October is spooky season, and nothing sells better than a horror movie before the season of the witch. This weekend, however, brings a horror film with a bit of a twist. Warner Bros. and DC Studios are unveiling Clayface, a body horror psychological thriller based on the titular character from DC Comics. That means we’re getting a body horror film mixed with comic book sensibilities featuring a character more known for being one of Batman’s many villains. It’s a bit of a gamble for DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran that might just pay off after Supergirl failed to take flight. In addition to Clayface, there are other releases that could garner some attention, but all eyes might just be on last weekend’s watercooler documentary, You Can See Everything, which opened with a bang in just 855 theaters and expands this weekend to challenge Clayface for the top spot.
What’s Opening Theaters?
Clayface hopes that horror fans and comic book fans will unite to make this unique entry a win this weekend. Directed by James Watkins and from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, Clayface is the third movie in the DC Universe and follows Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys), an up-and-coming actor whose face is grotesquely disfigured. After being betrayed by those around him and following several failed surgeries, Hagen turns to scientist Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), who gives him his face back but at the cost of his mental sanity and even more physical disfigurement than he could ever imagine. The film also stars David Dencik, Max Minghella, and Eddie Marsan.
Ahead of this weekend, it was hard to determine where Clayface would land with the general public. The trailers were good enough to sell the concept, but the big question was whether or not the film could attract casual moviegoers on top of comic book fans willing to explore this standalone tale without the presence of Batman. What’s helping to decide where Clayface will land with moviegoers are pretty decent reviews (it’s currently certified fresh at 76 percent) and a 94 percent audience score that emerged quickly after its Thursday preview showings. This $40 million investment may pay off, and given that it’s opening a week before Halloween, and with Other Mommy already quickly fading, Clayface will be the spooky season choice for moviegoers, and that should be enough to make Clayface a win over this weekend and next.
Fathon Entertainment has a huge critical win with Laika’s stop-motion adult animated dark fantasy film, Wildwood, directed by Travis Knight and written by Chris Butler. Based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis, Wildwood follows a teenage girl named Prue (voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee) and her classmate Curtis (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), who travel to an enchanted forest to search for her infant brother after he is abducted. In the midst of their search, they locate a manor and learn of an incoming war from Alexandra (voiced by Carey Mulligan), a woman who is dealing with the loss of her son. The film also features the vocal talent of Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jemaine Clement, Len Cariou, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Tom Waits, and Richard E. Grant.
Wildwood had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and emerged from that first look with stellar reviews that have continued to hold heading into the weekend. The film is certified fresh at 100 percent with 87 reviews counted and holds an equally impressive 98 percent audience score. Critics are calling the movie an astonishing achievement that has to be seen to be believed. This is the kind of film that can utilize its word of mouth to expand its audience because stop-motion animation isn’t an easy sell, especially when it’s not targeted exclusively at kids. Wildwood plays more to adults, but that doesn’t mean children won’t find something to be enchanted by. It’s a movie that will be one to watch as the weekend plays out, and beyond, should word of mouth speak to moviegoers outside of the target audience.
Another unique sell this weekend is the romantic comedy fantasy, Wicker, written and directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson. Based on the short story “The Wicker Husband” by Ursula Wills, the film follows an ostracized fisherwoman who commissions a local basketmaker to weave her a husband, but his extraordinary presence leads to jealousy and upheaval that threaten their relatively quiet village. The movie stars Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Elizabeth Debicki, Marli Siu, Nabhaan Rizwan, Richard E. Grant, and Peter Dinklage.
Wicker premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where a movie like this is destined to shine if it’s meant to, and that’s exactly what it did. Black Bear Pictures acquired North American distribution after handling international sales of the film once it garnered stellar reviews following its festival debut. Wicker is currently 92 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and, much like the other releases this year, comes in hot with a 94 percent audience score. Critics are impressed by Colman’s touching performance and find the film incredibly charming despite the oddities of its plot. Adults are the target audience here and given that the trailer went relatively viral for an independent feature, it might be able to break out a bit with the target demo.
Falling on the other side of critical approval is Klara and the Sun, a dystopian science fiction film directed by Taika Waititi and from a screenplay he co-wrote with Dahvi Waller. Based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 novel of the same name, Klara and the Sun is set in a dystopian future where technological advances in genetic engineering have divided humans into social classes. As the classes become stricter and more isolated, an obsolete android named Klara (Jenna Ortega) attempts to bond with a sick girl named Josie (Mia Tharia) after being purchased for her. The film also stars Amy Adams, Aran Murphy, Natasha Lyonne, Steve Buscemi, Rachel House, and Harry Greenwood.
Klara and the Sun had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, and the word was not good following its debut. The movie is very poorly rated at 23 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and while critics say Ortega is quite good in the film, the movie around her is a mess. It’s a shame because the source material from Nobel Prize winner Ishiguro is beloved and could make for an interesting feature, but Waititi seems to have missed the mark. Is this the reason his Star Wars project is “on ice”? News of that came after reviews dropped for Klara and the Sun, so that timing felt pretty spot on.
Bleecker Street unveils the thriller A Talent for Murder, in hopes that adult audiences will show up for something thrilling with a bit of taste. Directed by Anton Corbijn and adapted by Joanna Murray-Smith from her 2014 play Switzerland, A Talent for Murder follows a young man who travels from New York to Switzerland to try to persuade an accomplished thriller writer to pen one more installment of her Tom Ripley series, but his interest proves to grow more sinister as time goes on. The film stars Helen Mirren, Alden Ehrenreich, and Olivia Cooke.
A Talent for Murder has a great cast and an intriguing premise that could lure in the adult demo, but it’s only opening in 876 locations and doesn’t have the reach to truly break out. However, its solid reviews (77 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) might be enough to entice moviegoers willing to seek the film out. Credit to Bleecker Street for continuing to give films like this an audience because even if they don’t reach the mainstream, it provides a home for smaller films that deserve a shot on the big screen.
What To Watch At Home
Home viewing brings a few releases from just a month ago that hope to find an audience while you’re relaxing on your couch, while television offers up some returning favorites and a new show that is getting some serious buzz on Hulu. Plenty of stuff to mix in with catching up on current favorites Carrie and Crystal Lake.
Arriving on digital after a brief theatrical run is By Any Means, directed by Elegance Bratton and written by Sascha Penn. By Any Means is loosely based on Gregory Scarpa Sr. (portrayed by Mark Wahlberg), a notorious enforcer and capo for the Colombo crime family in New York. In real life, Scarpa was recruited by the FBI in the 1960s to be an informant, and he was used to travel to Mississippi in 1964 to investigate the murders of civil rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. The film also stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Beharie, Josh Lucas, LisaGay Hamilton, LaChanze, Ethan Embry, David Strathairn, and Giancarlo Esposito.
By Any Means looked interesting from its first trailer, and it was great to see Wahlberg back in a theatrical release that appeared to have some substance. The film’s connection to a true story makes it potentially compelling, although it’s said that the film dramatizes the events to transform the story into more of a high-concept thriller, while the day-to-day partnership with Abdul-Mateen II’s Black FBI agent Wayne Strider has strong fictionalized elements, according to those familiar with the actual story. Even though all the elements are here for an entertaining crime thriller, Paramount Pictures basically dropped it in early September and hoped for the best. The film grossed a mere $17 million on a $29 million budget, and reviews were decidedly mixed at 49 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score was better at 88 percent, so perhaps this adult historical drama will find more success at home.
The better-reviewed The Weight also hits digital, which may allow the film to find the audience it was meant to have. Directed by Padraic McKinley and written by Matthew Booi and Shelby Gaines, The Weight is set in Oregon in 1933 and follows Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke), a man who is torn away from his daughter and sent off to work in a brutal work camp. Tempting him with an opportunity is Warden Clancy (Russell Crowe), who suggests he can have an early release if he smuggles gold through the deadly wilderness. However, betrayal begins to seep in, and Murphy has to question all the things he’s willing to do to see his child again. The film also stars Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, Lucas Lynggaad Tonnesen, George Burgess, Cameron Brady, Avy Berry, Alec Newman, and Sam Hazeldine.
The Weight had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and gained even more exposure at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film garnered solid reviews and has maintained that momentum, with a current rating of 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and an 84 percent audience score. Critics are calling it a hard-hitting thriller about how far desperation can take you, and Hawke’s performance in particular is getting considerable attention. The movie didn’t gain much traction in theaters, grossing just $4 million, but there is solid stuff going on with The Weight, and hopefully it gets the audience it deserves now that it’s out for home viewing.
The kiddos get some spooky season fun with the digital release of Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, a British stop-motion animated comedy-horror film. Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the movie is produced by Aardman, which is responsible for the popular television series Shaun the Sheep, which is a spin-off of the Wallace & Gromit short film A Close Shave. In the film, Shaun turns into a mad scientist when he creates a homemade science kit to fix a destroyed pumpkin patch, but he accidentally transforms the Farmer into a giant beast just in time for the local Halloween Hoedown.
This is the third film in the Shaun the Sheep franchise, following the Shaun the Sheep Movie in 2015 and 2019’s A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon. Due to the international appeal of the brand, the films have been successful. The Shaun the Sheep Movie sits at 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and went on to gross $106.2 million globally on a $25 million budget (it should be noted that only $19.4 million of that came from the U.S.). Farmageddon fared just as well with critics (96 percent), but grosses came down a bit to $43.1 million globally on a $25 million budget, although it made it the 16th highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time. The Beast of Mossy Bottom grossed just $14.1 million globally so it wasn’t as successful as its predecessors but critics were still on its side, currently sitting at 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes with a 91 percent audience score. It’s something to offer the kids if they’re looking for something light this Halloween season.
Shudder seems to have a well-reviewed streaming film on its platform with the release of The Cycle, a horror film directed by Jordan Downey, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Stewart. The movie follows a forensic anthropologist whose missing father resurfaces at a crime scene, which forces her to confront his dark past. The film stars Deborah Ann Woll, Jeffrey Donovan, Gretchen Corbett, Phillip Andre Botello, Will Hochman, Dana Millican, Don Keith Opper, and Jack Doolan.
For those looking for a spooky season alternative at home, The Cycle seems to be it. Its crime-procedural elements mixed with a creature feature premise make it unique, and that has impressed critics so far, with The Cycle sitting at 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The drama leading up to the creature feature stuff is said to be even more impressive, but that pays off for horror fans with loads of gore that should appease genre lovers.
Nobody Wants This returns for season three on Netflix, and the romantic comedy series is still delighting critics, which bodes well for fans of the show. Created by Erin Foster, Nobody Wants This focuses on the unlikely relationship between an outspoken agnostic woman named Joanne Williams (Kristen Bell) and a young Jewish rabbi named Noah Roklov (Adam Brody). The series also stars Justine Lupe, Timothy Simons, and Jackie Tohn.
Nobody Wants This has been a critical and audience favorite since it premiered, with the first season earning three nominations at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor nominations for both Brody and Bell, which were repeated with nominations in the same categories at the Golden Globes. The first season was fresh at 95 percent, while Season 2 fell to a still good 80 percent. Season 3 improves upon things at 87 percent, with critics saying its sweeter outlook on the relationship dynamics brings a fresh element to the show that continues to make it shine. All ten episodes of Season 3 premiered on Oct. 22 and are ready for your romantic binge.
The comedy mystery series Phony looks like it’s primed to be a must-watch binge for television lovers, and the reviews back that up. Created by Nick Paley, Phony follows a teenage boy who wakes up after a car accident and is convinced that the woman saying she’s his mother is an imposter. The series stars Connie Britton, Sam Nivola, Grace Brennan, Maliq Johnson, and Meera Syal.
Phony has a binge-worthy premise, and the trailer for the show sells the concept well. Critics were really impressed with the series, registering a 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes alongside an even better 93 percent audience score. Some critics are comparing it to early Twin Peaks, where the central mystery intrigues, but so does the world that these characters happen to inhabit. It’s a coming-of-age thriller with a twist, and it feels like it could become a series people will soon be talking about. The first two episodes premiered on Hulu on Oct. 20, with the remaining episodes dropping weekly through Dec.1.
Returning for a second season is The Terminal List, an action thriller series created by David DiGilio. Based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Jack Carr, The Terminal List follows a Navy SEAL who makes it his job to avenge the murder of his family. The series stars Chris Pratt, Constance Wu, Taylor Kitsch, Riley Keough, Arlo Mertz, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Tom Hopper.
The first season of The Terminal List premiered in 2022 and became the number one show on Amazon Prime’s “Top 10” list within two weeks of its premiere. It was eventually viewed for 1.1 billion minutes across its eight episodes, which likely made up for the less-than-stellar reviews. Season one registered a 40 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with Pratt earning notices for his commitment, but the series not earning points for how relentlessly grim it was without being exciting. Season 2 improves to a still-rotten 57 percent, with some calling it simplistic and grim but getting notices for its production values. What seems to matter here is that audiences like the show at 88 percent, so maybe this four-year wait will be worth it for them. All eight episodes became available to binge on Oct. 21 on Prime Video.
Check back next week when we keep you in the know about What To Watch!
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