Our critic’s list of his top three movies of 2026 so far celebrates international cinema. And one of his picks features a certain British pop star. Plus:

• The desperate scramble to replace Graham Platner in Maine
• What the “Odyssey” IMAX frenzy means for cinema
• Steve Lacy talks about his new R. & B. album

“The Odyssey.” “Obsession.” “I Love Boosters.” “The Invite.” These are some of the biggest hits or the most critically adored movies of 2026—but none of them appear on Richard Brody’s list of his three favorite films of the year so far. Rather, Brody’s picks—fittingly—highlight the unpredictable and the undersung. There’s a Croatian historical documentary about a poet who established a short-lived dictatorship, a Polish romantic melodrama starring Charli XCX, and a début feature about memory and family history. Altogether, the list champions the richness and the breadth of global cinema.

Photograph by Amanda Sabga / Reuters

Democrats in Maine launched a frantic search for a new Senate nominee, with some who had lost in the original primary as well as some new faces entering the race. Now, the former state-Senate president Troy Jackson seems poised to secure the nomination. Jason Zengerle reports from inside the three-week sprint to find a new candidate. Read the story »

Photograph by Michael Bailey-Gates for The New Yorker

• The critic Amanda Petrusich spent time with the singer Steve Lacy ahead of the release of his searching new album, “Oh Yeah?”
• The author Jón Kalman Stefánsson’s “Trilogy About the Boy” is set in the remote Westfjords of Iceland—but its ambition is universal.
• “The Odyssey” is a cultural event—but only twenty-five theatres in the U.S. are able to show it in its intended format. Brady Brickner-Wood considers what that means for the future of movies.
• Watch the comedians Aparna Nancherla and Josh Gondelman participate in the Cartoon Caption Contest.
• The most-clicked item in yesterday’s newsletter was about a photographer’s unpublished stash of polaroids of celebrities in the early two-thousands.

• A show: The new season of “The Comeback” is one of the best examples of television about people just getting by, what the critic Inkoo Kang calls “Broke TV.”
• A book: Readers of Ishmael Reed and Thomas Pynchon might enjoy “The Intuitionist,” Colson Whitehead’s 1999 noirish début.
• Another book: If you’ve been watching Netflix’s new “Little House on the Prairie,” consider revisiting the source material.

Illustration by Erik Winkowski

The New Yorker Festival will return on October 23rd through the 25th, in New York City. This year’s event pairs our writers and editors with some of today’s most influential thinkers and entertainers, including:

• Gloria Steinem with Jia Tolentino
• Ann Patchett and Louise Erdrich with Deborah Treisman
• Cole Escola with Julian Lucas

More of the lineup will be announced in the coming weeks. In the meantime, tickets will become available to the general public tomorrow, July 23rd, at 10 A.M. E.T. To receive early access to tickets, plus discounts and other benefits, become a subscriber.

• Today’s Crossword Puzzle: Lionel Messi’s sport—six letters.
• Catalogues: Can you sort the items into the correct order?
• Shuffalo: Can you make a longer word with each new letter?
• Laugh Lines: Test your knowledge of classic New Yorker cartoons.

Cartoon by Siobhán Gallagher

P.S. Another delightful Richard Brody recommendation: the YouTube archive of the classical pianist Eunice Norton. 🎹