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With Halloween right around the corner, viewers have plenty of seasonal titles to choose from in October. But there’s more than horror to look forward to in theaters and on your favorite streaming services this month, from Prime Video to Hulu. Loki and Our Flag Means Death both return for new seasons, as does, somehow, Frasier (though most of its cast will be nowhere to be seen).
Beyond that, we’ll be getting big new movies, including one of the year’s most-anticipated films from Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), a team-up of Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones, and a new take on Edgar Allan Poe. (OK, that last one is pretty scary.) And so is the month’s first notable new movie. Here’s everything to watch in theaters, plus what we’re eyeing on streaming this month.
(Plus: Check out our list of the 42 Must-See Movies of Fall 2023.)
Best Movies and Shows to Watch: October 2023
Here’s your guide to what’s coming to theaters and streaming this month.
The Exorcist: Believer (Theaters, Oct. 6)
Director David Gordon Green recently wrapped up a trilogy of new Halloween movies that served as direct sequels to the original film starring their original lead. So why not do it again? The Exorcist: Believer brings back Ellen Burstyn for a continuation of the story begun 50 years ago in the original The Exorcist. It, too, will be part of a trilogy. Get Tickets on Fandango
Foe (Theaters, Oct. 6)
Based on a novel by Ian Reid (I’m Thinking of Ending Things), the latest from Lion director Garth Davis stars Paul Mescal as a man selected to serve work in space and Saoirse Ronan as the wife he leaves behind. Sort of: Part of the job involves him leaving a lookalike robot behind in his place. Get Tickets on Fandango
Totally Killer (Prime Video, Oct. 6)
The second feature from Nahnatchka Khan (Always Be My Maybe) sounds like a cross between a slasher movie and Back to the Future. Kiernan Shipka stars as Jamie, a woman on a trip to the far-off year of 1987 where she hopes to change history so her mother (Julie Bowen) and her friends don’t fall victim to a masked killer. Stream it on Prime Video
The Burial (Theaters, October 6, Prime Video Oct. 13)
Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones star in a fact-based David vs. Goliath courtroom drama directed by Maggie Betts. Both are on the David side of the battle: Foxx plays a flashy lawyer who helps a funeral home owner (Jones) take on a funeral industry giant threatening his business.Stream it on Prime Video
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Showtime, Oct. 6)
William Friedkin’s final film revisits Herman Wouk’s stage play version of The Caine Mutiny, a story of a captain (Keifer Sutherland) removed from duty by his crew. But is there more to the story? Jason Clarke, Jake Lacy, and the late Lance Reddick round out the cast. Stream it with Paramount+ x Showtime Bundle
The Royal Hotel (Theaters, Oct. 6)
Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick play a pair of backpackers working at an Australian Outback bar owned by a character played by Hugo Weaving. That might sound like the set-up for a pleasant culture clash comedy but consider this: Garner and director Kitty Green’s previous collaboration, The Assistant, was an incisive and deeply uncomfortable look at workplace power dynamics and sexual abuse. This film is reputed to be even more intense. Get Tickets on Fandango
The Greatest Show Never Made (Prime Video, Oct. 11)
In 2002, 30 would-be contestants gathered to film what they were told was an ambitious new reality show that would change their lives. The problem: The show didn’t exist. What happened? This documentary miniseries attempts to get to the bottom of the story. Stream it on Prime Video
Nada (Hulu, Oct. 11)
Robert De Niro’s highest profile October project is, of course, Martin Scorsese’s film. But you can also catch De Niro in this Spanish-language series playing a New York writer and friend to Manuel (Luis Brandoni), an Argentine sophisticate who has to reinvent his life after the unexpected death of his longtime assistant. Stream it on Hulu
The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix, Oct. 12)
No stranger to miniseries inspired by classic horror literature thanks to The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, Mike Flanagan turns his attention to Edgar Allan Poe with his latest series. Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, and Mary McDonnell head a cast that includes many Flanagan regulars. Stream it on Netflix
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour Concert Film (Theaters, Oct. 13)
You might not have been able to score tickets to Taylor Swift’s most recent tour but you can catch it in theaters. This concert film, a surprise announcement, features Swift playing the hits from throughout her career. Get Tickets on Fandango
Fair Play (Netflix, Oct. 13)
In this tense drama from Chloe Domont, Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor co-star as a New York power couple whose lives are upended when one of them scores an unexpected promotion, throwing their relationship out of balance. A hit at Sundance, it’s likely to start many conversations. Stream it on Netflix
Anatomy of a Fall (Theaters, Oct. 13)
French director Justine Triet won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival with this thriller starring Sandra Hüller as a woman forced to defend herself after her husband’s death. The only witness to the event: their blind, 11-year-old son. Get Tickets on Fandango
Quest for Craft
The third season of Questlove’s Webby award-winning digital series Quest for Craft launches today, with the musician and producer teaming up with The Balvenie to interview guests like Anderson .Paak, Yo-Yo Ma, Lena Waithe and Fred Armisen on how they perfect their craft. Episodes are now live on The Balvenie’s YouTube channel.
Killers of the Flower Moon (Theaters, Oct. 20)
Based on David Grann’s remarkable book of the same name, Martin Scorsese’s latest tells the story of a series of murders in the Osage Nation. But the killings are only part of a larger history of betrayal and exploitation tied to the discovery of oil on Osage land. It’s the first Scorsese film to star the two leading men who have figured most prominently in his career — Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio — and should provide the talented Lily Gladstone with a breakout moment. Get Tickets on Fandango
The Pigeon Tunnel (Theaters and Apple TV+, Oct. 20)
Before becoming the 20th century’s premier spy novelist, David Cornwell (better known by his pen name, John le Carré) worked in British intelligence. His contact with the world of espionage didn’t end when his writing career began, as revealed in his 2016 memoir The Pigeon Tunnel. This Errol Morris documentary adapts that film via extensive interviews with Le Carré, who died in 2020. Get Tickets on Fandango
Nyad (Theaters, Oct. 20)
Annette Bening stars in this biopic of famed swimmer Diana Nyad, whose career swimming long distances led to an attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida. And when that didn’t work the first time she kept trying. Jodie Foster and Rhys Ifans co-star.Get Tickets on Fandango
Silver Dollar Road (Prime Video, Oct. 20)
Raoul Peck’s new documentary is based on Lizzie Presser’s ProPublica/New Yorker article. Specifically, it’s the story of the Reels, a Black family whose generations-long ownership of a stretch of North Carolina waterfront property is threatened when wealthy developers take an interest. Stream it on Prime Video
Five Nights at Freddy’s (Theaters and Peacock, Oct. 27)
Arriving just a few days early for Halloween, this adaptation of the popular scary video game stars Josh Hutcherson as a security guard working nights at a Chuck E. Cheese-like family entertainment restaurant. That sounds like an easy job, and it might be if the animatronic animals didn’t turn murderous after sunset. Get Tickets on Fandango and Watch on Peacock
The Holdovers (Theaters, Oct. 27)
Reuniting with Sideways director Alexander Payne, Paul Giamatti stars as an unpopular boarding school teacher at New England boarding school in the 1970s. He’s reluctantly left in charge of students unable to join their families for the holidays. An apparent bounce back from Sideways, it’s already earned wide acclaim at festivals. Get Tickets on Fandango
