Picture this: It’s a gloomy autumn day. Grey clouds roll over the sky and dead maple leaves drag across the sidewalk. You curl up on your couch, clicking through endless streaming services, trying to find the perfect watch—but there’s just too much! How on earth are you supposed to choose? Everything feels the exact same, and nothing is quite fitting to what you are looking for.
In the very likely case that you need a bit of assistance, here are some offbeat, funky fall film recommendations for your viewing pleasure.
The Fear Street Trilogy (dir. Leigh Janiak)
Based on the books by R.L. Stein, the Fear Street trilogy follows a group of teenagers from the poor, crime-filled town of Shadyside as they uncover the truth behind the evil that has plagued it for over three hundred years. The Fear Street trilogy is a love letter to campy slasher films from the 80s and 90s, but still manages to be its own story that divests from many common slasher tropes. Even better, it includes not one, but three movies taking place in 1994, 1978, and 1666 respectively—all of which add to the story arc of Fear Street in their own ways. Viewers will undoubtedly be able to laugh, scream, and cry while they binge all three of the films and watch the story unfold before their eyes.
A Ghost Story (dir. David Lowery)
By far one of the most unique films to come out of the 2010s, A Ghost Story comes across as more poetry than film in its exploration of human existence, grief, and legacy. On the surface, the film is about a man who dies and becomes an invisible sheet ghost that haunts his old house in order to reconnect with his grieving wife. In actuality, the film covers far more than just this: it uses stunning visuals, a purposeful lack of dialogue, and a reliance on setting to tell the story of a ghost’s journey outside time.
I Saw the TV Glow (dir. Jane Schoenbrun)
I Saw the TV Glow follows a lonely teenager whose classmate introduces him to an offputting TV show that the two of them end up bonding over. Upon its release in 2024, the psychological horror and fantasy film became an instant hit within the queer community. Its unique way of tackling the struggles and isolation of growing up in a small town and how queer identity sustains itself through it all resonated with many people, solidifying it as a piece of queer media that will be talked about for years to come. However, absolutely anyone can enjoy this film for its gorgeous cinematography, color palette, soundtrack, psychological horror elements, and references to those low-quality TV shows that would play on your box television as a child.
Girl, Interrupted (dir. James Mangold)
Based on the 1993 memoir by the same name, Girl, Interrupted follows Susanna Kaysen, an aimless young woman, into the Claymoore mental institution after she attempts suicide. While there, she meets and befriends a variety of young, mentally ill women like her who are all just trying their best to survive in a world that always seems against them. The cast of this film is full of recognizable names from the nineties: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie (whose performance earned her the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role), Brittany Murphy, and Clea DuVall. Though it never dabbles in the supernatural, Girl, Interrupted is nonetheless terrifying in its exploration of severe mental illness and how it can permanently change a person’s mind, body, and perspective of the world.
The VVitch (dir. Robert Eggers)
The VVitch excels in its portrayal of horror as it could have been experienced in colonial times. Set in 1630s New England, it follows a family who was cast out of their village and forced to live on their own by a dark forest they believe to be dangerous. The paranoia and hysteria experienced by the family regarding the supernatural eerily reflects the witch trials in the 1600s, and, coupled with the greyscale visuals that the film offers, creates a dark atmosphere that does not need to rely on jumpscares to deeply frighten and unsettle the viewer.
Lisa Frankenstein (dir. Zelda Williams)
Released in 2024 and yet somehow immediately solidifying itself as a future cult classic, Lisa Frankenstein is a humorous and peculiar story of a misunderstood teenage girl who falls in love with a corpse that was brought back to life. Not only is the romance within the film incredibly compelling (despite one-half of it being dead), it is also bound to captivate viewers with its colorful visuals, odd humor, and a “weird girl” main character that you cannot help but root for.
