Six Autumn Flicks to Fall for This Season

As the air cools and the leaves get crunchy, a certain hankering for flicks featuring a cornucopia of warm hues—or a slightly spooky sensation—sets in. Some movies feel like they’re made for the season, deserving a designated viewing night complete with popcorn, an autumn-scented candle, a cozy couch and your full attention.  

Consider this watchlist your anti-brainrot agenda. As a growing number of studies raises questions about what all the short-form content is doing to our brains, this is your sign to stop the scroll—and embrace the sentiment of the season sans the secondary screen in your hands.

When Harry Met Sally…
1989 | Rom-Com
Watch if you like: You’ve Got Mail

It’s the archetypal autumn film, thanks to NYC foliage, Billy Crystal’s inexplicable lush sweaters and an otherworldly commitment to portraying humorous yet sincere love stories across generations. And, yes, the diner scene heard ’round the world.

Little Women
2019 | Drama
Watch if you like: Atonement

“We gotta have it out, Jo.” Louisa May Alcott’s iconic novel-turned-film is a coming-of-age story in a league of its own: a near-flawless adaptation with a light modern touch, refreshingly direct in its messaging and generous enough to give viewers more than one way to grow up—all buoyed by a star-studded cast that are equal parts whimsical and poignant.

Bugonia
2025 | Sci-Fi
Watch if you liked: Don’t Look Up 

Consider this your token “weird flick” for fall. Emma Stone stars as a CEO fluent in laughable Linkedin-esque corporate speak alongside Jesse Plemons, a skittish conspiracy theorist, in this warm-hued social commentary that’s kind of funny—but mostly disturbing and freakishly unpredictable. 

Fantastic Mr. Fox
2009 | Family
Watch if you like: Ratatouille

It’s what you make of it. The Wes Anderson film can be an amiable stop-motion children’s tale with a warm palette and jaunty pace—or it can be a hard look at the internal battle between
wild animal instincts and domestic life. 

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For The Thrill Seeker—ISO fear factor? Try these fall flicks on for some serious spook.

The Thing
1982 | Horror
Watch if you like: The Mist
The Thing isn’t horror’s scariest monster, but it might be the most well-crafted—paired with unsettling anticipation, claustrophobia and the gory practical effects of the ’80s. To wit, horror movies where all characters are immensely smart and make the right decisions yet still fight a losing battle are a stressful but satisfying rarity.

The Birds
1963 | Thriller 
Watch if you like:Sorry, Wrong Number
Alfred Hitchcock’s classic flick won’t leave you utterly terrified of feathered friends, but it will have you side-eying the seemingly innocent birds perched on the power lines for the foreseeable future.