A husband woven from wicker (!), the real-life origin story of the movie Rocky, and footage of Harlem Renaissance dignitaries gathering over 50 years ago — they're all in theaters this fall. Here are the movies NPR critics are looking forward to this season.
The Uprising
In theaters Sept. 10
In Paul Greengrass' gritty drama, Andrew Garfield leads a post-pandemic rebellion against a government that coddles oligarchs while taxing the poor to wage lengthy foreign wars. His grassroots rabble faces a leader who is revered even as he lies to his people and acts like the petulant 14-year-old he is. It's England's Peasants' Revolt of 1381 against Richard II (Shakespeare wasn't fond of him either), but as Garfield utters a fervent "no kings," Greengrass won't be upset if you hear echoes of today. — Bob Mondello
The Weight
In theaters Sept. 18
Ethan Hawke has been on a tear in both television (The Lowdown) and film (Blue Moon). Here, he plays a Depression-era father offered an irresistible deal by the corrupt warden of the prison camp where he's incarcerated: get out early in exchange for helping smuggle a load of gold through the wilderness. While the premise feels familiar — a good father potentially does bad and dangerous things to save his child — Hawke is as reliable as anybody currently working at making the familiar seem new. — Linda Holmes
Primetime
In theaters Sept. 25
There was a time when Chris Hansen's hidden-camera stings on To Catch a Predator were among the hottest properties on TV, but the legacy of the show has, shall we say, evolved over time, as has the reputation of Hansen himself, played in the film by Robert Pattinson. A 2025 documentary called Predators was not the direct inspiration for the film, which is based on a 2007 Esquire article, but it certainly helped provoke new scrutiny of the phenomenon. — Linda Holmes
The Incomer
In theaters Sept. 25
The isle Sandy and Isla live on is listed by the Scots as a bird sanctuary, and indeed, they were taught as kids to defend the birds from "incomers." Their folks died, though, when they were adolescents, and they've lived off the grid for 30 years. When the authorities discover that what they'd thought was an uninhabited isle is in fact inhabited, they send a dweeby mainlander (Domhnall Gleeson) to resettle them, and he tries — lordy he tries — in a whimsically, silly, oddly endearing romp. — Bob Mondello
The Scout
In New York Sept. 25, then expands nationwide
Writer/director Paula González-Nasser based her first feature on her experiences as a location scout in New York City. It follows a young woman over the course of her day as she secures shooting locations for a TV pilot. Early reviews suggest a quiet, ruminative exploration of the place where isolation meets connection as she spends her days alone on the streets of the city and gets invited into the homes of New Yorkers who offer her fleeting but fascinating glimpses of their lives. — Glen Weldon
You Had to Be There
In New York Sept. 18, expands on September 25
There was a legendary production of Godspell in Toronto in 1972 of which no video footage survives. That's a shame, because it starred, among others, Eugene Levy, Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, and Andrea Martin, all before they were really famous. (The musical director was Paul Shaffer!) This warm, generous documentary unites all the living cast members to talk about how it came together and what it meant to them. It's a great time and a study of what great collaborations can be. — Linda Holmes
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
In theaters Sept. 25
Look, it's OK to be sad about Mahershala Ali not playing Blade. I'd personally prefer to see him in a non-IP vehicle like this one, playing a devoutly religious hitman(!) who decides to get out of the game to focus on single parenting after his wife dies. Of course, one can't just stop being a contract killer without consequences, and if any actor is up for freshening up this genre, it's Ali. Throw in John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito, and Tramell Tillman and this falls under "must-see." — Aisha Harris
Digger
In theaters Oct. 2
Alejandro González Iñárritu's "comedy of catastrophic proportions" features a thoroughly transformed Tom Cruise (i.e.: balding, drawling, and pot-bellied) as an oil tycoon who's caused — and may be the one to save humanity from — a global cataclysm. Details are scarce about the star's first big-swing, post-Mission Impossible role, but the vibe is Strangelovian, the VistaVision vistas spectacular, and the cast (John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Jesse Plemons, Sandra Hüller) a hoot. — Bob Mondello
The Social Reckoning
In theaters Oct. 9
Aaron Sorkin's companion piece to his Oscar-winning The Social Network dives into the explosive 2021 revelations of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison). The documents Haugen leaked showed that Facebook knew about the mental health impacts of its platforms on teenage girls and its role in spreading false and harmful information. Sorkin directs Jeremy Allen White as the reporter who broke the story, while the first film's Zuckerberg-as-toxic-collegian has grown up to be Zuckerberg-as-toxic-Silicon-Valley-titan, now played by Jeremy Strong. — Bob Mondello
Misty Green
In theaters Oct. 9
Rosalind Eleazar is a prickly star attempting a comeback in writer-director Chris Rock's showbiz chronicle. With a useless agent (Topher Grace), a devoted yet volatile brother (Daniel Kaluuya), and a former flame (Adam Driver) who's into "open-minded friends who might want to make a little extra cash," will she be able to trust a filmmaker (Rock) who actually seems to care about her? Guess we'll see. — Bob Mondello
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
In theaters Oct. 16
For 50-plus years, a crucial historic moment has gone unseen by the public: a gathering in 1972 of the living dignitaries of the Harlem Renaissance at Duke Ellington's home. Finally, the late filmmaker William Greaves' unfinished footage of the riveting debates and illuminating anecdotes shared that day has been restored and completed by his son David, who served as a cameraman to his dad. It's one of the best films I saw at Sundance, and one of the best movies you'll see all year. — Aisha Harris
Fatherland
In theaters Oct. 23
Hanns Zischler plays novelist Thomas Mann, author of Death in Venice, Doctor Faustus, and other 20th-century masterworks, in this third part of Paweł Pawlikowski's post-World War II trilogy. Mann takes a fraught 1949 road trip with his daughter (Sandra Hüller) to accept a prize in East Germany. Told he's risking persecution for attending, he notes testily that literature knows no national boundaries. Pawlikowski won best director at Cannes. — Bob Mondello
Possible Love
In limited theaters Oct. 23, on Netflix Nov. 6
It's been nearly a decade since Lee Chang-dong's last feature, the excellent slow-burn thriller Burning. His follow-up, which is making the festival rounds and co-stars Cho Yeo-jeong (Parasite), sounds intriguing: A financially struggling couple agrees to be subjects in a film project about unemployment, and becomes entangled with the wealthy documentarian and her mogul husband. (Also worth noting — Lee is reuniting with his Burning co-writer Oh Jung-mi.) — Aisha Harris
Wicker
In theaters Oct. 23
Olivia Colman stars as a middle-aged fisherwoman who tires of her medieval village's downright medieval attitudes towards her unmarried status and commissions the local basketweaver (Peter Dinklage) to make her a husband. Enter: Alexander Skarsgård, a vision of elegantly woven wicker who's everything the men of the village aren't: caring, sincere and … weirdly hot? (He probably looks great on a patio, too.) I'm not a rom-com person, but when it comes to this movie, I'm rattan to the core. — Glen Weldon
Wildwood
In theaters Oct. 23
Laika, the stop-motion studio known for Coraline, ParaNorman and the woefully underseen Kubo and the Two Strings, is back, baby: Prue (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) is riding her bike with her baby brother when he's kidnapped by a murder of crows. She and her classmate (Jacob Tremblay) enter a hidden, enchanted forest to bring him back. This is Laika's stock-in-trade: gorgeous, fantastic(al) visuals produced by human hands — real artists posing real puppets in front of real cameras. Still! In 2026! — Glen Weldon
A Talent for Murder
In theaters Oct. 23
Talk about mystery lover catnip: screenwriter Joanna Murray-Smith adapts her play Switzerland, which imagines the famed author Patricia Highsmith (Helen Mirren) being visited by a literary agent, Edward Ridgeway (Alden Ehrenreich). He hopes to encourage her out of retirement to write one more Tom Ripley exploit, but Highsmith is only interested if Ridgeway helps her concoct the most perfect murder. Yes, please. — Aisha Harris
Club Kid
In theaters Nov. 6
Jordan Firstman likes to satirize a specific type of influencer — queer, vapid, insufferable. In his first written and directed feature, he also stars as a club promoter who has to care for a 10-year-old son he didn't know he had. As a genre, having-a-kid-saved-my-life fare tends to drown in sentimentality, but nothing in Firstman's work suggests he's wired for cheap emotionalism. He's had so much fun daring audiences to find his characters redeemable that it'll be fascinating to watch how this plays out. — Glen Weldon
I Play Rocky
In limited theaters Nov. 6, wide release Nov. 20
In 1975, a 29-year-old unknown actor wrote a script in three days and shopped it around Hollywood. The saga of a chump who wants to be a champ, it won over everybody who read it, but there was a catch: The writer insisted on playing the lead. Could he box? Nope. Could he act? Nobody knew until they took a chance and watched the film make a mint and win a best picture Oscar. Now Oscar-winner Peter Farrelly directs Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone in the underdog story behind that underdog story. — Bob Mondello
Wild Horse Nine
In theaters Nov. 6
The latest from playwright and director Martin McDonagh finds him doing his thing: putting two weird guys (here, two CIA agents played by John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell) in a pressure situation (here a mission to Easter Island in 1973) and seeing what happens. The pleasure of McDonagh's best work is that enormously consequential events are surrounded by delightfully offbeat conversations, and Rockwell and Malkovich appear, in the trailer, to be having the best possible time together. — Linda Holmes
How to Rob a Bank
In theaters Nov. 13
From director David Leitch, who most recently made the delightful The Fall Guy, this action comedy stars Nicholas Hoult and Pete Davidson as bank robbers who promote their exploits on social media. John C. Reilly is the agent whose job it is to stop them, and Zoë Kravitz is a hacker called into service to help him. That's a lot of interesting elements. It also seems to be a commentary on the evils of banks and the economic system, a rapidly growing genre. — Linda Holmes
Bitter Christmas
In limited theaters Nov. 13, nationwide Nov. 25
It bodes well that Pedro Almodóvar's latest has drawn comparisons to his self-reflective melodrama Pain and Glory. Here, there's a film-within-a-film and multiple timelines; Raúl (Leonardo Sbaraglia) is a present-day filmmaker struggling with his latest project, which is about a movie director hindered in 2004 by a creative drought and personal troubles. Raúl finds inspiration for his screenplay in someone else's woes — though Almodóvar may suggest this isn't necessarily for the good. — Aisha Harris
Madden
On Prime Video Nov. 18
David O. Russell is a polarizing director who has made both critical darlings (Silver Linings Playbook) and absolute bombs (Amsterdam). Here, he directs Nicolas Cage as legendary football coach and commentator John Madden, who may now be at least as famous as the namesake of a video game as he was in the sport itself. While this streaming biopic for Prime Video might seem like a potential train wreck, the idea of seeing the unique Cage play the unique Madden is intriguing. — Linda Holmes
Elsinore
In theaters Nov. 20
Elsinore is the true story of Chariots of Fire star Ian Charleson (Andrew Scott), and the legendary West End Hamlet production to which he devoted the last months of his life. His final performance as the Dane so affected Ian McKellen, that when accepting an acting award the next night, McKellen declared Charleson the true best actor that year, and gave him the statuette. Charleson, who died weeks later, asked that AIDS be cited as his cause of death – becoming the first U.K. celebrity to do so. — Bob Mondello
The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth
In theaters Nov. 25, Netflix Dec. 23
Brad Pitt brings back his Oscar-winning Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood character (accompanied, presumably, by loyal pit bull Brandy) in a thriller set eight years later. Director David Fincher is working from a script by Quentin Tarantino that apparently has Booth transitioning from breezily stoic stunt double to a studio "fixer." What's not to love? — Bob Mondello
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