From "Twin Peaks" to "Paddington's Adventures": what to watch in the fall
Autumn is made for long film screenings: it gets dark outside earlier, rain replaces warm evenings, and bright colors gradually give way to muted shades. In the movies, this season can look different - like a romantic walk through Central Park, an unsettling forest, a university campus, a town lost in the fog, or a house where a large family gathers. Izvestia has collected 15 films and TV series for autumn evenings.
"Twin Peaks", 1990-1991, 2017
The measured life of the small fictional town of Twin Peaks is disrupted by the murder of schoolgirl Laura Palmer. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, played by Kyle McLachlan, arrives to investigate the crime. He quickly realizes that the external well-being of the city hides family secrets, crimes, strange dreams and forces that defy rational explanation.
The original "Twin Peaks" was released in 1990 and combined detective, melodrama, mystery, black comedy and elements of a soap opera. The story begins as a classic question about who killed Laura Palmer, but gradually the investigation becomes a way to look into the dark side of the American province. Almost every resident has a secret, and familiar places—a school, a diner, a hotel, and a sawmill—take on a menacing double meaning.
"Twin Peaks" is not an autumn series in the literal sense, but it was he who formed one of the most recognizable versions of the autumn screen. Coniferous forests, fog, rain, dark roads and wooden interiors combine with hot coffee, cherry pie and red chairs at a local snack bar. Angelo Badalamenti's music enhances both a cozy and disturbing feeling: it seems that the familiar world still retains its usual order, although something inexplicable is already happening right outside its borders.
New viewers should start with the two original seasons, then watch the full-length prequel "Twin Peaks: Through the Fire," and then move on to "Twin Peaks: The Return." There is no need to change this order: the film reveals important circumstances of Laura's death and may spoil the main intrigue of the series.
"Twilight", 2008
Seventeen-year-old Bella Swan moves from sunny Phoenix to her father, who lives in a small town in Forks, Washington. At her new school, she meets the mysterious Edward Cullen and soon realizes that he and his family are not like ordinary people. Bella is both frightened and attracted by Edward's nature, and their rapprochement becomes dangerous for both.
The first film of the saga, based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer, was released in 2008. The main roles were played by Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Unlike the larger-scale sequels, Catherine Hardwicke's film remains a chamber teenage story: awkward conversations, school corridors, the first strong feelings and the feeling that the heroine's life completely changed immediately after moving are important in it.
The autumnal atmosphere is created by the cold blue-green color palette, the constantly cloudy sky, wet asphalt and dense forests. Rainy Forks exists as if outside of time: sunny days are an exception here. The famous cold image processing distinguishes the first part from the rest of the films in the franchise. The blue-green hues highlight the damp climate of Forks, the pallor of vampires, and Bella's aloofness after moving in. In the sequels, the image has become warmer and more natural, which is why it is Hardwicke's painting that is most strongly associated with rainy autumn.
Today, Twilight can be viewed both as a romantic fantasy and as a time capsule from the late 2000s. The soundtrack, the characters' clothes, the slightly uneven camerawork and the emphasized seriousness of teenage experiences hark back to the era when film adaptations of youth novels were just beginning to turn into major franchises.
The Twilight story will get a new on-screen version. Netflix is developing an animated series "Midnight Sun" based on the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. The project will retell the events of the first book from the point of view of Edward Cullen. Mayer is involved in the work as an executive producer, but the official release date and cast have not been announced.
"Dead Poets Society", 1989
In 1959, students of the elite Welton Boys' School meet a new literature teacher, John Keating. Instead of mechanically parsing poems, he suggests that teenagers learn to think independently, value time, and not be afraid to choose their own path. Under the influence of the teacher, several students revive the secret "Society of Dead Poets" and begin to gather in a cave to read poetry.
Robin Williams played the role of Keating, and among his students were the characters of Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard and Josh Charles. The film received four Oscar nominations, and screenwriter Tom Shulman won the award for Best Original Screenplay.
At the heart of the story is the conflict between personal freedom and a system that determines a person's future in advance. Keating doesn't give his students ready-made answers: he pushes them to look at familiar things from a different perspective. For some, it becomes liberation, for others, the beginning of a painful encounter with reality.
Sleepy Hollow, 1999
New York Constable Ichabod Crane is sent to the remote settlement of Sleepy Hollow, where several mysterious murders have occurred. Locals are convinced that people are being beheaded by the ghost of a horseman who died during the American Revolutionary War. Crane does not believe in the supernatural and tries to use modern investigative methods for the end of the 18th century, but gradually comes across events that he cannot explain with the help of science.
Starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson and Christopher Walken. The film is based on Washington Irving's novella "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," but Tim Burton significantly changed the original story. His Ichabod is not a schoolteacher, but a young investigator, and the painting itself has turned into a full—fledged Gothic detective story.
The action takes place among bare trees, swamps, misty fields and ancient houses. The bright colors have almost disappeared from the image: pale faces, gray skies and dark suits create a sharp contrast with the red flashes of blood. Even daytime scenes look like there are only a few minutes left before nightfall.
Initially, Burton and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki considered shooting the picture in black and white with an almost square aspect ratio. As a result, they retained the color, but intentionally discolored the image and made the black deeper. This made it possible to bring the picture closer to the old Gothic cinema and German expressionism.
"The Incomparable Mr. Fox", 2009
Mr. Fox used to steal poultry for a living, but after his son was born, he promised his wife to give up dangerous outings. After a few years, a quiet life begins to seem too predictable to him. He decides to rob the farms of three rich farmers one last time, but his adventure endangers not only the family, but also all the animals in the area.
The puppet painting was created by Wes Anderson and screenwriter Noah Baumbak based on the book by Roald Dahl. The main characters are voiced by George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray and Willem Dafoe.
Almost every frame is based on shades of orange, red, yellow and brown. Fields are ready for harvesting, farmers' storerooms are filled with food, and animals are building homes underground before the onset of cold weather. The British Film Institute drew attention to how the theme of a rich harvest is combined here with a premonition of future difficulties.
The adventure story hides a family drama about a midlife crisis. Mr. Fox is trying to prove that he has not turned into a boring and cautious adult, but his family has to pay for it. His son Ash, meanwhile, is trying to earn his father's approval and is jealous of his more confident cousin.
Thanks to the frame-by-frame animation, the world of the film looks intentionally man-made: the characters' fur moves, the scenery resembles miniature theater scenes, and the imperfection of the movements makes the characters alive. The recording of voices was also unusual. Instead of working separately in a soundproof studio, the actors gathered on a farm in Connecticut. Individual scenes were recorded in the woods, in the attic and near the river. Anderson wanted to preserve the natural interaction of the performers and the sounds of the surrounding space.
"Get knives", 2019
The famous author of detective novels Harlan Trombi gathers relatives in a country house to celebrate his 85th birthday. The next morning, he is found dead. The police consider the incident a suicide, but Benoit Blanc, a private detective hired by an unknown client, suspects that every family member may be hiding something.
The film stars Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson and Christopher Plummer. Ryan Johnson used the structure of a classic hermetic detective story, but changed the usual formula: the viewer receives an important part of the answer quite early, after which the main mystery becomes not only the identity of the criminal, but also the reliability of the version of events already shown.
An old Massachusetts house, cloudy sky, fireplace, dark wood, bookshelves and heavy sweaters create an autumnal mood. Harlan's mansion resembles a giant game board: clocks, statuettes, portraits, stairs and hiding places can turn out to be both decorative details and clues.
In fact, the Trombie house was assembled from several real locations. The facade was removed from a private Gothic mansion, a significant part of the interiors were at the Ames Mansion in Massachusetts, and separate rooms were built in the pavilion. Johnson explained that the house was supposed to resemble Harlan's inner world and look as if the audience were inside the writer's head.
The famous circle of knives appeared almost by accident. In the script, it was described as a kind of religious halo, but the artists could not find a suitable design for a long time. Shortly before filming, production designer David Crank discovered a round industrial grill grate. Knives were fixed on it and a chair was placed in front of the composition. Johnson later admitted that in the lens, the design suddenly reminded him of the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones.
The film is also a satire on a wealthy family, whose members call themselves self-made people, although each of them depends on the patriarch's money. Against this background, Harlan's nurse Marta turns out to be the only person who really cares about him. The detective story gradually turns into a conversation about inheritance, privilege, migration, and the ability to maintain decency when a lot of money is at stake.
The story has already received two independent sequels. In 2022, the film "Get Knives: The Glass Onion" was released, which was set on a Greek island. In 2025, the premiere of the film "Get Knives: Resurrection of the Dead" took place — a darker detective story unfolding around a church in a small town.
"Little Women", 2019
March's four sisters—Meg, Joe, Beth, and Amy—grow up in Massachusetts during the American Civil War. Their father is at the front, and their mother is trying to keep the family together and teach her daughters to take care of people who are having an even harder time. The sisters dream of different things: Meg wants to create her own home, Joe aspires to become a writer, Amy dreams of recognition as an artist, and the quiet Beth is looking for happiness next to her family.
Greta Gerwig changed the chronology of the novel by Louise May Alcott and combined childhood memories with the adult life of the heroines. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen. The film also stars Laura Dern, Timothy Chalamet, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper.
The past is shown in a golden and warm light, which turns the childhood of the heroines into an almost tangible memory. The events of adult life are filmed in cooler blue shades. Thanks to this, the viewer understands at what time the scene is taking place, even without captions and explanations.
Each sister got her own color. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran used notebooks that her mother gives to the heroines as a basis. Jo is associated with red and indigo, Meg with lavender and green, Amy with blue, and Beth with pink and brown. The sisters also wear some of each other's clothes, which creates the feeling of a real family wardrobe.
"Little Women" covers different seasons, but they look especially organic in autumn. The Marches' family home is filled with books, candles, noisy conversations, and ever-changing emotions. Comfort does not mean the absence of poverty, illness or disagreements: on the contrary, warmth arises from the fact that the heroines stay together, even when they lack money and confidence in the future.
"Autumn in New York", 2000
Successful New York restaurateur Will Kane is used to short novels and is not going to change his lifestyle. Everything changes after meeting a young Charlotte Fielding. A romance begins between the characters, but Charlotte immediately warns that she is suffering from a serious illness and their relationship may have no future.
The main roles were played by Richard Gere and Winona Ryder. Critics met the picture rather coolly, pointing out the predictability of the plot and excessive sentimentality. However, over time, it became one of the most recognizable seasonal melodramas, largely due to its name, music by Gabriel Yared, and views of autumnal Manhattan.
The film was shot in New York City, including Central Park, the Bow Bridge, near Rockefeller Center and other recognizable locations. Yellow leaves, walks in the park, expensive restaurants and apartments with soft lighting create an almost idealized image of autumn. The season becomes a direct metaphor for a relationship. Will and Charlotte's love is beautiful precisely because its time is limited. At the same time, autumn is associated not only with the approach of death, but also with the emotional maturation of the hero, who for the first time finds himself forced to think not about his own pleasure, but about another person.
"Autumn in New York" is worth choosing if you want a classic melodrama without ironic distance. The film does not try to hide its intention to move the viewer and uses all available means for this — music, autumn landscapes, beautiful actors and a love story, the doom of which is clear almost from the very beginning.
"Diary of memory", 2004
In a nursing home, an elderly man reads a story about Noah and Ellie to a woman. The young people met in the 1940s and spent the summer together, but the difference in social status and family intervention separated them. A few years later, Ellie has to choose between a secure and predictable life and feelings that she has never been able to forget.
The film is based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. Young Noah and Ellie were played by Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, while their older versions were played by James Garner and Gina Rowlands. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but gradually became one of the most famous romantic dramas of the 2000s.
The famous meeting of Noah and Ellie in a downpour was filmed using large rain installations. The scene became one of the most recognizable episodes of the romantic cinema of the 2000s, and Noah's phrase "I wrote you 365 letters. I painted every day for a whole year" — one of the main quotes of the painting.
The director said that artificial rain helped to create the necessary emotional release. The water, the dark sky and the abrupt movements of the characters turn the conversation about letters into a physically tangible return of accumulated feelings.
"House by the Lake", 2006
Doctor Kate Forster leaves the unusual glass house by the lake and moves to Chicago. Before leaving, she leaves a letter for the next tenant. Architect Alex Wyler receives it, but it soon turns out that the characters live in different years: Kate in 2006, and Alex in 2004. The link between them is a mailbox capable of transmitting emails over time.
The main roles were played by Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. "House by the Lake" is an American version of the South Korean film "House by the Sea", released in 2000. The picture is built around expectation. The characters can write to each other, find out the details of their lives, and even arrange meetings, but the two years between them remain a real obstacle. In an ordinary melodrama, the distance can be overcome by a trip, but here any mistake in time can change the future forever.
The house itself was not a computer decoration. It was actually built near the artificial Maple Lake in Illinois. To create a structure with an area of about 186 sq. m. It took about 35 tons of steel and almost 100 workers. It took about 10 weeks from the development of the first drawings to the completion of the construction.
A real tree was preserved in the center of the house, and water was brought to the building. At the same time, there were no bathrooms in it, since the structure was used only as a film set. The condition for the provision of the territory was the complete restoration of the natural landscape, so after finishing the work, the house was dismantled.
"Notting Hill", 1999
William Thacker owns a small travel bookstore in London's Notting Hill neighborhood. One day, Anna Scott, one of the most famous actresses in the world, comes into the store. A chance meeting develops into a romance, but William's ordinary life turns out to be almost incompatible with the attention of the press and the public status of Anna.
The main roles were played by Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. The script was written by Richard Curtis, who also worked on the films "Four Weddings and One Funeral" and "Real Love." The idea arose from thinking about what would happen if an ordinary person brought a world-famous star to dinner with friends.
The action of the painting covers different seasons. One of the most famous episodes is William's long walk through the Portobello Road market: the weather, the clothes of passers-by and seasonal goods change around him, and several months pass unnoticed by the hero himself. This scene turns the passage of time into a visible part of the narrative.
"Notting Hill" does not build an ideal world: the characters' relationships are constantly interrupted due to distrust, press interference and lifestyle differences. But the painting retains faith in the possibility of intimacy between people from completely different social realities.
Julia Roberts admitted that she almost turned down the role: she was uncomfortable playing a famous actress because the character seemed too close to her real life. Roberts especially disliked the costume for the famous scene in which Anna comes to William and confesses her feelings. The actress sent the driver to her apartment and asked him to bring her personal belongings. Therefore, in the episode with the phrase "I'm just a girl standing in front of a guy and asking him to love her," she wears her own skirt, T-shirt, cardigan, and shoes.
"The Adventures of Paddington", 2014
A young bear leaves Peru after the destruction of his native home and goes to London, which he has heard about from his family for many years. At Paddington Station, he meets the Brown family. They give him a name in honor of the meeting place and allow him to temporarily settle in their house while he searches for an English traveler who once visited his relatives.
Paddington was voiced by Ben Whishaw. The Brown family was played by Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Madeline Harris and Samuel Joslin, and the role of the main antagonist was played by Nicole Kidman. The film was directed by Paul King based on the books by Michael Bond.
London does not meet Paddington the way he imagined it from the stories. The city turns out to be rainy, noisy, and not always welcoming. Passers-by don't pay attention to the lone bear, and even the friendly Browns initially perceive it more as a temporary problem. Gradually, their house changes with the new tenant: strict order gives way to chaos, but the family becomes closer.
The story has already received two sequels. "The Adventures of Paddington 2" was released in 2017, and "Paddington in Peru" in 2024. In the third part, the bear and the Brown family travel to their homeland to find their missing Aunt Lucy.
The fourth feature film is officially in development. Canal+ confirmed this information in July 2026. The plot and the exact date of the premiere have not yet been revealed. Previously, representatives of StudioCanal focused on the years 2027-2028, when literary Paddington would turn 70 years old.
"The Age of Adaline", 2015
Adaline Bowman was born at the beginning of the 20th century, but after a car accident she stopped aging and forever retained the appearance of a 29-year-old woman. In order not to become an object of research and not to reveal her secret, she regularly changes her documents, names and place of residence. Her daughter is gradually aging, while Adaline herself remains the same.
The main role was played by Blake Lively. The film also stars Michiel Houseman, Ellen Burstyn and Harrison Ford. The story revolves around Adaline's acquaintance with Ellis Jones, who makes her wonder if it is possible to give up constant flight after decades of loneliness.
The main paradox of the story is that eternal youth does not free the heroine from losses. She is forced to watch her loved ones grow up, and cannot build a lasting relationship without revealing her secret. Outwardly, Adaline remains young, but psychologically she lives several human lives.
"When Harry met Sally", 1989
Harry and Sally meet during a joint trip from Chicago to New York. They immediately start arguing about whether friendship between a man and a woman is possible, and break up, confident that they will never see each other again. However, over the next 12 years, their paths cross several times, and chance encounters gradually turn into a close friendship.
The script was written by Nora Ephron, starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. The film largely set the modern formula of a romantic comedy: witty dialogues, imperfect characters, friendship as the basis of relationships, and New York, acting not as a backdrop, but as a full-fledged participant in history.
Harry and Sally's walk through Central Park has become one of the standard images of romantic autumn in the cinema. Golden trees, coats, scarves, cafes and bookstores form a cozy environment inside which the characters can endlessly discuss relationships, habits and fear of loneliness.
Unlike love stories at first sight, the film shows intimacy as a long process. Harry and Sally change, go through breakups, build other relationships, and only eventually learn to see each other without initial prejudice. Years pass between individual episodes, making the seasons part of the conversation about growing up.
"Rainy Day in New York", 2019
Students Gatsby and Ashley are coming to New York for the weekend. Gatsby grew up in a wealthy family and wants to show the girl his favorite places, but their plans are disrupted by rain and an unexpectedly lengthy interview with Ashley with the famous director. The characters spend the day separately and find themselves drawn into a chain of random encounters.
The film stars Timothy Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Selena Gomez, Jude Law, Liev Schreiber and Diego Luna. Three-time Oscar winner Vittorio Storaro was responsible for the image. His camera transforms overcast Manhattan into a space where gray-blue daylight is combined with the golden interiors of hotels, restaurants and private apartments.
The rain doesn't just change the characters' plans, it seems to divide the city into many separate stories. Ashley finds herself inside the world of cinematographers, whom she has long admired, and Gatsby meets acquaintances from the past and gradually begins to doubt her own ideas about romantic travel.
New York is deliberately nostalgic: the characters ride in a carriage through Central Park, play the piano, visit closed clubs and talk about classic movies. This is not a realistic portrait of a modern metropolis, but an idealized city from old novels and movies.
The director intended the rain not as a hindrance, but as a symbol of love. According to him, New York is especially beautiful on gray, foggy and rainy days, when the light becomes softer and the streets seem to be cleaned with water. Gatsby and Ashley perceive the weather in the opposite way. For Ashley, rain means ruined plans, whereas Gatsby sees romance in it. This difference reflects their characters and gradually shows how differently the characters represent the ideal weekend and relationship.
"We wanted the rain to become a symbol of romance and love," explained director Woody Allen.
"Rainy Day in New York" is worth watching primarily for the sake of the atmosphere. This is a light picture about the discrepancy between expectations and reality, in which bad weather unexpectedly helps the characters understand who and where they really want to be with.
On July 27, Medialogia presented the Russian Series rating for June and the first half of 2026. The series "Stranger Things" became the leader in the first six months — the project scored 19,601 points. The top 5 projects also included "Magic Battle" (10,839 points), "Lilies of the Valley" (10,486 points), "Boys" (10,024 points) and "First Division" (8,917 points). In addition, the series "Boys" became the leader by the end of June — the story scored 1971 points. The second place went to the Russian detective series "Sled" (1834 points), and the third place went to "Euphoria" (1328 points).
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
