Fall 2025 movie preview

Movie lovers, rejoice: based on festival reporting, the fall 2025 season is gonna be FIRE. I’m getting fall 2023 vibes, when a relatively sleepy spring and summer did not prepare me for the wealth of fantastic films that flooded the last quarter of the year. Only time will tell whether reality meets expectations, but I gotta say it’s been a while since I’ve been so excited about so many movies, most of which thankfully are getting at least some kind of theatrical release within the next few months.

Most excited:

THE HOUSE OF DYNAMITE (Oct. 10 theaters, Oct. 24 Netflix)

Kathryn Bigelow, one of the most kinetic directors working today, depicts the nightmare scenario of an imminent nuclear attack on a major U.S. city through the lens of a government procedural. The scariest part? How little it matters that the government in this scenario is actually functional and plays by the book in its response. Cast includes Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Jared Harris, and many others.

SENTIMENTAL VALUE (Nov. 7)

Joachim Trier wowed Cannes with this dramedy about a famous director (Stellan Skarsgård) who tries to win back his estranged daughter, an acclaimed actress (Renate Reinsve), by casting her in an autobiographical film. When she demurs, he casts an American starlet (Elle Fanning) instead. At heart, though, the movie’s really about the family’s history and resulting fucked-up dynamics.

HAMNET (Nov. 27)

I still need to read Maggie O’Farrell’s fictionalized imagining of the death of Shakespeare’s son that focuses on the perspective of the wife/mother (here named Agnes rather than Anne). But by all accounts Chloé Zhao’s gorgeously heartbreaking adaptation and Jessie Buckley’s even more heartbreaking performance as Agnes have absolutely destroyed festival audiences at Telluride and Toronto. Bonus: Sadboy hottie Paul Mescal co-stars as William Shakespeare himself. Bring a hankie or lots of tissues – you’ll need them.

FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER (Dec. 24)

Perennial indie darling-turned elder statesman Jim Jarmusch won the top prize at Venice with this quiet little character piece, a triptych of three different awkward family encounters starring Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Charlotte Rampling, Adam Driver, Tom Waits, and others. Jarmusch can be a little hit or miss, but when he hits there’s nothing better.

NO OTHER CHOICE (Dec. 25)

Park Chan-Wook’s pitch-black satire, which impressed at Venice despite coming away empty-handed, has been drawing comparisons to Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite for its searing critique of modern capitalism. But the premise, drawn from the 2005 Costa-Gavras film The Axe, is way more outré: a formerly successful company man (Lee Byung-Hun) who’s unexpectedly laid off and desperate to preserve his family’s upper-middle class status, decides his only viable path forward is to literally off all his competitors. The Koreans really do have a thing or two to say about the dehumanizing effects of capitalism, don’t they? I also find it bleakly hilarious this movie’s being released here on Christmas Day.

Additionally, the following do not yet have a scheduled theatrical release date and it’s not clear they’ll be released this fall, but I am so there if/when they are:

THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE

A musical about the founder of the Shaker movement? You bet, and based on early reviews it sounds at once completely fascinating and completely out there. Directed by Mona Fastvold, partner to Brady Corbet and screenwriter for his films, including last year’s The Brutalist, and starring Amanda Seyfried as the titular protagonist. It may not be for everyone, but this is actually the film I’m most looking forward to, assuming it gets a release.

THE CHRISTOPHERS

Steven Soderbergh directed this Ian McKellan showcase about a famous painter and first-class arsehole (McKellan) whose kids hire a talented but struggling artist (Michaela Coen) ostensibly to serve as their dad’s “assistant” but really to help “restore” (read: “forge”) some of his unfinished works. What ensues is a duel of words and wits that might seem more fitting for a stage than the big screen. However, never underestimate Soderbergh’s ability to make even a static room cinematic (see also his delightful Black Bag from earlier this year) or the power of McKellan’s dramatic chops.

Also of high interest:

THE HISTORY OF SOUND (in theaters now)

Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor as a pair of music scholars who fall in love while collecting Americana during the 1920s? Yes, please, even if early reviews have been a bit tepid. While the film’s generally being described as restrained and understated to a fault, that’s not necessarily a bad thing in an age where subtlety is, at best, undervalued.

A BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY (Sept. 19)

Kogonada (Columbus, After Yang) embraces full-on whimsy with this romantasy starring Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie as attractive strangers who cross time together and strike sparks along the way.

ROOFMAN (Oct. 10)

This one is based on a real-life dude (Channing Tatum) who robbed a string of fast-food establishments, went to prison for it, but escaped and hid out for a while in a Toys R Us where he ended up getting involved with one of the employees (Kirsten Dunst). The movie version, directed by Derek Cianfrance, looks warm and charming. I can’t help wondering, though, how closely it adheres to the actual story, which didn’t have a happy ending.

BLUE MOON (Oct. 17)

This fall we get not one but two movies from Richard Linklater, and while this one has gotten a bit overshadowed by the buzzier Nouvelle Vague (see below), it may end up being the more interesting of the two. Ethan Hawke stars as Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart in the twilight of his career, looking back on his former working partnership with composer Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott). Expect much reflecting and angsting that remains eminently relatable – it’s the Linklater brand.

THE MASTERMIND (Oct. 17)

Kelly Reichardt’s latest centers on a would-be small-town, small-time art thief (Josh O’Connor) whose attempt at a heist quickly reveals how out of his depth he is. The cast includes a who’s who of undersung pros – Hope Davis, Bill Camp, John Magaro, Gaby Hoffmann – plus Alana Haim as the thief’s wife. (Not to undercut Haim, who was pretty good in Licorice Pizza.) I feel like this would make a good double bill with Roofman.

HEDDA (Oct. 22 theaters, Oct. 29 Amazon Prime)

Nia DaCosta updates Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler for current times, with Tessa Thompson as the glamorous but toxically dissatisfied Hedda, Nina Hoss as her fragile ex-lover (Lovborg), and Imogen Poots as Lovborg’s supportive new partner.

NUREMBERG (Nov. 7)

A film that screams “important and timely” because, y’know, it is. Unlike the classic Judgment at Nuremberg (which I still need to see), this one is less about the Nuremberg trials than about a psychiatrist’s pre-trial interactions with, and assessment of, one of the key architects of the Third Reich. Russell Crowe is reportedly brilliant as Hermann Göring; Rami Malek plays the shrink.

ETERNITY (Nov. 26)

Who’da thunk it, a rom com with a novel premise: in the afterlife, a woman (Elizabeth Olsen) must choose whether to spend eternity with her dashing first husband (Callum Turner) who died young in a war, or the second husband (Miles Teller) she built a life and family and grew old with.

THE SECRET AGENT (Nov. 26)

Set in 1970s Brazil, this political thriller about an everyman (Wagner Moura) who gets into the crosshairs of the military dictatorship was much praised at Cannes and netted the best actor prize for Moura. Could it be this year’s I’m Still Here?

Will also probably see:

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (Sept. 26)

I didn’t love Paul Thomas Anderson’s last attempt at adapting a Pynchon novel (Inherent Vice), and I also tend to find Leonardo DiCaprio overrated as an actor. That said, this loose/partial adaptation of Vineland is getting some early raves, and it sounds like Sean Penn steals the show anyway.

THE SMASHING MACHINE (Oct. 3)

While I’m wary of a Benny Safdie movie (I loathed Uncut Gems) and not really interested in MMA, Venice loved this one and Dwayne Johnson is already becoming an early frontrunner for the Best Actor Oscar.

AFTER THE HUNT (Oct. 10)

Luca Guadagnino’s take on Me Too fell rather flat at Venice, despite a highly anticipated star turn by Julia Roberts as a female professor caught between a student mentee (Ayo Edibiri) and the male professor (Andrew Garfield) the student accuses of sexual assault. I don’t even like Julia Roberts! But she’s at her best playing abrasive (see, e.g., Closer), and I do like Garfield and Edibiri.

IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (Oct. 15)

Winner of this year’s Palme d’Or, Iranian dissident Jafar Panahi’s political thriller explores the moral implications of terrorizing the terrorizer – particularly where the victim-turned-punisher harbors doubt that they’ve got the right guy.

FRANKENSTEIN (Oct. 17)

Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of the Mary Shelley classic got a mixed but generally positive reception at Venice, and Jacob Elordi’s drawing excellent notices as the Monster (and probably true hero of the story). Plus I loves me some Oscar Isaac, who plays Victor Frankenstein.

WAKE UP, DEAD MAN (Nov. 26 theaters, Dec. 12 Netflix)

The third installment in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out trilogy takes on…organized religion? Or maybe just the culty kind. Anyway, it’s getting solid early notices, especially for the ubiquitous Josh O’Connor as one of the prime suspects.

THE CHORAL (Dec. 25)

Ralph Fiennes plays a choir master who’s brought in to lead a small Yorkshire town’s choral society during WWI. Unlike No Other Choice, sounds like a very cozy Christmas-appropriate movie, cozily directed by Nicholas Hytner, about bringing folks together in hard times. The main draw here is obviously Fiennes, who’s coming off a run of strong performances that show he’s still one of our finest living actors.

THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB

A harrowing film based on the harrowing true story of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza last year. It’s devastated just about everyone who’s seen it and won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice. What remains to be seen is whether it gets a U.S. distributor or suffers the same fate as last year’s No Other Land, which could not, though it still went on to win the Oscar for best documentary.

Other films of interest:

THE LOST BUS (Sept. 19) – A bus driver (Matthew McConaughey) must drive a teacher (America Ferrara) and her young students to safety from a raging California wildfire. Based on a true story.

STEVE (Sept. 19) – Cillian Murphy plays the headmaster of a school for troubled boys.

ANEMONE (Oct. 3) – All I know about this one is that it stars Daniel Day-Lewis (in his first role since Phantom Thread), was directed by his son, was co-written by father and son, and is at some level about father-son dynamics. None of that guarantees it’ll be good, but I think we can guarantee DDL will be riveting in it.

ORWELL: 2+2=5 (Oct. 3) – A documentary about George Orwell seems particularly and unfortunately timely these days. Directed by Raoul Peck, who brought us the outstanding I Am Not Your Negro.

GOOD FORTUNE (Oct. 17) – Keanu Reeves as a guardian angel might be just what I need. But jury’s still out on Aziz Ansari, who makes his directorial debut and stars as Keanu’s charge.

BUGONIA (Oct. 24) – I leave it to you to assess just how bonkers this one is going to be, based on this premise: “Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.” Keep in mind it’s Yorgos Lanthimos we’re talking about, and Emma Stone still all in as his muse. They have done terrific work together, and fucking weird work together, and sometimes work that is both.

NOUVELLE VAGUE (Oct. 31) – Richard Linklater’s recreation – sort of – of the filming of Godard’s Breathless sounds like a pleasant trifle rather than a meaningful disquisition on the French New Wave. That could still be reason enough to see it.

THE RUNNING MAN (Nov. 14) – Edgar Wright takes on a new adaptation of Stephen King’s dystopian novel about a game show in which a selected contestant is hunted by assassins and must stay alive for 30 days to win. (Between this and the already-out The Long Walk, it’s a banner year for movies based on proto-Hunger Games Stephen King properties.) While the 1987 version, which I haven’t seen, starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, in this one, it’s a leaner, meaner, more palpably desperate Glen Powell. Based on the trailer, he understands the assignment, as does Josh Brolin, who plays the show’s producer. Will the rest of the movie? Here’s hoping.

Not my cuppa, but maybe yours: KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN (Oct. 10); TRON: ARES (Oct. 10); IF I HAD LEGS, I’D KICK YOU (Oct. 10); SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE (Oct. 24); DIE, MY LOVE (Nov. 7); JAY KELLY (Nov. 14 theaters, Dec. 5 Netflix); WICKED: FOR GOOD (Nov. 21); AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH (Dec. 19)