Upcoming Movies and TV Shows to Watch this October 2026

October isn’t celebrated as the official horror movie month for nothing, and some of these entries prove it.

October is my second favorite month of the year, after May, of course. And while I have no scientific evidence to support this, I firmly believe October was designed for people who enjoy being slightly terrified while sitting comfortably on their couch.

It’s officially spooky season, which means horror movies, psychological thrillers, creepy supernatural happenings, and the annual reminder that maybe people should stop investigating strange noises in the middle of the night. Thankfully, October isn’t short on options. 

This month brings some of the year’s most anticipated releases, from Verity and The Social Reckoning to Street Fighter and Clayface. There are also plenty of literary adaptations, including Sense and Sensibility, Klara and the Sun, and Netflix’s East of Eden.

So whether you’re looking for something scary, romantic, action-packed, or something that’ll leave you scratching your head after the credits roll, there’s something here for you.

Here are some of the most anticipated movies and TV shows coming to our screens this October.

Verity — October 2, Cinemas

If you’ve been anywhere near BookTok in the past few years, you probably know Verity. Now Colleen Hoover’s bestselling psychological thriller is finally getting the big-screen treatment, starring Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway, and Josh Hartnett.

The story follows Lowen Ashleigh (Johnson), a struggling writer who is hired to finish the bestselling book series of the incapacitated author Verity Crawford (Hathaway). But when Lowen discovers a disturbing manuscript containing what appear to be Verity’s darkest confessions, she begins to question everything she knows about the Crawford family, including Verity’s husband Jeremy (Hartnett).

Truly looking forward to this movie. 

Digger — October 2, Cinemas

Tom Cruise stars in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Digger, a dark comic drama about a very powerful man trying to convince the world he’s humanity’s savior.

After causing a massive environmental crisis, a billionaire embarks on a frantic mission to fix the mess and prove that he is the only person capable of saving everyone from it. Because apparently causing the apocalypse and fixing the apocalypse can both go on the résumé.

The film also stars Jesse Plemons, Sandra Hüller, Sophie Wilde and Riz Ahmed.

The Social Reckoning — October 9, Cinemas

If you watched The Social Network and thought, “Hmm, I wonder what Facebook’s next scandal will look like on screen,” Aaron Sorkin apparently had the same question.

A companion piece to The Social Network, The Social Reckoning follows Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), a Facebook engineer who becomes a whistleblower and works with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) to expose the company’s closely guarded secrets.

Jeremy Strong plays Mark Zuckerberg, with Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen and Bill Burr also starring. The film explores Facebook’s internal controversies, its algorithms and the wider consequences of social media’s influence.

Considering how much of our lives now happens online, this one might hit a little too close to home.

Street Fighter — October 16, Cinemas

The Street Fighter franchise is getting another shot at the big screen, and this time we’re going back to 1993.

The film follows estranged fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo), who are recruited by Chun-Li (Callina Liang) to compete in the next World Warrior Tournament. Naturally, things aren’t as simple as a tournament, because a deadly conspiracy lurks behind all those punches, kicks, and questionable hairstyles. 

The cast is a fascinating combination of Hollywood actors, professional wrestlers, musicians, and actual fighters. Jason Momoa plays Blanka, 50 Cent plays Balrog, Roman Reigns plays Akuma, and Cody Rhodes plays Guile, among others.

Other Mommy — October 9, Cinemas

October without a horror movie about a terrifying entity appearing in a child’s home would feel incomplete, so here we are.

Other Mommy follows eight-year-old Bela, who encounters a sinister entity that looks and sounds exactly like her mother. What begins as a frightening presence in her home gradually becomes a much bigger threat to Bela and her family.

Jessica Chastain stars alongside Jay Duplass, Dichen Lachman, Arian Moayed, and Arabella Olivia Clark.

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother — October 9, Cinemas

Mahershala Ali stars as Latif, a devoutly religious hitman struggling to balance his violent profession with faith and fatherhood. After his wife dies, he sets off across Houston to protect his children while confronting the people closing in around him, and the beliefs he’s beginning to question.

Directed by Bassam Tariq, the film also stars John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito, Abubakr Ali, Tiffany Boone and Tramell Tillman.

The film premiered in limited release in September and expands to more cinemas in October, so if you missed it the first time around, October gives you another chance to catch it.

Animals — October 9, Netflix

Ben Affleck directs and stars in this crime thriller alongside Kerry Washington.

Affleck plays Mark Kimball, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate whose seemingly perfect life falls apart when his son is kidnapped. Mark and his wife Abigail (Washington) are forced into a desperate race to raise the ransom while making increasingly difficult choices to get their son back.

The cast also includes Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, Luis Gerardo Méndez and Ray Fisher.

Sense and Sensibility — October 16, Cinemas

Jane Austen is back on our screens, because apparently we can never have too many adaptations of people falling in love while refusing to simply communicate their feelings.

This latest adaptation of Sense and Sensibility follows sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood as they navigate love, heartbreak, family and the social expectations of Regency-era England after their father’s death.

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as the sensible Elinor, while Esmé Creed-Miles plays the more passionate Marianne. The cast also includes George MacKay, Frank Dillane, Caitríona Balfe and Fiona Shaw.

It’s Austen, so expect romance, social commentary, and lots of yearning.

Wicker — October 23, Cinemas

A fisherwoman living on the outskirts of a conservative seaside village decides she’s had enough of being single and ridiculed, so she commissions herself a husband made entirely from wicker.

Yes. You read that correctly. The plot is as deranged as ever. 

What follows is an unconventional romance that sends the conservative town into a frenzy of outrage, jealousy and chaos.

Wicker stars Olivia Colman, Richard E. Grant, Alexander Skarsgård, Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki and Marli Siu.

I don’t know what possessed someone to pitch “woman builds wicker husband and falls in love with him,” but I respect the commitment to originality. And trust Olivia Colman to have fun with deranged scripts. 

Clayface — October 23, Cinemas

If your idea of a good superhero movie involves considerably more body horror than usual, Clayface might be for you. It’d be a nice departure from the bumbling, idiotic/dramatic version we’re used to in the Harley Quinn animated series. 

The film follows Matt Hagen, a Gotham street kid who becomes a successful Hollywood actor before a criminal’s actions leave him horribly disfigured. Desperate to restore his former appearance, Matt turns to an experimental treatment that works a little too well, and begins to affect his grip on reality.

Tom Rhys Harries stars as Clayface, alongside Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan and Nancy Carroll.

Directed by James Watkins and written by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, this might be the closest we get to a full-on horror movie in the DC universe.

Klara and the Sun — October 23, Cinemas

Based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s bestselling novel, Klara and the Sun follows Klara (Jenna Ortega), an Artificial Friend who longs to find the perfect home.

Her life changes when she meets Josie (Mia Tharia), a young girl dealing with illness, loss, and a complicated relationship with her mother (Amy Adams). As Klara becomes part of the family, her loyalty and innocent perspective bring much-needed light into Josie’s world.

Taika Waititi directs the adaptation, which also stars Steve Buscemi and Natasha Lyonne.

TV SHOWS

East of Eden — October 1, Netflix

October is already doing the absolute most for literary adaptations. 

Netflix’s East of Eden is a seven-episode adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic novel, with Florence Pugh starring as Cathy Ames. The story follows the Trask family across generations, exploring love, family, rivalry, inheritance and the eternal struggle between good and evil.

Christopher Abbott plays Adam Trask, Mike Faist plays Charles Trask, while Ciarán Hinds, Hoon Lee, Martha Plimpton and Joseph Zada also star.

All seven episodes arrive on Netflix on October 1, so this is one of those shows where “I’ll just watch one episode” is probably a lie. 

Carrie — October 7, Prime Video

It’d be criminal not to have a horror adaptation for October. And I’m always down for a Mike Flanagan series.

This time, Flanagan is taking on Stephen King’s Carrie and turning the iconic horror story into an eight-episode series. 

Summer H. Howell stars as Carrie White, the shy teenager whose telekinetic powers begin to emerge as she struggles with bullying, family, and life in high school.

All eight episodes arrive on Prime Video on October 7.

If Mike Flanagan has taught us one thing, it’s that we should never trust a seemingly normal house, family, or teenage girl. 

Below — October 8, Netflix

A mysterious sea creature begins terrorizing a coastal town in this six-episode thriller set in Newfoundland.

Josh Hartnett stars as a fisherman who joins forces with a marine biologist as they try to protect their community, families, and the town’s vanishing way of life. Mackenzie Davis and Charlie Heaton also star.

October really said, “What if the ocean had more creepy things too?” As if we didn’t already have enough reasons to stay on land.

Avatar: Seven Havens — October 9, Paramount+

Cue the Avatar Korra hate…

P.S. I’ll always defend her rights and wrongs.

Set in a world devastated by a mysterious cataclysm, Avatar: Seven Havens introduces a new Avatar—a young Earthbender who discovers she’s inherited the title after Korra. Unfortunately for her, this time around, being the Avatar isn’t exactly considered a good thing.

Hunted by both humans and spirits, she and her long-lost twin must uncover the truth about their origins while trying to save the Seven Havens, the last remaining strongholds of civilization.

The series comes from Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and features Major Curda, Sakina Jaffrey, Akshay Khanna, Aishu Devan, and Saheli Khan.

And yes, I will be defending Korra in the comments. I’ve already prepared my arguments.

VisionQuest — October 14, Disney+

It would’ve been nice if this had been released years ago, after WandaVision or even Agatha All Along dropped, when there was still a little more hype around the storyline.

But we’ll still watch it. Obviously.

VisionQuest picks up with Vision (Paul Bettany) after his rebooted form escapes those who want to weaponize him. While hiding out, Vision begins consulting the AI personalities embedded in his programming, including Ultron, as he tries to understand who, and what, he really is.

Things get complicated when a bounty is placed on him, forcing him to go on the run with Thomas Shepherd, a mysterious boy who may be connected to Vision’s family.

The series also brings back James Spader as Ultron and serves as the final installment in the trilogy that began with WandaVision and continued with Agatha All Along.

Crystal Lake — October 15, Peacock

A new Friday the 13th prequel in October? Sign me right up!

Crystal Lake is a prequel series that explores Pamela Voorhees’s story before she became the infamous killer at the center of the franchise. After her son Jason is believed to have died in a summer-camp accident, Pamela is left devastated. 

When bodies begin turning up around Crystal Lake, questions about what really happened to Jason begin to surface.

Linda Cardellini stars as Pamela Voorhees, alongside William Catlett, Gwendolyn Sundstrom, Cameron Scoggins, and Callum Vinson. 

Honestly, October really is committed to giving horror fans everything they asked for.

Nobody Wants This — Season 3 — October 22, Netflix

Joanne and Noah are back, and this time they’re moving in together.

After recommitting to their relationship at the end of Season 2, Joanne (Kristen Bell) and Noah (Adam Brody) enter a new phase and have to navigate all the exciting and awkward “firsts” that come with building a life together.

Meanwhile, Sasha and Esther are thrown back into the dating world, and Morgan’s career takes off. Also, the complicated dynamic between Sasha and Morgan continues to simmer beneath the surface.

All 10 episodes of Season 3 arrive on Netflix on October 22, with Andrew Rannells, Sarah Silverman, and Keyla Monterroso Mejia joining the cast.

At this point, I am emotionally invested in everyone’s relationship drama. 

Currently Airing From Last Month: The fourth season of Ted Lasso continues into October, with the season finale arriving on Apple TV in early October. The DC series Lanterns also continues into October, with its finale scheduled for October 4.