Patti Cake$ (August 18)
Patti Cake$ was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival, and it’s obvious why. This endearing little indie centers on a plus-size white girl named Patti, who tries to gain confidence and purpose by pursuing a rap music career. Of course, white people have run into trouble crossing into the rap space—cough, Iggy Azalea, cough—but Patti Cake$ is executed with genuine authenticity and heart. Which is why it works.
Home Again (September 8)
Reese Witherspoon follows up her acclaimed role in Big Little Lies with Home Again, a heartfelt dramedy about a recently-separated mother whose life flips upside down when she lets three twenty-something dudes stay in her house. At first, this film seems formulaic and a tad cheesy, but Witherspoon’s nuanced performance makes it worth the watch. Oh, and her house-mates are pretty hot too.
All I See Is You (September 15)
Blake Lively plays a blind woman who regains her sight and realizes her life—and marriage—are royally screwed up. There’s a campy, Obsessed element to this film that makes it perfect popcorn fun. Something tells me Lively’s husband in the film, played by Jason Clarke, is up to no good.
mother! (September 15)
Director Darren Aronofsky follows up 2014’s Noah with mother!, a psychological horror movie that is shrouded in secrecy. The only thing we know for sure is that Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem’s “tranquil existence” gets interrupted when Michelle Pfeiffer and Ed Harris show up to their house. Kristen Wiig’s in this film, too, doing…who TF knows? But it looks good. And scary as hell.
Battle of the Sexes (September 22)
Emma Stone and Steve Carell star in this historical comedy about the iconic 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Spoiler alert: King wins, which is a big deal because Riggs spent weeks telling the press there’s no way a woman could beat him. Stone and Carell’s chemistry jumps off the screen here.
Flatliners (September 29)
Ellen Page and Nina Dobrev lead this sci-fi horror romp, which focuses on a group of med students who use high-tech equipment to briefly stop their hearts and experience death. As you can imagine, things don’t exactly go well. This film is actually a follow-up to the 1990 film with the same name. Both are ridiculous, but highly entertaining.
The Mountain Between Us (October 6)
The Mountain Between Us is just like Titanic —but in this case Jack (Idris Elba) and Rose (Winslet) get stranded at the top of a frigid mountain and have to fight for survival. So it’s actually nothing like Titanic. Elba’s signature smolder is abundant in this movie, though. Praised be.
Breathe (October 13)
Annnd here’s your first tearjerker of the season. It stars Andrew Garfield as Robin Cavendish, a man who contracts polio at 28 years old, paralyzing him from the neck down. With only a few months left to live, he and his wife (Claire Foy) travel around the world helping other people with the same affliction. Like we said, get ready to cry.
Marshall (October 13)
Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Sterling K. Brown, and Kate Hudson star in this heart-racing biographical drama about Thurgood Marshall’s life. But this isn’t a sweeping biopic: It focuses on one, very specific case Marshall took on before he became a household name. The performances in this one look spectacular.
Goodbye Christopher Robin (October 13)
Winnie the Pooh gets the Finding Neverland treatment in Goodbye Christopher Robin, which explores how A. A. Milne found the inspiration for Disney’s beloved yellow bear. Warning: Nostalgic feels ahead—not to mention Margot Robbie slaying a blond bob.
The Snowman (October 20)
Michael Fassbender tries to unmask a serial killer who decapitates his victims in The Snowman, a tight psychological thriller that’s pervasively bleak.
Same Kind of Different as Me (October 20)
An art dealer (Greg Kinnear) tries to save his marriage by befriending a homeless man (Djimon Hounsou). That’s a confusing presence, I know, but there’s a sweet spirit to Same Kind of Different as Me that warrants it a spot on your must-watch list. Plus, Renée Zellweger is in it!
Wonderstruck (October 20)
This time-bending drama comes from the supremely talented Todd Haynes, who directed Carol and Far From Heaven. In it, two young children from different time periods set out to find people they think will forever change them. For young Ben (Oakes Fegley), it’s his father. For Rose (Millicent Simmonds, Julianne Moore), it’s a famous actress.
Killing of a Sacred Deer (October 27)
Absurdist maestro Yorgos Lanthimos helms Killing of a Sacred Deer , which looks far scarier than his last film, The Lobster. Like mother!, this film’s specific plot is still a mystery, but it looks psychologically taxing. Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell star.
Novitiate (October 27)
Margaret Qualley and Melissa Leo star in this religious drama about a young girl who trains to become a nun during the 1970s, a time of radical change in the Catholic Church. This film is female in its DNA; it’s written and directed by Margaret Betts and boasts a largely-female cast. If that’s not enough to get you to the cinema, maybe Dianna Agron’s presence will do the trick. She played Quinn in Glee!
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Professor Marston & the Wonder Women (October 27)
Wonder Woman’s origin is revealed in this historical drama about William Marston (Luke Evans, a.k.a Gaston), the college professor who originally created the lasso-wielding superhero. And what was his inspiration, you ask? The romantic relationship he and his wife (Rebecca Hall) began with his student (Bella Heathcote). Very saucy.
Thor: Ragnarok (November 3)
Thor (Chris Hemsowrth) has a lot of battling to do in this epic sequel. First, he has to win a duel against The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) in order to escape planet Sakaar. Then he has to stop Hela (Cate Blanchett) from destroying Asgard . All in a day’s work, ya know? (Real talk: Blanchett is the greatest villain in superhero movie history.)
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A Bad Moms Christmas (November 3)
Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn return in the sequel to 2016’s critically-acclaimed Bad Moms. It’s basically the same movie, but holiday-themed: Our three protagonists rebel against Christmas-mom expectations by getting drunk at the mall, not buying Christmas trees, and demanding better presents. This Is Us dreamboat Justin Hartley makes a wonderful, shirtless cameo.
Murder on the Orient Express (November 10)
Kenneth Branagh, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, and Josh Gad star in this lighting-fast period thriller about a murder mystery aboard a train. It’s your standard Whodunnit?, but this star-studded cast makes it worth seeing.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (November 10)
A rightfully-enraged mother (Frances McDormand) starts a billboard smear campaign against her local police because she feels they didn’t try to solve her daughter’s murder. That’s a bleak premise, I know, but this film actually looks rip-roaringly funny.
Justice League (November 17)
Gal Gadot returns as Wonder Woman in Justice League, which assembles all your DC faves—Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the Flash—for some crime-fighting action. Seeing Jason Momoa shirtless is enough to check this one out.
Molly’s Game (November 22)
This wild true story stars Jessica Chastain as Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most exclusive poker game for 10 years. Seriously, her game attracted some of the richest and most high-profile people in the world. This film explores how Bloom got rich…and lost it all. (She was arrested by the FBI in the middle of the night.) Chastain delivers an explosive (and amazing) performance, as per usual.
Call Me By Your Name (November 24)
A passionate relationship develops between a doctoral student (Armie Hammer) and a 17-year-old boy (Timothée Chalamet) as they spend a summer together in Italy. It’s like Carol, but younger and with dudes. Real talk, though: Call Me by Your Name was a hit at Sundance and is a fine addition to the short list of modern, queer love films.