21 Movies We Can’t Wait to See This Fall

Changing leaves, longer sleeves, the bright-yellow blur of school buses: Everywhere you look over the next few weeks, there will be signs that summer is winding down. Movie lovers have other ways of telling that the season is over and a new one is beginning. Following four months of almost nothing but splashy special-effects entertainment, theaters start serving films for grown-ups again — the serious dramas, biopics, and festival favorites that characterize what’s come to be known as awards season. At last, a little nourishment!

Not that the fall-movie calendar is devoid of popcorn pleasures this year or any other. The next four months will bring plenty of mass-appeal blockbuster fare — long-gestating sequels to Hollywood spectacles, last dances for Marvel and DC supervillains, musicals from Broadway and Disney. It’s just that these studio attractions will play down the hall from smaller, tougher, weirder films. Those include the most-talked-about titles from this year’s Cannes Film Festival, including the big winner and also a divisive, decades-in-the-making epic from a New Hollywood legend mired in controversy.

Below, we’ve singled out 21 of the most exciting, notable, and/or buzzy movies coming to a theater (or streaming platform) near you between Labor Day and New Year’s. Taken together, they make up the menu for a more balanced moviegoing diet — the kind you can rarely cobble together during the junk-food buffet of the warmer weeks. In the meantime, enjoy the last gasp of beach season. Summer will be over as quickly as you can say, “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.”

September

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

The Ghost with the Most is back — free at last from the afterlife waiting room where Tim Burton left him at the end of his riotous 1988 supernatural comedy Beetlejuice. Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara all reprise their roles for this belated sequel, in which the youngest member of the Deetz clan — a teenager played by Jenna Ortega, of the director’s Netflix smash Wednesday — accidentally unleashes the “bio-exorcist” who terrorized her family 36 years prior. Like his characters, Burton is courting disaster by saying the spirit’s name again. At least he’s summoned a promising ensemble, surrounding his reuniting stars with the likes of Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe, and Danny DeVito. If nothing else, we’re dying to know how Betelgeuse got his shrunken head back to a normal size. (In theaters September 6.)

Wolfs

Speaking of reunions, there are worse reasons to exit a megabudget franchise than the opportunity to reunite the stars of Ocean’s Eleven and Burn After Reading. Rather than stay in the Marvel trenches, writer-director Jon Watts (Spider-Man: No Way Home) has pivoted to a crime caper starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt as rival “fixers” forced to join forces after they’re double-booked to clean up the same sticky situation. “What if Michael Clayton were a buddy comedy?” is a pretty good premise — good enough, in fact, to compensate for that lousy title. Plus, we’ll take anything that gets Clooney back in front of the camera instead of behind it. (In theaters September 20; on Apple TV+ September 27.)

A Different Man

Like Jon Watts, Sebastian Stan has broken free this year of the superhero industrial complex — in his case, by delivering a celebrated performance as a man thrust into an identity crisis after he’s surgically “cured” of his neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes benign tumors to grow all over nerve tissue. Aaron Schimberg’s prickly black comedy/psychodrama was one of the major conversation pieces at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where critics also singled out the supporting turns of Adam Pearson (who had a memorable role in Under the Skin and has neurofibromatosis in real life) and The Worst Person in the World star Renate Reinsve. Even those who didn’t love the film acknowledged its audacity; you know you’ve made a must-see movie when people are comparing it, in a not-unfavorable way, to the work of Charlie Kaufman. (In theaters September 20.)

The Substance

On the same day A Different Man hits theaters, so does another buzzy festival favorite with beauty standards and body image on the mind. There’s also a total physical transformation at the center of this outrageous thriller about a television aerobics instructor (Demi Moore, in what some have called the performance of her career) who turns to a mystery miracle drug to restore her youthful looks after she’s fired on her 50th birthday. French provocateur Coralie Fargeat (Revenge) won the Best Screenplay prize at Cannes, and critics were mostly ecstatic, bestowing praise upon Moore’s fearless work and that of co-star Margaret Qualley. Caution, however, to those with weak stomachs and sensitive gag reflexes: The Substance pulls no punches in the body-horror department. (In theaters September 20.)

Megalopolis

“Megalopolis might be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Vulture’s own Bilge Ebiri wrote from Cannes this past May. He wasn’t alone: Whether they loved or hated Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-in-the-making epic, starring Adam Driver as an architect battling a corrupt mayor in an alternate America, everyone seemed to agree that it was a vision like no other, ripped straight from the imagination of its maker. Self-financed by Coppola to the tune of $120 million, with a large ensemble cast that includes everyone from Giancarlo Esposito to Aubrey Plaza to Dustin Hoffman, Megalopolis is the kind of boundlessly ambitious passion project Hollywood stopped bankrolling ages ago. That makes the film’s Imax release a rare event for cinephiles — though the conflict and controversy of its production (including allegations of misconduct on the director’s part) cast a long shadow over the movie. (In theaters September 27.)

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Also premiering in September

Apollo 13: Survival (on Netflix September 5), Rebel Ridge (on Netflix September 6), The Front Room (in theaters September 6), Seeking Mavis Beacon (in theaters September 6), Look Into My Eyes (in theaters September 6), My First Film (in theaters September 6), His Three Daughters (in select theaters September 6; on Netflix September 20), The Thicket (in theaters September 6), The Goldman Case (in theaters September 6), Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter (on Netflix September 12), Speak No Evil (in theaters September 13), Uglies (on Netflix September 13), Will & Harper (in select theaters September 13 and on Netflix September 27), The Killer’s Game (in theaters September 13), My Old Ass (in theaters September 13), Dan Da Dan: First Encounter (in theaters September 13), Transformers One (in theaters September 20), Bagman (in theaters September 20), Eureka (in theaters September 20), Never Let Go (in theaters September 20), Jailbreak: Love on the Run (on Netflix September 25), Rez Ball (on Netflix September 27), The Wild Robot (in theaters September 27), Lee (in theaters September 27), Sleep (in theaters September 27), Apartment 7A (on Paramount+ September 27), The Line (in theaters September 27), Old Guy (in theaters September 30)

October

Joker: Folie à Deux

In comic-book terms, Joker felt like more of a one-shot than the first issue of an ongoing series. But that bad-guy origin story in Scorsese drag made $1 billion, so a sequel was inevitable. At least returning writer-director Todd Phillips has done something a little different with part two, telling the Arkham Asylum romance of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix, back in the role that won him an Oscar) and Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga) as a jukebox musical. A little song and dance might be just what this ailing genre needs; we’d certainly take Gaga crooning, say, “Send in the Clowns” over a parade of Deadpool-style, dopamine-hit cameos. (In theaters October 4.)

Saturday Night

Just in time for the 50th season of Saturday Night Live, Jason Reitman is taking audiences back to the first season — or, more precisely, the very first episode — of the sketch-comedy institution. The writer-director’s first movie since Ghostbusters: Afterlife (which, of course, featured a couple of very prominent SNL alums) dramatizes the genesis of the show and the hours leading up to its live prime-time debut. In the spirit of the program the film is lionizing, impressions will abound: The giant ensemble cast includes Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans) as Lorne Michaels, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, and the list goes on and on, almost demanding a Darrell Hammond roll call. Saturday Night opens on the 49th anniversary of that first airing. It is somehow not written by Aaron Sorkin. (In theaters October 11.)

We Live in Time

Brooklyn director John Crowley is in the mood for a tearjerker now. His new movie builds a years-spanning romance for Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, who play a couple dealing with a major health scare. We Live in Time takes a nonlinear approach, scrambling the scene order to juxtapose the blissful beginning of a relationship with its tougher stretches. Come for the changing fashion and haircuts, stay for two stars making eyes at each other instead of a green screen. (In theaters October 11.)

Anora

For the first time since The Tree of Life in 2011, the Palme d’Or (a.k.a. the top prize at Cannes) went to an American movie. Written and directed by Sean Baker, Anora casts Scream’s Mikey Madison as an exotic dancer in Brighton Beach who falls into a whirlwind romance with the son of a Russian oligarch. Baker has spent much of his career shining an empathetic spotlight on the lives of sex workers in funny, vibrant, humanistic films like Tangerine, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket. He’s done it again with Anora: Our Cannes review applauded “an infectious, freewheeling energy that feels like a high-concept comedy that’s gone wonderfully off the rails.” (In theaters October 18.)

Venom: The Last Dance

Say this, if nothing else, for the Venom movies: These Spider-Man-free vehicles for the famous Spider-Man anti-hero certainly march to the beat of their own screwball drum. Tom Hardy returns for the third and supposedly final entry in the off-brand Marvel-by-way-of-Sony franchise, once more playing both hapless reporter Eddie Brock and the alien parasite who’s transformed him into a hulking, slobbering, trashing-talking crime-fighter. Directed by Kelly Marcel, who wrote the previous two installments, The Last Dance promises all the split-personality buddy comedy and janky CGI combat that distinguished its predecessors. Probably best not to hold your breath for a Tom Holland cameo; a general disinterest in playing the gratuitous crossover game is one of the more refreshing ways Venom does his own thing. (In theaters October 25.)

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Also premiering in October

White Bird: A Wonder Story (in theaters October 4), It’s What’s Inside (streaming on Netflix October 4), The Platform 2 (streaming on Netflix October 4), The Outrun (in theaters October 4), V/H/S Beyond (streaming on Shudder October 4), Brothers (in select theaters October 11; on Prime Video October 17), Lonely Planet (streaming on Netflix October 11), Terrifier 3 (in theaters October 11), My Hero Academia the Movie: You’re Next (in theaters October 11), Piece By Piece (in theaters October 11), The Shadow Strays (streaming on Netflix October 17), Hard Truths (in theaters October 18), Rumours (in theaters October 18), Woman of the Hour (streaming on Netflix October 18), Smile 2 (in theaters October 18), Flight Risk (in theaters October 18), A Real Pain (in theaters October 18), Mads (streaming on Shudder October 18), Nickel Boys (in theaters October 25), Dahomey (in theaters October 25), The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (streaming on Netflix October 25), Don’t Move (streaming on Netflix October 25), Memoir of a Snail (in theaters October 25) Your Monster (in theaters October 25)

November

Here

It was only a matter of time before Robert Zemeckis, a director with one foot constantly planted on the forefront of motion-picture technology, got around to playing with de-aging effects. And who would Zemeckis dunk into this CGI fountain of youth other than Tom Hanks, the Oscar-winning movie star he previously cut into old archival footage and turned into a dead-eyed motion-capture cartoon? More exciting than the opportunity to see phantom 20-something versions of Forrest Gump co-stars Hanks and Robin Wright is the other formal gimmick of Here: The whole movie unfolds in a single room (and before that, the space where that room was built) from the same stationary camera angle over a very long period of time; the dinosaurs in the trailer suggest that Zemeckis is looking well past the history of one married couple. Let’s just hope his latest cutting-edge experiment is more Roger Rabbit dazzling than Polar Express unsettling. (In theaters November 1.)

Emilia Pérez

The discourse isn’t ready for Emilia Pérez. “A cross between Mrs. Doubtfire and Sicario reimagined as a musical” is how our Cannes correspondent described the audacious new movie from Jacques Audiard, writer-director of A Prophet, Dheepan, and The Sisters Brothers. Taking a break from green-blue alien duty, Zoe Saldaña plays a defense attorney pressed into helping a Mexican cartel leader (Karla Sofía Gascón) receive gender-reassignment surgery and reunite with her wife (Selena Gomez). Originally conceived as an opera, the film risks ridicule chasing glory — a strategy that won it lots of ardent defenders (and a shared Best Actress prize for its female ensemble) on the Croisette, but also plenty of disapproval. There seems to be no middle ground between love and hate here. Aren’t you curious where you’ll land? (On Netflix November 13.)

Heretic

Hugh Grant is … scary? That’s the hook of Heretic, a new A24 horror movie starring Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher as Mormon missionaries who knock on the wrong door. The filmmakers, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, have an uneven résumé; they wrote A Quiet Place, but also directed 65, a sci-fi thriller that somehow squandered the seemingly foolproof premise “Adam Driver fights dinosaurs.” Nonetheless, they’ve got an ace up their sleeve this time, and that’s the chance to see the star of Notting Hill and Love Actually get in touch with his inner Norman Bates. He certainly looks creepy in the trailer, projecting deceptive friendliness under the blare of The Hollies hit “The Air That I Breathe.” (In theaters November 15.)

Gladiator II

The Gladiator is dead, long live the Gladiator. Russell Crowe obviously doesn’t star in Ridley Scott’s new sequel to his Y2K sword-and-sandal Best Picture winner. Instead, this 24-years-later blockbuster encore follows the grown heir to the Empire (Paul Mescal) after he’s taken prisoner by the Romans and forced, like Maximus before him, to fight for his life and the amusement of the hoi polloi. The star-studded cast also includes Pedro Pascal as a general who trained under the late Maximus, Denzel Washington as a Machiavellian power broker, and a returning Connie Nielsen as the mother of our new Colosseum hero. Are you not entertained? We probably will be, though pour one out for the unmade Gladiator sequel Nick Cave pitched in the 2000s. It had time travel! (In theaters November 22.)

Wicked

One of the biggest stage sensations of the 21st century, a musical prequel to The Wizard of Oz, finally makes its way to movie screens after years of false starts. Cynthia Erivo takes over for Idina Menzel as the misunderstood sorcery student destined to become the Wicked Witch of the West, while pop star Ariana Grande does her best Kristin Chenoweth as her preppy roomie, the future Glinda the Good. Plenty of Broadway smashes have wiped out on the yellow-brick road to Hollywood (remember the 2005 adaptation of The Producers? Of course you don’t!), and splitting this behemoth into two movies — with Act Two scheduled for next Thanksgiving — feels rather presumptuous. On the other hand, putting In the Heights director and Step Up veteran Jon M. Chu behind the camera is a good omen for the big numbers. And, hey, a movie ticket is much cheaper than a seat in the rear mezzanine. (In theaters November 22.)

Moana 2

The upcoming sequel to Disney’s hit musical adventure through Polynesian mythology was originally conceived as a streaming series before the Mouse House restructured the project as a theatrical movie. Is that good news (because they liked what they saw and decided it deserved a promotion to multiplexes) or bad news (because Disney simply got desperate for a holiday hit and is rushing a TV show into theaters to compete with Wicked)? Either way, the original Moana is one of the animation house’s better recent smashes, and the reunion of the principle cast and songwriters bodes well for at least an approximation of the sweeping, tuneful pleasures of its predecessor … albeit without any songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda. (In theaters November 27.)

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Also premiering in November

Blitz (in select theaters November 1; on Apple TV+ November 22), Conclave (in theaters November 1), My Dead Friend Zoe (in theaters November 1), Meet Me Next Christmas (on Netflix November 6), The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (in theaters November 8), The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (in theaters November 8), Bird (in theaters November 8), Black Cab (streaming on Shudder November 8), The Piano Lesson (in select theaters November 8 and streaming on Netflix November 22), Hot Frosty (on Netflix November 13), Red One (in theaters November 15), Back in Action (on Netflix November 15), Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point (in theaters November 15), All We Imagine as Light (in theaters November 15), The Merry Gentlemen (on Netflix November 20), Spellbound (on Netflix November 22), Joy (on Netflix November 22), Flow (in theaters November 22), Rita (streaming on Shudder November 22), Our Little Secret (on Netflix November 27)

December

Nightbitch

A dark comedy about a stay-at-home mother whose frustrations with her life begin to manifest as canine behavior … that could be a real howler in the wrong hands. But Nightbitch has, ahem, pedigree. The source material is a well-received novel by Rachel Yoder. The director is Marielle Heller, who made Can You Ever Forgive Me? And it could be exciting to see Amy Adams sink her teeth into such a feral role. “Fearless” is how the programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival have described her turn as the title character. Regardless, she could pee on a fire hydrant and it would be less embarrassing than starring in Hillbilly Elegy. (In theaters December 6.)

The Room Next Door

Tilda Swinton plays a war correspondent and Julianne Moore her estranged novelist best friend in Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language feature-film debut. Loosely based on the Sigrid Nunez novel What Are You Going Through, the film looks to be a stunningly shot heartbreaker. (In theaters December 20.)

Babygirl

From Malice to Eyes Wide Shut to The Paperboy, Nicole Kidman might be the queen of Hollywood’s most delectably pervy genre, the erotic thriller. The latest femme fatale on her résumé is a corporate CEO with the hots for a young intern (Harris Dickinson). Antonio Banderas, no stranger to movies where Thanatos tangos with Eros, plays her jilted hubby. True to its double entendre of a title, the Gen-Z whodunit Bodies Bodies Bodies established Halina Reijn as a director equally interested in blood and sweat. Whether Babygirl is of that loudly comic nature or closer in spirit to Reijn’s genuinely daring first feature, Instinct, one thing’s for sure: Prudes and age-gap scolds alike should stay far away. (In theaters December 25.)

A Complete Unknown

The last time James Mangold made a music biopic, it became the target of a comedy about how silly music biopics are. The last time someone made a Bob Dylan biopic, it was about the impossibility of making a Bob Dylan biopic. Here, nonetheless, is a Bob Dylan biopic from James Mangold. At least the film adopts a productively narrow vantage, chiefly dramatizing the moment that a folk hero alienated his fans by going electric. And we’d be lying if we said we weren’t curious to see how well Timothée Chalamet slips into the bushy hair and nasal croon of the legendary singer. If nothing else, it’s guaranteed to boast a killer soundtrack. (In theaters December 25.)

Nosferatu

How’s this for holiday counterprogramming: a Christmas Day remake of F.W. Murnau’s unauthorized, silent-era gloss on Dracula. Bill Skarsgård trades the clown makeup of Pennywise for the fangs and verminlike features of cinema’s first Prince of Darkness. The ensemble also includes Renfield’s Nicholas Hoult, Shadow of the Vampire’s Willem Dafoe, and a few actors who haven’t previously appeared in Dracula-related projects. Even more exciting is the talent behind the camera, as Nosferatu finds director Robert Eggers returning to the creeping horror of The Witch after his detour into the big-budget viking action of The Northman. Is he setting himself up for failure tracing over such a classic of the genre? That worked out pretty well for Werner Herzog. (In theaters December 25.)

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Also premiering in December

That Christmas (streaming on Netflix December 4), Y2K (in theaters December 6), The Return (in theaters December 6), Werewolves (in theaters December 6), Kraven the Hunter (in theaters December 13), The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (in theaters December 13), On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (in theaters December 13), Mufasa: The Lion King (in theaters December 20), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (in theaters December 20), Homestead (in theaters December 20), The Fire Inside (in theaters December 25), Better Man (in theaters December 25)

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