My SZN Watch Guide · Autumn nights · 🍂 Autumn
The best autumn films to watch this season
The films that feel like the season turning: golden light, new beginnings and the first properly dark evening.
12 picks · 7 min read
Autumn films aren't really a genre. They're a light. Low sun through a window, leaves going over, a jumper that smells faintly of woodsmoke — and a story that moves at the pace of a season rather than a plot.
This is My SZN's own shortlist: films that suit the first dark afternoons, whether you want something tender, something funny or something to fall asleep to at half nine with no guilt whatsoever.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
New term, new shoes, old buildings and a faint sense that this year might matter. It's the most September film ever made, and it earns its ending honestly.
- Mood
- Bittersweet and stirring
- Perfect for
- The first Sunday the heating goes on
- Runtime
- About 2h 8m
- UK rating
- PG
Maple says: Maple's note: watch it early in autumn, while you still feel like starting things.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Cold Boston mornings, park benches, an entire film built out of conversations. It suits the part of autumn where you'd rather talk than do anything.
- Mood
- Warm and plain-spoken
- Perfect for
- A rainy Friday with a takeaway
- Runtime
- About 2h 6m
- UK rating
- 15
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
The autumn-in-the-park scenes have done more for October than any pumpkin. It's funny in the specific way that only proper dialogue is.
- Mood
- Crisp and very talkative
- Perfect for
- An evening with one good friend and two mugs of tea
- Runtime
- About 1h 36m
- UK rating
- 15
Little Women (2019)
Firelight, ink-stained fingers, a house full of noise. It's about sisters and money and work, and it looks the way a good autumn afternoon feels.
- Mood
- Busy, golden, gently heartbreaking
- Perfect for
- A long Sunday with the curtains half drawn
- Runtime
- About 2h 15m
- UK rating
- U
Fantastic Mr Fox (2009)
Every frame is the colour of a beech hedge in late October. Short, extremely funny, and one of the few films genuinely everyone in the room will sit through.
- Mood
- Russet and quick-witted
- Perfect for
- After school, before dinner
- Runtime
- About 1h 27m
- UK rating
- PG
Maple says: Maple's note: pair it with apple crumble. Non-negotiable.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Trunks on a train, candles in a hall, term starting somewhere older than you are. It is the September ritual for an awful lot of British households.
- Mood
- Cosy and enormous
- Perfect for
- The first weekend the clocks feel wrong
- Runtime
- About 2h 32m
- UK rating
- PG
Rushmore (1998)
School terms, silly ambition and a very autumn kind of loneliness. It's odd and dry and stays with you longer than it should.
- Mood
- Dry and slightly melancholy
- Perfect for
- A late evening on your own
- Runtime
- About 1h 33m
- UK rating
- 15
The Remains of the Day (1993)
Long corridors, English rain and everything left unsaid. If autumn makes you reflective rather than cosy, this is the one.
- Mood
- Quiet and aching
- Perfect for
- A slow evening with the lamps on
- Runtime
- About 2h 14m
- UK rating
- U
Stand by Me (1986)
End of summer, start of something else. It's short, it's about friendship, and it lands differently once you're the age the narrator is.
- Mood
- Nostalgic and sunlit
- Perfect for
- Early autumn, when it's still light at seven
- Runtime
- About 1h 29m
- UK rating
- 15
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
A girl, a town, a bakery and a broom. Gentle, unhurried, and the right kind of witchy for a family autumn night that isn't about Halloween.
- Mood
- Soft and hopeful
- Perfect for
- A wet Saturday with children in the room
- Runtime
- About 1h 43m
- UK rating
- U
Practical Magic (1998)
Candles, sisters, a kitchen garden and midnight margaritas. Silly in places, and absolutely made for an October evening with friends.
- Mood
- Herbal and a bit chaotic
- Perfect for
- A friends' night in with something spiced
- Runtime
- About 1h 44m
- UK rating
- 12
Knives Out (2019)
A big creaking house, knitwear, rain on the windows and a puzzle to chew on. Autumn's favourite shape of story, done properly.
- Mood
- Sharp and snug
- Perfect for
- A Saturday night that wants a plot
- Runtime
- About 2h 10m
- UK rating
- 12
Make a night of it
- Lamps on, big light off — the whole evening changes for free.
- Something warm in a mug: spiced apple, a proper hot chocolate, or tea you actually let brew.
- A blanket each. Sharing one is a myth.
- Phones face-down in another room for the first half hour at least.
If none of these land, the trick isn't a better list — it's picking the mood first. Cosy, scary, funny or tearful, then choose. That's how the rest of these guides are organised.
Runtimes are approximate and UK age ratings can differ between cuts and re-releases — worth a quick check on the BBFC website before a family night, and before you press play on anything with younger ones in the room.
Questions people ask
- What makes a film an autumn film?
- Usually the light and the pace rather than the plot: low sun, early dark, a story that unfolds over weeks rather than minutes. Term-time settings, big old houses and friendships all help.
- Are these films available to stream in the UK?
- We don't say, because it changes constantly. My SZN has no rights-checked availability data, so rather than guess we leave it to you to check your own services, library or local cinema listings.
My SZN editorial. We don't list where films are streaming — availability changes constantly in the UK and we have no rights-checked source for it.
