Pumpkin spice lattes, vanilla scented candles, corn mazes and leaves showering the ground in shades of red and orange. These are snapshots of what fall looks like in real life. The certain feeling that is evoked in an autumn atmosphere is the same one that appears while watching a moody autumn movie. There are so many films that fit this criteria, but here are a few that simply do not belong in any other season but fall.
Dead Poets Society
John Keating (Robin Williams) defines carpe diem in this dark academia phenomenon as a poetry professor at Welton Academy: an all-boys preparatory school. The school, previously known for its high standards of behavior and traditional academic prowess, is turned on its head as Keating brings a new set of unconventional teaching styles to his classroom.
His students come from high-pressure home lives and appear entirely dependent on approval from both their parents and the school. So when Keating urges them to step outside of their comfort zones and “seize the day,” the resulting actions by the boys might go further than Keating anticipated.
Directed by Peter Weir and written by Tom Schulman, characters explore the complexities of the pursuit of dreams and the idea of self-confidence through the vessel of a deep infatuation with poetry, all on a gothic autumn backdrop.
Edward Scissorhands
Gentleman takes on a whole new meaning in the 1990 film rendition of Tim Burton’s “Edward Scissorhands.” Like “Frankenstein,” the film features a creature that is the creation of a mechanical inventor, only Edward is more humanoid than monster. His inventor died of a heart attack before he was able to create hands for Edward, thus leaving him with scissor blades where his fingers should be.
When Edward is graciously taken in by a family with a teenage daughter, he falls in love with her which unravels a uniquely twisted plot that only Burton would be able to execute. This gothic romantic film delves into the discrimination of disabled people and the ways in which they are treated differently based on their differences. However, the thematic elements have been graced with the classic Tim Burton style. “Edward Scissorhands,” and honestly every single other Tim Burton Film, makes for the perfect film for the fall season.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Slasher films in the fall; can you think of anything more fitting? The 1997 film rendition of Lois Duncan’s novel, “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” epitomizes fall in the perfect mystery with a side of underexposed gore. Jim Gillespie directed the film that follows a group of four teenagers as they are stalked by a shadowy figure armed with a hook-like murder weapon after a summer car accident where they presumably killed someone. In a series of what seem to be revenge killings, the group attempts to survive this merciless vigilante.
The film is produced with very few physical depictions of gore as hardly any blood is visible on the screen. So if a mystery movie that gives off all the fall vibes is what you’re looking for, but you get a bit squeamish around blood, look no further.
Coraline
This one is a classic, and certainly needs no summarization, but for anyone who has yet to embark on the stop-motion dark horror film that is “Coraline,” here is a quick synopsis. The film, directed by Henry Selick, follows a young girl who finds a portal to an alternate reality within the wall of her new house.
What at first seems to be a welcome escape from her less-than stellar home life, soon proves to be more than meets the eye as something sinister is concealed behind the button eyed people of the “other world.”
Accompanied by a score from the 2009 Annie Award winner Bruno Coulais, the film’s creepy aura creates the perfect backdrop for a cozy fall night. Although it is classified as horror, there is something uniquely unorthodox about the unsettling feeling that it leaves in your stomach. A feeling that is easily cured by some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
