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October is finally here to bring spooky season to the world \u2014 please ignore the Christmas decorations already on display at your local pharmacy \u2014 and that means plenty of terrifying television coming to your screen this month as well!<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t worry; it\u2019s not all<\/em> scares and screams, as we\u2019ve also got some highly anticipated drama debuts, the finale of one of the most discussed superhero series in recent years, the debut of what looks to be one of the other<\/em> most discussed superhero series in recent years, and much more.<\/p>\nSo without further delay, let\u2019s get into our list of 10 picks for movies and TV shows we can\u2019t wait to stream this month. There\u2019s so much good stuff, it\u2019s\u2026 scary!<\/p>\n
(Note: This list is presented in release date order.)<\/p>\n
East of Eden (October 1)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/output><\/p>\n
While MCU fans will probably be thrilled to see Black Widow (Florence Pugh) and the new Professor X (Christopher Abbott) play opposite each other, and costume drama aficionados are feasting with this latest sumptuous literary adaptation (John Steinbeck this time), the real story of Netflix\u2019s East of Eden is behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because it\u2019s created by Zoe Kazan, who you might know from her on-screen work in everything from Revolutionary Road (2008) to The Big Sick (2017). With this series, she steps into the writer\u2019s chair \u2014 all eight episodes were written or co-written by Kazan \u2014and provides her own adaptation of the same work her grandfather Elia Kazan famously directed in 1955.<\/p>\n
How will Kazan update or change things? You\u2019ll have to watch for yourself to find out. But if you\u2019re curious about the premise, the show follows the interwoven stories of two families over the decades. Steinbeck, who also wrote Of Mice and Men and the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Grapes of Wrath, considered this his greatest work. Clearly, Netflix has a lot of faith in the Kazan version: They\u2019ve already put her in charge of a reboot of Lonesome Dove.<\/p>\n
Read our East of Eden review.<\/p>\n
Lanterns Season 1 Finale (October 4)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\nWhat shenanigans will brothers John Lantern (Aaron Pierre) and Hal Lantern (Kyle Chandler) get into in the final episode of the HBO series? Will they switch places to get John\u2019s parents back together, or will their buddy Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) finally get what he deserves in front of the whole school?<\/p>\n
We kid, but only because as of this writing, the HBO series has built up steam at a fever pitch with a time jump to the modern day, a ton of DCU references and easter eggs, searing lead performances by Pierre and Chandler, and consuming cultural conversation that\u2019s the perfect Venn diagram of comic book and HBO Sunday Night Mystery fans.<\/p>\n
The biggest question going into the finale isn\u2019t any of the ongoing mysteries, but A), whether the excellently crafted Green Lantern series can stick the landing, and B), how much (if at all) it will set up Man of Tomorrow as well as a second season of the series. The other big question: Are you afraid?<\/p>\n
Carrie (October 7)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/output><\/p>\n
Carrie, the new adaptation of the iconic Stephen King novel by TV\u2019s horror maestro Mike Flanagan, is not<\/em> what you think. To say more is to risk spoilers, but one aspect of the eight-episode Prime Video series we can<\/em> talk about is that the show is set in the modern day, which changes things significantly.<\/p>\nWhen the telekinetic Carrie White\u2019s (Summer H. Howell) father dies, she\u2019s taken from home-schooling to high school. In 2026, that means social media, cell phones, school shooter drills \u2014 all the things that 1976 Carrie didn\u2019t need to deal with, and 2013 Carrie only tangentially addressed. While you will see all the scenes you expect, from the \u201cplug it up\u201d scene in the shower to the iconic prom disaster, other things go in some jaw-dropping directions, from Margaret White (Samantha Sloyan) becoming an influencer to a fair amount of sympathy for teen bully Chris Hargensen (Alison Thorton).<\/p>\n
We may not have needed another adaptation of King\u2019s novel after four (!!!) previous movies and a stage musical, but this Carrie is relevant, surprising, has a huge twist we won\u2019t spoil, and is another TV winner for Flanagan, showing his move from Netflix to Amazon is off to a great start. <\/p>\n
Read our Carrie review.<\/p>\n
Below (October 8)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/output><\/p>\n
The Josh Hartnettaissance continues with Netflix\u2019s new six-episode series, which finds a small town besieged by a seeming sea monster. While it might seem like this is biting onto Widow\u2019s Bay fever \u2014 small town, monsters, quirky \u2014 this was filmed last year, way<\/em> before the Apple TV Emmy dominator was even on the radar. Based on trailers at least, Below also looks much more serious, and more in the vein of a supernatural Jaws.<\/p>\nAlongside Hartnett as a fisherman trying to save the Newfoundland town of Snook\u2019s Arm, the cast also includes Mackenzie Davis, Charlie Heaton, and for a bit of Species vibes, Natasha Henstridge. Early reviews out of TIFF, where the pilot screened, are exceptionally positive, noting that while the show does play to some clich\u00e9s, it\u2019s gorgeously filmed and supremely gory.<\/p>\n
Animals (October 9)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/output><\/p>\n
Speaking of great casts, Ben Affleck is putting a team together for his new Netflix crime thriller, which finds the director\/co-writer\/star taking on the role of a mayoral candidate named Mark Kimball whose son is kidnapped. He and his wife (Kerry Washington) have mere hours to get the money to save their son\u2019s life, with the unfortunate additional note that all their money is tied up in Kimball\u2019s campaign. The movie also<\/em> stars Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, and more, so you know it\u2019s going to be extremely watchable at the very least.<\/p>\nAs a director, Affleck hasn\u2019t crushed it every time, but from the Oscar-winning Argo to the surprisingly engaging sneakers drama, Air, if you\u2019ve got an Affleck movie that starts with the letter \u201cA,\u201d you\u2019ve got a better than average chance it\u2019ll earn an \u201cA\u201d from critics as well.<\/p>\n
Avatar: Seven Havens (October 9)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/output><\/p>\n
Where to start with this new animated Paramount+ series? It\u2019s the third show in the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise, and the first since The Legend of Korra completed its run in 2014. In the intervening time, there\u2019s been a lot of behind-the-scenes controversy generated by the live-action series on Netflix and the stumbling release of the sequel movie Avatar Aang (though thankfully that turned out to be pretty good<\/u>).<\/p>\n
Seven Havens takes place after Korra (Janet Varney) did something very bad; now everyone hates the Avatar. Enter Pavi (Saheli Kahn), a young Earthbender who finds out she\u2019s the next<\/em> Avatar \u2014 the one who can control all four elements (earth, air, fire, water). She\u2019s also got a twin sister Nisha, and together they may be able to save the Seven Havens, which is all that\u2019s left of civilization after whatever Korra did in the past.<\/p>\nWith a new animation style and a seemingly darker tone than the franchise has had before, can Seven Havens succeed where other extensions of Avatar have\u2026 well, not failed<\/em>, but definitely not gone as smoothly as one might have hoped? With 13 episodes in Season 1 and a second (and final) season already in the works, we\u2019ll have plenty of time to find out.<\/p>\nMatchbox: The Movie (October 9)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\nThe extraordinarily weird premise of Matchbox: The Movie, based on the Mattel toys of the same name, is that John Cena is a superspy reunited with his childhood friends when they\u2019re drugged and kidnapped by a villainous group searching for a nuclear warhead. The rest of the gang \u2014 played by Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson, Arturo Castro, and Teyonah Parris \u2014 are all normal folks in over their heads, except for one crucial detail: They all played with Matchbox cars as kids. So the gang will use the skills they developed playing with tiny toy cars in their backyard to drive real cars, steal a nuclear warhead, and clear their names.<\/p>\n
\u2026Uh, what? In practice, the movie looks just like Fast and the Furious, but more comedic. Cena, at least, has a knack for choosing projects that show off his comedy chops in surprising ways; see the recent Coyote vs. Acme for one example. But \u2014 and we must repeat \u2014 what<\/em>? Not that this movie needed to have everyone shrinking down to drive toy cars, but the Matchbox connection seems as tangential as a bunch of folks who bought a zoo because they used to play Hungry Hungry Hippos.<\/p>\nThe Barbie film (based on another Mattel property) worked because Greta Gerwig turned the lens back on the cultural impact of the iconic toy and used the premise to delve into our relationship with toys and the legacy of feminism in culture. Does anyone have the same relationship with Matchbox cars? And will the director of Extraction, Extraction 2, and Extraction 3 (Sam Hargrave) bring the same analytical lens to Matchbox that Gerwig did to Barbie and Ken? Vroom vroom \u2014 let\u2019s drive on over to Apple TV to find out!<\/p>\n