disney+ for cinephiles?
A: Start with Tron: Ares for visuals or Kinds of Kindness for auteur-driven storytelling. Searchlight titles are generally the highest-quality “pro” picks.
Q: Is everything on Disney+ connected to Marvel or Star Wars?
A: Not at all. While those are the biggest brands, the Searchlight library offers some of the most critically acclaimed independent films of the last decade.