Halloween is the final landmark on our calendars before department stores, supermarkets, and shops invariably start wheeling out the Christmas decorations, blaring out Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas a whole 56-days before the big day. In the meantime, before Christmas is inevitably shoved down our throats until all we can taste is turkey and eggnog, it’s important we are given the opportunity to avoid Elf, Home Alone, The Grinch, and the like for as long as possible.

As with the start of every month, we are treated to a refreshed selection of movies on Netflix, and with the beginning of October around the corner, here are some of the best older and more recent movies set to be added. All but the final two films are being added Oct. 1st, 2022.

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Call Me by Your Name

     Sony Pictures Classics

Call Me by Your Name, starring Timothee Chalamet alongside Armie Hammer in the film’s main roles, is the final installment of director Luca Guadagnio’s “Desire" trilogy. The Academy Award-winning screenplay documents Elio Perlman’s friendship, and subsequent romantic relationship with Oliver, an American student, during the Summer of 1983 in rural Northern-Italy.

Call Me by Your Name is a landmark 2010s LGBTQ+ movie, a coming-of-age lesson in self-discovery, struggles with identity, and coming to terms with one’s sexuality. With the recent events in Italy ringing alarm bells with the far-right Giorgia Melona set to win the election, Call Me by Your Name addresses an important subject in a staunchly Catholic, historically right-wing country.

Robin Hood

Russell Crowe stars as the rugged Robin of Locksley, aka Robin Hood, in this historical action drama. With England under attack from the invading French, Robin must attempt to unite a fractured country under one banner and defend their home against King Philip and the traitor, Sir Godfrey (Mark Strong).

Gladiator- 1st October

     DreamWorks Pictures

Bringing Gladiator back to the streaming platform is really Netflix’s way of asking “Are you not entertained?!” If you find yourself at a particular loose-end and can’t muster the effort of furiously pressing your right arrow to find something that captures your interest, Gladiator is a fool-proof choice. Though, for a world obsessed with swiping left and right, that is a pretty feeble excuse to explore this iconic film with a great script from John Logan. Ridley Scott’s epic really needs no introduction, nor breakdown, and if you haven’t seen it already, stop swiping and give it a watch.

The Color Purple

     Warner Bros. Pictures

Based on Alice Walker’s best-selling novel of the same name, Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple is a harrowing tale of a young girl, Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), and her upbringing plagued by physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of her father. As a result of being raped by her father, Celie bears two of his children and is forced into an arranged marriage to an equally nasty man. With incredible performances (including a wonderful Oprah Winfrey) and beautiful direction from Spielberg, the 1985 film remains a powerful classic to this day.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

     20th Century Fox Releasing

This romantic action-comedy sent pulses racing both on and off-screen, with it famously igniting the spark of love between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Mr. and Mrs. Smith follows the story of John and Jane Smith, assassins locked in a seemingly passionless marriage, until their secret double-lives are revealed. Themes of domestic violence, petty squabbles, and deceit are prominent throughout… a little like their actual relationship.

Wedding Crashers

     New Line Cinema

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson team up for this high-spirited, and amusing tale of two best friends Jeremy (Vaughn) and John (Wilson) as they frequently gatecrash weddings in order to fulfill their womanizing ways. After John finds himself falling in love with a bridesmaid, the pair are left pedaling the lies they initially used to charm women far more than they first planned. Wedding Crashers is still just as endearing and delightful today as it was upon released, and remains a comedy staple.

Elysium

     Sony Pictures Releasing

In Neil Blomkamp’s sci-fi drama Elysium, we are offered a glimpse into the future, and how the world could look if the climate crisis and massive income inequality further solidifies. The year is 2154, and Earth is a shell of its former self, a dusty, derelict, and disheveled place, reduced to rubble and governed by totalitarian bots sent to keep the peace from those that were rich enough to up-sticks and flee a dying planet, relocating to Elysium, an idyllic, man-made world built-in space.

Matt Damon stars as Max, a man left behind to inhabit Earth’s remains, who is exposed to radiation and is subsequently given just five days to live. In a race against time to save himself, but also those left on Earth, Max must make the bold, frequently perilous move of flying to Elysium. Elysium is coming to Netflix on Oct. 4th.

Nairobi Half Life

David Tosh Gitonga’s Nairobi Half Life is a 2012 drama (and the first film Kenya has submitted for an Oscar) that follows the story of Mwas, a Kenyan actor who sells knock-off western action movies, and has dreams of making it as an actor in the big city. It’s a charming, and at times saddening reminder that, while dreams are there to be chased, they are not always caught. Nairobi Half Life will be on Netflix beginning Oct. 21st.