This summer has brought many notable films of all sizes and shapes to the big screen, ranging from blockbusters such as Top Gun and Nope to more petite indie movies, including Crimes of the Future and Benediction. The successful grosses and positive word-of-mouth reactions created by this summer's films prove that the film industry is making a significant comeback.
Looking forward to the upcoming fall season, many new films are already creating serious buzz, from big-screen spectacles in the MCU universe to intimate arthouse films that will surely entertain cinephiles of all forms. Here is a sneak peek of 10 fall movie releases to be hyped about in the coming months.
'The Woman King'
Arriving in movie theaters a week before the official beginning of autumn will be Gina Maria Prince-Bythewood's latest directorial effort, The Woman King. The film is a massive historical epic centered around the Dahomey Amazons, an all-female warrior group who held power in West Africa for over two hundred years between the 18th and early 20th centuries.
The Woman King stars the iconic Viola Davis, who also worked as a producer on the film, with a supporting cast that includes Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim, and Hero Fiennes Tiffin. In terms of the historical epic genre, The Woman King departs from overworked tales of typically Eurocentric narratives and shines a light on the often overlooked rich cultural history of Africa. The Woman King will make its world premiere at this year's Toronto International Film Festival before its theatrical release begins on September 16th.
'Blonde'
One of Netflix's most anticipated films of fall is undoubtedly Blonde, the fictionalized biopic of Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe. Blonde is written and directed by Andrew Dominik, best known for the 2007 film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and stars Cuban actress Ana De Armas as Monroe.
Adapted fictionalized novel of the same name, Blonde will take liberties in retelling Monroe's life story from a traumatized child to becoming one of Hollywood's most iconic sex symbols. Never a filmmaker to play it safe, Dominik's first trailer for Blonde appears to unearth the mythology of Monroe's nuanced legacy in parallel to that of America during the 1950s and 1960s when the starlet was at the height of her career. De Armas, a young star on the rise herself who has worked across several independent and Hollywood films over the past few years, is already on her way to receiving much critical attention this fall for her transformative role as Monroe. Blonde will stream on Netflix beginning September 28th.
'Halloween Ends'
This October, Jamie Lee Curtis will again reprise her iconic Halloween franchise role as Laurie in Halloween Ends. This film marks the third installment of the franchise to be directed by David Gordon Green since 2018.
Set four years after the events of the last installment, Halloween Ends once again finds Laurie face to face with the brutal memories that Michael Myers has brought into her life for decades. While working on a tell-all memoir in rebellion against her traumatic past, Laurie aims to finally face Michael Myers and confront the evil he has used to poison her and her community for years. After the disappointment many fans felt with 2021's Halloween Kills, which felt like a violent crescendo with little payoff by the finale, Halloween Ends will hopefully revitalize the 40-year fandom around the Halloween franchise. Universal Pictures will release Halloween Ends on October 14th.
'My Policeman'
This autumn, British theatre director Michael Grandage turns to the big screen for his latest work, My Policeman. Based on a novel of the same name, My Policeman is a romantic drama set in 1950's era England and stars Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, and David Dawson.
In his first leading film role with My Policeman, Harry Styles plays Tom Burgess, a policeman living in Brighton, England, during the 1950s. Tom is having a clandestine affair with a male museum curator, played by Dawson, in a time when homosexuality was still criminalized in England. Succumbing to the societal pressures of the era, Tom marries Marion Taylor, performed by Corrin, and slowly Tom's secret begins to wear away at the lives of everyone affected by his tangled love triangle. My Policeman is one of two highly anticipated movies Styles will be in this fall, the other being Don't Worry Darling, directed by Styles' current girlfriend, Olivia Wilde. My Policeman will make its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September before being released by Amazon Studios on October 21st. Audiences can expect a significant awards campaign from this film as the Fall movie season unfolds in the coming months.
'Till'
On October 7th, filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu's latest work, Till, will be released in the United States. The film will center around the actual account of Civil Rights activist Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till. She dedicated herself to bringing justice to her son's tragic murder in 1955.
Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till's lynching at the hands of a group of racist white men in Mississippi is one of many similar hate-driven murders in America. Still, Till's experience is one of the most well-known cases and has memorialized him as an influential figure in African American culture since his premature death. Chukwu's upcoming biopic Till will focus on Till-Mobley's experiences after her son's death and her journey to Civil Rights activism in response to the injustice forced upon her community. Till's cast includes Danielle Deadwyler in the role of Till-Mobley and Jayln Hallas Till, with supporting performances from Whoopi Goldberg (who also serves as a producer on the film) and Haley Bennett. Critics and audiences hailed Chukwu's last film, Clemency, so many movie lovers expect the same astute and gripping filmmaking in Till. Before its October premiere, Till will screen at this year's New York Film Festival.
'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery'
Fans of 2019's Knives Out will have much to look forward to this fall with the highly anticipated release of the second film of the franchise, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Like the first movie, Glass Onion is written and directed by Rian Johnson, but it will find a new home on Netflix. Daniel Craig returns to Glass Onion as the charismatic Cajun detective Benoit Blanc, this time heading to Greece to take on a new investigation with a fresh and eclectic collection of suspects.
Although little has been released concerning the plotline of Glass Onion, audiences can expect an Agatha Christie-style whodunit with elements of contemporary social commentary. Along with Craig's iconic role reprisal, Glass Onion's cast will include performances from Edward Norton, Kathyrn Hahn, Janelle Monáe, and Leslie Odom Jr. Netlfix has yet to date Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery's official release. Still, the movie is expected to come out sometime in October or November.
'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
In November, one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most highly anticipated films will finally premiere, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, written and directed by Ryan Coogler. Wakanda Forever is predicted to uphold Coogler's original vision and pay homage to the late-Chadwick Boseman, star of the first Black Panther.
Wakanda Forever will once again focus on the kingdom of Wakanda, with its leaders fighting to defend their sacred home in the wake of the death of King T'Challa, Boseman's character. Many of Black Panther's fantastic performers will return for their roles in Wakanda Forever, including Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, and Danai Gurira. Unfortunately, Wakanda Forever faced many setbacks during production: the film's screenplay underwent substantial changes when Boseman passed away in 2020. However, Coogler's sensibilities as a filmmaker will undoubtedly deliver another meaningful and expertly crafted superhero film in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, coming to theaters nationwide on November 11th.
'The Fabelmans'
Hot off the release of his adaptation of West Side Story in 2021, Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg will be back in the conversation this fall with his latest movie, The Fabelmans. The Fabelmans will be loosely based on Spielberg's own experiences growing up in a Jewish family in Arizona and possibly the high-profile director's most personal film to date.
The Fabelmans has an impressive cast that includes Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogan, and newcomer Gabriel LaBelle. LaBelle will play Sammy Fabelman, a young man with aspirations of becoming a filmmaker in post-World War II America, clearly based on Spielberg's own upbringing. In the film, Sammy uncovers a family secret that overturns everything he thinks he knows about his historical lineage.The Fabelmans will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, one of the glitziest premieres of this year's edition. Universal Pictures will release The Fabelmans in theaters beginning November 11th.
'She Said'
This autumn, German director Maria Schrader will release her most significant work to date, She Said. Starring Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan, She Said is based on the 2019 novel of the same name, exposing many high-profile accounts of the sexual misconduct of former A-list movie producer Harvey Weinstein and serving as an incitement to the #MeToo Movement.
Mulligan and Kazan star in She Said as New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who worked unremittingly to uncover many of Weinstein's crimes and to assist his victims in coming forward with their accounts of abuse. With its timely subject and proximity to the problems caused by the male-dominated film industry, She Said is likely to make a massive splash in this year's fall movie lineup. She Said will be distributed by Universal Pictures beginning on November 18th.
'Bones & All'
After creating short films, documentaries, and even television shows for the past few years, Luca Guadagnino will finally release a new feature-length movie, Bones and All, this fall. Reuniting with Call Me By Your Name star Timothée Chalamet and working with rising star Taylor Russel for the first time, this will be Guadagnino's first film shot in the United States. Chalamet and Russel will be at the center of Bones and All, a romantic horror film set in Regan-Era America.
Bones and All will focus on a story of young love as two marginalized and lonely individuals find a home in one another during a road trip across 1980s America. However, in a departure from this quintessentially romantic narrative, Russel's character, Maren, struggles with a mysterious desire to devour human flesh that has plagued her entire life and driven her to the outskirts of society. Chalamet's character Lee also toils to escape his tortured past, although in different ways than Maren. With a plot line still shrouded in mystery, Bones and All will likely surprise many audiences when it is released. The film will premiere in competition at Venice Film Festival in early September before being released on November 23rd.