The changing of seasons is upon us — from summer over to the season of the witch, if you have the energy to watch something from Marvel. (Though as a huge WandaVision fan, I must say this Agatha spinoff is a sight for sore eyes.) It’s hard to not at least dig into a show about witchy women that includes the Patti LuPone. Wanda Maximoff is not in Agatha All Along as far as we know, but Elizabeth Olsen does star in His Three Daughters, an awardsy new drama on Netflix. And if you’re looking for more spine-tingly chills, there’s The Substance, in theaters after a divisive Cannes debut, and I Saw the TV Glow, now streaming. It’s a fall harvest of weekend TV and movie offerings, you could say. Here’s everything.
Featured Presentations
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His Three Daughters
If the idea of Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, and Carrie Coon starring in a movie together isn’t enough to sell you, I don’t know what is. The trio play estranged sisters coming together again to take care of their ailing father.
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Agatha All Along
Headed up by WandaVision showrunner Jac Schaeffer, Agatha All Along revisits the nosey neighbor and titular cunning witch (played deliciously by Kathryn Hahn) as she’s knocked out of her trance and seeks to regain her powers. To do so, she’ll have to go down the treacherous witches’ road (if you haven’t read James Robinson’s The Scarlet Witch run featuring the witches’ road, it’s fantastic) with a coven made up of Patti LuPone, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Debra Jo Rupp, and Ali Ahn. It’s nice to see Marvel have fun again.
âž¼ A coven report card.
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The PenguinÂ
The story goes that Matt Reeves pitched Warner Bros. on more Penguin in the sequel to his 2022 hit The Batman, but the powers that be preferred giving the character his own spinoff series. Now we have Colin Farrell leading his own Max/HBO original opposite Cristin Milioti, who’ll star as Sofia Falcone looking to fight Farrell’s Oz for control of Gotham’s seedy underworld.
➼ Farrell never wants to wear the suit again, but who’s going to break it to him that he’s in The Batman 2?
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A Different Man
Aaron Schimberg’s epically inflected comedy-drama follows a dour actor with facial disfigurement (Sebastian Stan) whose condition is treated by a miracle cure — only to lose out on everything to a man with a similar condition (Adam Pearson). —Bilge EbiriÂ
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Transformers OneÂ
Who knows what’s happening with the live-action Transformers movies, but at least this animated feature is getting good reviews. Transformers One recounts the origin of friends turned frenemies to straight-up enemies Optimus Prime and Megatron.
One Great Quote On...
The Substance
“This is one of the most graphic body-horror films I’ve ever seen, managing not only to turn the human body into a revolting canvas of degradation and despair (characters pull out their teeth, rip off their nails, crack their own bones back into place) but rendering all food repulsive.â€
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American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez
If Ryan Murphy is going to do anything, it’s going to be to produce an American [Noun] Story. Stuart Zicherman is taking on showrunner duties for this first season of American Sports Story that will focus on the story of footballer Aaron Hernandez (played by West Side Story’s Josh Rivera), who was convicted of murder back in 2015.
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High PotentialÂ
From Philadelphia to Los Angeles, Kaitlin Olson is leading another sitcom in High Potential on ABC. She’ll star as a janitor at LAPD who proves to have, wait for it, “high potential†in cracking some unsolved cases.
➼ Really thought the title was a weed joke. (It’s not.)
Reality Bites
The Golden Bachelorette
After the success of Golden Bachelor, former contestant Joan Vassos is the lead of the inaugural season of Golden Bachelorette. A new crop of men are competing for Vassos’s rose, including Kelsey Anderson’s (from season 28 of The Bachelor) dad.
Halloween Wars
In this hidden gem of a competition series, teams of sugar artists, pumpkin carvers, and cake sculptors go head-to-head making some of the gnarliest desserts you’ve ever seen. It’s a spooky good time. —Roxana HadadiÂ
Back in Theaters
Whiplash
Ten years after its debut, Whiplash is making its way back to theaters for a limited time. A showcase for J.K. Simmons being absolutely terrifying, Whiplash follows a drummer Andrew (Miles Teller) as he’s taught by Simmons’s Terence Fletcher, an abusive jazz instructor.
Finally Streaming
Challengers
Well, looks like we can finally watch the ending of Challengers over and over in peace. The sexy tennis drama is available on Prime Video after only being available to stream on MGM+ for a second there.
I Saw the TV Glow
Filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow has arrived on Max. A surreal drama about a pair of teenagers, Owen and Maddy (Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine respectively), who bond over their favorite Buffy the Vampire Slayer–inspired television show about monster hunters called The Pink Opaque. Though, their realities start to bend with the show as they start to question their own gender identities and place within their suburban town. It’s one of the more moving and cleverly made movies of the year, with a fantastic soundtrack to match.
âž¼ Plus, a thriller double feature with Blink Twice and Cuckoo on VOD.
The Perfect Fall TV Show
Over the Garden Wall
Earlier this week, Over the Garden Wall was (incorrectly) marked for removal from Hulu. Spooky! The matter appears to have been resolved for now, thankfully. And it turns out that the complete Over the Garden Wall DVD is currently on sale for $10.49 at Barnes & Noble. It comes with all kinds of special features you don’t get on streaming, plus a sense of security that can only come from holding the thing you love in your arms. Hulu can take it from my cold, undead, pumpkin hands. —Rebecca Alter
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of September 13.