The Welsh films to watch in 2026

From life in Blaenau Ffestiniog through the eyes of Effi, to an out-of-this-world ‘Roswelsh’ incident in a Welsh seaside town and the hunt for deranged squirrels, new stories from Wales are set to hit cinema screens in 2026 featuring a host of star names.

Go on a journey of self-discovery this year as you connect with characters from Port Talbot’s steel town to hand rakers on the mussel beds of Anglesey. Find feel-good films, eye-opening docs, plus some revenge, mayhem and more – all with Welsh connections from locations, to cast and behind the scenes talent.

2026 Welsh Films

Archive, Access Action
Release Date: Out Now
Welsh Connections: Various
A package of five short films resulting from the National Library of Wales Screen and Sound Archive’s ‘Cymru Anabl’ project (2024). As part of the project, access materials were commissioned for these films, in a small step toward ensuring the wider accessibility of archive film. The films include creative documentaries centred on Deaf and disabled lives, as well as short live-action and animated dramas. ‘Cymru Anabl’ was a project by the National Library of Wales Screen and Sound Archive in partnership with Disability Arts Cymru, Hijinx Theatre Company and TAPE: Community Music and Film, with the support of the BFI National Lottery Screen Heritage fund.

H is for Hawk
Release Date: 23 January 2026
Welsh Connections: John Giwa-Amu (producer), Cardiff, Wales (filming location). Financed by Creative Wales with the support of Ffilm Cymru Wales.
Synopsis: Chronicling the true story of Helen Macdonald (Claire Foy), who loses her well-regarded photojournalist father (Brendan Gleeson) to a heart attack, this film sees Helen find unexpected comfort in the feathery company of a stubborn northern goshawk named Mabel. The challenge of training a young goshawk turns out to be her guiding light through the grieving process and her unique bond with Mabel reintroduces her to the beauty of life and the natural world.

Rabbit Trap
Release Date: January 30, 2026
Welsh Connections: Mad as Birds (production company), set in Wales, story about Welsh fairy folk, the Tylwyth Teg.
Synopsis: Set in 1973, Rabbit Trap is the story of married musicians Daphne and Darcy Davenport, who have relocated from London to an isolated cabin in Wales in order to complete their new record. When they accidentally make a field recording of a mystical sound never before heard by human ears, a strange child enters their lives who gradually un-tethers them from reality, and the couple soon find themselves caught between the ancient spirits of the natural world and the lives they once knew.

Black Church Bay
Release Date: 2026
Welsh Connections: Rhys Marc Jones (writer-director), Tom Cullen, Julian Lewis Jones, Celyn Jones (cast), filmed in Anglesey. Financed by the Ffilm Cymru Wales Feature Film Production Fund via the National Lottery (delegated via Arts Council of Wales) and Creative Wales.
Synopsis: a mystery-thriller, about a teacher whose world unravels after an intimate encounter with a younger man, exploring the lengths someone will go to in order to hide their true self.

Effi o Blaeneu
Release Date: 2026
Welsh Connections: Marc Evans (director), Branwen Cennard (producer), Gary Owen (writer), Leisa Gwenllian, Tom Rhys Harries, Sion Eifion, Owen Alun, Nel Rhys Lewis, Mared Llywelyn, Carys Gwilym (cast), filmed entirely in Wales. Financed by Creative Wales and S4C. Welsh language.
Synopsis: Unemployed Effi has a chance encounter in a Llandudno nightclub with injured soldier Lee, briefly opening a door to a better life. The reality that follows however is far tougher. As she faces the future as a single mother-to be, Effi’s story exposes a stark social crisis: a system with too few maternity wards, too few midwives and too many impossible choices made out of necessity rather than care.

Madfabulous
Release Date: 2026
Welsh Connections: Celyn Jones (director), Lisa Baker (screenwriter), Callum Scott Howells (cast), Mad as Birds (production company). Financed by the Ffilm Cymru Wales Feature Film Production Fund via the National Lottery (delegated via Arts Council of Wales) and Creative Wales.
Synopsis: When Henry Cyril Paget inherits a vast fortune, his extravagant lifestyle and eccentric conduct lead to financial ruin, culminating in his impoverished death in France at 29, having squandered his immense wealth.

On the Sea
Release Date: 2026
Welsh Connections: Celyn Jones (actor), filmed in Anglesey, set in North Wales fishing community.
Synopsis: Jack has been married to Maggie for over half his life. He works as a Hand Raker on the mussel beds in North Wales alongside his younger brother, Dyfan, and Dyfan’s three sons. Jack has always assumed that his own boy, Tom, will join the family business on leaving school but Tom’s resistance to follow in his footsteps creates familial tension. Tensions are further inflamed by the arrival of an itinerant deckhand, Daniel, who makes known his feelings for Jack. In this remote, rural community where life revolves around Church and fishery, Jack is faced with an impossible dilemma.

Learning to Breathe Underwater
Release Date: 2026
Welsh Connections: Nan Davies (co-producer, One Wave Films). Financed by the Ffilm Cymru Wales Feature Film Production Fund via the National Lottery (delegated via Arts Council of Wales) and Creative Wales.
Synopsis: From the co-producers of recent success Kneecap, the film follows an eight-year- old boy (newcomer Ezra Carlisle) as he navigates life after the death of his mother while his father swings between manic creativity and debilitating anxiety. The arrival of a Bulgarian au pair (played by Maria Bakalova), brings unexpected changes to the household.

Mission
Release Date: 2026
Welsh Connections: Lowri Roberts (producer). Financed by the Ffilm Cymru Wales Feature Film Production Fund via the National Lottery (delegated via Arts Council of Wales) and Creative Wales.
Synopsis: Mission is a punk exploration of the psyche which follows alienated Dylan (George MacKay) as he throws off the shackles of his solitary life in an attempt to experience the highs and lows of existence at its most extreme, embarking on a thrilling journey of self-discovery that proves both inspiring and terrifying.

Out There
Release Date: 2026
Welsh Connections: Simon Ryninks (director), Katie Dolan (producer), Aneurin Barnard, Michael Sheen, Iwan Rheon, Tom Moya, Nerys Amber Stocks, Remy Beasley, Matthew Aubrey (cast), filmed in Cardiff, Porthcawl, Merthyr Mawr, Aberystwyth. Financed by the Ffilm Cymru Wales Feature Film Production Fund via the National Lottery (delegated via Arts Council of Wales) and Creative Wales.
Synopsis: After 16-year-old astronomy enthusiast Maz witnesses a UFO above her Welsh seaside town, she teams up with her sceptical best mate and an outcast conspiracy theorist to launch an investigation that will put her relationships, and her life, in danger. Full of heartfelt drama and comedic turns, Out There is a feel-good film about belief, finding meaning and coming to terms with loss.

Proud
Release Date: 2026
Welsh Connections: Rob Alexander (producer). Financed by the Ffilm Cymru Wales Feature Film Production Fund via the National Lottery (delegated via Arts Council of Wales) and Creative Wales.
Synopsis: This feature documentary follows disabled actor/writer David Proud. He has always longed for a family – but the fertility techniques he needs to access are designed to engineer “healthy children” and screen out disabled people like him.

Smoking Shores
Release Date: 2026
Welsh Connections: Dewi Gregory (producer), Truth Department (production company), Michael Sheen (executive producer), Port Talbot (filming location). Financed by the Ffilm Cymru Wales Feature Film Production Fund via the National Lottery (delegated via Arts Council of Wales) and Creative Wales.
Synopsis: A documentary following a closed group of local surfers through the extraordinary landscape of Welsh steel town Port Talbot.

Stuffed
Release Date: 2026
Welsh Connections: Filmed in South Wales. Financed by the Ffilm Cymru Wales Feature Film Production Fund via the National Lottery (delegated via Arts Council of Wales) and Creative Wales.
Synopsis: Araminta (Jodie Comer) is a taxidermist with a secret ambition is to stuff a human specimen. When she meets the lonely Bernie (Harry Melling), they form a pact that evolves into an unlikely romance.

The Scurry
Release Date: 2026
Welsh Connections: Craig Roberts (director), Cliff Edge Pictures (production company), Rhys Ifans (cast), filmed at Dragon Studios, Bridgend.
Synopsis: The Scurry follows two pest controllers who are called to an eco-café in a country park to investigate what begins as a routine vermin problem. As nightfall approaches an avalanche of deranged squirrels descend, wreaking revenge and mayhem on the staff and visitors in the park. With many fatalities, the survivors take shelter in the café as a freakstorm takes out the power and communications, leaving them isolated and under attack.

Unspeakable
Release Date: 2026
Welsh Connections: Elwen Rowlands (producer), Little Door (production company). Financed by the Ffilm Cymru Wales Feature Film Production Fund via the National Lottery (delegated via Arts Council of Wales) and Creative Wales.
Synopsis: A new mother’s shame over feeling no connection to her baby attracts an ancient evil, forcing her into a desperate battle to save her child.

Film Hub Wales’ Made in Wales (MIW) project celebrates films with Welsh connections. It offers a host of year-round activities in partnership with Welsh exhibitors, including a film catalogue, which hosts information on over 1000 shorts and feature films. Audiences can keep up to date with news of upcoming Welsh releases and the latest interviews by following Made in Wales on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, the Made in Wales podcast, YouTube and Letterboxd.