The Best Movies to Get You Ready for Fall
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Fall brings a lot more than crisp weather and shorter days. It’s the time of changing leaves, football games, cozy sweaters, and—of course—Halloween. There’s a lot to love about the season, and a wide range of films that bring the fall vibes. Here are the best fall movies to enjoy during an early sunset.
Knives Out (2019)
Rian Johnson’s smash hit boasts a nail-biting whodunit mystery; a stellar ensemble cast including Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, and Michael Shannon; and so much cozy knitwear. It’s led by a never-better Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc, who’s investigating the sudden death of a wealthy mystery novelist. Make movie night into a double feature with the sequel, Glass Onion—though, it’s much more of a summer movie.
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Practical Magic (1998)
Set in a quaint New England town, Practical Magic stars Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as Sally and Gilly Owens, two sisters from a long line of witches. But their ability to cast spells comes with a catch: Their family is cursed, and any man loved by an Owens witch is doomed to death.
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When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Sure, this Rob Reiner rom-com spans many years and seasons, but there are plenty of scenes with dreamy fall foliage and cable-knit sweaters to classify it as a fall film. Starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, When Harry Met Sally follows two friends trying to navigate their relationships—including the one with each other.
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Coraline (2009)
Neil Gaiman’s imaginative novel is brought to life with gorgeous stop-motion animation in Coraline. The story follows a girl who discovers a parallel reality where everything appears to be better than her drab life. But not everything is as it seems, and Coraline begins uncovering that the shiny surface conceals something rotten.
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Hocus Pocus (1993)
When a group of kids accidentally conjure the notorious Sanderson witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy) into present-day Salem, chaos—and hilarity—ensue. This film has cultivated a loyal following for 30 years, prompting a 2022 sequel and a forthcoming third installment.
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If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
After winning Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture with Moonlight, Barry Jenkins wrote, directed, and produced If Beale Street Could Talk. Based on James Baldwin’s 1974 novel, KiKi Layne stars as Tish, a young woman who must prove her boyfriend’s innocence after he’s jailed for a crime he didn’t commit.
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Casper (1995)
When a “paranormal therapist” (Bill Pullman) and his teenage daughter Kat (Christina Ricci) move into a spooky and abandoned mansion, they discover almost immediately that the house is awash with ghosts. While three of the poltergeists insist on causing mayhem, Kat befriends Casper, a lonely child spirit.
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The Craft (1996)
When new girl Sarah shows up at their high school, a trio of outcasts befriend her to complete their circle of witchcraft. The girls begin casting spells to fulfill their teenage desires and get back at those who’ve wronged them. But soon their summonings come back to haunt them, and their powers grow out of control.
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Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Every frame of this stop-motion Wes Anderson film is overflowing with delicious oranges, ambers, golds, and browns. Fantastic Mr. Fox stars George Clooney as Mr. Fox, a reformed chicken thief who’s planning one more big heist: to steal goods from three of the meanest farmers around. Also featuring Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Jason Schwartzman, watching is like injecting autumn straight into your veins.
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Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Pat (Bradley Cooper) has just finished treatment at a mental health facility for bipolar disorder when he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a troubled woman dealing with the sudden death of her husband. The two strike up an electric, though uproarious, relationship in this story about love, loss, dance contests, mental health, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
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Dead Poets Society (1989)
In this Oscar-winning film, Robin Williams is poetry teacher Mr. Keating—or, as the boys he instructs call him, “O Captain! My Captain!” His unconventional teaching methods cause him to butt heads with the other professors at the stuffy boarding school. His students, however, are inspired by the lessons and enthusiastically revive an old club of Keating’s creation: the Dead Poets Society.
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October Sky (1999)
NASA engineer Homer Hickam’s memoir Rocket Boys is the basis for this film. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Hickam, a teenager who’s inspired by the 1957 Sputnik 1 launch and begins building his own rockets. But his father is less than impressed with his son’s new passion and wants him to focus on becoming a coal miner instead.
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Coco (2017)
Coco, like most Pixar films, is a beautifully animated story that will leave your face tear-streaked. It’s all about Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a Mexican holiday where family members who have died are remembered and celebrated. In Coco, it’s on this day that Miguel meets Héctor, a skeleton who is in danger of being forgotten forever.
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Friday Night Lights (2004)
What’s fall without football? For the small Texas town of Odessa, the Permian High School Panthers games are the most important events of the season—if not the entire year. Starring Billy Bob Thorton as the Panthers’ coach, this movie follows the high school players as they deal with the pressure of seizing the state championship and inspired the 2006 TV show of the same name.
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Clue (1985)
Based on the board game, Clue is a comedy with a killer ensemble cast featuring Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, and Christopher Lloyd. The fun and offbeat whodunit features three alternate endings, each revealing a different murderer (or murderers).
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The Goonies (1985)
Ke Huy Quan, Sean Austin, Corey Feldman, and Jeff Cohen are “the Goonies:” a group of misfit kids that finds a pirate treasure map. They have to survive booby traps and a notorious crime family as they hunt down the hidden riches to save their families from foreclosure.
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Fear Street Part 1: 1994 (2021)
The first installment in Netflix’s Fear Street trilogy, 1994 is a bloody good time. It’s set in a small town called Shadyside that’s plagued by disasters and killings, where a group of friends unwittingly disturb the grave of a 17th-century witch. It’s not long until they find themselves hunted by mysterious killers themselves. Based on books by R. L. Stein, think of it as Goosebumps for grown-ups.
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The Addams Family Values (1993)
Arguably the best installment in the Addams Family franchise, The Addams Family Values has the offbeat humor and quirky characters we’ve loved since the 1960s. But this movie introduces Addams fans to fabulous original creations, too: There’s Joan Cusack’s Debbie, a nanny with a dark secret. Then there’s Joel Glicker (David Krumholtz), an awkward, allergy-plagued kid who’s bewitched by Christina Ricci’s Wednesday. Finally, there’s Camp Chippewa: a summer camp run by two overly enthusiastic counselors that implodes during a play of the first Thanksgiving.
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Halloween (1978)
John Carpenter’s horror classic is surprisingly free of blood and gore while still being one of the best horror movies of all time. Halloween is the story of an escaped killer, Michael Myers, who begins terrorizing the teenagers of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night. It features Jamie Lee Curtis’ first ever film role as Laurie, a babysitter who goes head-to-head with Myers.
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Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Sleepy Hollow reimagines the haunting folktale of Ichabod Crane. The bloody murders and all-star cast (featuring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, and Christopter Walken) make this Tim Burton movie a delight for horror movie fans, but the dreary setting of a New England town besieged by a headless phantom is what really gets you into the seasonal spirit.
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St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)
This coming-of-age movie follows close-knit college friends who find themselves confronted with the real world after graduation. Starring Brat Pack staples Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, and Judd Nelson (to name a few), each character faces their own post-grad challenges as they try to navigate adulthood.
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It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
This 30-minute TV special is a quick but essential watch. It’s a charming Peanuts story of trick-or-treating, a World War I flying ace, and a mystical Great Pumpkin that will maybe, finally, eventually show up this year. Follow the Halloween tale a month later with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
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Remember the Titans (2000)
Denzel Washington stars in this true story of Herman Boone, a 1970s high school football coach. After the schools in Alexandria, Virginia, integrate and Boone is appointed head coach, he must navigate the politics of his team—and work with the white assistant coach (Will Patton) that many believe he usurped.
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Halloweentown (1998)
Thirteen-year-old Marnie is obsessed with all things spooky. When her grandmother Aggie (the one and only Debbie Reynolds) visits on Halloween night, Marnie is thrilled to learn she’s a witch with untapped magical powers. With her brother and sister, Marnie follows her grandma to a city called Halloweentown, where ghosts and goblins and werewolves live side by side. This Disney Channel original movie is a must-watch and beloved by millennials.
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E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
When Elliot finds a strange creature in his family’s shed, he does what any curious 10-year-old boy would do and lures it into the house with a trail of Reese’s Pieces. Elliot hides his new friend (whom he calls “E.T.”) in his room and the two form an emotional—and psychic—connection in this touching Steven Spielberg masterpiece.
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Corpse Bride (2005)
Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) and Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson) are betrothed at their families’ insistence. The good news: Victor and Victoria hit it off when they finally meet. The bad news: When a supremely nervous Victor is rehearsing his wedding vows in the forest near their village, he unintentionally marries Emily (Helena Bonham Carter)...who is a corpse.
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Young Frankenstein (1974)
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) would very much like to be excluded from the narrative of his mad scientist grandfather, Victor Frankenstein. But when he inherits the family estate and travels to Transylvania, he gets caught up in finishing his grandfather’s work to bring a corpse back to life.
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Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Written and directed by John Hughes, this comedy stars Steve Martin as a bigshot exec and John Candy as a shower curtain ring salesman. When their Thanksgiving plans are thwarted by foul weather, the unlikely duo joins forces (much to the dismay of Neal the exec) to get to Chicago by any means necessary.
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Monster House (2006)
D.J. and Chowder are two kids who, after an accident involving their curmudgeonly neighbor, believe his spirit possessed his house, turning it into a monster. Written by Dan Harmon (the mind behind Community and Rick and Morty), Monster House features the voice talents of Catherine O’Hara, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Steve Buscemi.
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The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Whether The Nightmare Before Christmas is a fall film or Christmas movie is hotly contested. But whether you watch it November 1 or December 24 (or both days, why not), its spooky stop-motion animation and killer soundtrack make it a seasonal highlight.
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