October is traditionally the time for scary movies, but it’s not as fun anymore, somehow. New horror films—cheap to produce and profitable—are released year-round these days. So in the interest of counterprogramming, let’s start with some alternative options coming to the area this month.
Filmed right next door in Winston-Salem, the independent film A Little Prayer is a quiet drama for grown-ups—the kind of movie that doesn’t make it to theaters often in the streaming era. Veteran character actor David Strathairn headlines as a father who tries to protect his daughter-in-law when her husband—his son—commits a cruel infidelity.
Writer-director Angus MacLachlan is an alumnus of the North Carolina School of the Arts, and older film nerds might remember his script from the legendary 2005 indie, Junebug. MacLachlan’s story is designed to evoke a sense of place—our place, as it happens. The film spotlights traditional military families in the South and tackles serious themes concerning PTSD, old-fashioned patriarchal dynamics, and the eternal mysteries of family.
So, yeah … a movie for grown-ups. A Little Prayer was a huge success at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival but just got theatrical release this year. Find the trailer online and consider shopping local on movie night.
For a goofier time, check out the promising comedy Good Fortune, which features an all-star cast of funny people and a pile of weird ideas. Keanu Reeves stars as a guardian angel who blows his assignment and is condemned to tough it out with the rest of us plebes in the 21st-century gig economy. Meanwhile, broke-ass Aziz Ansari is magically body-swapped into the life of his wealthy employer (Seth Rogen), while Keke Palmer tries to unionize workers at her awful job. Sandra Oh is also on board as Reeves’s replacement angel.
Good Fortune is Ansari’s directorial debut—he wrote the script, too—and he’s a guy who takes his funny business seriously. Online clips and early reviews suggest that Good Fortune is an ambitious comedy with real ideas about the insanity of wealth distribution on this planet.
Speaking of which, for those of us toggling between rage and despair, a pretty incredible indie documentary has been making a surprisingly successful theatrical run. The Last Class is a chronicle of the final semester taught by author, economist, and longtime Berkeley professor Robert Reich. His final course? Wealth and Poverty, a deep dive into income inequality in the U.S.
Reich is among the last of our truly persuasive public intellectuals, a fierce progressive thinker who can articulate complex ideas with clarity and urgency. Reich was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, and he’s authored 20 books on economics and public policy. But Reich is a teacher at heart, and his instructions are clear: Don’t give in to cynicism. That’s what this documentary is all about, and it’s bound to be good medicine for anyone feeling soul sick about everything, everywhere, all the time.
Quick Picks
Now, all that said, if you are going to see a horror movie this October, make it Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, opening in theaters on Oct. 17. Hugely anticipated, this new iteration of our most important modern myth is expected to be del Toro’s magnum opus. He’s been trying to get it made for 25 years. Bring your A.I. anxieties and think laterally.
Many area theaters are lining up special Halloween retro series, but for pure variety, check out the Carolina Theater in Durham. In the queue: psychological horror (The Dead Zone, Cape Fear); Lovecraftian horror (In the Mouth of Madness, From Beyond); space horror (Aliens, The Thing); Satanic panics (The Omen, Prince of Darkness); psychopath horror (Se7en, Psycho); creature features (Cujo, Tremors); 1980s horror (Vamp, The Lost Boys); franchise horror (Creepshow 2, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4); European horror (Suspiria, The Lift); and special events (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari with a live chamber music score from Durham ensemble Mallarmé Music). Check the website for times and dates.
The Alamo in Raleigh also has a great slate of retro horror movies planned for October and, in a booking of admirable verve, has included the 1973 Spanish kink-horror cult classic The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein.
Several local theaters have booked the innovative indie horror movie Good Boy, the story of malevolent forces in an old farmhouse told from the perspective of the new tenant’s loyal and protective dog. Once again, we are reminded: Dogs are the best.
Daniel Day-Lewis returns from retirement for the psychological drama Anemone, directed by his son, visual artist Ronan Day-Lewis. Details are scarce, but the story appears to feature estranged brothers and family secrets in northern England.
Scarlett Johansson makes her directorial debut with the comedy/drama Eleanor the Great, starring the amazing June Squibb, who turns 96 years old this November.
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