10 must-see new movies to stream at home this fall
Not ready (or able) to hit the theater yet? Here’s what to watch while safely on the sofa.
Usually when the end of August rolls around, film fans prepare for the cinematic doldrums prior to awards season. Like everything else this pandemic-filled year, however, expectation is subject to change.
Indoor movie theaters are slowly beginning to reopen as people weigh returning to cinemas for major releases like Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller “Tenet” (rolling out Monday) and the anticipated superhero sequel “Wonder Woman 1984” (Oct. 2). But for movie fans who live where theaters aren’t open or who don’t feel safe going, Netflix and various other streaming services are funneling new films to home devices this fall.
Some movies are hanging tough to their theatrical dates, from the crime comedy “Kajillionaire” (Sept. 18) to the horror revamp “Candyman” (Oct. 16). While we wait to see if those dates stick, what’s heading to streaming seems a lot more solid.
Here are 10 upcoming movies to definitely put on your quarantine calendar:
‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ (Sept. 4)
Stars: Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, Toni Collette
Director: Charlie Kaufman
The skinny: The latest from Kaufman (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), the psychological horror tale stars Buckley as a young woman rethinking her relationship with her boyfriend (Plemons) – and that’s before the very weird things that happen when they visit the family farm of his parents (Collette and David Thewlis).
● Where to watch: Netflix
‘Mulan’ (Sept. 4)
Stars: Yifei Liu, Tzi Ma, Jet Li Director: Niki Caro
The skinny: After several COVID-19related delays, Disney’s live-action remake is here and promises an actionpacked historical epic. Liu stars in the title role of a young girl who takes the place of her ailing father (Ma) when he’s drafted into the Chinese imperial army and passes herself off as a male warrior.
● Where to watch: Disney+
‘The Devil All the Time’ (Sept. 16)
Stars: Tom Holland, Riley Keough, Robert Pattinson
Director: Antonio Campos
The skinny: Holland stars in a Midwestern gothic thriller, told over two decades, as a young man threatened by the sinister characters of a backwoods Ohio town, including a corrupt lawman (Sebastian Stan), an odd couple (Keough and Jason Clarke) and a seriously unholy preacher (Pattinson).
● Where to watch: Netflix
‘Antebellum’ (Sept. 18)
Stars: Janelle Monae, Kiersey Cle
mons, Jena Malone
Directors: Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz
The skinny: In the twisty film that looks at racism through different lenses, Monae plays a slave on a Southern plantation forced to deal with Confederate masters, and also as a modern-day sociologist who studies the historical disenfranchisement of Blacks. You’ll have to see for yourself how the different Monaes connect.
● Where to watch: Apple TV, Vudu and FandangoNOW
‘The Glorias’ (Sept. 30)
Stars: Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Bette Midler
Director: Julie Taymor
The skinny: The biopic tells the story of activist and feminist icon – played by multiple actresses, including Moore and Vikander – from growing up in 1940s Ohio to having a leading role in the women’s liberation movement in the ’60s and ’70s. Along the way, she meets Dorothy Pitman Hughes (Janelle Monae) and Bella Abzug (Midler).
● Where to watch: Amazon and video-on-demand platforms
‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ (Oct. 16)
Stars: Sacha Baron Cohen, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eddie Redmayne Director: Aaron Sorkin
The skinny: Sorkin tackles the court battle fought by the men – including Abbie Hoffman (Cohen), Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong), Tom Hayden (Redmayne) and Bobby Seale (Abdul-Mateen) –charged with conspiracy to incite a riot after their protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention turned into a violent clash with authorities.
● Where to watch: Netflix
‘Rebecca’ (Oct. 21)
Stars: Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas
Director: Ben Wheatley
The skinny: Alfred Hitchcock’s version of Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 gothic novel famously won a best picture Oscar, and now Wheatley (”Kill List”) takes a turn with the story of a young newlywed (James) who visits the family estate of her husband (Hammer) but can’t shake the shadow of his dead first wife.
● Where to watch: Netflix
‘Bad Hair’ (Oct. 23)
Stars: Elle Lorraine, Lena Waithe, Laverne Cox
Director: Justin Simien
The skinny: The 1989-set horror satire stars Lorraine as an ambitious LA woman named Anna working to get ahead in the image-conscious world of music television. When her ex-supermodel new boss (Vanessa Williams) warns Anna about her natural hair, she gets a weave that begins to have a crazy mind of its own.
● Where to watch: Hulu
‘Over the Moon’ (Oct. 23)
Stars: Cathy Ang, Phillipa Soo, Ken Jeong
Director: Glen Keane
The skinny: The animated musical comedy/adventure features a scienceloving young girl named Fei Fei (voiced by Ang) who believes in the existence of a mythical Moon Goddess. She builds her own rocket ship for a lunar mission that also includes her stowaway soonto-be stepbrother (Robert G. Chiu).
● Where to watch: Netflix
‘On the Rocks’ (October)
Stars: Bill Murray, Rashida Jones, Marlon Wayans
Director: Sofia Coppola
The skinny: “Lost in Translation” collaborators Coppola and Murray reunite for a comedy that stars Jones as a New York mother who wonders where her supposedly busy husband (Wayans) is spending his time, and her extroverted playboy dad (Murray) suggests they follow him to see what’s up.
● Where to watch: Apple TV+ and in theaters