After a summer of scorched grass and dust devils whipping their way through the parks of London, we are, unbelievably, approaching autumn. While some mark the autumn months by, I don’t know, picking apples, baking pies and skipping through the amber leaves in a long skirt with a wicker basket, others prefer to spend the season parked on the couch, mainlining Hobnobs while binge-watching cosy films (both are valid).
To that end, below, find 25 of the best autumn movies. And before you come at us, we’re using the phrase “autumn movies” fairly loosely here, in that not every film is set in autumn, per se, but they all share that pumpkin-spiced, back-to-school feeling.
I can barely think of this film without bursting into ugly sobs, but that hasn’t stopped me from rewatching it the moment the weather turns ever-so-slightly cool for the last three years in a row. More of Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts onscreen together in charming, seasonally appropriate hats, please! –
When I think of autumn, I automatically picture Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal walking through a leaf-strewn Central Park and talking about Sally’s ultimate sexual fantasy (which I won’t spoil, for the two of you out there who haven’t yet seen this yet). The film cycles through various seasons, but it feels most alive in autumn, making it the perfect thing to get you through a dreary November afternoon. –
Céline Sciamma’s lovely centres on a precocious eight-year-old (Joséphine Sanz) who, not long after losing her grandmother, meets a girl her age in the woods (Joséphine’s twin sister, Gabrielle). I won’t ruin their story’s sweet twist, but suffice it to say that it makes autumn in the French countryside seem doubly magical. –
Slouchy grey knits, long Calvin Klein coats, leather blazers, turtlenecks and loose-fitting jeans… is the ultimate autumn fashion moodboard. It’s also got a wonderfully loopy yet gripping plot, following London publicist Helen Quilley (Gwyneth Paltrow) as her life splits into two parallel timelines, with each depending on whether she catches the Tube or not. –
Though technically takes place over late winter and spring, it’s more of an autumn movie, really, isn’t it? Just think of all those plaid shirts and greyscale cardigans and khaki jackets and backpacks. It’s also about vampires, so bonus points for being vaguely Halloween-ish. –
While Nora Ephron’s doubles up as a Christmas movie, it’s a quintessential autumn movie, too. Crisp leaves, cosy interiors and bookish midi skirts with tights… it doesn’t get much more autumnal than that. “Don’t you love New York in the fall?” Tom Hanks’s character, Joe Fox, emails the titular Kathleen Kelly, played by the queen of autumn herself, Meg Ryan. “It makes me wanna buy school supplies.” –
Selah and the Spades (2019)
I must admit, I do love a boarding school romp (I reread by Donna Tartt every September along with everyone else for a reason!), and this film by Tayarisha Poe more than delivers. Lovie Simone’s performance is a particular standout, but the whole movie is peak East Coast academia-gone wrong energy. –
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
One could certainly argue that the bulk of this often-heartbreaking yet sweet family drama takes place in summer (just look at the juiciness of the produce Mark Ruffalo grows at his local, organic restaurant!), but the scene where Annette Benning and Julianne Moore drop their older daughter off at college will never fail to conjure September for me, with all its attendant school-related anxieties and thrills. –
(2010)
Harvard! Sweaters! Academic prowess brought to bear on defining the still-nascent internet! Sure, plenty of this movie takes place under a light snowfall, but it’s still a “back-to-school” movie for me – not that I, myself, was an Ivy League girlie, mind you. But I think I more or less get the gist of the experience from this Aaron Sorkin film. –
(2005)
It could be the scenes of New York kids walking home from the subway against a typical Brooklyn backdrop that gives this early Noah Baumbach film its back-to-school vibe, but honestly, it’s shrewd, touching, and laugh-out-loud funny enough to watch at pretty much any time of year. (Has Laura Linney ever made a mistake in her life? I don’t think so.) –
I’m actually an ardent proponent of watching this Julia Roberts/Julia Stiles/Kirsten Dunst trifecta during time of the year, but watching it in autumn will rightly make you crave a chunky knit and a thermos of hot tea to take along while you cheer for the fellas at the Harvard-Yale game. –
Far from Heaven (2002)
Strongly inspired, both in plot and colour palette, by the films of Douglas Sirk, Todd Haynes’s Far from Heaven offers up pulpy melodrama with a heaping side of Connecticut autumn. As a lonely housewife (Julianne Moore) strikes up a friendship with the son of her late gardener (Dennis Haysbert) – much to the horror of her neighbours – the foliage in their cosy suburb is totally on fire, a brilliant backdrop for a rather sad story. –
A Knight’s Tale (2001)
Heath Ledger’s charming smile will never cease to amaze me, and this film is full of it. Picture Ledger in full knight attire, and mix in a really supportive friend group and a dash of forbidden love. A Knight’s Tale will have you looking up the nearest Renaissance fair and cheering during the jousting matches like it’s the World Series. –
Yeah, yeah, the movie starts off in the seasonally indistinguishable landscape of Southern California, but as protagonist Elle Woods moves toward her goal of attending law school at Harvard, ’s landscape changes to the crunchy leaves, wool jackets and Gothic brick buildings that all signify an East Coast autumn. Elle may have some trouble dressing for the Massachusetts climate at first, but she eventually cracks it (as one might expect – the woman aced History of Polka Dots!) –
(2001)
There is simply no film character who embodies the concept of autumn quite like Margot Tenenbaum. Her seasonally appropriate clipped bob, kohl-rimmed eyes and wardrobe of primarily browns all but scream out the reason for the season; and while her signature fur coat might seem more winter adjacent, her penchant for pairing it with Lacoste polo dresses is autumn all the way. In what other season can you wear a coat with a dress, logistically speaking? –
Autumn in New York (2000)
I mean... how could I include this one? Title aside, this Winona Ryder tearjerker features many of the things I most associate with autumn, including Central Park, small museums and a woman dressed up as Emily Dickinson. We love to see it (and cry at it)! –
I will never tire of watching Reese Witherspoon’s precocious, hyper-focused, ever-so-slightly-evil Tracy Flick terrorise her entire school community by trying to be the very best girl ever… and her sweater vests are autumn-coded. (Side note: Why were so many autumn movies released in 1999?) –
And here we have yet another back-to-school movie from the ’90s, this time in the shape of Gus Van Sant’s , which is about a 20-year-old janitor (played by Matt Damon) who works at a college in Massachusetts and is secretly a self-taught mathematical genius. It’s got everything an autumn classic needs: cosy knits, a collegiate backdrop and a slightly melancholy energy. –
(1999)
I honestly don’t even know what season it’s supposed to be in the sleepy Michigan suburb where the mysterious, beautiful Lisbon sisters entrance a group of nerdy neighbourhood boys, but in my mind, it’s 100 per cent autumn – and autumn never really begins until I rewatch this Sofia Coppola gem, fire up that Air soundtrack and hear Trip Fontaine call Lux Lisbon “the still point of the turning world”. –
(1996)
Autumn-core, to me, is a different thing from Halloween-core (the former is more “freshly sharpened pencils, slowly falling autumn leaves and cider” kind of a vibe, whereas Halloween is all spooky season, all the time), but I don’t really feel like the summer season has ended until I’ve done my traditional rewatch of and desperately coveted Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True’s goth-LA-convent-girl wardrobes. –
While it may lack foliage, offer a tender love story between the grumpy Linus (Harrison Ford) and alluring Sabrina (Julia Ormond) on Long Island. What starts as a ruse to complete a business deal quickly evolves into something a little too real between the unsuspecting pair – while Sabrina’s internship in Paris adds an extra touch of fashionable fun. –
I don’t really consider it autumn until I’ve cooked up a giant vat of Texas-style chilli, lit a bunch of candles and incense in my apartment and curled up on the sofa to watch starring the dream team of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as a pair of witch sisters evading the law as they struggle to hang onto their magical powers. Bring on ! –
Even with certain scenes from Greta Gerwig’s still rattling around in my head, I wanted to shine a spotlight on the 1994 version, featuring Winona Ryder, Christian Bale and Kirsten Dunst. Though both adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s novel offer an exceptionally warm atmosphere, with their amber hues and teary-eyed pretty boys, the soft touches of this ’90s classic are paired perfectly with a weighted blanket and some London Fog. –
It is a truth universally acknowledged that any movie that (1) takes place at a boys’ boarding school and (2) stars Robin Williams has maximum cosy, nostalgic, hangover-watch potential. It’s sort of hard to rewatch this one in the wake of Williams’s passing, but it’s also worth it; parts of it still hold up, and as for the parts that don’t? Just let that East Coast academic background soothe you. –
If its poetic opening sequence didn’t announce it as such (see: the waterfronts, lawns and bridges of well-heeled Wake Forest, Illinois, bathed in the soft golden glow of high autumn), ’s cream turtlenecks, shearling coats and melancholic family drama certainly mark it down as one of the great autumn movies. Robert Redford forever! –
