A NEW YEAR, a new slate of Irish films to watch out for. Here’s what you need to know about what’s coming up in 2026.

Even though it’s in cinemas just before the New Year begins (on 26th December) we must give a mention to the much-anticipated Saipan.

This is directed by Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa, and stars Éanna Hardwicke as Roy Keane and Steve Coogan as Mick McCarthy. As you can tell from the name, it’s about the infamous fallout between Keane and McCarthy after Keane left Saipan while the Irish team was training for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

On 9 January, Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal will star in the moving, gorgeous film Hamnet.

This adaptation of the Maggie O’Farrell book has even more Irish links, as O’Farrell was born in Derry.

It’s about the death of William Shakespeare and Agnes/Anne Hathaway’s son Hamnet, who it is believed Shakespeare was paying tribute to in his play Hamlet. 

It’s set to be one of the year’s biggest films, and it looks likely that Buckley and Mescal will be nominated for Oscars – if Buckley doesn’t get at least an Oscar nomination for her incredible acting, then we’ll eat our hat.

Paul Mescal will also star (alongside Josh O’Connor) in The History of Sound, which will be released on 23 January.

It’s based on a short story by Ben Shattuck, about two men who fall in love while travelling around 1920s America recording folk songs.

On 23 January, the film H is for Hawk will be in cinemas. This adaptation of Helen McDonald’s memoir stars Brendan Gleeson and Denise Gough, so a strong Irish showing there. It’s about a woman who finds solace in birding after her father dies.

From 6 February, the award-winning Irish documentary A Quiet Love will be in cinemas.  This is about the love stories of three Deaf couples told through Irish Sign Language. 

It includes a decades-long forbidden romance across a religious divide, an LGBTQI+ couple navigating parenthood with Deaf and hearing children, and a Deaf boxer and his hearing partner facing a life-altering choice.

It’s also Ireland’s first feature film in Irish Sign Language and is produced by a Deaf and hearing team and directed by Garry Keane (who also directed In the Shadow of Beirut and GAZA).

In May, the Irish horror film Hokum will open, directed by Damian McCarthy.

It stars Adam Scott (Severance) as a man who visits an Irish pub to scatter his parents’ ashes… unaware the pub is haunted by a witch.  

 While its distribution date isn’t confirmed yet, another Irish film that’s due out in 2026 is Everybody Digs Bill Evans.

It has a brilliant team behind and in front of the camera – its writer is Mark O’Halloran, director is Grant Gee, it stars Anders Danielsen Lie (Worst Person in the World, Sentimental Value) and Bill Pullman (The Sinner), and it’s being distributed by Break Out Pictures, which was also behind hits like A Want In Her.

This film looks at what happened after legendary pianist Bill Evans’ bassist and musical soulmate dies in a car crash, and the impact this has on Evans personally and professionally.

Festival hits

Also in January is Sundance Film Festival, which is where Irish documentary All About The Money, directed by Sinéad O’Shea, will have its premiere. O’Shea also made last year’s fantastic documentary The Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story.

What we know about All About The Money is it’s about Fergie Chambers, who is a son of one of America’s wealthiest families. He has created a communist revolutionary base in rural Massachusetts as a means of disrupting the capitalist system he grew up in, but now despises. Sounds like a fascinating premise. 

Another Irish-connected film at Sundance is a feature film called How To Divorce Before the War, directed by Andrius Blaževičius. It’s an Irish/Lithuanian/Luxembourg/Czech co-production, and is about a woman who has a revelation that she wants to divorce her husband, right before Russia invades Ukraine. 

These films won’t go on immediate release after Sundance, but keep an eye out for them over 2026 – they might pop up at other festivals before going on release.

Speaking of festivals, a great way to catch Irish premieres is to head to the Dublin International Film Festival, Galway Film Fleadh, Cork International Film Festival or the many other small film festivals that will be taking place in Ireland this year. None have released their full programmes yet, so keep an eye on their websites.

Future productions

As for what our stars are up to – Andrew Scott will kick off the year by filming Elsinore alongside Olivia Colman. This is based on the true story of the actor Ian Charleson, the Scottish star of Chariots of Fire. It focuses on how he “faced incredible odds while preparing to give the performance of his life in Hamlet at the National Theatre in London”. 

Paul Mescal will be filming Merrily We Roll Along, Richard Linklater’s screen adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim play. The interesting thing about this is, like Linklater’s film Boyhood, it’s going to be filmed across a span of about 20 years.

He’ll also be filming Sam Mendes’ upcoming Beatles biopic, which will be released in 2028.

Watch out for Eve Hewson in Steven Spielberg’s new film Disclosure Day, an alien sci-fi that will be in cinemas in June.

Also due out in May is The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands, directed by Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, which is being filmed in Belfast and stars Alexandar Skarsgaard.