Fall is officially here, so happy autumn, everyone. It’s finally socially appropriate to drink pumpkin spice, pull that special sweater out of the back of your closet, and cancel plans to stay in and watch TV due to a myriad of excuses (like the weather sucking). Thankfully, this week has plenty of options, whether you want to sit back and chill or head to the theater, from a new sci-fi epic and a new Saw sequel full of gory traps on the big screen to a handful of prestige short films and a teen-led The Boys spinoff on streaming. Here’s this week’s best new movie and TV picks. —Savannah Salazar
Featured Presentations
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The Creator
Look, we’re all sorry about Dune 2’s delays, but there are still gorgeous sci-fi wonders to behold at the cinema this year. Gareth Edwards, who proved he can make stunning visuals in genre movies like the 2014 Godzilla, Rogue One, and his indie flick Monsters, is back with an AI-versus-humankind epic starring Tenet’s John David Washington. —James Grebey
➽ Speaking of fighting AI, congrats to the WGA!
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The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
This short film from Wes Anderson kicks off a weekend of new Anderson-directed shorts landing on Netflix. All adapted from Roald Dahl stories, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is the premiere film from the bunch as it tells the story of the eponymous Henry Sugar (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) as he tries to cheat at gambling with the help of a skilled guru. —S.S.
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Saw X
Jigsaw is back and, wouldn’t you know it, he’s putting people through a bunch of elaborate death traps again. Fans of the long-running horror series might be confused how Jigsaw is back, again, as Tobin Bell’s character died several movies ago. Saw X has a less convoluted explanation than some of the more recent ones: This is a prequel. —J.G.
➽ Saw X is pronounced “Sawks,” as far as we know.
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Flora and Son
From the director of Once, Begin Again, and Sing Street, Flora and Son is adding to John Carney’s “music heals us!” pantheon as it follows a mother (Eve Hewson) and son (Orén Kinlan) who struggle to connect. You can probably guess what reconnects them. Edging on schmaltz? Maybe, but we all like a little feel-good movie every now and then; just think about how well Carney’s other films have done. —S.S.
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Gen V
A spinoff of the bloody superhero blockbuster The Boys, Gen V dares to bring the same filthy, half-nihilistic sensibility to a school for magical kids. It’s hard to imagine going further than the Boys scene where a tiny man climbs up his partner’s urethra, but that sounds exactly like the kind of challenge this franchise lives for. —Kathryn VanArendonk
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Starstruck season three
Comedian Rose Matafeo’s rom-com series began with the exploration of a human approach to one of the classic fantasies of romantic writing: What if a regular person were in a relationship with a hot, famous person? Its third season, just as impossibly charming, starts with a new question: How do you move on from a hot, famous guy? —K.V.A.
Reality Bites
The Golden Bachelor
It’s finally here! ABC has been casting for The Golden Bachelor since before recorded time (so, like, 2015) and now we get to see how well the franchise known more for launching influencers’ careers than in creating meaningful connections translates to the boomer set. Golden Bachelor Gerry seems to be a gem, and the women competing for his golden roses are genuinely lovely. It’s, dare I say, wholesome? For the exact opposite vibe, stick around for Bachelor in Paradise, where horny 20-somethings cry in bikinis and tiny shorts. —Emily Palmer Heller
The Kardashians season four
Bad Bunny and Timothée Chalamet probably won’t be popping up on the show yet, but season four of The Kardashians is already too busy hyping up Kim and Kourtney’s continued beef over their weddings, among other things. It’s all mess, but at least it’s entertaining. —S.S.
Animation Station
Bob’s Burgers season 14
Good news: Animation work falls under its own guild, so Bob, Linda, Tina, Gene, Louise, and all their goofy neighbors are not on strike. Expect some singing, a solid Halloween episode, and H. Jon Benjamin’s exhausted grunts as the series’ titular burger man in a seafood town. —Roxana Hadadi
➽ Also, The Simpsons is back for season 35. And have you heard? It’s good again.
Castlevania: Nocturne
Netflix’s sleek anime adaptation of the vampire-hunting video-game series rises once more, this time adapting the story from the games Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and its sequel Symphony of the Night. Richter Belmont, a descendant of the legendary vampire-hunter Trevor from the first series, must face off against supernatural bloodsuckers and an even more vile threat: late-18th-century French aristocrats. —J.G.
By Popular (On) Demand
Meg 2: The Trench
Meg 2: The Trench is exactly the sort of movie that plays equally well on a big giant screen and streaming on your TV in the background. It has surfaced on Max, so subscribers can watch it for free. Dive in, the water’s shark-infested fine. —J.G.
➽ Blue Beetle, a charming DC flick that’s honestly better than a lot of the superhero movies we’ve been subjected to recently, is also available to rent or buy digitally now. Eventually, it will come to Max.
Grand Finale
Reservation Dogs
An inimitable show from co-creators Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi ends its run. The depth of the talented ensemble and the strength of the writing staff made it feel like the Indigenous-focused, unapologetic, and hilarious series could have stuck around in the fictional Okern forever, but at least it’s closing out on its own terms. —R.H.
Make It a Double Feature
Asteroid City
If you missed Wes Anderson’s first 2023 release, the quirky, heartfelt alien-visitation story is streaming on Peacock. Anderson fans are truly eating well this year. (The meal is centrally framed and symmetrical, of course.) —J.G.
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of September 22.
