Fall Movie Preview: 56 Movies You Need to Know About

By Quinn Keaney

Updated on 10/11/2019 at 5:10 PM

Not only does Fall bring chillier temperatures, pumpkin spice lattes, and cozy sweaters, but it also provides plenty of reasons to go to the movie theater (or stay on the comfort of your own couch with new Netflix originals, if you're into that sort of thing). The season kicks off with the terrifying sequel to It and the long-awaited Downton Abbey film, and as Fall transitions into Winter, we'll finally get to watch Frozen 2 and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. This is also the season when Oscar hopefuls emerge and holiday blockbusters start coming out by the dozen, so there's seriously something for everyone. If you need an idea of what to see in September, October, and beyond, then take a look at the list ahead.

Falling Inn Love

The scoop: Singer and actress Christina Milian stars as Gabriela, a city girl who spontaneously enters a contest to "win an inn" — aka renovating the dilapidated Bellbird Valley Farm — after a breakup. Lo and behold, she's chosen! Which means she has to travel from her home in San Francisco to New Zealand, where the Bellbird is located. Luckily, with the help of a handsome contractor (Adam Demos), Gabriela fixes up not only the building but also her heart (awwww).
Release date: Aug. 29

Official Secrets

The scoop: It's 2003 and Tony Blair is fighting for British involvement in the Iraq war that is deeply unpopular across the world — at least it is in Official Secrets, a political drama telling the "untold true story" of Katharine Gun, a translator for a British intelligence agency (Keira Knightley). Gun proceeds to grow evermore frustrated with the government's use of underhanded methods to fool their people into thinking an invasion is necessary, and takes it upon herself to reveal the truth.
Release date: Aug. 30

It: Chapter Two

The scoop: The sequel takes a huge leap forward in time to 27 years after the "Losers" have their first encounter with It. Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa), the only one of the seven to stay in town after they grew up, suspects Pennywise is back and sends out the call for his friends to return to Derry and make good on their pact to kill It. You can expect to see the grown-up Losers all filtering into Derry from their respective corners of the world, discovering the story behind the terrifying clown, and facing the danger that has haunted them since their childhood.
Release date: Sept. 6

The Goldfinch

The scoop: John Crowley's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Donna Tartt stars Ansel Elgort as a young man whose troubled childhood eventually leads him to begin a career in the world of art forgery.
Release date: Sept. 13

Downton Abbey

The scoop: The British period drama ended its sixth season in the US in 2016, and ever since, the production team behind the show had been hinting that a feature film would eventually make its way to screens. Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, and a handful of others are set to reprise their roles as members of the Crawley family.
Release date: Sept. 20

Rambo 5: Last Blood

The scoop: Rambo is back, baby! Sylvester Stallone returns to the fold in the fifth installment of this action franchise. Lost daughters! Kidnappings! Guns! Bloodshed! You can expect to see it all.
Release date: Sept. 20

Ad Astra

The scoop: Brad Pitt in space? Sign us up. In Ad Astra, he plays an astronaut tasked with journeying across the solar system to rescue his missing father (whose own scientific discovery just so happens to threaten the survival of our planet). Billy Bob Thornton and Liv Tyler also star.
Release date: Sept. 20

Judy

The scoop: Renée Zellweger takes us over the rainbow as Judy Garland in this biopic, which picks up 30 years after the legendary entertainer's iconic role in The Wizard of Oz. The film documents Garland's life as she gets ready to perform a five-week sold-out run in Swinging London, and explores her strained relationship with her children, addiction, the pitfalls of success, and more.
Release date: Sept. 27

Joker

The scoop: A gritty origin story about Batman's archenemy, the Joker, is making its way to theaters starring Joaquin Phoenix as the villain, Arthur. Joker's story will pick up with the character in Gotham City in the early 1980s prior to his life as a criminal mastermind, resulting in an "exploration of a man disregarded by society [that] is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale."
Release date: Oct. 4

The Current War

The scoop: Tom Holland, Nicholas Hoult, and Benedict Cumberbatch star in this historical drama about the greatest investors of the industrial age and their electrical race against each other.
Release date: Oct. 25

Lucy In the Sky

The scoop: Academy Award winner Natalie Portman plays Lucy Cola, an astronaut struggling with reality on Earth after returning from a space mission with actors Jon Hamm and Zazie Beetz. The film is loosely based on the life of Lisa Nowak, "the former astronaut who, after returning from a 13-day space mission, drove 900 miles from Houston to Orlando in an attempt to kidnap an ex-lover's new partner in February 2007."
Release date: Oct. 4

Gemini Man

The scoop: Ang Lee's film stars Will Smith as Henry, a highly trained expert-level hitman who's getting up there in age. Despite all his skills, nothing seems to matter when it comes to facing off against his latest opponent, who seems to know all his moves before he makes them. How? Because he is him (albeit a clone of his much younger self, thanks to an evil scientist played by Clive Owen).
Release date: Oct. 11

Parasite

The scoop: Bong Joon-ho's Palme d'Or winner revolves around two families in Seoul — one poor, one rich — and how their lives clash in tremendous rage amid the grim pressures of late capitalism.
Release date: Oct. 11

JoJo Rabbit

The scoop: Taika Waititi stars as Adolf Hitler in this World War II comedy — yep, a comedy about Hitler — that follows what happens when a young boy in Hitler's army discovers that his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl in their home.
Release date: Oct. 18

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

The scoop: Set several years after the first film, the sequel continues to explore the complex relationship between the iconic Disney villain (Angelina Jolie) and Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning). When the latter gets engaged to Prince Phillip, Maleficent's protective instincts kick in, threatening to derail Aurora's happiness.
Release date: Oct. 18

Zombieland 2

The scoop: Director Ruben Fleischer's follow-up to the 2009 horror comedy Zombieland reveals that the gang — Columbus, Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Wichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) — have been up to since we last saw them. After battling a horde of the undead to take up residence in a dilapidated White House, it seems the group picks up a few new recruits (Zoey Deutch, Avan Jogia, Luke Wilson, Rosario Dawson) and finds a new community. Oh, and Little Rock decides to ditch everyone for a boy, and a dangerous rescue mission ensues.
Release date: Oct. 18

The Lighthouse

The scoop: Thomas Wake (Willem DaFoe) and Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) are two lighthouse keepers who get posted on a remote New England island in the late 1800s. Although the exact plot is still a bit mysterious, it seems the men will begin to go stir crazy in their surroundings, hallucinating mermaids, keeping grave secrets, spying on each other, and potentially ending their stay with an act of violence.
Release date: Oct. 18

Terminator Dark Fate

The scoop: Cyborgs beware, because Linda Hamilton is back as Sarah Connor in Terminator: Dark Fate! This time, Sarah is teaming up with newcomer Grace (Mackenzie Davis, playing a half-human, half-robot) to help protect another new character: Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes). But don't worry, the original T-800 Terminator (aka Arnold Schwarzenegger) will also make an appearance.
Release date: Nov. 1

Paradise Hills

The scoop: Director Alice Waddington's Paradise Hills is a candy-coated nightmare that whisks Emma Roberts, Awkwafina, Eiza González, and more stars away to a remote island full of sinister secrets. When Uma (Roberts) awakens in an unfamiliar bedroom, she's soon informed that she's been transported to a mysterious boarding school that has a way of transforming wayward girls into something else entirely. She teams up with other students to figure out the school's true purpose.
Release date: Nov. 1

Harriet

The scoop: Widows actress Cynthia Erivo plays the legendary American freedom fighter Harriet Tubman, who traveled over 100 miles to the north to escape slavery and the vindictive man who she was forced to work under. But after experiencing freedom herself, Harriet vows to return to the south to help free hundreds of slaves via the Underground Railroad.
Release date: Nov. 1

Waves

The scoop: In this Trey Edward Shults-directed drama, a traumatic loss forces a suburban family in South Florida to come together to make it through. Through familial bonds, love, and forgiveness, the film — starring Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sterling K. Brown, Lucas Hedges, and Alexa Demie — is an emotional story about finding compassion even when all hope seems lost.
Release date: Nov. 1

Doctor Sleep

The scoop: Stephen King released the long-awaited follow-up to The Shining in 2013, titled Doctor Sleep. Now, the horror novel has been adapted into an equally chilling film starring Ewan McGregor as an adult Danny Torrance, who is still a little shaken by everything that went down at the Overlook Hotel all those years ago with his father. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), he still has his "shine," which he uses to fight a child-killing cult.
Release date: Nov. 8

Honey Boy

The scoop: Honey Boy, titled after the nickname given to Shia LaBeouf by his father, is a fictionalized version of the roller coaster of instability that was the actor's family life, thanks to his role on Disney Channel's Even Stevens and his father's heroin addiction.
Release date: Nov. 8

Playing With Fire

The scoop: Heartwarming movie alert! Playing With Fire appears to be a riff on Three Men and a Baby, only with two more kids mixed into the bunch — a crew of rugged firefighters (John Cena, Keegan-Michael Key, and John Leguizamo) must take care of three rambunctious kids after rescuing them from a forest fire and not being able to locate their parents.
Release date: Nov. 8

Last Christmas

The scoop: This holiday rom-com from Paul Feig and Emma Thompson stars Emilia Clarke as Kate (Clarke), a struggling singer in London who has experienced a life-threatening illness in the past and currently works at a Christmas shop (she spends most of the film dressed as an adorable elf). A chance meeting with a handsome stranger (Henry Golding) changes her opinion on both Christmas and love in general.
Release date: Nov. 8

Midway

The scoop:
Midway is one of the many movies based on a true story coming out this year, and includes a pretty stellar cast. The war drama centers around US Navy sailors and aviators who fought in the Battle of Midway during World War II, and stars Woody Harrelson, Mandy Moore, Ed Skrein, Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, and Dennis Quaid.
Release date: Nov. 8

Noelle

The scoop: Forget Fall: Disney is getting a head start on the holiday with Noelle, which stars Anna Kendrick on a quest to save Christmas when her brother (Bill Hader) disappears from his duties as Santa Claus. Kendrick and Hader are joined by Billy Eichner and the legendary Shirley MacLaine to round out a funny cast.
Release date: Nov. 11

Lady and the Tramp

The scoop: The live-action reboot of the classic animated film stars real-life shelter pups Rose and Monte, who play Lady and Tramp, respectively, with the vocal talents of Tessa Thompson and Justin Theroux. The rest of the star-studded cast includes Janelle Monáe as singing pound pup Peg, and Thomas Mann and Kiersey Clemons as Lady's married owners.
Release date: Nov. 12

The Good Liar

The scoop: The Good Liar is based on the critically acclaimed novel by Nicholas Searle, and sees Helen Mirren playing wealthy widow Betty, who thinks she's finally found a worthy connection with a charming, handsome older man she met online. Unfortunately, the man in question is career con artist Roy (McKellen), who thinks he's hit the jackpot when he realizes how much Betty is worth. Soon his plans to swindle her out of her fortune are complicated when he develops true feelings for her, and things begin to spin treacherously out of control.
Release date: Nov. 15

The Lodge

The scoop: The directors of Goodnight Mommy are back with another horror movie, so I hope you're not too attached to the idea of ever sleeping again. In Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala's latest, soon-to-be stepmom Grace (Riley Keough) finds herself snowed in at her fiancé's (Richard Armitage) remote Winter vacation home with his two young children. After their father leaves, the kids do some digging into Grace and discover that she's the sole survivor of a creepy cult's mass suicide years earlier. That's when all hell breaks loose.
Release date: Nov. 15

Ford v. Ferrari

The scoop: The stars aligned for James Mangold's Ford v Ferrari, which is based on the true story of a visionary American car designer, Carroll Shelby, who convinced competitive driver Ken Miles to help Ford Motor Company face off against Ferrari in 1966 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. Matt Damon is on board as Shelby, while Christian Bale plays the fearless UK native who drives them to victory.
Release date: Nov. 15

Little Monsters

The scoop: This zombie-comedy stars Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o as Miss Caroline, a kindergarten teacher chaperoning a field trip to a petting zoo. Of course, the petting zoo happens to be next to an army base that suddenly suffers a zombie outbreak, and she must defend her students.
Release date: Nov. 15

Charlie's Angels

The scoop: The new trio of Angels includes the wild Sabina Wilson (played by a surprisingly humorous Kristen Stewart), former spy Jane Kano (played by big-screen newcomer Ella Balinska), and young systems engineer Elena Houghlin (Aladdin's Naomi Scott). While the three don't start out as a badass team of ass-kickers — in fact, Sabina and Jane are assigned to work on a case involving Elena — they put aside their differences to bring an evil villain to justice. Elizabeth Banks, Patrick Stewart, Sam Claflin, Djimon Hounsou, Jonathan Tucker, Luis Gerardo Méndez, and Noah Centineo round out the rest of the film's star-studded cast.
Release date: Nov. 15

The Report

The scoop: Adam Driver, Jon Hamm, and Annette Bening lead this political thriller about a senate staffer's inquiry into the CIA's torture techniques.
Release date: Nov. 15

Frozen 2

The scoop: In the highly-anticipated follow-up to Frozen, Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel) is in grave danger of experiencing . . . Fall? Well, to be honest, as far as story goes we haven't gotten too many specifics other than the fact that Elsa will have to go on a dangerous journey to discover the origin of her powers in order to save both herself and her kingdom. Fortunately Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and Princess Anna (Kristen Bell) are along for the ride.
Release date: Nov. 22

Dark Waters

The scoop: Mark Ruffalo stars in this drama inspired by a shocking true story, in which an attorney connects one of the world's largest corporations to a massive number of unexplained deaths. Exposing the truth doesn't come without risk, however, which he discovers when his career, family, and future are all put into jeopardy.
Release date: Nov. 22 (limited release), Nov. 29 (expanded release)

Queen and Slim

The scoop: Queen & Slim follows the journey of the titular characters — played by big-screen newcomer Jodie Turner-Smith and Get Out's Daniel Kaluuya, respectively — as the two meet up for a first date that goes horrifically awry when they get pulled over for a minor traffic infraction.
Release date: Nov. 27

Knive's Out

The scoop: This murder mystery about the suspicious death of the wealthy Thrombey family's patriarch (Christopher Plummer) basically stars all your favorite actors — Daniel Craig and LaKeith Stanfield play detectives, while Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, and Michael Shannon make up members of the feuding Thrombey clan. A perfect movie to see with your folks over Thanksgiving, no?
Release date: Nov. 28

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

The scoop: The heartfelt drama starring Tom Hanks as the iconic children's show star gives us a peek into the real-life friendship that bloomed between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod (The Americans star Matthew Rhys). The true story recounts how the jaded magazine writer sent to do a story on Rogers and his beloved TV series in Pittsburgh began to form a bond with Fred, hearing his lessons on overcoming cynicism in favor of kindness and empathy, ultimately transforming both of their lives.
Release date: Nov. 22

Little Pieces Everywhere

The scoop: Boasting a star-studded cast including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Charlie Hunnam, and Billy Bob Thornton, the film tells the story of 23-year-old James, an alcoholic and drug addict faced with two options: rehab or death. Like the novel — which became a controversy when accusations of embellishment and lies came to light — the film follows James through his struggle with addiction and recovery as he "heals his broken soul by connecting with other kindred spirits who also yearn and fight for a better life."
Release date: Dec. 6

The Aeronauts

The scoop: Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones' film is part action-adventure, part biopic, tracing the real-life tale of an ambitious pair of Victorian-era adventurers. They rode a hot-air balloon all the way into the stratosphere in the year 1862, setting a record for the highest anyone had flown at that time and engaging in a daring act of survival.
Release date: Dec. 6

Uncut Gems

The scoop: Adam Sandler is taking a break from comedies to star in Uncut Gems, a crime drama set in New York City's diamond district about Howard Ratner (Sandler), a jewelry store owner who has to race to figure out a way to repay some important debts.
Release date: Dec. 8

A Hidden Life

The scoop: Terrence Malick's historical drama focuses on Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), who refuses to fight for the Nazis during World War II. As revenge for his choice, the military threatens him with execution. Valerie Pachner, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Michael Nyqvist costar.
Release date: Dec. 13

Superintelligence

The scoop: Nothing extraordinary ever happens to Carol Peters (Melissa McCarthy), so when she starts getting hearing sassy voices coming from her TV and phone, she thinks she's losing it. But in reality, she's been specifically chosen because an artificial intelligence company wants its new product to observe Carol's attempt to win back her ex-boyfriend, thereby learning the human condition. What could go wrong?
Release date: Dec. 20

Cats

The scoop: If the horrifying trailer for this Broadway adaptation didn't freak you out, then prepare to watch stars like Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, and more play out the story of the world-renowned musical.
Release date: Dec. 20

Little Women

The scoop: Just as in Louisa May Alcott's seminal 1868 novel, Greta Gerwig's new adaptation follows four sisters — Amy, Jo, Beth, and Meg — who live with their mother, Marmee March (Laura Dern), in Massachusetts during the Civil War era, played by Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan, Eliza Scanlen, and Emma Watson, respectively. Since their funds have dwindled and their father is away at war, the girls come of age together while experiencing life's highs and lows — love and loss, success and failure, birth and death.
Release date: Dec. 25

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

The scoop: Episode IX, which has been formally dubbed Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, sees Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, and Adam Driver reprising their roles, as well as Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian. The third installment of the new trilogy will have the surviving members of the Resistance facing off against the First Order once more in what's being described as "the final chapter of the Skywalker saga."
Release date: Dec. 20

Spies in Disguise

The scoop: Imagine Will Smith as a super spy and Tom Holland as a genius scientist. Do I have your attention? Good. In the upcoming animated film Spies in Disguise, Smith and Holland lend their voices to an unlikely pair of characters who embark on the ultimate world-saving mission.
Release date: Dec. 25

1917

The scoop: Skyfall director Sam Mendes presents us with a story about two young British soldiers, Schofield (Captain Fantastic's George MacKay) and Blake (Game of Thrones alum Dean-Charles Chapman), whose superior (Colin Firth) gives them a seemingly impossible mission — to sneak into enemy territory and hand-deliver a message to stop an attack set for the next morning, which has the potential to kill 1,600 men.
Release date: Dec. 25

Jumanji: The Next Level

The scoop: Young Spencer (Alex Wolff), longing for the friendships he shared with Fridge, Martha, and Bethany within the video game they got sucked into the previous year, decides to tinker with it until he ends up back in the jungle they narrowly escaped the last time around. Naturally, his friends follow. Also, the adult avatars they initially chose (played by Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black) are back in action, albeit with some unexpected twists — Johnson's Spencer and Hart's Fridge are now the avatars of IRL Spencer and Fridge's grandfathers (played by Danny DeVito and Danny Glover).
Release date: Dec. 25

Just Mercy

The scoop: This powerful true story comes to the big screen starring Michael B. Jordan as a young lawyer who begins a history-making battle for justice when he travels to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned. With the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Brie Larson), he looks into the case of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who was sentenced to die for the murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite his claims of innocence.
Release date: Dec. 25

Seberg

The scoop: Kristen Stewart plays iconic '60s actress Jean Seberg (Breathless), chronicling her real-life love affair with civil rights activist Hakim Jamal (Anthony Mackie) and how that relationship put her on the FBI's radar.
Release date: Fall TBD

Dolemite Is My Name!

The scoop: Not only does Eddie Murphy star in Netflix's upcoming comedy, but he'll be joined by Wesley Snipes, Tituss Burgess, Keegan-Michael Key, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Craig Robinson, T.I., and more in bringing the true story to life. The film follows struggling comedian Rudy Ray Moore (Murphy) as he decides to create an outrageous onstage alter ego — Dolemite — to put an end to his long string of failures in show business (singing, stand-up comedy, etc.). The creation of the obscene pimp character eventually leads him to cross paths with pretentious and skeptical director D'Urville Martin (Snipes), who agrees to helm his movie.
Release date: Fall TBD

The Irishman

The scoop: Academy Award winners Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci star in Netflix's The Irishman, directed by the one and only Martin Scorsese. The crime drama uses digital effects and makeup to de-age the actors, and follows De Niro's Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, a World War II veteran and labor union leader who allegedly became a hitman for the Bufalino crime family and played a role in the disappearance of union activist Jimmy Hoffa.
Release date: Fall TBD

The Laundromat

The scoop: Based on "some real sh*t," Netflix's dark comedy starring Meryl Streep chronicles the group of journalists behind the 2016 Panama Papers incident, who uncovered the illicit money networks at the heart of some seriously shady financial activities worldwide. Streep's Ellen is a middle-class woman who is investigating an insurance fraud case after the death of her husband, leading her to start asking potentially dangerous questions. Directed by Ocean's Eleven's Steven Soderbergh and with a script by Scott Z. Burns (The Informant), the film has a star-studded cast including Antonio Banderas, Gary Oldman, Jeffrey Wright, Sharon Stone, Robert Patrick, and Matthias Schoenaerts.
Release date: Fall TBD

The King

The scoop: Timothée Chalamet and his bowl cut star in this Netflix historical drama about Hal, a rebellious prince who's turned his back on royalty despite being heir to the English throne. But his low-key lifestyle is shattered when his tyrannical father dies, leaving Hal crowned King Henry V. As he navigates the perilous ups and downs of politics within his kingdom, as well as the debt of war his father left behind, Hal is forced to evolve into someone he swore he'd never be. In addition to Chalamet, The King also stars Lily-Rose Depp, Ben Mendelsohn, Robert Pattinson, and Joel Edgerton.
Release date: Fall TBD