1. Harry Potter (All of them)
There’s something that screams fall about witches and wizards going back to school in the Hogwarts Express, with chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties in their bags. With its high ceilings, stained glass, stone walls and spooky forests, Hogwarts seems like the perfect fall destination, or the perfect place to host a Halloween party. I usually associate fall with nostalgia, and what is more nostalgic than watching movies you loved as a kid? It can also give you some good ideas for costumes, or magical treats to make for your friends if you’re hosting this season!
2. Fantastic Mr.Fox
Wes Anderson’s colour palette seems to be an ode to the autumnal colours, but out of all his movies, Fantastic Mr. Fox is without a doubt the one that captures the true spirit of autumn. The movie is adapted from Roald Dahl’s eponymous children’s book, and it revolves around a fox engaged in a battle of wits with three farmers as he tries to steal their food. There is a lot of feasting and dressing up taking place in the movie, which feels appropriate for the season. Not to mention that there is also something magical about talking animals that appeals to the child in all of us.
3. The Addams Family
There are so many exciting things about fall, and Halloween is definitely one of them. It feels like it’s Halloween year-round at the Addams Mansion, maybe because it’s haunted 365 days a year. The Addams Family falls under the spooky (but not scary) category, it should put you in the right mood for the season, but it shouldn’t prevent you from falling asleep without a light on. I’ve always thought that Morticia, the mother, had impeccable fashion sense, and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t dream of dressing up like Wednesday as a child, which means you can also get some inspiration for last minute Halloween costumes. If you can’t get enough of the Addams, there are also two sequels, the Addams Family Values and the Addams Family Reunion.
4. Dead Poets Society
The fact that this one is set at Welton Academy, a boarding school with dusty chalkboards and boys wearing uniforms, makes this the ultimate back-to-school movie. You get to see the idyllic campus change through the seasons, from fall to winter, and see Robin Williams in one of his iconic roles as John Keating, the English teacher. While this is probably the saddest movie in this short selection, it will still leave you feeling inspired to “seize the day” and “make life extraordinary”, as Keating says it himself.
5. The Sixth Sense
This one is certainly a little bit scarier than the others. It’s a movie I watch around this time of the year, not only because it feels right to watch horror movies right before Halloween, but because of the beautiful shots of Philadelphia in the fall, when Cole Sear and Dr. Crowe walk in deserted streets covered with dead leaves. It’s a treat whether you watch it for the first time or the fifth, for you’ll still pick up details here and there that you’d originally missed. It’s also worth it simply for Toni Collette’s incredible performance as a young single mother struggling to understand her son.