Clockwise from top: We Live in Time; Smile 2; It’s a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown; and Shrinking.
Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Everett Collection (Peter Mountain/A24, Barbara Nitke/Paramount Pictures), Apple TV+
Sigh, with summer blockbusters well behind us, it’s time to reckon with the scary fall-release calendar. All these new indie films and awards contenders are intent on driving us all mad with their ever-shifting dates. What do you mean Anora is just now coming to limited theaters when it seems like everyone with a Letterboxd has already seen it? This is all to say, the schedules are a lot to keep up with. This week, We Live in Time is expanding to a wide release for all of us to bask in a Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield relationship that’s more rom-dram than rom-com. Here’s the rest of the picks this week!
If you’ve seen the internet freak out over Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, this movie is why. The two star as Tobias and Almut, a pair who come together after Almut accidentally hits Tobias with her car. The gooey, bittersweet drama goes through their love story in a nonlinear fashion as the two face high highs and devastating lows.
➼ Promo for this movie included passing out branded tissues beforehand, so … brace yourself.
Instead of a serial killer trapped inside of a concert, Smile 2 is about a demon sinking its claws in a pop star (played by Naomi Scott) looking for a comeback. If you ask me I’d rather be at the Trap concert than the Smile 2 concert, considering the latter’s pop star encounters a parasitic demonic entity you pass along to others with death and a smile. But y’all love a good scare.
Bill Lawrence’s dramedy about therapy trying to establish better relationship boundaries returns to remind us Harrison Ford is a national treasure who must be protected at all costs. I’m not sure you’ve lived until you’ve seen Ford sing the Outfield’s “Your Love,” a thing he does in the first episode of this season. —Jen Chaney
➼ In a rare move for streamers, Shrinking has already been renewed for a season three!
➼ In theaters now; read the rest of Ebiri’s review here and his interview with star Cate Blanchett here.
Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut is based on a real killer’s stint on a dating game show in the ’70s. Women aren’t even safe to play on a television game show for fun. Kendrick stars as show contestant Cheryl Bradshaw while Daniel Zovatto plays Rodney Alcala, a serial killer who competed on The Dating Game in the midst of his California murder spree.
David Tennant and Aidan Turner, wearing suits with very large lapels, yelling lustily at a crackerjack cast of character actors about high-stakes drama in the world of 1980s independent British television. Everyone speaks very quickly, and any uncomfortable contemporary resonances with ambitious media moguls is muffled in the fluorescent glow of ’80s TV lighting. —Kathryn VanArendonk
One of the best parts about the holiday season is the Peanuts specials. It’s been about four years since they moved from cable to Apple TV+, which is a little depressing. If you’re wanting to keep traditions alive though, Apple TV+ is taking It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown out from behind the paywall this weekend, meaning for two days (October 19-20), you can watch it for free. We’re serious. This isn’t a Lucy-pulling-the-football-out-from-under-you situation.
➼ Simon Abrams wrote that It’s the Great Pumpkin is an “immortal installment because it features some of the very best dialogue,” which is very true, but where did he rank it in his list of best Peanuts specials?
Photo: Roxana Hadadi
After finding its way to Mubi last month, filmmaker Tarsem Singh’s The Fall is getting another chance in theaters, so go see if it’s “nowhere near as bad as advertised.” To read more of Singh’s interview, click here.
➼ Someone must’ve lit the Black Flame Candle because the Hocus Pocus witches are back in theaters.
Fede Alvarez’s greatest hits of an Alien film is fun enough for a little horror-movie night. There’s no Ripley but there’s plenty of facehuggers as a group of friends investigate an abandoned spaceship (always a great idea in these films) and reap the consequences.
➼ Some more horror is available for you this weekend from the latest installment of Ti West’s X movies, MaXXXine on Max to Colm McCarthy’s take on the mythical figure Bagman on digital platforms.
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of October 11.
