45 Best Fall Movies to Watch 2023
There are two types of people: the ones who live for summer and the ones who reach peak happiness as soon as the first signs of fall arrive (aka us). Good news for the latter: It's finally time to knock the dust off of our fave fall jackets and on-trend boots. But when we're not busy trying out all the upcoming fall trends we've been saving on TikTok, you can 100% find us cuddled up with our coziest throw blanket watching our favorite fall movies.
The absolute best fall movies range from spooky thrillers to classic Disney movies and everything in between. Whether you're in the mood for a rom-com, a heartfelt family movie, a sports flick, or something else entirely, there's sure to be a fall flick here for you. Personally, we think a fall movie night — complete with seasonal candles and red wine — is the ideal date night. But also, these would be fun to watch during a solo chill night in or if you want to have a low-key girls' night with your besties.
So put away your crop tops, grab a PSL, and settle in with one of these movies that give the same warm, cozy feeling as sweater weather.
1. Practical Magic
Has a more perfect fall film ever existed? We think not. This heartfelt story about two witchy sisters (our queens Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman) who must contend with a family curse that dooms anyone they fall in love with is a classic. It's practically begging to be watched on your next girls' night in (margaritas required).
2. If Beale Street Could Talk
Set in the early 1970s against the romantic backdrop of New York City's changing seasons, Fonny and Tish's romance is derailed when Fonny gets arrested for a crime he didn't commit.
3. Autumn in New York
Will Keane (Richard Gere) is an infamous 50-something playboy, but when he meets 21-year-old Charlotte (Winona Ryder), she makes him rethink his preconceptions about women, sex, and responsibility. The fall foliage in New York alone is enough to put you in the perfect October mood.
4. Coraline
Not to be dramatic, but this is literally our comfort movie in the fall all year long. Between the talking black cat, whimsical world turned evil, and the stop motion animation, you just can't get more fall than Coraline.
5. Sweet Home Alabama
New York fashion designer Melanie is suddenly engaged to the city's most eligible bachelor (*sigh*, when will it be our turn?), but he has no clue about her husband back in Alabama who refuses to divorce her.
6. Edward Scissorhands
Tim Burton gets it right every time, especially when it comes to fall vibes.
7. Mona Lisa Smile
This movie is stacked with iconic leading ladies (i.e. Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, and Julia Stiles), and we're here for it. Leave it up to Julia Roberts to teach a prestigious art history class at an all-female college and challenge everyone's traditional views of their roles in society.
8. Soul Food
If you think of fall and don't think of a table full of soul food, check your pulse, plz. Get your tastebuds (and tissues) ready for this film that follows a family coming together after the matriarch falls into a coma.
9. Sweet November
Nelson and Sara have literally nothing in common besides spending a hellish time at the local DMV. Intrigued by each other, they agree to a month-long trial to see if their attraction is true.
10. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
This movie about Mister Rogers is basically the movie equivalent of being wrapped in a cozy sweater. Tom Hanks stars as Mister Rogers with all the warmth and heart you'd expect as he's interviewed by an Esquire journalist who's struggling with his family.
11. The Edge of Seventeen
This coming-of-age movie about a high school student who struggles to fit in at school and resents living in her older brother's shadow will make you happy you've graduated high school. It has just the right amount of humor and serious moments to make it a great pick for your next movie night.
12. Friendsgiving
This raunchy comedy about a low-key Friendsgiving that quickly becomes a big, chaotic event will make you grateful for your friends and family, even if they can be a bit much. Plus, it has a great cast, including Chelsea Peretti and Kat Dennings.
13. Knives Out
This movie took home Best Chris Evans Chunky Knit at the 2020 Imaginary Academy Awards. We can’t explain it, but something about a murder mystery in a mansion is very fall.
14. The Village
One of M. Night Shyamalan’s more underrated thrillers, The Village brings a woodsy, Red Riding Hood vibe, featuring a stacked cast including Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, and Sigourney Weaver.
15. The Goonies
We know The Goonies, we love The Goonies, we revisit The Goonies every fall. This iconic flick follows a group of kiddos who embark on a lost treasure adventure after finding a pirate's map in an attic. Use this movie to mourn the end of summer romps of years past.
16. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Another Thanksgiving flick, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, follows a salesman and marketing executive on a three-day journey to get home in time for the holiday. The film has become a regular Thanksgiving tradition for many families, so go ahead and add this one to your list.
17. Little Women
If Little Women is already your autumn go-to rewatch, give one of the other seven Little Women adaptations a try, starting with Greta Gerwig's 2019 version.
18. Legally Blonde
A fall semester at Harvard University is an autumn experience most of us have never experienced... first-hand, that is. Legally Blonde’s California-to-Cambridge vibe shift will send you into the new season with a laugh.
19. Coco
The Pixar animated film Coco involves Día de los Muertos, which falls on November 1 or 2 of each year, and it's all about a little boy Miguel who learns way more than he expected about his family history after accidentally passing into the Land of the Dead.
20. The Craft: Legacy
A 2020 sequel to the iconic 1996 movie, The Craft follows a group of young women trying to freeze time with magic. Add this one to your witchy movie marathon.
21. Mystic Pizza
One of Julia Roberts’s best movies, Mystic Pizza is a coming-of-age story centered around three friends working at a local pizza parlor in a seaside Connecticut town. It’s not a dedicated seasonal movie, but it checks all the boxes–a New England town and chunky sweaters included.
22. A Ghost Story
This drama is the perfect film for someone who wants to feel the fall vibes but isn't quite ready for the horror of Halloween. A Ghost Story stars Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck (kinda) and is a spooky, thoughtful story about grief.
23. Good Will Hunting
The movie that put Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on the map! Watch a genius MIT janitor with a complicated upbringing shine, plus see Robin Williams in one of his greatest roles of all time. How do you like them apples?
24. Hocus Pocus
No matter how many times you've seen this classic about the Sanderson Sisters, it never gets old. Everyone knows it's not Halloween until you've watched this one at least once.
25. Friday Night Lights
Calling all members of the Tim Riggins Fan Club! Guilty of bingeing the show but not watching the movie? You MUST watch one of the best football—nay!—sports movies evs. Full disclosure: The key players are different (sorry, no Timmy), but you’re going to love ’em. Billy Bob Thornton and all.
26. Dead Poets Society
The last time you watched this was likely in middle school, yes? Tragic. Time to fire up another of Robin Williams’s finest performances in the touching tale of an English teacher who inspires prep school boys via poetry (swoon). P.S. Dead Poets Society is set during fall in Vermont—aka every influencer’s location tag September through November.
27. Halloweentown
Time to revisit everyone's staple childhood movie and the place we all wished was actually a real place—Halloweentown.
28. You’ve Got Mail
Screeeeeeccchh beee boooo beeep. That’s the sound of AOL booting up, remember? You’ve Got Mail is your mom’s rom-com starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, who form a mYsTeRy romance over email. (Go away, Nev! This isn’t a story about catfishing.)
29. Rudy
The ultimate underdog story. Watch Rudy try to overcome hella obstacles to reach his dream of attending Notre Dame and playing football for the Fighting Irish, eh?
30. Stepmom
Take off your mascara for this one (or just use waterproof, k?). Susan Sarandon plays a terminally ill mother dealing with the fact that her ex’s girlfriend, played by Julia Roberts, will be her kids' new stepmom.
31. October Sky
Jake Gyllenhaal. Is. Rocket Man! Okay, not quite. Watch bb Jake play high schooler Homer Hickam on a journey to build a rocket in his traditional coal-mining town. FYI: You’re just going to have to get over all the fake Southern accents in this one, lol.
32. Election
Tracy Flick walked so Leslie Knope could run. In Election, Reese Witherspoon plays Tracy, a *quintessential* overachiever in her frustrating (albeit hilarious) quest to become student body president. (FWIW, Barack Obama said this is his favorite political movie.)
33. When Harry Met Sally
So, Meg Ryan is evidently the Queen of the Leaves because here’s another rom-com she stars in that is (you guessed it!) set in ze beauty of a New York City fall. Watch Meg and Billy Crystal in what is basically the OG Friends With Benefits. Behold, the *iconic* “I’ll have what she’s having” moment.
34. Silver Linings Playbook
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence: one of the best onscreen duos. In this one, Bradley plays Pat, a man who has lost it all and returns home after a brief stint in a mental institution. Expect Bradley Cooper in a groutfit, Philadelphia Eagles mentions, frank discussions about mental health, and that Brad-Jen chemistry that keeps us going.
35. A Knight’s Tale
Current status: missing Heath Ledger and yearning for the days of elementary school field trips to the Renaissance Fair.
36. The Nightmare Before Christmas
Is this a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie? Yes. Tim Burton’s stop-motion animated flick, The Nightmare Before Christmas, tells the story of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, who stumbles through a portal to Christmas Town. A monstrous mashup ensues!
37. Remember the Titans
Use football season as an excuse (not that you need one) to play this true 1970s story of two previously segregated teams integrated for the first time under Coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington).
38. Sleepy Hollow
Another light fall spooker from Tim Burton! Watch an adaptation of the tale of the headless horseman.
39. St. Elmo’s Fire
Young Demi Moore. Young Rob Lowe. An old coming-of-age classic!
40. Matilda
OMG, Danny DeVito, I love your work! Really though. Matilda is the ~whimsical~ tale of a gifted gal who uses her powers to fight the evils that be, aka Mom, Dad, and (gasp!) Miss Trunchbull. Chocolate cake, anyone?
41. The Princess Bride
It’s a cult favorite for a reason! Tune in whether it’s your first or thousandth time watching this quirky damsel-in-distress ~fairy tale~.
42. Twilight
Say what you will about Twilight, but when you pair rainy Washington forests with vampires and other pale peeps, ya get the perfect fall flick.
43. Fantastic Mr. Fox
Gorge autumnal colors serve as the backdrop for this Wes Anderson animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox: the story of a fox who must steal to feed his fam. Prettttty fitting that silver fox George Clooney voices Mr. Fox.
44. Shawshank Redemption
One of the top-rated movies of all time needs no season, but fall is a damn good time to bust it out. God himself (JK, it’s Morgan Freeman) stars in a film focused on the friendships and hardships (and hope!) two men experience in prison.
45. Pocahontas
*Delicately places leaves in hair* *sharp inhale* CAN YOU PAINT WITH ALL THE COLORS OF THE WIIIIIND?!!!
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