Movies Update: What you shouldn’t miss this fall.

September 18, 2026

	By Stephanie Goodman

Hi, movie fans!

The fall festival season is largely over, and it’s been a ride.

At Telluride, Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim unveiled their head-spinning Elizabeth Holmes documentary, “You Can See Everything.” The Venice Film Festival presented the nearly four-hour-long “Musk,” Alex Gibney’s exhaustive look at the tech trillionaire. And at the Toronto International Film Festival, Jesse Eisenberg’s new community-theater comedy, “The Debut,” with Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, killed when it premiered.

What did the critics think? We’ll have more on “You Can See Everything” when it plays the New York Film Festival later this month, but on the others, our chief critic, Manohla Dargis, had thoughts. She found the Elon Musk documentary “at once too long to hold your interest and too short to do its complicated subject real justice,” but she praised “The Debut” for the way Eisenberg and company managed to “coax laughs from their characters and community theater without cruelty,” adding, “He adores these people, and makes you feel the same.”

These are just two of the many films that will be making waves this fall. We’ve been previewing a few this week, including “Once Upon a Time in Harlem,” an engrossing documentary some five decades in the making; “Wicker,” which inspired some truly funny memes thanks to a very appealing character made out of the title material; and “Wildwood,” which is full of cinematic magic tricks from the animation studio Laika.

Then there’s “Wild Horse Nine,” the forthcoming comic drama from Martin McDonagh with John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell. It turns out the stars are longtime friends, and they told our writer Clarissa Cruz about their first impressions of each other and what they do and don’t admire about other actors.

Also worth reading about this season: “The Social Reckoning,” one of several movies taking “a far darker view of Silicon Valley than “The Social Network” and its progeny did, and that’s a telling evolution,” in the words of our critic, Alissa Wilkinson.

Whatever you decide to watch, enjoy the movies!

A woman in a light-blue buttoned-up sweater and black skirt sits timidly as bodies rush by.

A24, via TIFF

Critic’s Notebook

At the Toronto International Film Festival, an Abundant but Mixed Bag

Films by Jesse Eisenberg, Lee Chang-dong and Hirokazu Kore-eda make up for an uneven program.

By Manohla Dargis

An illustration shows two faces imposed on a film strip. On the left, actor Jesse Eisenberg portrays Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network." On the right, the film strip disintegrates as flames erupt from the face of actor Jeremy Strong, who portrays an older version of Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Reckoning." Flames at the top of his head form points like devil horns.

Saiman Chow

Critic’s Notebook

As Big Tech Takes Over Hollywood, the Picture Onscreen Gets Darker

“The Social Reckoning” and other movies reflect growing discontent with Silicon Valley founders. But such films may be at the mercy of the companies themselves.

By Alissa Wilkinson

Malkovich and Rockwell stand angled toward each other and their faces turned to the camera.

Trent Davis Bailey for The New York Times

John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell Get Real

The longtime friends talk about sinister characters and the politics that underpin the C.I.A. story at the heart of their new darkly comic drama, “Wild Horse Nine.”

By Clarissa Cruz

CRITICS’ PICKS

Older man with gray hair, glasses, and a tan suit jacket over a white shirt, looking at the camera with a slight smile, against a blue background.

Greenwich Entertainment

Critic’s pick

‘You Had to Be There’ Review: An Irresistible Documentary

The film looks at the storied 1972 Toronto production of “Godspell,” a Rosetta Stone of funny people that featured Martin Short, Gilda Radner and Eugene Levy.

By Jason Zinoman

An image of Austin Abrams, with a gun and a medical bag, on a snowy street.

Dusan Martincek/Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures

Critic’s Pick

‘Resident Evil’ Review: Return to Raccoon City

This reboot of the video game franchise from the director Zach Cregger (“Weapons”) is arguably the most raucously entertaining thrill ride of the year.

By Brandon Yu

MOVIE REVIEWS

An image of sheep hiding in an arched window with lightning bolts on either side.

GKids

‘Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom’ Review: Shear Terror

Everybody’s favorite woolly, wordless sheep returns in this charming, stop-motion spoof of Halloween movies, which will delight kids and adults alike.

By Alissa Wilkinson

Three women in colorful saris dance onstage.

Emily V. Aragones/Netflix

‘Best of the Best’ Review: They Think They Can Dance

In Lena Khan’s dramedy, competitive Bollywood dance becomes a way for two friends to reckon with who they were before college, and who they’ve become.

By Chris Azzopardi

The actors Demián Bichir and Salma Hayek Pinault. Wearing pearls, she stands with her hands clasped while Bichir is behind the newsstand counter.

Stefano Cristiano Montesi/Brainstorm Media

‘Without Blood’ Review: A Fable for Two

Salma Hayek Pinault and Demián Bichir struggle to energize Angelina Jolie’s antiwar drama.

By Jeannette Catsoulis

Two men are looking fearfully to the side while crouching in a river.

Vertical

‘The Weight’ Review: An Adrenaline-Spiked Adventure

Ethan Hawke anchors this Depression-era wilderness thriller about a group of prisoners tasked with hauling bags of gold bricks across Oregon mountain country.

By Beatrice Loayza

Two boys walking outdoors at an event; one carries large rolled-up foam pads. People are visible in the sunny, tree-filled background.

Jackie Brown/Inaugural Entertainment

‘Tiny Fugitives’ Review: Teenage Sex and Pranks at Jewish Summer Camp

Unruly sleepaway campers attempt to outwit their head counselor (Johnny Knoxville) in this alternately ribald and sentimental teen comedy.

By Calum Marsh

Salman Rushdie stands on the stage of an empty amphitheater.

Rachel Eliza Griffiths/Abramorama

‘Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie’ Review: Sharpened Insights

A documentary, adapted from the author’s memoir about being attacked, adds a visual dimension to the story of his recovery.

By Ben Kenigsberg

A man in a white shirt holds a trident and seems to be about to throw it.

Rich Spirit

‘If I Go Will They Miss Me’ Review: Wings of a Son’s Desire

In this loving poem of a family drama, the writer-director Walter Thompson-Hernández and his ensemble get the details of a hopeful and thwarted childhood just right.

By Lisa Kennedy