Movies and TV series not to be missed this October This month, the cinema welcomes all genres and more, from horror to music biopics

October is the spookiest season of the year, but this month cinema and TV series have decided to give more room to other stories and genres, putting Halloween aside a little. However, there’s no shortage of titles to watch. From romance with A Big Bold Beautiful Journey to science fiction with Tron: Ares and even music with Bruce Springsteen. And if you’re in the mood to be scared, don’t worry—Netflix has not one but two monsters waiting for you: the one from Florence directed by Stefano Sollima, and Ryan Murphy’s Ed Gein.

Together - from October 1 in theaters

Alison Brie and Dave Franco are not only a couple in real life but also become one on the big screen with Together, one of the year’s major horrors. After moving into a house outside the city, Tim (Franco) is plagued by a series of personal and professional insecurities that strain his relationship with Millie (Brie). Things get even more complicated when a strange force pulls them together in an unhealthy way.

Play Dirty - Triple Cross - from October 1 on Prime Video

Mark Wahlberg and LaKeith Stanfield team up with Rosa Salazar in the new Prime Video thriller available on the platform starting October 1. Play Dirty - Triple Cross tells the story of a professional thief pulling off the biggest heist of his life, but who must also beware of the repercussions from the New York mob. Behind the camera is Shane Black, director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys.

Heads or Tails? - from October 2 in theaters

Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis already showed their storytelling talent with their debut film Re Granchio. This time, the directing duo casts Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Alessandro Borghi in a western inspired by tales of old America, but set in the Roman countryside. Heads or Tails? is steeped in oral tradition, which the duo brings to the big screen, evoking a sense of legend and wonder even in this second feature.

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey - from October 2 in theaters

Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell are ready to fall in love in the romantic film A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, directed by Kogonada. The two stars meet at a wedding, and their fate seems sealed—an adventure of time jumps and vivid memories, as the protagonists reckon with their past in hopes of finally enjoying the present.

Him - from October 2 in theaters

Horror, football, and religion. These are the three pillars of Him, a new film written and directed by Justin Tipping, alongside writers Skip Bronkie and Zack Akers. The protagonist is Tyriq Withers, recently seen in the reboot/sequel of I Know What You Did Last Summer. He plays a promising young football player trained by one of the sport’s biggest stars, chasing a goal that demands sweat, blood, and sacrifice.

Monster: The Ed Gein Story - from October 3 on Netflix

Ryan Murphy’s Monster anthology series has reached its third season. This time, after Jeffrey Dahmer and Lyle and Erik Menendez, the focus is on Ed Gein, one of history’s most shocking serial killers. His crimes helped shape a macabre imaginary that also fed cinema, inspiring characters from Psycho to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Netflix casts Charlie Hunnam as Gein, with Laurie Metcalf, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville, and pop star Addison Rae also joining the cast.

The Lost Bus - from October 3 on AppleTV+

Paul Greengrass, director of Jason Bourne, arrives on AppleTV+ with the thriller The Lost Bus, starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera. The film is adapted from Lizzie Johnson’s book Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire, based on true events surrounding California’s 2018 Camp Fire. McConaughey and Ferrera play a school bus driver and a teacher trying to save twenty-two children trapped by the flames.

Steve - from October 3 on Netflix

After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, Steve lands on Netflix October 3. Directed by Tim Mielants, it reunites him with Cillian Murphy after their 2024 collaboration on Small Things Like These. This time, Murphy plays a school principal managing troubled students while also grappling with personal struggles.

Three Bowls - from October 9 in theaters

Three Bowls is the posthumous 2023 book by Michela Murgia that has been adapted into a film written by Enrico Audenino together with director Isabel Coixet. While the novel weaves together a series of stories, the feature condenses them into the love story of Marta and Antonio, which reaches its breaking point when Marta discovers she has a terminal illness.

Victoria Beckham - dal 9 ottobre su Netflix 

After following the organization of her Paris fashion show in 2024, Victoria Beckham once again welcomes Netflix’s cameras into her life to document her during fashion week’s behind the scenes. Starting October 9, the platform will feature a documentary bearing her name which, much like the Beckham series on her husband David’s football career, seeks to tell the former Spice Girl’s journey in the fashion world in an intimate and personal way.

Tron: Ares - from October 9 in theaters

Tron: Ares joins the sci-fi saga that began in 1982 with Steven Lisberger’s original Tron and continued in 2010 with Tron: Legacy. The main cast includes Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, and Jodie Turner-Smith, who face a program named Ares sent from the digital world into the real one to carry out an important mission—humanity’s first contact with beings equipped with artificial intelligence.

Murdaugh Murders - from October 15 on Disney+

When Patricia Arquette chooses a new series, it usually comes with a guarantee of quality. We’ll see if the same holds true for Murdaugh Murders, a Disney+ original in which she stars alongside Jason Clarke and J. Smith-Cameron, inspired by Mandy Matney’s podcast. The show revisits the court case that involved Alex Murdaugh and shook South Carolina: a murder in which he was accused of killing his wife Maggie and his son Paul.

After the Hunt - from October 16 in theaters

One of the most talked-about and divisive films at the Venice Film Festival was Luca Guadagnino’s new work, After the Hunt. The film reexamines MeToo politics by constructing a story around an act of harassment never shown on screen—one that the protagonist, played by Julia Roberts, is asked to believe in. A film that casts a gaze on the contemporary world, leaving audiences to reflect both on the text itself and on society at large. A provocative work sure to spark debate.

Black Phone 2 - from October 16 in theaters

Following the success of the first film Black Phone released in 2022—which grossed over $160 million worldwide—Scott Derrickson returns to direct the sequel, set to release October 16. The cast once again features Ethan Hawke, the chilling figure from the original, alongside young Mason Thames reprising his role as Finn, still grappling with life after his captivity.

Eddington - from October 17 in theaters

After his first two horror films, Ari Aster moved to satire and, from the existential Beau Is Afraid, has now shifted to criticism of American society in his modern western Eddington. The protagonist is Joaquin Phoenix, a sheriff with unfinished business with the town’s mayor, played by Pedro Pascal. Their conflict sparks a series of rivalries and clashes that also affect his personal life.

The Monster - from October 22 on Netflix

Not only Ed Gein among Netflix’s October serial killers. From October 22, Stefano Sollima shines the spotlight on the Monster of Florence with his The Monster, a four-episode series focusing only on one of the theories about the possible culprit behind the brutal murders that took place between 1968 and 1985 in the Florentine countryside, centering the story on the Sardinian lead.

Back to the Future - from October 21 in theaters

Back…to theaters. Starting October 21, as a special event, the cult that shaped entire generations returns to the big screen: the film that set the standard for all cinematic time travel stories, a true cornerstone of cult classics. Back to the Future, on the occasion of its fortieth anniversary, is back to relive the adventures of Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown. But it’s not the only film returning to please fans—also back are Avatar: The Way of Water, Top Gun, Young Frankenstein, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, along with a retrospective dedicated to Woody Allen.

Lazarus - from October 22 on Prime Video

After his roles in The Count of Monte Cristo and Billy Dunne in Daisy Jones & The Six, Sam Claflin returns to television with Lazarus, a miniseries from Prime Video based on an original idea by Harlan Coben, co-written with Danny Brocklehurst. Lazarus tells the story of a man who returns home after his father’s suicide and begins to experience unsettling events that lead him to confront several unsolved murder cases. Meanwhile, he tries to uncover the truth about his father’s death and his sister’s murder, which took place twenty-five years earlier.

Bugonia - from October 23 in theaters

Yorgos Lanthimos adapts the 2003 film Save the Green Planet!, once again working with his muse Emma Stone and reuniting with Jesse Plemons, who starred in Kinds of Kindness. This time, the story of Bugonia focuses on the kidnapping of a powerful company’s CEO by a disturbed man convinced she is actually an undercover alien.

Springsteen - Deliver Me from Nowhere - from October 23 in theaters

For Jeremy Allen White, it’s time to prove he’s not just a TV actor but can shine on the big screen as well. From October 23 comes Springsteen - Deliver Me from Nowhere, the biopic on Bruce Springsteen directed by Scott Cooper, in which White takes on the role of The Boss. The film focuses on the making of the 1982 album Nebraska and is based on Warren Zanes’ book.

A House of Dynamite - from October 24 on Netflix

Kathryn Bigelow didn’t win any awards at the last Venice Film Festival, where her A House of Dynamite premiered, arriving on Netflix from October 24. A pity, since it perfectly blends entertainment and high tension, current relevance, and cinematic talent. The story is enigmatic yet frighteningly close to home: one day, an unidentified missile heads toward the United States. Nobody knows who launched it, nor what to do. A work about the paradox of deterrence—ruthless and terrifying.

Hedda - from October 29 on Prime Video

After the flop of The Marvels, director and screenwriter Nia DaCosta turns to theater with a cinematic adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda. Playing the lead is Tessa Thompson, a woman in constant struggle between a past love and the routine of her current life. Everything changes in a single night, full of desire, tension, and betrayal, drawing Hedda and those around her into a whirlpool of consequences.

Five Seconds - in theaters from October 30

Among the Italian directors returning to theaters this month is Paolo Virzì with his new film Five Seconds, releasing a year after the sequel Un altro Ferragosto, which picked up the characters and stories from his 1996 Ferie d’agosto. This time, the director tells the story of a misanthrope, Adriano, who clashes with the young people tending the vineyard at Villa Guelfi, particularly with a girl named Matilde. The cast includes Valerio Mastandrea, Galatéa Bellugi, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, and Ilaria Spada.