40 Most Exciting Films From ‘Wicked’ to ‘Joker’

This summer movie season didn’t necessarily have a Barbenheimer Mania moment, but it did have Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine: two huge box office hits, one of which was actually good. It also gave us a Blake Lively controversy we can’t stop obsessing over, which is a win in its own way.

Still, there’s a sense that there’s more anticipation for what’s coming up this fall. There are huge, long-awaited sequels that are almost guaranteed to mint money: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Gladiator II, Moana II. The Wicked movie will take over the entire nation’s Thanksgiving. And the Lady Gaga Joker musical is coming, too. Add in some major awards contenders, like A Real Pain, His Three Daughters, and Will & Harper, and it’s an excitingly stacked fall at the movies.

Here’s our guide to the 30 films coming up that especially caught our eye.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Sept. 6

It’s showtime! Reviews out of the Venice Film Festival were polite, if not ecstatic. But it’s hard to imagine nostalgists not having fun watching Michael Keaton run amok again.

The Front Room

Sept. 6

A psychological horror thriller starring Brandy is very much for me, and should be for all of you, too.

Rebel Ridge

Sept. 6

The Netflix action thriller is going to make a huge star out of Aaron Pierre.

His Three Daughters

Sept. 6

His Three Daughters got rave reviews when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, with Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, and Elizabeth Olsen giving some of the best performances of their careers. (Cue the chorus of, “Mother!”)

My Old Ass

Sept. 13

Without a doubt my favorite movie title of the year, the coming of age film features Aubrey Plaza, Maisy Stella, and an epic dance scene set to a Justin Bieber song.

Speak No Evil

Sept. 13

Horror hit factory Blumhouse is aiming for another box office smash with Speak No Evil, which stars a creeper than ever James McAvoy hosting his friends on the weekend holiday from hell.

A Different Man

Sept. 20

My colleague Nick Schager went absolutely bananas for A Different Man when it premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. The psychosexual thriller stars Sebastian Stan as a man with neurofibromatosis—which led to his disfigurement—who becomes fixated with an actor playing him in a play based on his life. It’s the best performance of Stan’s career, announcing him a major movie star.

The Substance

Sept. 20

The Demi Mooraissance is upon us—and frankly has taken far too long to get here. Moore makes a stunning acting comeback in The Substance, a body horror fantasia in which an aging celebrity uses a black market drug to create a younger version of herself. It’s a skewering of image, hubris, and body ideals, with Moore’s casting adding a deliciously meta layer.

Super/Man

Sept. 21

Stock up on Kleenex before watching this gorgeous documentary on the life of Christopher Reeve, Hollywood’s original Superman.

Azrael

Sept. 27

This dystopian horror film starts Samara Weaving as a girl who escapes a cult in which no one speaks, and is hunted down by them after fleeing their imprisonment.

Sleep

Sept. 27

The horror movie Sleep is sure to give you nightmares! Get it?!

The Wild Robot

Sept. 27

The animated film, about a robot stranded on a deserted island, has a stacked voice cast that includes Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Catherine O’Hara, and Bill Nighy.

Megalopolis

Sept. 27

Francis Ford Coppola’s preposterously expensive, self-financed film was the stuff of legend before its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival revealed how absolutely bonkers its plot and the acting was. Destined to be a cult classic.

Will & Harper

Sept. 27

I cannot express to you how surprised and moved I was by this documentary when it premiered at last year’s film festival. It follows Will Ferrell on a road trip with his longtime best friend, Harper Steele, as the two attempt to get to know each other—and the country—better after Harper came out as a trans woman.

Joker: Folie à Deux

Oct. 4

The extreme tension between absolutely despising the first Joker film but rooting for this sequel to be spectacular because of Lady Gaga’s presence is a cross that all gay men must bear.

Lonely Planet

Oct. 11

I could not be more supportive of the recent genre of fabulous Oscar-winning actresses getting a rom-com where the woman falls in love with a younger hunk—see: Anne Hathway in The Idea of You; Nicole Kidman in A Family Affair. So I will be seated and rapt for Lonely Planet, in which Laura Dern gets romanced by Liam Hemsworth.

We Live in Time

Oct. 11

This is the movie that went viral when its poster inexplicably featured, prominently, a carousel horse that looked like it had just done a hit of acid. Aside from the carnival equine, the romance stars Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh.

Anora

Oct. 18

Director Sean Baker has, in my opinion, a flawless record of making kickass films that shine a spotlight on the people who live in the shadows: Tangerine, The Florida Project, Red Rocket. Early buzz for Anora is that the new film is no exception. Critics have been particularly blown away by Mikey Madison’s lead performance as a Brooklyn sex worker who impulsively gets married to a Russian oligarch.

Venom: The Last Dance

Oct. 25

Tom Hardy returns as the last truly cool superhero. (Sorry, Deadpool.)

Here

Nov. 1

Asking the question, “Is it a movie, or just a gimmick?,” Here takes place over the course of a century, but the camera never moves from one spot of land. A preview image of creepily de-aged Tom Hanks and Robin Wright immediately went viral. There is high potential for disaster with this one, and I am seated for it.

A Real Pain

Nov. 1

Jesse Eisenberg wrote, directed and stars in A Real Pain, a triumph of a movie about two cousins who reunite on a tour through Poland to travel to their late grandmother’s original home. Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are superb as the Odd Couple-esque cousins. Don’t be surprised if Culkin adds an Oscar nomination to his recent Emmy win.

The Piano Lesson

Nov. 8

August Wilson’s monumental play gets a fiery adaptation starring Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, John David Washington, and Danielle Deadwyler. The truck is pulling up to the loading dock with Oscar statues now.

Emilia Pérez

Nov. 13

This movie is going to be a blast when it comes out. There are people who saw it at the Cannes Film Festival who liked it so much that they’ve added it and performers Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón to their Oscar prediction; the female ensemble even shared the Best Actress prize at the fest. Others, however, have told me it ranks among the worst movies they’ve seen in their entire lives. I can’t wait for the discourse.

Back in Action

Nov. 15

November 15 deserves to be a national holiday because it is the day on which the most underrated actress of our lifetime, Cameron Diaz, returns to the big screen. (Well, a screen—it’s a Netflix movie.) The action comedy co-stars Jamie Foxx, and the plot is irrelevant because all that matters is that it brought Diaz back to acting.

Red One

Nov. 15

It was a matter of time before Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson starred in a Christmas movie. He plays the head of North Pole security, who teams up with a bounty hunter played by Chris Evans to rescue a kidnapped Santa Claus. The box office is already counting its dollars.

Gladiator II

Nov. 22

There are so many people in my life who I already know are going to make this sequel, starring Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal, the entire personalities.

Wicked

Nov. 22

Meanwhile, I will be making this movie my entire personality.

Spellbound

Nov. 22

And if I grow tired of Wicked on the fourth or 17th time I go see it, there will be Spellbound waiting for me, a new animated movie musical (!) starring Rachel Zegler, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, John Lithgow, and Jenifer Lewis. The movie is set in Lumbria—A+ fantasy world name—where a young girl named Ellian must break a curse that has divided her kingdom and turned her parents into monsters.

Our Little Secret

Nov. 27

This is the new Lindsay Lohan Netflix Christmas movie that will probably be terrible but we will pretend is actually good because we all need a little joy in our lives over the holidays.

Moana 2

Nov. 27

Sequels are lazy cash grabs that annoy us—unless they are sequels to Moana. “How Far I’ll Go” will forever slap.