The following list of 25 films represents merely a taste of the cinematic offerings available to you this month. In the mood for some horror? Head for the main office and see The Nun. Perhaps something new based on something familiar? Hope you’re ready to fight because The Predator is coming. Maybe you want something based in truth? Then look no further than MDMA, the Unbroken sequel, or The Children Act, to name a few. Essentially, there’s something hitting theaters to interest film-lovers of all ages. But don’t take our word for it, read for yourself.
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September 7th
The Nun
Director: Corin Hardy.
Cast: Demian Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Charlotte Hope, Ingrid Bisu, and Bonnie Aarons.
When a young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania takes her own life, a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate. Together they uncover the order’s unholy secret. Risking not only their lives but their faith and their very souls, they confront a malevolent force in the form of a nun, as the abbey becomes a horrific battleground between the living and the damned.
Peppermint
Director: Pierre Morel.
Cast: Jennifer Garner, John Ortiz, John Gallagher Jr, Juan Pablo, and Method Man.
Peppermint is an action thriller which tells the story of young mother Riley North (Garner) who awakens from a coma after her husband and daughter are killed in a brutal attack on the family. When the system frustratingly shields the murderers from justice, Riley sets out to transform herself from citizen to urban guerilla. Channeling her frustration into personal motivation, she spends years in hiding honing her mind, body and spirit to become an unstoppable force – eluding the underworld, the LAPD and the FBI- as she methodically delivers her personal brand of justice.
God Bless the Broken Road
Director: Harold Cronk.
Cast: Lindsay Pulsipher, Makenzie Moss, Andrew W. Walker, Kim Delaney, Robin Givens, Gary Grubbs, Arthur Cartwright, LaDainian Tomlinson, Madeline Carroll, Jordin Sparks, Liam Matthews, Adam Agee, and Micah Tyler.
God Bless the Broken Road tells the story of a young mother who loses her husband in Afghanistan and struggles to raise their young daughter in his absence. The film combines elements of faith, country music, and stock car racing while paying tribute to those who serve in the United States Military.
Mara
Director: Clive Tonge.
Cast: Olga Kurylenko, Javier Botet, and Mitch Eakins.
From a producer of Paranormal Activity and Insidious comes this shock-filled descent into fear. After a man is seemingly strangled in his bed, criminal psychologist Kate Fuller (Olga Kurylenko) interviews the sole witness, the victim’s eight-year-old daughter, Sophie. When asked to identify the killer, Sophie says, “Mara.” As Kate digs into the case, she unearths a community of people who claim to be tormented by a shadowy menace, a centuries-old demon who kills her victims as they sleep.
September 14th
The Predator
Director: Shane Black.
Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Alfie Allen, Thomas Jane, Augusto Aguilera, Jake Busey, and Yvonne Strahovski.
From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of suburbia, the hunt comes home in Shane Black’s explosive reinvention of the Predator series. Now, the universe’s most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species. When a young boy accidentally triggers their return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race.
A Simple Favor
Director: Paul Feig.
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Linda Cardellini, Jean Smart, and Rupert Friend.
A Simple Favor, directed by Paul Feig, centers around Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), a mommy vlogger who seeks to uncover the truth behind her best friend Emily’s (Blake Lively) sudden disappearance from their small town. Stephanie is joined by Emily’s husband Sean (Henry Golding) in this stylish thriller filled with twists and betrayals, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge.
White Boy Rick
Director: Yann Demange.
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Richie Merritt, Bel Powley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Brian Tyree Henry, Rory Cochrane, RJ Cyler, Jonathan Majors, Eddie Marsan, with Bruce Dern and Piper Laurie.
Set in 1980s Detroit at the height of the crack epidemic and the War on Drugs, White Boy Rick is based on the moving true story of a blue-collar father and his teenage son, Rick Wershe, who became an undercover police informant and later a drug dealer, before he was abandoned by his handlers and sentenced to life in prison.
Unbroken: Path to Redemption
Director: Harold Cronk.
Cast: Samuel Hunt, Merritt Patterson, David Sakurai, Gary Cole, and Will Graham.
After surviving a plane crash, weeks of floating on a makeshift raft in the Pacific, and then years of torture as a prisoner of war, Louis Zamperini finally returns home to California, seemingly unbroken.
Based on Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling book, Unbroken: Path to Redemption begins where the hit movie Unbroken concludes, continuing the unbelievable true story of this Olympian and World War II hero. Haunted by nightmares of his torment, Louie sees himself as anything but a hero.
Despite battling demons, anger, and alcohol abuse, Louie feels obligated to participate in an Army tour to raise money for War Bonds. But he ends up focusing more on hotel bars than his public appearances, so Louie is eventually ordered to take R&R on the beaches of Miami. There, he meets Cynthia, a young woman who captures his eye—and his heart. After a whirlwind courtship, the couple marries and moves to Los Angeles. While pursuing every avenue of hope he can find—from trying to reestablish himself as a world-class runner to get-rich-quick investment opportunities—Louie’s wrathful quest for revenge drives him deeper into despair … and the bottle.
Hopeless and on the brink of divorce, Cynthia experiences Billy Graham’s 1949 Los Angeles Crusade where she finds faith in God and a renewed commitment to her marriage and her husband. Now, her most fervent prayer is for God to help Louie find the peace and forgiveness he so desperately needs.
Lizzie
Director: Craig William Macneill.
Cast: Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Jamey Sheridan, Fiona Shaw, Kim Dickens, Denis O’Hare, and Jeff Perry.
Academy Award® nominee Chloë Sevigny stars as Lizzie Borden, the notorious woman at the heart of one of the most enduring mysteries in American history. After a lifetime of loneliness, Lizzie finds a kindred spirit in housemaid Bridget Sullivan (Stewart) and their secret intimacy sparks an unthinkable act. Director Craig William Macneill explores the days leading up to the savage crimes in a dark tale of repression, exploitation and thwarted dreams.
The Children Act
Director: Richard Eyre.
Cast: Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, and Fionn Whitehead.
Smart, elegant, and deeply moving, The Children Act stars two-time Academy Award-winner Emma Thompson in a riveting performance as Fiona Maye, a British High Court judge who, in the midst of a marital crisis, must rule on a life-changing legal case concerning the survival of a teenage boy. At issue whether to order a blood transfusion on the boy (Whitehead), a Jehovah’s Witness who, just months short of his eighteenth birthday, is refusing on religious grounds the procedure that would save his life. Adapted by Ian McEwan from his own novel, and directed by Richard Eyre, The Children Act is a deeply affecting portrait of strength, devotion, and love, with the incomparable Emma Thompson giving one of the very best performances of her career.
Hal
Director: Amy Scott.
Cast: Allison Anders, Judd Apatow, Rosanna Arquette, Tony Bill, Beau Bridges, Jeff Bridges, Lisa Cholodenko, Nick Dawson, Caleb Deschanel, Pablo Ferro, Jane Fonda, Bruce Gilbert, Louis Gossett Jr., Lee Grant, Grif Griffis, and more.
Although Hal Ashby directed a remarkable string of acclaimed, widely admired classics throughout the 1970s—Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo, Coming Home, Being There —he is often overlooked amid the crowd of luminaries from his generation. Amy Scott’s exuberant portrait explores that curious oversight, using rare archival materials, interviews, personal letters, and audio recordings to reveal a passionate, obsessive artist. Ashby was a Hollywood director who constantly clashed with Hollywood, but also a unique soul with an unprecedented insight into the human condition and an unmatched capacity for good. His films were an elusive blend of honesty, irreverence, humor, and humanity. Through the heartrending and inspiring Hal, you feel buoyed by Ashby’s love of people and of cinema, a little like walking on water.
MDMA
Director: Angie Wang.
Cast: Annie Q., Francesca Eastwood, Pierson Fodé, Scott Keiji Takeda, Aalyrah Caldwell, Yetide Badaki, Noah Segan with Elisa Donovan and Ron Yuan.
Inspired by true events…
It’s 1984, and a gorgeous, young working-class woman, Angie Wang (Annie Q.) from Newark, NJ, is about to start her freshman year at a prestigious San Francisco university. On her first day, she meets her new roommate, a rich girl named Jeanine Rockwell (Francesca Eastwood), and the two bond over booze, boys, and their first taste of freedom!
Raised by her strict father in an urban neighborhood, the sudden jolt from hardship to privileged campus life proves to be a challenge for Angie. When her financial aid is cut, she uses her book and street smarts, along with school resources to synthesize the growing popular drug, Ecstasy. Angie becomes one of the west coast’s largest distributors of ‘X,” cutting deals on campus and in posh nightclubs. Her dual life as the Asian ‘model minority’ coed and profit-driven drug dealer is further complicated by her desire to help Bree (Aalyrah Caldwell), a girl from one of the bay area’s most infamous ghettos who reminds her of her own dark past. Angie lives the high life until her recklessness instigates a sudden tragedy from which she may not recover.
I Think We’re Alone Now (Limited)
Director: Reed Morano.
Cast: Peter Dinklage, Elle Fanning, Paul Giamatti, and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Del (Peter Dinklage) is alone in the world. After the human race is wiped out, he lives in his small, empty town, content in his solitude and the utopia he’s methodically created for himself – until he is discovered by Grace (Elle Fanning), an interloper whose history and motives are obscure. Worse yet, she wants to stay.
September 21st
The House with a Clock in Its Walls
Director: Eli Roth.
Cast: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sunny Suljic, and Kyle MacLachlan.
In the tradition of Amblin classics where fantastical events occur in the most unexpected places, Jack Black and two-time Academy Award® winner Cate Blanchett star in The House with a Clock in Its Walls, from Amblin Entertainment. The magical adventure tells the spine-tingling tale of 10-year-old Lewis (Vaccaro) who goes to live with his uncle in a creaky old house with a mysterious tick-tocking heart. But his new town’s sleepy façade jolts to life with a secret world of warlocks and witches when Lewis accidentally awakens the dead.
Life Itself
Director: Dan Fogelman.
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Antonio Banderas, Annette Bening, Olivia Cooke, Sergio Peris- Mencheta, Laia Costa, Alex Monner, and Mandy Patinkin.
As a young New York couple goes from college romance to marriage and the birth of their first child, the unexpected twists of their journey create reverberations that echo over continents and through lifetimes in Life Itself. Director and writer Dan Fogelman (This Is Us) examines the perils and rewards of everyday life in a multigenerational saga featuring an international ensemble. Set in New York City and Carmona, Spain, Life Itself celebrates the human condition and all of its complications with humor, poignancy and love.
Assassination Nation
Director: Sam Levinson.
Cast: Odessa Young, Hari Nef, Abra, Suki Waterhouse, Joel McHale, Bella Thorne, Maude Apatow, and Bill Skarsgård.
High school senior Lily and her group of friends live in a haze of texts, posts, selfies and chats just like the rest of the world. So, when an anonymous hacker starts posting details from the private lives of everyone in their small town, the result is absolute madness leaving Lily and her friends questioning whether they’ll live through the night.
The Sisters Brothers
Director: Jacques Audiard.
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, John C Reilly, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Riz Ahmed.
Based on Patrick Dewitt’s acclaimed novel of the same name, follows two brothers – Eli and Charlie Sisters – who are hired to kill a prospector who has stolen from their boss. The story, a genre-hybrid with comedic elements, takes place in Oregon in 1851.
Colette
Director: Wash Westmoreland.
Cast: Keira Knightley, Dominic West, Eleanor Tomlinson, Denise Gough, and Fiona Shaw.
After marrying a successful Parisian writer known commonly as “Willy” (West), Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (Knightley) is transplanted from her childhood home in rural France to the intellectual and artistic splendor of Paris. Soon after, Willy convinces Colette to ghostwrite for him. She pens a semi-autobiographical novel about a witty and brazen country girl named Claudine, sparking a bestseller and a cultural sensation. After its success, Colette and Willy become the talk of Paris and their adventures inspire additional Claudine novels. Colette’s fight over creative ownership defies gender roles and drives her to overcome societal constraints, revolutionizing literature, fashion and sexual expression.
September 28th
Night School
Director: Malcolm D. Lee.
Cast: Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, Rob Riggle, Taran Killam, and Romany Malco.
Star Kevin Hart and producer Will Packer, who partnered for the hit Ride Along and Think Like a Man series, bring their signature style to Night School. The comedy from director Malcolm D. Lee (Girls Trip) follows a group of misfits who are forced to attend adult classes in the longshot chance they’ll pass the GED exam.
Smallfoot
Director: Karey Kirkpatrick and Jason Reisig.
Cast: Channing Tatum, James Corden, Zendaya, Common, LeBron James, Gina Rodriguez, Danny DeVito, Yara Shahidi, Ely Henry, and Jimmy Tatro.
“Smallfoot” turns a myth upside down when a bright young yeti finds something he thought didn’t exist—a human.
News of this “smallfoot” throws the simple yeti community into an uproar over what else might be out there in the big world beyond their snowy village, in an all new story about friendship, courage and the joy of discovery.
Hell Fest
Director: Gregory Plotkin.
Cast: Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Christian James, Roby Attal, Matt Mercurio, and Tony Todd.
A masked serial killer turns a horror themed amusement park into his own personal playground, terrorizing a group of friends while the rest of the patrons believe that it is all part of the show.
The Old Man & the Gun
Director: David Lowery.
Cast: Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, and Tika Sumpter, Keith Carradine, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., John David Washington with Tom Waits and Sissy Spacek.
The Old Man & the Gun is based on the true story of Forrest Tucker (Redford), from his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded authorities and enchanted the public. Wrapped up in the pursuit are detective John Hunt (Affleck), who becomes captivated with Forrest’s commitment to his craft, and a woman (Spacek), who loves him in spite of his chosen profession.
Monsters and Men
Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green.
Cast: Anthony Ramos, John David Washington, and Kelvin Harrison Jr.
When a young father witnesses the police shooting of an unarmed black man, the tight-knit community of Bed-Stuy is pushed to the brink in Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Sundance award-winning portrait of race, family, and consequence.
All About Nina
Director: Eva Vives.
Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Common, Chace Crawford, Clea DuVall, Kate del Castillo, and Beau Bridges.
Nina Geld (Winstead) is an up-and-coming comedian in New York City. She’s funny, smart and has worked hard to build a career for herself in the male-dominated world of stand-up. But when it comes to romantic relationships, Nina’s life is a mess. Random guys in bars, abusive married men (Crawford), and an inability to stand up for herself finally convince Nina it’s time for a change. She packs up and moves to Los Angeles, for a once in a lifetime opportunity to audition for Comedy Prime — the end all, be all of late night comedy. After killing it in Los Angeles, she meets chill contractor Rafe Hines (Common), who tempts the brash New Yorker into considering commitment. Sublimating her own desire to self-destruct, Nina has to answer the question, once and for all, of whether women can indeed have it all.
Summer ‘03
Director: Becca Gleason.
Cast: Joey King, Andrea Savage, Paul Scheer, Jack Kilmer, Erin Darke, and June Squibb.
Inspired by true events, Summer ’03 centers on Jamie, a 16-year-old girl (King) and her extended family who are left reeling after her calculating grandmother (Squibb) unveils an array of family secrets on her deathbed. Jamie is left to navigate her nascent love life and maintain her closest friendships in the midst of this family crisis.
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