Fall is upon us, Falcons. Do you hear the wind rustling the newly-bare branches? Do you feel a familiar, yet sinister chill in the October air? Or have you, perhaps, observed a black cat crossing your path? As the sun sets earlier and earlier, we are left stumbling blindly around in the dark—searching for any light we can find. Some may light candles, or stargaze, but most look to the brightest, most comforting light: our televisions. Popcorn in-hand, we look to movies to brighten our early autumn nights, yet, the age-old question remains: what to watch? Google’s suggestions are uninspiring, but the Register Forum’s, however, are just the opposite. Below are three movies you must watch this fall.
The Straight Story (1999), Dir. David Lynch
The title itself may scare off a lot of Cambridge residents, but I urge you to give this a shot. The Straight Story, a not very David Lynch-like David Lynch movie, follows Alvin Straight, a man who travels hundreds of miles riding his lawn mower to visit his estranged brother. The concept sounds silly, but The Straight Story makes for a heart-warming, emotional, and hilarious viewing experience. Plus, the combination of dozens of sunsets over wheatfields and some really great fall foliage cements this film spot as an autumn classic.
House (1977), Dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi
I went into this one expecting a pretty standard 1970s horror movie, but I got just the opposite. House follows a group of high school students whose summer vacation in the Japanese countryside takes a turn for the worse. House makes for a visually interesting, psychedelic, and hilarious ride as the protagonists are taken out one by one by a sadistic aunt. The trippy visuals and campy horror make House a must-watch this fall.
The Conversation (1974), Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
The Conversation follows Gene Hackman as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert hired to record, appropriately enough, a conversation between two unnamed subjects. Caul, allowing his personal investments to interfere with the case, gets in trouble with a sinister figure referred to as “The Director.” The Conversation is essentially an exploration of loneliness, paired with many matte-set paintings of empty rooms and a score. If The Straight Story is warm late-September, The Conversation is frigid mid-November; a film embodying the freezing feeling of being cold despite wearing four thick layers, and having nobody to turn to for warmth.
Returning to fall classics like Dead Poets Society or Good Will Hunting is totally valid, but if you’re tired of the same thing every year, try one of the movies above this autumn. If you are looking for a standard rather than something new, this writer recommends The Silence of The Lambs for a thriller packed with both scares and foliage, Fantastic Mr. Fox for a nostalgic and unbelievably orange experience, and Clue for a laugh-out-loud comedy with its share of campiness. Now go, Falcons! Get your Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL!), and pop by your nearest movie theater to get into the fall spirit.
This article also appears in our October 2025 print edition.
