Unbelievably enough, we’ve very nearly made our way through the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer and into fall (even if temperatures around the country belie that fact). While some mark fall with apple picking, hot cider, and various other hallmarks of #ChristianGirlAutumn, others prefer to spend this season exactly the way we spent summer: parked on the couch, binge-watching movies.
Below, find 10 of the very best fall movies—which are not necessarily movies set in the fall, but which encompass or represent fall in some way—to get you through to December.
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. —Emma Specter
How to watch: Stream on HBO Max, Netflix, Amazon, or YouTube.
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. —E.S.
How to watch: Stream on Amazon, Apple TV, or YouTube.
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)! —E.S.
How to watch: Stream on Amazon or YouTube.
Legally Blonde (2001)
Most Popular Céline Sciamma’s lovely Petite Maman centers on a precocious 8-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. —M.M. How to watch: Stream on Amazon or YouTube.