With summer behind us and the holiday season just around the corner, it’s time to drink iced chai and break out your little black booties, aka autumn. Grab your chunky terracotta knit blanket and bundle up for a movie night. After a long day of apple picking, pumpkin carving, pie baking, and cider drinking, these films set a nostalgic tone. Trade in your fake blood and gory movies for comfort and love this season.
1. If I Stay
Based on the novel If I Stay by Gayle Forman, a young female musician faces an impossible decision. The movie is set in Oregon (very gloomy and autumn weather) and full of love-filled heart-wrenching flashbacks including a rock n roll Halloween night. Plus once you finish watching If I Stay there’s a second novel to the series called Where She Went that is just as heart-wrenching as the first. Warning: Ending will make you cry.
2. Lady Bird
While Sacramento doesn’t immediately give off autumn vibes, the relatable Lady Bird, played by the incredible Saoirse Ronan, expresses throughout the entire movie that she feels she is an east coast person. Lady Bird is going through growing pains and is on her way to higher education. The movie is full of love and warmth and catholic school. It will make you miss your mom and small hometown in the best way. Definitely a comfort movie. Warning: Ending will make you cry.
3. Little Women (2019 remake)
First off, the cast for this movie is undeniably incredible. Just some of the incredible stars include Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson. You can’t help but fall in love with the stories of these sisters growing up, falling in love, and following their dreams. The autumnal aura comes into play with candle-lit ballrooms, mountain views with leaves of every color, little snowy houses, and horse-drawn carriages. Warning: Ending will make you cry.
4. Twilight: New Moon
I’m sure everyone knows the plot of twilight. Supernatural love triangle. New Moon specifically is the second movie where Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen are separated. The iconic window scene of Isabella Swan’s post-breakup depression has all of the fall season covered. Comfort, warmth, heartbreak, unconditional love, and gloomy weather. It’s all in New Moon. Arguably the coziest movie of the series.
5. Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson did it again in this claymation film based on the book by Roald Dahl. The movie surrounds a family of foxes trying to outsmart and survive three farmers and in doing so they end up roping in their whole community of animals. The film touches on marriage, family dynamics, fear, honesty, identity, growing pains, and young love. You can’t watch Fantastic Mr. Fox and not want to drink some cider after and play Whack-Bat.
6. Clue
Based on the classic board game Clue, the dark American comedy begins with a dinner party at a creepy mansion and ends in murder. While there are some jump scares there’s nothing “horror” about this movie. You’ll be laughing from start to finish and probably get confused along the way. The over-dramatic costumes, characters, deaths, and running around will leave you wanting more which is good because there are three different alternate endings to wrap it all up!
Bonus Show: The Society (Netflix Original)
There is only one season of The Society and the second season ended up being canceled due to increased budget because of Covid-19. So it kind of counts as a miniseries/movie in my head at least. Anyways, it’s about a high school senior trip that goes wrong when the bus taking students to the trip returns back to their hometown due to a storm except that everyone not on that bus is gone. Parents, siblings, townspeople. All disappeared. There’s no service except to text each other. A psychopath. A supernatural explanation. Three deaths. Murder. Poison. Teen pregnancy. Guns. Feminism. Government. It makes your stomach turn each episode. The Society takes place in the fall and even features a town’s thanksgiving episode. Definitely the perfect balance of autumn coziness and Halloween fear.