So far, 2025 has managed to mostly deliver on the abundance of promise that its deep roster of intriguing movies held coming into the year. Can the cinematic year keep rolling in its final frame or will a disheartening regression take place that forces it to fall short of being one of the best years for movies we've had in recent memory at the last minute? The answer will reveal itself soon enough, but I will say the odds of it being the former are pretty, pretty good. The September-December slate features a ton of dynamism (Both Safdie Brothers going in very different directions for their debuts as solo filmmakers! A comedic reimaging of Anaconda! A Jordan Peele-produced psychological horror about football! A pair of fact-based Richard Linklater movies in two different languages! Jeremy Allen White playing Bruce Springsteen!) and heavy hitting directors (Paul Thomas Anderson! Guillermo del Toro! Luca Guadagnino! Yorgos Lanthimos! Edgar Wright! James Cameron! Kathryn Bigelow!) behind some of the most beloved movies of the past 25 years all dropping their latest works in the same small stretch of the calendar. These are the periods of time that make movies so exciting, and I can't wait to begin digging into this intriguing collection of films later this week. Here are the 10 movies I'm most looking forward to seeing this fall.
10.If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You (October 10):
Reviews for Mary Bronstein's psychological drama about a woman (Rose Byrne) who begins to unravel from the unrelenting pressure she's under as a mother/wife have been excellent since it debuted at Sundance back in January with many saying that Byrne-whose been one of the most underrated, versatile actors in Hollywood for damn near 20 years now-gives a career-best performance that could finally land her an Oscar nomination and the trailer that A24 dropped a few weeks back looks great. On top of all that, it features something that nobody could've ever seen coming: Conan O'Brien in a dramatic acting role!
9.Him (September 19):
A lack of familiarity with writer/director Justin Tipping's work is the primary reason Him isn't higher here as it looks delightfully diabolical. Marlon Wayans' ability as a serious actor has gone long untapped and the deranged lengths athletes will go to in their pursuit of greatness is a fascinating topic for a horror movie to explore.
8.Black Phone 2 (October 17):
Reinventing The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) as a Freddy Kruger-esque slasher figure is a genius hook for a sequel to Scott Derrickson's great 2022 supernatural/coming-of-age horror flick The Black Phone, and the teaser trailer is one of my favorites of the year so far. On top of that, buzz is starting to mount that Derrickson made something special here, which would be great news for horror fans that have already been eating really good this year.
7.Frankenstein (October 17 theaters/November 7 streaming):
Guillermo del Toro has been building his whole career towards making a Frankenstein movie, so it would be a true shock if he dropped the ball with his Netflix-backed gothic horror epic, especially given how loaded the cast is (Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Felix Kammerer, Charles Dance, Ralph Ineson) and stunning the early footage looks.
6.The Smashing Machine (October 3):
The best and worst part about The Safdie Brothers going their separate ways is that we get to see what they're made of as individual filmmakers. Benny gets the honor of being the first Safdie out of the gate with next month's Mark Kerr biopic The Smashing Machine, which hands Dwayne Johnson his most serious acting role yet and will almost certainly not fall into the camp of being a paint-by-numbers sports biopic.
5.Predator: Badlands (November 7):
Prey being a monster success on Hulu 3 years ago has inspired Disney to give Dan Trachtenberg the license to do whatever the hell he wants with the Predator IP. His third Predator film Badlands may be his most ambitious one yet as it centers around a young Predator (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) that's been outcast from his tribe and forced to engage in a deadly hunt on another planet. To be honest, I don't know how it took this long to make a Predator movie from the perspective of a member of the titular species but I'm confident in Trachtenberg's ability to make a movie that delivers on the inherent badassery of its premise.
4.Wake Up Dead Man (November 26 theaters/December 12 streaming):
The best part about the Benoit Blanc whodunits that Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig have been able to turn into a franchise after the breakout success of Knives Out is their dedication to switching up the vibe with each new entry. With the third installment Wake Up Dead Man, they appear to be making something that's ominous and spooky, which would be a really fun 180 to pull following the pervasive goofiness of Glass Onion.
3.Marty Supreme (December 25):
The second half of A24's fall solo Safdie Showcase, Josh and longtime co-writer Ronald Bronstein-who Josh got custody of in the divorce from his brother-appears to be taking his signature chaotic energy and applying it to something significantly less grimy with this fictional story inspired by the life of NYC-bred ping pong champion Marty Reisman. There's a whimsical Catch Me If You Can-esque vibe to the trailer, which is unexpected from a unapolgetic nihilist like Safdie, and the title role gives Timothee Chalamet a golden opportunity to further solidify himself as one of the most versatile, interesting actors working today.
2.Bugonia (October 24):
Paranoid conspiracy theorist Jesse Plemons vs. slimy pharmaceutical CEO Emma Stone in a Yorgos Lanthimos movie is the stuff that sicko dreams are made of. Early word from Venice and Telluride is that it's another bleak, distinctly weird ride from Lanthimos and I'm thrilled that it'll be able to feast my eyes upon the latest film from one of the most unique cinematic voices working today less than two months from now.
1.The Running Man (November 14):
Edgar Wright has been expressing his desire to make a version of The Running Man that was more faithful to Stephen King's novel than Paul Michael Glazer's Arnold Schwarzenegger-led version from 1987 for a bit now. Paramount finally gave him the chance to do so late last year and while I can't speak on how true it is to King's story, it looks like an absolute blast, and the cast (Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, Michael Cera, Jayme Lawson, Lee Pace, Katy O'Brian, William H. Macy, David Zayas, Emilia Jones, Karl Glusman, Sean Hayes) is among the best Wright has ever assembled.
Also Plan on Watching:
The Conjuring: Last Rites (September 5)
The Threesome (September 5)
Twinless (September 5)
The Long Walk (September 12)
The Man in My Basement (September 12 theaters/September 26 streaming)
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (September 12)
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (September 19)
Plainclothes (September 19)
Predators (September 19)
One Battle After Another (September 26)
The Strangers: Chapter 2 (September 26)
Play Dirty (October 1)
Bone Lake (October 3)
Shelby Oaks (October 3)
After the Hunt (October 10)
A House of Dynamite (October 10 theaters/October 24 streaming)
Kiss of the Spider Woman (October 10)
The Perfect Neighbor (October 10 streaming/October 17 theaters)
Roofman (October 10)
Urchin (October 10)
The Woman in Cabin 10 (October 10)
Ballad of a Small Player (October 15 theaters/October 29 streaming)
It Was Just an Accident (October 15)
Blue Moon (October 17)
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (October 22)
Hedda (October 22 theaters/October 29 streaming)
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (October 24)
Anniversary (October 29)
Nouvelle Vague (October 31 theaters/November 14 streaming)
Die, My Love (November 7)
Sentimental Value (November 7)
Train Dreams (November 7 theaters/November 21 streaming)
Eternity (November 14)
Keeper (November 14)
Jay Kelly (November 14 theaters/December 5 streaming)
Now You See Me: Now You Don't (November 14)
Rebuilding (November 14)
Trap House (November 14)
Rental Family (November 21)
Sisu: Road to Revenge (November 21)
Wicked: For Good (November 21)
The Secret Agent (November 26)
Zootopia 2 (November 26)
Hamnet (November 27)
Ella McCay (December 12)
Silent Night, Deadly Night (December 12)
The Housemaid (December 19)
Is This Thing On? (December 19)
Father Mother Sister Brother (December 24)
Anaconda (December 25)
No Other Choice (December 25)
Song Sung Blue (December 25)
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