Fall is just around the corner, and while some mark the coming season with apple-picking, hot cider, and various other hallmarks of #ChristianGirlAutumn, others prefer to spend it exactly the way we spent summer: watching our favorite cozy movies on repeat.
Whether you’re looking to have your faith in love restored by Harrison Ford, or you’re in need of some witticism from Robin Williams that will absolutely make you weep, here are 28 of the best fall movies—from stories actually set in the fall, to films that just encompass or represent fall in some way. So get your kettle going, take in the cooling air, and dive in:
Petite Maman (2021)
Céline Sciamma’s lovely Petite Maman centers on a precocious eight-year-old (Joséphine Sanz) who, not long after losing her grandmother, meets a girl her age in the woods (Joséphine’s twin sister, Gabrielle). I won’t ruin their story’s sweet twist, but suffice it to say that it makes autumn in the French countryside seem doubly magical. —Marley Marius
The Half of It (2020)
If adorable, slightly sad LGBTQ+ movies are your thing, I have great news for you: This is the Platonic ideal of the genre, and it just so happens to be set in a small fictional town in the Pacific Northwest, where fall is extra chilly and extra cozy. Best enjoyed while browsing Lex! —Emma Specter
Knives Out (2019)
The mere sight of Chris Evans in a thick cable-knit sweater makes me want to light a bonfire and/or play a pickup game of touch football on a cool afternoon. (Okay, no, I don’t actually want to play touch football under any circumstances, but such is the power of the sweater movie!) —ES
Selah and the Spades (2019)
I have to admit, I do love a boarding-school romp (I reread The Secret History by Donna Tartt every September for a reason!), and this film by Tayarisha Poe more than delivers. Lovie Simone’s performance is a particular standout, but the whole movie is peak East Coast academia-gone-wrong energy. —ES
Coco (2017)
Don’t deny yourself the pure joys of this family-focused film (even if it’ll have you singing “Remember Me” while blubbering). Besides boasting stunning and colorful animation, Coco tells an impactful story about what it means to honor both your family and yourself in the face of intergenerational hardship—and, yes, it’s set in the fall, around the Day of the Dead. —Gia Yetikyel
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
One could certainly argue that the bulk of this often-heartbreaking yet sweet family drama takes place in summer (just look at the juiciness of the produce Mark Ruffalo grows at his local, organic restaurant!), but the scene where Annette Benning and Julianne Moore drop their older daughter off at college will never fail to conjure September for me, with all its attendant school-related anxieties and thrills. —ES
The Social Network (2010)
Harvard! Sweaters! Academic prowess brought to bear on defining the still-nascent internet! Sure, plenty of this movie takes place under a light snowfall, but it’s still a “back-to-school” movie for me—not that I, myself, was an Ivy League girlie, mind you. But I think I more or less get the gist of the experience from this Aaron Sorkin film. —ES
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Here, Roald Dahl’s classic 1970 children’s book of the same name becomes a deeply charming (and incredibly star-studded) stop-motion adventure, bathed from top to toe in the reds, golds, and burnished oranges of fall. —MM
The Squid and the Whale (2005)
It could be the scenes of New York kids walking home from the subway against a typical Brooklyn backdrop that gives this early Noah Baumbach film its back-to-school vibe, but honestly, it’s shrewd, touching, and laugh-out-loud funny enough to watch at pretty much any time of year. (Has Laura Linney ever made a mistake in her life? I don’t think so.) —ES
Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
I’m actually an ardent proponent of watching this Julia Roberts/Julia Stiles/Kirsten Dunst trifecta in any season, but watching it in fall will make you crave a well-knit sweater and thermos of tea to take along with you while you cheer for the fellas at the Harvard-Yale game. —ES
School of Rock (2003)
It’s hard to believe School of Rock came out a full 20 years ago! With the wild, feel-good vibes of Jack Black pretending to be a certified teacher and a classroom full of middle schoolers desperate for a little fun (private school uniforms will do that to a kid), the film is pure chaos, in the best way possible. Think of the excitement you once felt while shopping for glittery pencil grips and Foohy erasers; this movie embodies that tenfold. —GY
Far from Heaven (2002)
Strongly inspired, both in plot and color palette, by the films of Douglas Sirk, Todd Haynes’s Far from Heaven offers up pulpy melodrama with a heaping side of Connecticut fall. As a lonely housewife (Julianne Moore) strikes up a friendship with the son of her late gardener (Dennis Haysbert)—much to the horror of her neighbors—the foliage in their cozy suburb is completely on fire, forming a brilliant backdrop for a rather sad story. —MM
A Knight’s Tale (2001)
Heath Ledger’s charming smile will never cease to amaze me, and this film is full of it. Picture Ledger in full knight attire, and mix in a really supportive friend group and a dash of forbidden love. A Knight’s Tale will have you looking up the nearest Renaissance fair and cheering during the jousting matches like it’s the World Series. —GY
Legally Blonde (2001)
Yeah, yeah, the movie starts off in the seasonally indistinguishable landscape of Southern California, but as protagonist Elle Woods moves toward her goal of attending law school at Harvard, Legally Blonde’s landscape changes to the crunchy leaves, woolly jackets, and Gothic brick buildings that all signify an East Coast fall. Elle may have some trouble dressing for the Massachusetts climate at first, but she eventually cracks it (as one might expect—the woman aced History of Polka Dots!). —ES
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Yes, there is another Wes Anderson movie on our list, but he’s good at this kind of thing! There is simply no film character who embodies the concept of autumn quite like Margot Tenenbaum. Her seasonally appropriate clipped bob, kohl-rimmed eyes, and wardrobe of primarily browns all but scream out the reason for the season; and while her signature fur coat might seem more winter adjacent, her penchant for pairing it with Lacoste polo dresses is fall all the way. In what other season can you wear a coat with a dress, logistically speaking? —ES
Autumn in New York (2000)
I mean...how could I not include this one? Title aside, this Winona Ryder tearjerker features many of the things I most associate with fall, including Central Park, small museums, and a woman dressed up as Emily Dickinson. We love to see it (and cry at it)! —ES
Election (1999)
I will never tire of watching Reese Witherspoon’s precocious, hyper-focused, ever-so-slightly-evil Tracy Flick terrorize her entire school community by trying to be the very best girl ever… and her sweater vests are so fall-coded. (Side note: Why were so many fall movies released in 1999?) —ES
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
I honestly don’t even know what season it’s supposed to be in the sleepy Michigan suburb where the mysterious, beautiful Lisbon sisters entrance a group of nerdy neighborhood boys, but in my mind, it’s 100% autumn—and my autumn never really begins until I rewatch this Sofia Coppola gem and hear Trip Fontaine call Lux Lisbon “the still point of the turning world.” —ES
Stepmom (1998)
I can barely think of this film without bursting into ugly sobs, but that hasn’t stopped me from rewatching it the moment the weather turns ever-so-slightly cool for the last three years in a row. More of Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts onscreen together in charming, seasonally appropriate hats, please! —ES
Practical Magic (1998)
It’s not truly fall until I’ve cooked up a giant vat of Texas-style chili, lit a bunch of candles and incense in my apartment, and curled up on the couch to watch Practical Magic, starring the dream team of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as a pair of witch sisters evading the law as they struggle to hang onto their magical powers. Maybe it’s the Halloween energy of this movie, but for some reason, it hits the spot every single autumn. —ES
The Craft (1996)
Fall-core, to me, is a different thing from Halloween-core (the former is more “freshly sharpened pencils, slowly falling autumn leaves and cider” kind of a vibe, whereas Halloween is all spooky season, all the time), but I don’t really feel like the summer season has ended until I’ve done my traditional rewatch of The Craft and desperately coveted Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True’s goth-LA-convent-girl wardrobes. —ES
Sabrina (1995)
While it may lack foliage, Sabrina does offer a tender love story between the grumpy Linus (Harrison Ford) and alluring Sabrina (Julia Ormond) on Long Island. What starts as a rouse to complete a business deal quickly evolves into something a little too real between the unsuspecting pair—while Sabrina’s Vogue internship in Paris adds an extra touch of fashionable fun. —GY
Little Women (1994)
Even with certain scenes from Greta Gerwig’s Little Women still rattling around in my head, I wanted to shine a spotlight on the 1994 version, featuring Winona Ryder, Christian Bale, and Kirsten Dunst. Though both adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s novel offer an exceptionally warm atmosphere, with their amber hues and teary-eyed pretty boys, the soft touches of this ’90s classic are paired perfectly with a weighted blanket and some London Fog. —GY
Homeward Bound (1993)
I’m not always one for animal movies (well, not cheerful ones, at least; I’m a huge fan of crying my eyes out at documentaries like Blackfish), but this ’90s classic starring Sally Field and Michael J. Fox will always charm me throughout the month of September (and beyond)—particularly if I’m lying under a woven blanket while I watch it.—ES
Goodfellas (1990)
I’ve thought a lot about what makes this classic mob movie feel so autumnal, and I’ve concluded that it is (drumroll, please)…the scene of the wiseguys making a beautiful Italian dinner, complete with tomato sauce and extremely finely cut garlic (the work of a razor blade), while in prison. Weirdly cozy in a certain way, no? —ES
Dead Poets Society (1989)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that any movie that (1) takes place at a boys boarding school and (2) stars Robin Williams has maximum cozy, nostalgic, hangover-watch potential. It’s sort of hard to rewatch this one in the wake of Williams’s passing, but it’s also worth it; parts of it still hold up, and as for the parts that don’t? Just let that East Coast academic background soothe you. —ES
When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
When I think of fall, I automatically picture Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal walking through a leaf-strewn Central Park and talking about Sally’s ultimate sexual fantasy (which I won’t spoil, for the two of you out there who haven’t yet seen this movie). The film cycles through various seasons, but it feels brightest and most alive in fall, making it the perfect thing to get you through a dreary November afternoon. —ES
Ordinary People (1980)
If its poetic opening sequence didn’t announce it as such (see: the waterfronts, lawns, and bridges of well-heeled Wake Forest, Illinois, bathed in the soft golden glow of high autumn), Ordinary People’s cozy knits, shearling coats, and melancholic family drama certainly mark it down as one of the great fall films. Robert Redford forever! —MM