Fall has finally arrived. For many, that seasonal shift means the start of a weeks-long Spooky Season marathon in which they revisit all of their creepy Halloween movie favorites. Fall onscreen does not have to be exclusively associated with knife-wielding slashers and vengeful spirits, though. As the following films prove, it can also mean amber leaves, love, coming-of-age, intriguing mysteries and even some absurd anthropomorphic animal hijinks.
Here are seven cozy movies that you can watch to help kick off fall this year.
“Little Women” (2019)
There is vibrant life bursting through every frame of “Little Women.” Writer-director Greta Gerwig’s radical adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s seminal coming-of-age novel jubilantly bounces between the past and present, joy and sadness, winter and fall across its 135 minutes. Along the way, Gerwig and cinematographer Yorick Le Saux never fail to find the texture of each passing moment (think of the lingering cigar smoke in the publisher’s office where Saoirse Ronan’s Jo makes her money, or the wind on the beach where she goes with her family).
The movie’s portrait of fall in Massachusetts feels real enough that you could reach out and touch it, and Gerwig and Le Saux repeatedly create painterly compositions that ring with thematic depth and unspoken meaning. (Note: the faraway placement of the church in the scene captured above, just moments after Ronan’s Jo has refused a marriage proposal from her best friend). It is one of the coziest and best movies of the past 10 years, and an exceptional portrait of change and growth, which may be why it captures the vibes of autumn — itself a transitional season — so well.
“When Harry Met Sally…” (1989)
Odds are, when you think of what autumn looks like in film, you think of the orange New York City leaves in “When Harry Met Sally…” This Nora Ephron-penned 1989 classic not only reinvented and redefined the romantic comedy genre, it also delivered a vision of fall onscreen that remains ingrained in the minds of everyone who has witnessed it.
The film’s version of New York Christmas and New Year’s is no less beautiful, but it is those images of Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) walking beneath the city’s amber-colored leaves that make the biggest impact. The film captures the aesthetic and atmospheric appeal of fall better than almost any other ever has. It’s iconic for a reason.
“Knives Out” (2019)
If a movie was released Thanksgiving week, there is a good chance it is a great fall film. That is, at least, certainly the case for writer-director Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out.” This tongue-in-cheek, exceptionally entertaining murder mystery about a detective (Daniel Craig) who travels to investigate the mysterious death of a rich horror novelist was shot in and around Boston in the fall of 2018, and you can tell.
Everyone is dressed in thick cable knit sweaters and overcoats and you can practically hear the brown, fallen leaves crunching beneath characters’ feet as they walk around outside. Featuring a predominantly muted, neutral color palette, “Knives Out” offers a very different vision of fall than “When Harry Met Sally…” But it is no less cozy, and it delivers the kind of cup-of-coffee, murder-mystery-by-a-fire vibes that so many like to seek out once summer is over.
“Hoosiers” (1986)
Here is a film that has no business looking as good as it does. Be that as it may, nearly every frame of “Hoosiers,” director David Anspaugh’s classic 1986 basketball film, is artistically lit and composed. Set in a small town in 1954 Indiana, its images combine together to create a striking portrait of a midwest American fall. Leaves blow in and out of the frame, fog clouds the shine of morning sunrises and stalks of wheat sway against lightly cold, crisp winds.
The film may tell its story about a high school basketball team’s journey to a historic state championship win simply and without much fuss, but it finds the emotional and visual beauty lurking beneath its plot’s surface at every turn. The resulting movie is one of the most lived-in and stirring sports movies ever made — one that gives viewers an unexpectedly cozy way to ease into autumn.
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009)
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” is a film that is absolutely bursting with brilliant autumnal colors. Director Wes Anderson’s adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel of the same name is a stop-motion animated adventure about a tricky fox (voiced by George Clooney) whose thieving spree puts the lives of his family and his entire animal community at risk.
From the burnt orange skies of many of the film’s outdoor scenes to its hero’s orange fur and complementary brown suit, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” finds every chance it can to create stunning beauty out of its decidedly fall-inspired color scheme. One of two animated entries on this list, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” has climbed up the rankings of Great Fall Movies over the past 15 years, and for good reason. Few movies are quite as cozy and as fall as this one.
“Practical Magic” (1998)
This would not be a proper list of great fall films without at least one witchy entry. Enter: “Practical Magic.” This beloved cult classic from actor-director Griffin Dunne is a celebration of love, sisterhood and feminine power. In case that was not enough, it is also overflowing with rich shades of green, yellow, red and orange. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman lead the film as a pair of witch sisters who are brought back together as adults, first by an unexpected death and then by the threat of an abusive boyfriend who just won’t stay dead.
Thanks to its story and its supernatural, lightly macabre elements, “Practical Magic” has emerged as a cozy alternative to the more brutal, straightforwardly terrifying seasonal movies that people usually choose to watch in September and October. “Practical Magic” is, in other words, a playful, warm-hearted hug of a movie, and it has got enough witchy vibes to make it either a perfect lead-in to your annual spooky season marathon, or a mid-October palate cleanser.
“Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” (2005)
Like “Practical Magic,” 2005’s “Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” has enough lightly spooky Halloween vibes to make it a perfect addition to anyone’s annual October watchlist. A lighthearted riff on classic Universal monster movies, this animated delight follows its iconic, eponymous inventor and dog as they end up in a battle with a giant, mutant rabbit that has begun to destroy their town’s vegetable crops.
Overflowing with clever visual gags and British charm, “Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” is a perfect film to watch on your couch while curled up under a blanket one fall night. It’s got all the Halloween vibes that you could possibly want, minus all of the decidedly un-cozy aspects that are present in most of the films associated with the month of October.
