Fall 2024 Watchlist

I’m a constant victim to saudade, and if you’re anything like me you enjoy leaning into the melancholic longing this time of year seems to stir up. Here’s a roundup of films perfectly accompanied by a cup of mulled cider and dimly lit room.

Twice Born (2012)

Revisited this old favorite I first watched in high school. An interesting experience I’d say being a decade on the other side of drinking champagne late at night in cemeteries with a circle of friends discussing Kurt Cobain’s death. A constant theme of conversation at the time was if any of us thought Courtney Love was responsible. If I give it another ten years I might be in a white button up by the sea, and I’m really looking forward to it.

The Trouble With Harry (1955)

If a weekend getaway at the Woodstock Inn & Resort is not a part of your itinerary this fall, watch this instead.

Late August, Early September (1998)

Brace yourself with some snacks before sitting down.

Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

I Am Love (2009)

Esther (1999)

An operatic retelling, quietly feminist and rich in stillness. Best watched alone, ideally barefoot.

Metropolis (1927)

Blue Valentine (2010)

Autumn in New York (2000)

Ophelia (2019)

Dream for an Insomniac (1998)

Young Ione Skye and Jennifer Aniston read Rilke at a cafe in North Beach. A hidden gem for the melancholic romantic.

La Belle et la Bête (1946)

Atonement (2007)

A film that truly does justice to the novel.

Mary Magdalene (2018)

A Single Man (2009)

The Red Shoes (1948)

Belle de Jour (1967)

Catherine Deneuve’s wardrobe in the film was designed by Yves Saint Laurent, apt for a repressed and masochistic housewife.