50+ Fall Movies That Are Perfect to Cozy Up With This Autumn
It's fall, a time to cozy up with a pumpkin spice latte and a good book and then realize you…don't want to read a book. What you're really in the mood for are fall movies. (If you've already binged Gilmore Girls, that is.)
So, to the theaters? Maybe. The season is traditionally when some of the best movies of the year come to theaters. After the studios make their money with summer blockbusters, they roll out their awards contenders from Labor Day to Christmas. But with the Hollywood strikes still on-going, only a few new movies have been given exemptions. And we wanna keep that golden-leaf energy every day!
Thankfully, there are more than enough good fall movies, new and old, to keep us in the mood all season long. Yes, plenty are about Halloween, and witchcraft in general, but just as many are about taking a stroll in the park with your lover or solving a mystery while wearing a sweater. Whether you're a Practical Magic girlie surrounded by cats, a horror fan locking her doors and practicing her Scream, or a perpetual grad student missing the plaids of School of Rock, movie nights with these classics will fill your nose with the scent of new pencils and wrap you in a scarf of cinematic crispness.
Click through the find the best fall movies, and how to watch them right now.
Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection1/50Practical Magic (1998)
No autumn-movies list could start anywhere but with the witch girl's witch movie. This now cult classic bombed in theaters, but Nicole Kidman has never been hotter and Sandra Bullock has never been more lovely. The witchcraft vibes are absolutely off the charts, with everything from black cats to curses to ex-lovers coming into play. And the aunts! We could go on, but we won't. Just watch it.
Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection2/50Little Women (2019)
Though Little Women spans multiple seasons, there's something special about fall in New England that this coming-of-age period drama captures so well. In director Greta Gerwig's hands, the film's setting will have you scouring Zillow for the perfect place to fulfill those cottagecore dreams.
Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection3/50Election (1999)
What better way to channel that back-to-school feeling than a satire about high school and politics? In Election, overachieving, high-strung high school student Tracy Flick (played to perfection by Reese Witherspoon) is faced with an unexpected obstacle in her quest to become class president when popular football player Paul Matzler (Chris Klein) decides to run as well.
©United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection4/50Bottoms (2023)
Speaking of back-to-school satires, do yourself a favor and immediately make plans to see Bottoms. Rachel Sennott (The Idol) and Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) star as two high school seniors who establish a fight club as a way to hook up with girls. It all comes to a climax for the best friends at a very intense, very hilarious football game against their school's longtime rivals.
In theaters now.
©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection5/50Drumline (2002)
If you were ever in your school's marching band, or even just went to a football game, you'll be roused by this early-aughts film starring Nick Cannon as the rebellious new recruit on the drumline at a fictional HBCU.
Courtesy of Everett Collection6/50Knives Out (2019)
From the sweaters to the steaming mugs of tea, there is something undeniably autumnal about this mystery movie. And with its star Chris Evans now a married man, there's never been a better time to watch.
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection7/50The Craft (1996)
If you grew up on Teen Witch but feel ready for something slightly scarier, why not revisit this ’90s classic? Perma-witch Fairuza Balk and our queen Neve Campbell face off in the only place more demonic than Hell: high school.
©Universal/ Everett Collection8/50Casper (1995)
The movie that launched the sexual awakenings of thousands of millennials. This ghost flick is definitely family-friendly more than it is spooky, but there's only so many times you can watch Hocus Pocus.
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©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection9/50Hocus Pocus (1993)
That said, just stream Hocus Pocus already—you know you want to. It's another box-office flop that become beloved; the Sanderson Sisters are now a common costume for friend triads, and we've met loads of pets named Binx for a reason.
©Disney+/Courtesy Everett Collection10/50Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)
Yep, the sequel works! Focusing on the Sandersons rather than any of the mortal characters from the first movie, this charming and truly funny follow-up is one of the better movies to premiere exclusively on Disney+ in a long time.
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection11/50Remember the Titans (2000)
Fall means homecoming, back to school, freshly sharpened pencils and football, football, football. This based-on-a-true-story integration tale is a bit simplistic, but the soundtrack is fantastic, and Denzel Washington is wonderful.
Disney Channel/ Everett Collection12/50Halloweentown (1998)
A town where it's Halloween all the time? Moving there, stat. And how often do we get to see the literally iconic Debbie Reynolds waving her hands over a cauldron?
Warner Bros/ Everett Collection13/50The Harry Potter Series (2001–2011)
Fall hits and that old Hogwarts itch comes back. Yeah, we've seen ’em all a million times at this point, but why not press play and leave it on as background noise while you carve a pumpkin? That’s what cozy movies are all about. Plus, the John Williams score goes hard.
Paramount/Everett Collection14/50Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Christina Ricci is at her most powerful in fall—this cannot be denied. The legend of Ichabod Crane brought to life by the spookster himself, Tim Burton? How could you deny?
©Warner Bros/ Everett Collection15/50You’ve Got Mail (1998)
This one has absolutely nothing to do with death, unless you count the death of small businesses at the hands of Tom Hanks. The beloved rom-com takes place over a few seasons, but all the bookstore scenes make it a fall fave.
©Warner Bros/ Everett Collection16/50Sweet November (2001)
This tearjerker may have gotten negative reviews, but it does takes place during November. Death and decay…as the seasons change, so do we. Winter comes for us all.
©Dimension Films/Courtesy Everett Collection17/50The Scream Franchise (1996–)
The ultimate teen slasher keeps being revived for a reason: It's so much fun. The fashions, the soundtrack, the memorable lines…this is Wes Craven at his best, and Ghostface is always an easy Halloween costume option.
©Dimension Films/Courtesy Everett Collection18/50The Scary Movie Franchise (2000–2013)
Laugh-out-loud gags take the horror genre down a peg or seven. Regina Hall and Anna Faris are a truly hysterical duo in this spoof of everything from The Grudge to The Ring.
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©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection19/50James and the Giant Peach (1996)
It may not be a pumpkin, but when you've got a Claymation spider living inside a big yellow fruit (yes, pumpkins are fruit!), that's Halloween!
- Hulton Archive/Getty Images20/50
The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
Something sexy this way comes. Jack Nicholson stars as Beelzebub himself, driving the women of Eastwick wild with powers. If you can't get down with Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Susan Sarandon, what are you waiting for in a movie?
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection21/50Friday Night Lights (2004)
If you've already binged the series, let's take it back to where it all began, the movie that started it all. Heck, my high school didn't even have a football team and this movie still gets to me.
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection22/50Cruel Intentions (1999)
This sexy teen drama takes place in the month leading up to the first day of school, so we suppose, technically, it's an end-of-summer flick.
©Artisan Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection23/50The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Whatever you think of the actual film, the marketing behind this movie is legendary. The found-footage indie leveraged the early days of the internet to make hundreds question whether it might be, in some way, real.
©Warner Bros/ Everett Collection24/50Beetlejuice (1988)
Winona forever. Crack open the Handbook for the Recently Deceased and enjoy one of Michael Keaton's finest performances as the maestro of mayhem himself. (And yeah, that's the mom from Schitt's Creek and Home Alone.)
Entertainment Pictures / Alamy Stock Photo25/50Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
A little witch and her little cat! Kiki learns to harness her powers in this kid-friendly Miyazaki film that will make you wanna hop aboard the next broomstick you see.
Courtesy Everett Collection26/50Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
RIP, Angela Lansbury. This oft-forgotten musical has a bit too much in common with Mary Poppins to carve out its own legacy, but it's actually just delightful, starring Mrs. Potts herself as a woman who learns witchcraft via, get this, a correspondence course!
©MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection27/50Autumn in New York (2000)
Another tearjerker about a dying woman and the man she fixes, but there are only so many movies explicitly about fall in NYC that aren't directed by W**dy All*n.
Central Independent Television PLC/courtesy Everett Collection28/50The Worst Witch (1986)
This pre–Harry Potter magical boarding school series has been adapted into a television show twice, but a movie only once, starring (of course) Fairuza Balk as the muddled Mildred Hubble and Tim Curry (!) singing a song about Halloween.
Everett Collection29/50Dead Poets Society (1989)
The boys may not be studying witchcraft, but they are at boarding school learning poetry, which is certainly a kind of magic. Come for the crimson uniforms; stay for Robin Williams.
Paramount/ Everett Collection30/50The Addams Family (1991)
Morticia and Gomez are absolute relationship goals, not that we need an excuse to put another Christina Ricci movie on this list. Her turn as Wednesday will forever be…haunting.
©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection31/50The Sixth Sense (1999)
The ultimate elevated horror movie that redefined the thriller and ghost genres for a generation. Even if you know the iconic twist, how Shyamalan plays it out is genius, and the acting is stellar, even that of the kids, including Haley Joel Osment and Mischa Barton.
Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo32/50The Twilight Saga (2008–2012)
Vampires! Werewolves! And the scariest thing of all: love!!! These teen romances are having a bit of a renaissance lately and are perfect for a Halloween movie series that's utterly free of pumpkins and witches.
Lions Gate/ Everett Collection33/50Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween (2016)
You'll scream-laugh through this ridiculous romp, best seen with a group. Ghostbusters isn't the only Hallo-comedy, okay?
© A24 /Courtesy Everett Collection34/50Hereditary (2018)
The less said about the plot the better, but Toni Colette is a force of nature in Ari Aster's scarefest. The fact that he released this and then a year later Midsommar? We get it—he's good!
©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection35/50Working Girl (1988)
There's something about the sneakers in the purses and the Carly Simon song and the coats (and the fact that a ski vacation sets the plot in motion) that makes this a sort of back-to-school movie for grown-ups.
©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection36/50The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Oh my God, the jackets. Sure, they're talking “Florals, for spring?” but this movie has September issue written all over it. Paris in the fall! Fashion Week! Grilled cheese! Yes, the fall vibes are on trend here. (It's so soothing it also made our list of the best movies to fall asleep to.)
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©Disney Channel/Courtesy Everett Collection37/50Twitches (2005)
Tia and Tamera take a break from swapping places to cast a few spells in these fun Disney Channel Originals that unfortunately get overlooked in the Halloweentown/Hocus Pocus/Z-O-M-B-I-E-S of it all.
CBS/ Everett Collection38/50It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
When Linus gets Santa Claus and Halloween mixed up, his friends come together to keep him (adorable) company. One of the best fall family movies that's been delighting kids of all ages for decades for a reason.
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection39/50Clue (1985)
An absolute blast of a whodunit, a campy cult classic, and yes, this is where “flames, on the side of my face” comes from. And perfect for a group costume too!
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection40/50Death Becomes Her (1992)
People forget Meryl Streep had a funny side long before The Devil Wears Prada. She and Goldie Hawn go head-to-head over Bruce Willis in this supernatural black comedy that's as soapy as soap can be.
Netflix/ Everett Collection41/50Hubie Halloween (2020)
Netflix quietly dropped this Sandler flick prevaccine to little fanfare, but it's genuinely funny and fun, the perfect thing to turn on for the too-old-for-trick-or-treating, too-young-for-a-party crowd.
Newmarket Releasing/ Everett Collection42/50Donnie Darko (2001)
This cult quasihorror is always popular with the emo crowd looking for something a little edgier than Scream. Just don't ask us to explain the ending, because we genuinely don't get it.
©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection43/50Rushmore (1998)
This Wes Anderson joint will make you remember what you hated about school (all of it) and what you loved (somehow, all of it?) and features hilarious deadpan performances from Luke Wilson and
Logan RoyBrian Cox.
©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection44/50Love & Basketball (2000)
First comes back to school, then starts the NBA season. Yep, basketball and fall go together so well you could call it a slam…nah, we won't go there. This movie is a delight for days it's too breezy to play a game of pickup.
©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection45/50Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
There's something so satisfying about stop-motion, but honestly, we've seen all the Tim Burtons a couple hundred times. Thankfully, Wes Anderson adapted this children's book into a sweet and typically stylized feature that makes us hungry for pie (and yarn).
Everett Collection / Everett Collection46/50What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Before it was a beloved FX series, What We Do in the Shadows was a mockumentary from Taika Waititi that's a little more wry, a lot more dry, but just as funny. “We're werewolves, not swearwolves.”
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection47/50Coco (2017)
Can't find the right soundtrack for your Dia de Los Muertos fiesta? Look no further than this Disney charmer that combines music, folklore, and tradition to weave a not-so-scary tale about the afterlife.
Alamy48/50When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Maybe it's the leaves changing color on the trees, but even though this love story famously reaches its conclusion at New Year's Eve, the journey to that kiss feels utterly fallish. Let the Billy Crystal-Meg Ryan Fall sweater shopping commence!
©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection49/50Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Karyn Kusama and Diablo Cody's maligned masterpiece is finally getting its due, but so many still haven't seen it! This is a twist on demonic possession that has more in common with Heathers than Dawn of the Dead, plus a killer MCR-style soundtrack.
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection50/50School of Rock (2003)
Grab your guitar, your plaid, and your will to rock because this is the school movie to end all school movies. Jack Black has never been hotter. Yep, I said what I said.
