Summer’s transition into autumn can only mean one thing – the start of awards season. Already, the first of the big film festivals that help to set the field for the upcoming Oscars race have already screened a number of contenders. But while we are waiting for them to start making their way into theaters, there are still a number of good films coming our way as awards season starts warming up. Here are 10 films to look forward to in September.
The Conjuring: Last Rites – September 5
In the case of the phrase “Based on a true story” being used in relation to The Conjuring franchise, the word “Based” is probably doing a lot of heavy lifting. How much may just depend on your own belief in the supernatural. Ed and Lorraine Warren were indeed real life husband and wife paranormal investigators, and they did indeed come to a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton PA suburb in the 1980s to look into an alleged haunting that had captured the regional media’s attention. The actual results were inconclusive; the Warren’s stated that there was indeed some presence in the home, other paranormal investigators, scientists and even religious officials were not so sure. But the Conjuring franchise has a good track record of delivering scares, no matter how firmly or not they may be rooted in a “true story.”
Megadoc – September 9
A passion project pursued for decades, nearly all who saw Francis Ford Coppola’s Megaopolis exited theaters wondering how that movie got made. A sprawling science-fiction fable, Megaopolis was certainly a singular vision, for good or ill. Financed by Coppola himself, the film had a reportedly chaotic production and ultimately was a financial failure. Fortunately for those of us wondering what exactly did happen during the shooting of the film, Coppola had invited director Mike Figgis to film the behind-the-scenes goings on with the end result being this fly-on-the-wall documentary.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – September 12
It has been fifteen years since the Crawley family, the hereditary Earl of Grantham, their domestic servants and other assorted associates first graced televisions screens and Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellows has stated that this third film spinoff from the popular series will be the last. Once again we find the Crawley family facing both financial and social crisis that threaten their standing. The series has always been at its best when it wrings drama from the collision of aristocratic tradition and societal change, so as the family enters into the 1930s for this last act of their story, there should be some plenty of what Downton fans of come to expect for this last chapter.
The Long Walk – September 12
In a dystopian near future, teenage boys participate in a contest where there can be only one winner, and death for all others who don’t win. Early word on this suggests that director Francis Lawrence’s film does not back away from the intensity of the original Richard Bachman, aka Stephen King, story. Not surprising, given that Lawrence is a veteran of the dystopian-future-with-teenage-blood-sports The Hunger Game franchise. Add to that Mark Hamill doing a rare villainous turn and you have enough elements that could make this one of the better for the more recent King adaptations.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues – September 12
Legacy sequels are often a dicey prospect. Catching lightning in a bottle twice is a hell of an accomplishment, especially when that lightning strike was the creation of the mockumentary comedy subgenre in the form of director Rob Reiner’s This Is Spinal Tap. Sure, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest have continued to pop up as their three befuddled British heavy metal rock star characters over the four decades since the original film came out, so they may have a bit of an advantage in maintaining the tone of the first. The preview promises appearances from a number of actual musical stars and legends, though it remains to be seen if this will break or expand the world around the band. Dare we say that our excitement for this goes to eleven.
Big Bold Beautiful Journey – September 19
Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell star as a newly met couple who go on a magical journey through their pasts as they come to know each other. While it does sound like it could contain a rather high level of schmaltz, the man at the helm here is video artist/director Kogonada, and if that name isn’t moving the needle for you I would suggest checking out his previous two films – Columbus (2017) and After Yang (2022) – and perhaps you’ll understand the excitement for a new film from him. Additionally, the screenplay for this made the 2020 edition of The Black List, an annual survey of most liked but unproduced spec scripts making the rounds in Hollywood.
American Sweatshop – September 19
Society’s relationship with the internet will continue to evolve as technology does, creating new ethical and legal issues along the way. It’s a theme rich for exploration in cinema due to its ever changing nature. First time feature director tackles the subject in what looks to be almost a post-modern iteration of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Lili Reinhart stars as a moderator of an online social network, tasked with looking at reported user content, deciding if it violates the platform’s rules and if so, deleting it. But when she sees something so horrific she feels compelled to do something after supervisors and work and even the police don’t take her concerns seriously.
Xeno – September 19
Sure, the general pitch for Xeno – a teenage girl whose parents are divorced befriends an alien that is being hunted by the government – sounds like a riff on Spielberg’s E.T. or the animated Disney film Lilo And Stitch. Judging from the film’s trailer, it appears that first time feature writer/director Matthew Loren Oates looks to throwback to 1980s science-fiction films like E.T. and others from that decade and makes it look intriguing enough to wonder how this combination of influences comes together.
One Battle After Another – September 26
Leonardo DiCaprio is an ex-radical whose quiet retreat from his former life is shattered when the acts of his past come back to endanger his wife and daughter. This is writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s second adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel – in this case Vineland – following the success of his 2014 film Inherent Vice. Will lightning strike twice? Difficult to see how it couldn’t.
Eleanor The Great – September 26
June Squibb stars as an elderly woman who, after the loss of a life-long friend, strikes up an unusual friendship with a nineteen-year-old college student. But a tall tale she tells gets out of hand, and soon Eleanor finds herself deep in trouble. After a delightful turn in last year’s Thelma, Squibb has really shown herself as an actor whose work should generate excitement with every new film. The movie also marks the directorial debut of Scarlett Johansson, Setting aside her populist, blockbuster films, Johansson has previously done smaller films with such directors as Jonathan Glazer, Sofia Coppola, Spike Jonez, Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, so it will be interesting to see how they may influence what she does behind the camera.
