Original Coverage & Source Attribution: theweek.com
The movies are getting serious in October. The Iraq War, the Covid-19 pandemic, the billionaire bubble and a social media audit are among the heady subjects tackled in cinemas this month.
‘Atonement’
ATONEMENT Official Trailer (2026) Kenneth Branagh – YouTube
Boyd Holbrook stars as Lou D’Alessandro, a Marine who kills several members of an Iraqi family during the U.S. invasion and later tries to connect with Mariam (Hiam Abbass), who survived the attack. Director Reed Van Dyk’s heart-wrenching film “builds to a climactic sequence of stirring nuance and power,” said Owen Gleiberman at Variety. (in theaters now)
‘Love of Your Life’
Love of Your Life – Official Trailer | Prime Video – YouTube
Director Rachel Morrison’s unapologetic romance stars Margaret Qualley as an ER nurse whose husband, Charlie (Gabriel Basso), dies during the Covid-19 pandemic, leading her to wander numbly before meeting Felix (Aaron Pierre). It’s a “gorgeously shot romantic drama,” said David Ehrlich at IndieWire. (in theaters now)
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‘The Social Reckoning’
THE SOCIAL RECKONING Official Trailer (2026) The Social Network 2 – YouTube
In director Aaron Sorkin’s follow-up to “The Social Network,” Mikey Madison plays a whistleblower and Jeremy Allen White is the reporter who pens an expose about Facebook’s intentional harms. The “semi-admiring mood of the first film has drifted toward something darker” here, said Alissa Wilkinson at The New York Times. (in theaters Oct. 9)
‘Sacrifice’
Sacrifice | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube
In this riotous send-up, Anya Taylor-Joy plays Joan, an eco-terrorist whose apocalyptic cult thinks it can avert a global cataclysm by doing away with three people. So the group storms an elite gala in Greece hosted by vapid billionaire Ben Bracken (Vincent Cassel). Director Romain Gavras delivers a “heady odyssey of self-discovery,” said Lyvie Scott at Inverse. (Oct. 16 on Netflix)
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