Even though the weather hasn’t gotten word yet, it’s autumn! It was difficult to define and choose “fall” movies for this list, but these are all films I think encapsulate the feeling of the season. Here’s my list of 13 movies for the 13 weeks of fall!
1. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – dir. Guillermo del Toro, genre: fantasy/drama/war, language: Spanish
My personal favorite del Toro movie, Pan’s Labyrinth tells a story that you will not be able to tear yourself away from. The film follows 10-year-old Ofelia as she moves into her new despotic civil guard stepfather’s army compound with her mother, who is enduring a rough pregnancy. While exploring the compound, Ofelia finds a labyrinth guarded by a strange faun who tells her that in order to return to her real father, she must complete three tasks. Pan’s Labyrinth is slightly disturbing, with unsettling creature VFX and an upsetting story, but, like most of del Toro’s other work, is beautiful and worth watching.
2. Coraline (2009) – dir. Henry Selick, genre: family/animation/fantasy, language: English
I watched this movie for the very first time recently when it was rereleased for its 15th anniversary and it was definitely a very memorable experience. Even though it was made for kids, it’s just as entertaining and captivating for a 16-year-old as it would be for a 9-year-old. Coraline is best known for being a spooky, cerebral, stop-motion children’s film, and for the rerelease, the original artists and producers worked diligently to remaster the film for 3D viewing. Even watched in 2D, Coraline is a must-see movie, perfect for getting into that Halloween mood.
3. Good Will Hunting (1997) – dir. Gus Van Sant, genre: drama, language: English
Written by and starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, Good Will Hunting was the pair’s debut as movie writers. Set in Boston, Massachusetts, the hometown of Affleck and Damon, it follows the prodigy and delinquent Will Hunting (Damon) as his brilliance is discovered by an MIT professor and he is put into court mandated therapy with Vietnam War veteran Sean Maguire, played by Robin Williams. Affleck and Damon have stated that the cast of the film had a lot of creative control when it came to their own characters, giving the movie another layer of realism and personality. This picture takes the audience on a rollercoaster of emotions, showcasing some of Affleck, Damon, and Williams’ best performances.
4. The Craft (1996) – dir. Andrew Fleming, genre: horror/fantasy/drama, language: English
Sarah Bailey (Robin Turney) moves to Los Angeles with her father and befriends a group of three girls at her new Catholic school who are rumored to be witches. The other girls convince Sarah to join their coven and they start casting revenge spells on the people in their lives that have wronged them. When the spells work, it leads the girls to grow power-hungry and things quickly spiral out of control. The Craft would be perfect for either a regular fall watch or as a Halloween watch!
5. Donnie Darko (2001) – dir. Richard Kelly, genre: fantasy/mystery/drama, language: English
If you’ve taken Mr. Ringel’s Journalism class before, you’ve probably seen Donnie Darko. The movie follows the titular character Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) as he suffers through bouts of sleepwalking, which, one night, inadvertently saves him from a freak accident that would’ve killed him had he been in his bed. During that particular sleepwalk, Donnie encounters a giant, evil-looking bunny named Frank, who tells him that the world will end in 28 days. The rest of the film shows us the next four weeks of Donnie’s life as he falls in love, struggles with his mental health, continues to get into disciplinary trouble at school, and figures out his impending doom. When the “end of the world” arrives on October 30, every detail of the film crescendos into a meticulously put together climax that will leave you scratching your head and wondering what any of it meant.
6. Crimson Peak (2015) – dir. Guillermo del Toro, genre: horror/romance, language: English
One of del Toro’s less popular films, Crimson Peak is not his best plot-wise but is nonetheless one of the more visually stunning pictures on this list. Starring Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, and Tom Hiddleston, Crimson Peak leans more towards horror than “fall vibes.” The movie follows Wasikowska’s character Edith as she falls in love with Sir Thomas Sharpe (Hiddleston) and moves in with him and his sister, Lady Lucille (Chastain), to their dilapidated yet beautiful gothic estate in the English hills. The mansion holds many dark secrets, however, and Edith takes it upon herself to figure out what they are.
7. ParaNorman (2012) – dir. Christ Butler & Sam Fell, genre: family/adventure/comedy/animation, language: English
ParaNorman, which was produced by the same company that did Coraline, was my absolute favorite growing up. The film follows 11-year-old Norman who has the ability to see and speak to the dead, whose company he often prefers to the living. When Norman’s strange Uncle Penderghast tells him that there is an ancient witch’s curse on their town that is about to come to fruition and that Norman is the only one who can stop it, he must push his abilities to the limit in order to save his town and everyone in it.
8. The Evil Dead (1981) – dir. Sam Raimi, genre: horror, language: English
In 1979, a group of teens rent a cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway. When they find a Sumerian Book of the Dead, the Necronomicon, and read it aloud, they accidentally summon the evil dead and must spend the night fending them off and fighting for their lives. The first of a franchise, Sam Raimi made The Evil Dead when he was just 20 years old. He later went on to direct the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). Starring Bruce Campbell, The Evil Dead is a horror classic and essential Halloween watch.
9. Notting Hill (1999) – dir. Roger Michell, genre: romance/comedy, language: English
Hugh Grant plays William Thacker, a London bookstore owner, whose mundane life is turned upside down when famous American actress Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) comes to his shop. A random encounter over spilled orange juice leads to a kiss that turns into a full-blown affair. As they grow closer, they find it difficult to reconcile their drastically different lifestyles and stay together. Notting Hill falls into one of my favorite niche movie genres: British romcom from the 90s or early 2000s, usually starring either (or sometimes both) Hugh Grant or Colin Firth. A timeless classic, Notting Hill blows so many recently released romcoms out of the water.
10. Alien (1979) – dir. Ridley Scott, genre: horror/science fiction, language: English
Halfway on through their journey home, the crew of the spaceship Nostromo is woken from their cryosleep chambers to investigate a distress signal from an alien vessel. Three of the team members leave the ship and discover a nest of eggs inside an alien ship. A creature inside one of the eggs attacks one of the crew members and attaches itself to him. The crew takes him back onboard, unknowingly setting themselves up for extreme survival. With the recent release of Alien: Romulus, the Alien franchise has seen a resurgence in popularity since the last addition to it in 2017. If you saw Romulus or are simply just interested in starting a new series, Alien is a great picture to watch this season.
11. Dead Poets Society (1989) – dir. Peter Weir, genre: drama, language: English
Dead Poets Society follows students at an elite all-boys boarding school as they return for their junior year with a new, eccentric English teacher, John Keating (Robin Williams). He inspires the boys to break out of their shells and develop an advanced appreciation for language and poetry. Starring Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson and Robert Sean Leonard as Neil Perry, Dead Poets Society captures the essence of fall in a way many other films cannot compare to.
12. Petite Maman (2021) – dir. Céline Sciamma, genre: drama/fantasy, language: French
After the death of her maternal grandmother, 8-year-old Nelly meets another girl her age in the woods outside her mother’s childhood house. The two form an instant connection that leads Nelly to embark on a fantastical journey that helps her cope with the loss of her grandmother, as well as giving her a new perspective on her own mother’s life. Petite Maman is Sciamma’s second film to be included in the Criterion Collection, her first being Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019). While it’s not explicitly a “fall movie,” Petite Maman includes beautiful scenery and great sweaters that will get you ready and excited for autumn.
13. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) – dir. David Lynch, genre: mystery/drama/horror, language: English
With a run time of 135 minutes, Fire Walk With Me is on the longer side on its own. However, it becomes even longer when I tell you that there’s a whole TV show you have to watch before you finally put Fire Walk With Me on. I had to find some way to sneak Twin Peaks (1990) onto this list, even though it isn’t actually a movie. The show follows FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper as he goes to the small town of Twin Peaks, Washington in order to solve the murder of town sweetheart and Homecoming Queen Laura Palmer, but the town and people in it are full of secrets. Fire Walk With Me should be watched post-viewing of the show, even though it takes place before the happenings of Twin Peaks, as it sheds light on some of the things that are revealed in the original material. Twin Peaks is the quintessential fall show and, in my opinion, an essential watch no matter what.
Honorable mentions: Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), When Harry Met Sally… (1989), Little Women (2019), The X Files (1993) (also a television show!)
