Movies to get you psyched for fall
Swimsuits have been marked half-off, school supplies are stocked in abundance, and pumpkin spice latte lovers are rejoicing because autumn will soon be upon us. So as we say so long to summer, here are some of my favorite fall-themed films to usher in the leafy season.
Ginger & Rosa
While this film takes place against the brooding landscape of the Cuban missile crisis in ‘60’s London, I promise you that fluffy fall sweaters are all around. Despite the turmoil in the latter-half of the film, the friendship between Ginger and Rosa is one that makes you want to go knock on your BFF’s door and demand to know why you don’t have matching outfits and reading comics in claw-footed bathtub together, like, right now. And this is an Elle Fanning movie. So need I say more? The girl is brilliant and totally rocked the red hair required for this role.
Heartbeats
This is easily the most aesthetically pleasing film I’ve ever set eyes on. A particularly autumn-esque scene takes place in a forest where the protagonists play a game of adult hide-and-seek and chase each other over crunching leaves as a Fever Ray song plays. Xavier Dolan is a Québécois filmmaker who won my heart back in college when I happened upon his movies on the French Canadian side of Netflix. So yes, Heartbeats is actually called Les Amours Imaginaires and it is in French, but please, bear with me here. There are accurate subtitles and even if there weren’t, the visuals are entertainment enough. If you’re a fan of love triangles, trendy French Canadians, and stunning montages set to a dreamy soundtrack, add this one to your watchlist.
American Beauty
Ah, the case-study-on-suburbia film, my favorite genre. Here, we have Kevin Spacey and a pre-Ghost World Thora Birch in a movie that swept at the Academy Awards and at pretty much every other awards show and festival. It touches on topics like materialism, beauty, repression, and liberation among other things. American Beauty also has one of the most memorable posters to date. Who could forget the girl holding the rose? Or the rose petal moment for that matter. Oh, and the famous plastic bag scene just screams fall. If you don’t know the one, you’ll know it when you see it.
The Virgin Suicides
The Lisbon sisters are endless suppliers of mystery in the eyes of their male classmates. From the neighborhood boys—who are now adults—we learn about these beautiful teen girls’ lives, which all came to a premature end. While this film begins in the summertime, the new school year starts and with it, autumn arrives. The Lisbon sisters are normally confined to their home and live in an isolated state due to their overprotective parents, but after some sweet-talking from the hunky Lux, they are given permission to attend their high school’s homecoming dance so long as they all go together. It is a night brought to you by mom-made dresses, Peach Schnapps, and Styx’s “Come Sail Away.” While the content of this Sofia Coppola cult-classic is rather heavy (trigger warning: involves suicide), there’s something about the sleepy music and eerie atmosphere of this adaption of Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel that has an entrancing effect.
October Sky
I mean, it’s in the title with this one, but I’ll go ahead and sell it to you some more. Okay. Baby Jake Gyllenhaal. In plaid. Building rockets to avoid the coal-mining lifestyle of his hometown. With his gang of adorable, dorky friends. And the support of his teacher, Laura Dern. And it’s based on a true story. Did I mention baby Jake Gyllenhaal already? Yes? Well, I rest my case.
And let’s not forget classics like You’ve Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, Dead Poets Society, and Harold and Maude, which all feature unforgettable Fall backdrops. It’s only a matter of time now until multi-colored leaves start to litter the ground and your advocacy for mom and pop coffee shops kicks into high gear when Starbucks lines become inevitably unbearable. So bookmark this list and whip it out the moment you decide it’s ~fall~ enough to pull your favorite fleece or knitwear over your head.
[Image courtesy Paramount Pictures]