‘Sinister 2’ (Oct. 15)
The original “Sinister” was one of the best horror films of the 2010s, a brutally efficient and inspired hybrid of “Blair Witch”-style found footage and “Poltergeist”-inspired suburban dread. Its success landed its director and co-writer, Scott Derrickson, and his collaborator C. Robert Cargill a lucrative gig making “Doctor Strange” for Marvel, but they made time to write the script for this sequel, following the “Sinister” supporting player James Ransone into a new and terrifying story. Shannyn Sossamon is an empathetic lead, while Robert and Dartanian Sloan make a memorable impression as her twin sons. But the most valuable addition is the director Ciarán Foy, whose moody, atmospheric lensing and nightmare imagery is a good fit for Derrickson and Cargill’s world.
‘Yes, God, Yes’ (Oct. 21)
Religious faith and raging hormones crash into each other with uproarious results in this coming-of-age comedy from the writer and director Karen Maine. Natalia Dyer (best known as Nancy from “Stranger Things”) is delightful — funny, credible and endlessly sympathetic — as Alice, a Catholic teen in the early 2000s who discovers that the internet (specifically that millennial relic, that AOL chat) helps her tap into her blooming sexuality, and all the sin and guilt therein. The “Veep” M.V.P. Timothy Simons stands out as a rather clueless man of the cloth.
‘8 Mile’ (Oct. 31)
When Eminem decided to make the leap from music to film, he could’ve easily taken the easy route, spitting out a “Cool As Ice”-like exploitation flick to make a quick buck. Instead, he hooked up with the gifted director Curtis Hanson (“L.A. Confidential”), the super-producer Brian Grazer and a cast that included Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer and Brittany Murphy to make a real, respectable motion picture debut. He was also smart enough to keep his acting ambitions modest — he basically plays himself, a tough-talking Detroit kid who finds his voice, and his confidence, in the city’s underground rap battles. But his is a compelling story, and it is well told by Hanson, who makes Eminem’s home turf atmospheric and lived-in.
‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ (Oct. 31)
Renée Zellweger nabbed her first Academy Award nomination for her work in this zingy adaptation of the Helen Fielding novel, itself a loose-limbed update of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” It’s a justifiably beloved performance, by turns snarky, spiky, silly, and sympathetic, as our heroine jots down every stray thought on her journey to quitting smoking, losing a few pounds and finding true love. Colin Firth and Hugh Grant are exquisite as the two leading contenders for romance, with Firth perfectly cast as the upright, uptight riff on Mr. Darcy and Grant at his bad-boy best as a gorgeous, selfish hedonist.
‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ (Oct. 31)
Few words in our modern vernacular have been abused like “iconic,” yet that feels like the only one to properly describe the title character of this comedy classic from the writer and director John Hughes. Matthew Broderick became a generational hero (and a bane to the generation before it) as the wise and witty high schooler who fakes sick for one last day of consequence-free senior year hooky. But it’s not all fun and games; he brings along his best buddy, Cameron (the future “Succession” co-star Alan Ruck), and his girlfriend, Sloane (Mia Sara), and what first seems like goofing off becomes something like group therapy. Jennifer Grey (later of “Dirty Dancing”) is especially funny as Ferris’s bitter sister.
