When you think of autumn, what exactly do you think of? Trees turning orange, back-to-school, academia, dark academia, mysteries, murder, spooky season, encroaching shadows, gathering darkness, coziness, hot chocolate? In other words, the seasonal aesthetic most conducive to movie nights and movies themselves. I have in this list seven film and television titles that I think encapsulate the vibes of fall, yet I’ve never heard anyone discuss them. Now, to be clear, this is not a list of quintessential fall movies and shows, so don’t go into this expecting Gilmore Girls or The Vampire Diaries or Dead Poets Society or Knives Out (although I would recommend all of those). This is my personal curation of underrated or unknown favorites for a dark, stormy night in.
A Haunting in VeniceÂ
Starting off strong, this movie is the third of the recent Hercule Poirot movies directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. While the first two films took place on an eastbound train and an Egyptian steamboat, this one is set on Halloween night in a haunted Venetian palazzo (I mean, need I say more?). A seance, a death, an investigation underway and you have the perfect Halloween whodunnit.
Murder, She Wrote
Running for twelve seasons in the 80’s and 90’s, your parents are sure to remember this iconic and nostalgic show. Yay! I, an ardent lover of cozy mystery shows, was taken aback by nearly every aspect of Murder, She Wrote. It is, in one word, charming. From the production design, to the costumes, to the acting, the occasional glimpse at now-well-known actors in the fledgling stages of their careers… it’s perfect. Each mystery is extremely well-crafted, Jessica Fletcher (played by Angela Lansbury) is my hero, and it’s over a decade’s worth of content will keep you entertained throughout the season.
Scooby-Doo! Mystery IncorporatedÂ
I truly do not know how to explain this show, or the direction it goes, without spoiling it and sounding completely insane. Even if I were willing to do those things, I doubt I could do it justice. All I know is that this show, in only two seasons, manages to tell the best story the Scooby-Doo franchise has to offer, one that has stuck with me for years, and that I find myself returning to almost annually. It’s one of my favorites to show my friends; I can’t help but watch as horror dawns on their faces when they realize just how dark this silly little cartoon is willing to go.
Camille Claudel
This movie makes any other dark academia movie you’ve ever seen look like a little b****. It stars the incomparable Isabelle Adjani as Camille Claudel, the real-life artist, as well as assistant, apprentice, and mistress to Auguste Rodin, played by GĂ©rard Depardieu. Like any movie that utilizes the insane talent of Adjani (her work will appear twice more on this list) at playing very complex characters, this movie is about the psyche of the stifled female artist in the belle Ă©poque. Watch as she grapples with her sanity, have an affair or two, and sculpt marble and cast bronze in palatial French studios. You might also find yourself going insane, but it’s worth it.
Possession
This movie is so weird. Bizarre. Lovecraftian horror. A couple… gets divorced. And they both go mad. You are uneasy literally the entire time. A bomb might go off? Everyone is speaking English but they all have different accents. It’s the Cold War, wait is the main dude a spy? Who knows. Why does nothing make sense? Don’t worry, the lack of sense starts to make sense after a while. It’s entirely atmospheric, it’s a journey, you will be confused, then you won’t, then you will. Isabelle Adjani is incredible. The result of a, let’s say idiosyncratic, director processing his own divorce, this movie is the horror movie for people who love movies but hate horror, but can stomach a tinge of it for the aesthetic.Â
Behind Her Eyes
This show is slow to reveal its hand, but my goodness, is the payoff spectacular. Some might call it predictable, but my jaw fell to the ground and I could barely get it back up again. A young woman falls for her new and married boss, and as they hesitantly begin an affair, also develops a friendship with his slightly off-kilter wife. Their marriage is clearly haunted by something, which the show steadily reveals over the course of its six episodes. This show is twisted, as the protagonist finds herself capable of strange new abilities and their consequences, and must reckon with the fallout of her two, new, intertwined relationships.Â
Adele H (L’histoire d’Adèle H)
I conclude this list with yet another Adjani film, one of her first, and if I could compare it to anything, I might refer to it as the inverse Little Women. Adjani plays Adèle Hugo, the troubled and obsessive daughter of author Victor Hugo, who travels alone from France to North America to pursue a man who has essentially rejected her. I know what you’re thinking, girl, stand up. Or maybe real. But that’s the reality and tragedy of it all. It might be 1863, but she’s just a girl (and she might’ve invented bed-rotting). She’s just a young girl who falls down a harrowing, self-destructive path in pursuit of love, while also documenting her story in extensive diary entries. Does that not sound like at least one famously relatable TikTok influencer? This fall, remind yourself that across time and space, girls have always been girls.
