Our guide to the most intriguing movies coming to UK/ROI screens this October.
Hollywood studios may be running scared and pulling their product left, right and centre, but cinemas are by no means stuck for movies to show, with some real gems arriving on the big screen this October, not to mention some treats hitting VOD and streaming services.
Here are the 10 UK/ROI October releases we're most intrigued to see. Release dates are correct at time of writing, but...well you know how things are now.
Rialto
Irish actor Tom Vaughan-Lawlor has been impressing in supporting roles for quite a while now. In director Peter Mackie Burns' Rialto he's afforded a rare chance to carry a film and delivers one of the year's standout performances as a fortysomething Dubliner whose once tranquil life begins to crumble as he seeks comfort in the company of a teenage gigolo (Tom Glynn-Carney).
In cinemas October 2nd.
Kajillionaire
It's been almost a decade since multimedia artist Miranda July gave us a movie as writer/director, but she's back with con artist comedy Kajillionaire. The film stars Evan Rachel Wood, Debra Winger and Richard Jenkins as a family of confidence tricksters who get more than they bargained for when they lure a stranger (Gina Rodriguez) into their latest scam.
In cinemas October 9th.
Saint Maud
Rose Glass's acclaimed directorial debut is an intimate psychological thriller that tackles the issue of religious views clashing with a progressive society. Rising star Morfydd Clark plays Maud, a young nurse entrusted with the care of Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), a terminally ill choreographer. A religious zealot who disapproves of Amanda's lifestyle, Maud becomes determined to save her patient's soul, by any means necessary.
In cinemas October 9th.
Carmilla
Sheridan Le Fanu's vampire tale Carmilla, which predates Bram Stoker's more famous Dracula, has been adapted countless times for the screen, thanks in no small part to its blend of eroticism and horror. Writer/director Emily Harris's take strips away the supernatural, leaving vampirism ambiguous as it focusses on the tragic elements of its central romance between two young women in a stuffy and scared society.
In cinemas October 16th, VOD October 19th.
Herself
One of the most hyped movies to premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival was director Phyllida Lloyd's Herself. The Dublin set film stars Clare Dunne, who co-wrote the script, as Sandra, a young mother who finds herself homeless after leaving her abusive husband. Determined to put a roof over her young daughters' heads, Sandra embarks on a quest to build a home for the minimal amount of money.
In cinemas October 16th.
Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier's 1938 gothic novel Rebecca has been adapted for the screen several times, most famously by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940. Ben Wheatley is the latest director to bring du Maurier's tale to the screen with his upcoming Netflix bound adaptation. Lily James stars as the unnamed young woman who marries the wealthy Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer), only to find herself haunted by the memory of his late wife. Kristin Scott Thomas plays the intimidating housekeeper Mrs Danvers.
On Netflix October 21st.
Cordelia
Director Adrian Shergold's psychological thriller Cordelia stars Antonia Campbell-Hughes as a young woman whose mental state grows increasingly fragile in the wake of surviving a terrorist attack on the London Underground. Left alone one weekend, she begins a relationship with her neighbour (Johnny Flynn), a mysterious musician.
In cinemas October 23rd.
Relic
This Australian horror from first time writer/director Natalie Erika James stars Emily Mortimer and Bella Heathcote as a mother and daughter who find themselves coming to the realisation that sinister forces may be at play in the home of their senile mother/grandmother (Robyn Nevin). James' film combines elements of the body-horror and body-snatching sub-genres, but for most of its running time the true nature of its horror is kept ambivalent, making Relic a humanistic look at the aging process.
In cinemas and on Digital October 30th.
Shirley
Author Shirley Jackson is best known to horror fans for her novel 'The Haunting of Hill House', adapted for the big screen by Robert Wise as 1963's classic The Haunting, a not so classic 1999 remake, and more recently as a Netflix series. With Shirley, director Josephine Decker, who recently impressed us with Madeline's Madeline, puts Jackson (Elizabeth Moss) into a nightmarish, fictional scenario when she and her husband (Michael Stuhlbarg) play host to a young couple (Odessa Young and Logan Lerman).
In cinemas October 30th.
Wolfwalkers
Acclaimed animator Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea) returns with another tale which has its roots in Irish mythology. Hailed by many critics as the standout animated feature of 2020, Wolfwalkers follows a young wolf hunter who befriends a young girl who may possess the ability to transform into one of the animals at night herself.
In cinemas October 30th, with previews from October 26th.