20 Must-See Movies Coming Out in Fall 2024
Labor Day is almost here and for movie lovers that means one thing: we're finally getting to the good stuff. Sure there have been some hidden gems and summer blockbusters sprinkled throughout the first two-thirds of the year, but fall is really where things start heating up. From festival darlings and prestige awards season fare to glitzy holiday releases and highly anticipated sequels, autumn at the multiplex is always a good time.
The fall 2024 slate of new movies is looking particularly enticing. The season will be starting strong with the long awaited sequel to Beetlejuice coming out over Labor Day Weekend and the lineup is packed all the way through Christmas when you can watch the terrifying vampire flick Nosferatu with your entire extended family (if you have a lot of goth uncles and masochistic cousins). In between Lady Gaga will return to the big screen in Joker: Folie à Deux, Denzel Washington's entire family is staging the August Wilson play The Piano Lesson, and of course there's "Glicked" the Nov. 22 double feature of Gladiator 2 and Wicked.
At Parade, we've surveyed the fall lineup, screened some movies early and have brought you a list of 20 movies you won't want to miss this fall. So without further ado, here's the 2024 Parade Fall Movie Preview:
20 must-see movies premiering in fall 2024
1. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Sept. 6)
Someone must have said his name three times, because Betelgeuse is back! 36 years after the events of Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) and her teenage daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega, who should be getting a VMA next year for her work in the "Taste" music video) unleash Michael Keaton's poltergeist for a second time. Catherine O'Hara also returns while Monica Bellucci arrives as Betelgeuse's ex-wife. The horror comedy will surprisingly open the prestigious Venice International Film Festival before arriving in US theaters.
Related: Everything to Know About 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'
2. The Front Room (Sept. 6)
I don't know about you, but I am READY for the Brandyssance. Brandy, he singer and star of Moesha and Cinderella is returning to the big screen in this A24 horror film about a pregnant woman terrorized by her partner's estranged stepmother who moves in with them. Tony winner Andrew Burnap will play her baby daddy while The Tragedy of Macbeth and Poor Thing's Kathryn Hunter will sink her teeth into the possibly demonic mother-in-law.
3. My Old Ass (Sept. 13)
Few movies in 2024 are so delightfully perfect as this comedy about a teenage girl living in rural Canada who takes too many shrooms and is visited by her future self. Aubrey Plaza delivers her signature wit and awkwardness as the older Elliott, but its Nashville's Maisy Stella and Wednesday's Percy Hynes White as young Elliott and her love interest Chad who really make this coming-of-age saga such a joy to watch. Megan Park's script is effortlessly funny, the cinematography will make you wish you too grew up in a cranberry bog and you will be quoting this for years to come.
4. In the Summers (Sept. 20)
After snatching up the Grand Jury Prize at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, this father/daughter drama is finally arriving in theaters in September. Alessandra Lacorazza's directorial debut spans two decades at it follows a father and his two daughters through four summer visits to his home in New Mexico. René Pérez Joglar playes the troubled Vicente who aims to be a good father even as he faces his own battles and sorts through his past. The rewarding semi-autobiographical drama is one you'll want to seek out even as flashier titles beg for your attention.
5. The Substance (Sept. 20)
And shortly after the Brandyssance gets underway, we've also got the Demissance charging ahead full steam. In what feels like her first truly meaty role in quite some time, Demi Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle in this 2024 Cannes Film Festival breakout. An actor-turned-fitness guru who is fired for her age, Sparkle is offered a mysterious "substance" by a lab that promises to make her "the best version" of herself. Obviously things don't go as planned in this body horror flick that also stars Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid. We could be seeing another Oscar nom for Moore come winter.
Stefan Weinberger/Tribeca Festival
6. The Line (Sept. 27)
Somehow, despite people dying during hazing rituals every year and countless others being emotionally and mentally scared, fraternities and sororities are inexplicably still up and running on universities across the US. (JK I actually know exactly why they're still running and its money and the patriarchy, but I digress). In Ethan Berger's directorial debut (which premiered at Tribeca Festival in 2023 and has had a long road to release), he hones in on a fraternity in the midst of rush on a prestigious southern college campus. Alex Wolff (Hereditary), Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick), Austin Abrams (Euphoria) and Angus Cloud (also Euphoria) star as the fraternity brothers embroiled in a tragedy. Halle Bailey also pops up in a smaller role in this taut, finely-tuned thriller that will remind you exactly why your college days should not be the best of your life.
Related: The 9 Best Movies from the 2024 Tribeca Festival
7. Joker: Folie à Deux (Oct. 4)
As an ardent worshiper of Father, Son and House of Gucci, my most anticipated film of the year is this weird little Joker sequel starring Mother Monster herself. Lady Gaga joins the cast as Harley Quinn and will be wreaking havoc alongside Joaquin Phoenix. The movie is also a musical for some reason although exactly how that will work has been kept largely under wraps. The first film was an Oscar favorite, so we shall see if the sequel earns the same pedigree, but another Gaga press tour is really better than an Oscar anyways.
Related: Everything to Know About 'Joker: Folie à Deux'
8. The Outrun (Oct. 4)
After disappointments like Foe and Ammonite the last few years, Saoirse Ronan is finally back in the Oscar race this year. In this Sundance standout from Nora Fingscheidt, Ronan plays Rona, a young woman who returns to the remote Orkney Islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, when she leaves a stint of rehab for alcoholism in London. I May Destroy You's Paapa Essiedu and Game of Thrones' Stephen Dillane turn in strong supporting performances, but this is really another reminder as to just what a talented force Saoirse Ronan is. It also could result in a tourism bump for Orkney, which looks beautiful if not brutal in the winters.
9. Saturday Night (Oct. 11)
Saturday Night Live is well documented as having one of the most chaotic and volatile work environments in showbiz. Just read any memoir from a former cast member if you don't believe me. By all accounts, however, no show was more chaotic than the first. Jason Reitman's upcoming ensemble comedy documents the hours leading up to the first episode of SNL with a massive cast of fresh faces playing legends like Lorne Michaels, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and Dan Aykroyd. Brat summer's sweetheart Rachel Sennott is joined by The Fabelmans' Gabriel LaBelle, Succession's Nicholas Braun, Stranger Things' Finn Wolfhard and Licorice Pizza's Cooper Hoffman in the raucous flick.
Related: Everything to Know About 'Saturday Night'
10. We Live in Time (Oct. 11)
This season's tear jerker seems to be the British romantic drama from Brooklyn director John Crowley. Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh star as a couple and based on the trailer, it seems like Miss Flo is headed towards a potentially terminal illness. The sweeping love story will follow the couple across many years as they meet, fall in love and eventually come to terms with their mortality. Bring Kleenex and only watch with someone you're comfortable seeing you ugly cry.
11. Anora (Oct. 18)
While winning the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, hasn't always meant commercial success in the US, with Anatomy of a Fall, Triangle of Sadness and Parasite in recent years, we're on a bit of a hot streak. Sean Baker (who previously crafted masterpieces like The Florida Project and Tangerine) won the Palme this year for Anora, a dramedy about a Russian-American stripper (Mikey Madison) who falls in love with a young Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn). Playing a host of fall festivals, Anora is certain to be one of this year's Oscar season's darlings.
12. Dahomey (Oct. 25)
Perhaps not quite as flashy as Anora, Mati Diop's documentary Dahomey took home the Berlin International Film Festival's top prize, the Golden Bear, this winter. The semi-fictional doc focuses on 26 royal treasures from the African Kingdom of Dahomey (which is now modern day Benin) that were held in a museum in France. The doc focuses on how the artifacts came to be in French possession and how they were later returned to Benin. Dahomey is certainly one of the top documentaries to watch this awards season.
Related: The 25 Best Movies of 2023
Doubleday
13. Nickel Boys (Oct. 25)
Despite Nickel Boys likely premiering over Labor Day Weekend at the Telluride Film Festival, Amazon MGM Studios still hasn't released so much as an image from the upcoming movie. The historical drama is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead and stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Daveed Diggs among others. It's one of the biggest mysteries remaining on the fall lineup, but we should certainly know more soon.
14. Conclave (Nov. 1)
I don't know how it has taken this long for us to get a suspenseful thriller involving the Papal power struggle. Think Game of Thrones, but it's a bunch of Cardinals fighting over the Popemobile. Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow star in Edward Berger's follow up to All Quiet on the Western Front. Based on a Robert Harris novel, Conclave examines the top secret proceedings that follow the death of one Pope as another is elected.
Related: 20 Academy Award Contenders for 2025 You Need to Watch
15. The Piano Lesson (Nov. 8)
Perhaps Netflix's biggest play this awards season is The Piano Lesson, the third in Denzel Washington's 10-part saga based on August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle of plays after Fences and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. The Piano Lesson is a Washington family affair with Denzel producing, his son Malcolm Washington directing and his other son John David Washington starring alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Danielle Deadwyler. Coming off a lauded run on Broadway with some of the same cast members, The Piano Lesson will certainly be a threat in acting races and hits Netflix on Nov. 22 after a brief theatrical run.
16. Gladiator II (Nov. 22)
2024 is the year of long awaited sequels. 2000's Best Picture winner is finally getting a follow up starring Paul Mescal as the Emperor's young nephew from the original, now grown up. Also joining the cast are Denzel Washington as a former-slave-turned-merchant, Joseph Quinn and Pedro Pascal. Connie Nielsen and Djimon Hounsou will be reprising their roles from the original. Most of the other characters obviously died in the original. RIP.
Related: Everything to Know About 'Gladiator II'
17. Wicked (Nov. 22)
In an attempt at the second coming of "Barbenheimer," Wicked is now sharing a release date with Gladiator II, which fans have dubbed "Glicked." After you watch people stab each other with ancient swords, you can enjoy Ariana Grande performing "Popular" and Cynthia Erivo belting "Defying Gravity" in Part One of the duology. Certified hottie Jonathan Bailey, Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh and Ariana's latest boy toy Ethan Slater are also in the cast. It should be noted that most of the musical's best songs are in Act One, so this movie is gonna be a BOP (perhaps the second part less so).
Related: Everything to Know About 'Wicked: Part One'
Searchlight Pictures
18. Nightbitch (Dec. 6)
Six-time Oscar loser Amy Adams is returning to the big screen this year after a string of disappointments (Hillbilly Elegy, The Woman in the Window, Dear Evan Hansen and Disenchanted is quite the run). Marielle Heller is directing this adaptation of Rachel Yoder's novel of magical realism that watches a stay-at-home mother turn into a dog. Having read the book, I really have no idea how they'd even begin to make this a movie, but I'm praying Amy Adams as a dog turns out better than Taylor Swift as a cat.
19. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Dec. 20)
Your 12-year-old nephew's most anticipated film of 2024 is the third Sonic movie. The comedy series has done remarkably well with both critics and the box office and will be unveiling Shadow in this third installment. After some hemming and hawing, Jim Carrey finally decided to return as Dr. Robotnik with James Marsden, Tika Sumpter and Ben Schwartz reprising their roles as well. Fingers crossed that Rouge the Bat finally shows up this time.
20. Nosferatu (Dec. 25)
Robert Eggers, the director of The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman is now remaking the classic Dracula film from 1922. For reasons unclear to me, Focus Features has bypassed the Halloween corridor with this one, sending the gory horror film to a Christmas day release instead. IT's Bill Skarsgard will be taking the lead with Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Emma Corrin and Willem Dafoe rounding out the creepy cast. So once you get done opening gifts on Christmas morning, you and your extended family can pile in a van to the theater to watch Dracula open some veins instead.
