Serious and Silly Movies That You’ll Fall in Love With

It’s chilly, getting dark at 5 p.m., and Halloween is right around the corner. It’s time to build a fall movie guide. Here, you’ll find four classics that will tug on your heartstrings, and four movies that you should definitely grab your friends to make fun of.

Seriously Serious Movies

Grab your tissues! These four films are heavy hitters, both emotionally and in excellence. Get cozy and prepare yourself for amazing performances and incredible stories.

• Good Will Hunting

Speed reading philosophy and math textbooks, bumming about with his Bostonian friends, and beating people up in the street is Will Hunting’s personality. His life is changed when he solves a nearly impossible math problem and is discovered by a professor at MIT.

Written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (which could mean nothing), this movie is so incredibly well done and deeply moving. I cry every time.

• Dead Poets Society

Boys at a preparatory school receive unorthodox English lessons from their new English teacher, inspiring them to push the boundaries of everyday life and chase their dreams.

Featuring one of the greatest performances Robin Williams ever put on, it’s essential that you take the opportunity to “carpe diem” and watch this devastatingly beautiful classic.

• Fantastic Mr. Fox

After breaking the promise that he made to his wife 12 years ago, Mr. Fox uses his wit to steal from farmers in the surrounding area to provide for his family. When the Fox family is forced underground, Mr. Fox must use his smarts to protect his community.

Packed with notable actors such as George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Bill Murray, this Wes Anderson classic is warm and festive, making it an essential in every fall movie rotation.

• Donnie Darko

Saved from a freak accident by a human-sized rabbit, Donnie Darko is influenced by the rabbit to commit crimes as the end of the world looms.

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, this movie is an equally puzzling and fascinating watch, as Donnie counts down until the end of October.

Seriously Silly Movies

Grab your friends! These four films are perfect to gather around, make some popcorn, and watch the ridiculousness unfold.

• HIM 

Cameron Cade is set to be the next “GOAT” of football, until a mysterious attack leaves him with a traumatic brain injury. Given an opportunity to train with the football legend Isaiah White, Cam soon learns that greatness comes with a price not many are willing to pay.

Starring Tyriq Withers and Marlon Wayans, this movie is not a cinematic marvel by any means. But, it’s bloody, it’s fun, and it’s about football!

• Twilight

The iconic story of Bella Swan, who moves to Forks, Washington, where she falls in love with Edward Cullen, a 108-year-old vampire, bringing danger to everyone involved.

So bad that it’s good, Kristin Stewart and Robert Pattinson star in this absolutely iconic film. Dramatic, moody, and rainy, it makes for the perfect fall movie night watch.

• Warm Bodies

In a post-apocalyptic world, R, a zombie, meets Julie and saves her from a zombie attack. As they get to know one another, their romance makes it seem like salvation could be possible for R and the other zombies on the planet.

Nicholas Hoult and Theresa Palmer star in this movie inspired by Romeo and Juliet. It’s not as scary as a zombie film, and is a fun break from normal romance movies.

• Lords of Chaos

The lurid tale of the creators of Norwegian black metal, Mayhem, and their rise to fame through brutal music, church burnings, suicide, and murder.

Starring Rory Culkin and Sky Ferreira, this movie is dark and gory, as it follows the (mostly) true story of Mayhem. There are definitely liberties taken in this movie, so take it with a grain of salt. It’s quite a watch for lovers—and haters—of the Norwegian black metal genre.