Films to Match the Season’s Mood

Each month TheDiary curates a collection of films that reflect not only the genres of the season but also its moods. October calls for darkness and depth, a time when horror, drama and nostalgia feel most at home. This selection brings together stories for every kind of viewer, from those drawn to mystery and intensity to those who prefer tenderness and reflection.

POOR THINGS, Psychological Drama

Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things is a surreal and layered film about freedom and self-discovery. Emma Stone gives a remarkable performance as a woman who experiences the world anew after a scientific experiment. She rediscovers her body, her desires and her strength with complete openness. Visually rich and emotionally precise, the film reminds us that self-knowledge often begins with resistance.

GET OUT, Horror

Jordan Peele’s psychological thriller places the audience face to face with the fears that exist inside everyday life. The story follows a young man who visits his girlfriend’s family and slowly uncovers a disturbing truth beneath their politeness. The film examines race, identity and the quiet horrors within social conventions, turning fear into a mirror of human reality.

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, Melodrama

Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me by Your Name takes place in northern Italy during one long summer. The story follows an American student who spends the season with a professor’s family and befriends the professor’s son Elio. Their relationship gradually changes, transforming friendship into something deeper. The film captures the uncertainty of youth and the emotions that remain long after the season has passed.

THE OTHERS, Horror

Alejandro Amenábar’s The Others is considered a modern classic of its genre. Nicole Kidman gives one of her most delicate and haunting performances as a woman who lives with her children in a secluded house haunted by unseen presences. The story unfolds slowly until the line between the living and the dead becomes almost invisible.

GANGS OF NEW YORK, Drama

Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York portrays nineteenth-century New York, a city ruled by gangs and the law of the streets. The film follows the conflict between old and new America in a struggle for power and identity. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a man torn between revenge and the future of his city. The film’s rhythm, realism and intensity reveal Scorsese’s unmistakable signature.

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, Comedy

Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel creates a visual world filled with precision and color. It is a story about loyalty, nostalgia and the vanishing elegance of old Europe. Ralph Fiennes embodies a perfectionist concierge who maintains order in a world that is quietly falling apart. The film combines humor with a deep sense of longing.

BLACK SWAN, Psychological Drama

Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan explores the cost of perfection through the story of a ballerina who loses herself in pursuit of artistic purity. Natalie Portman’s performance captures both discipline and vulnerability, showing how ambition can blur the boundaries between creation and destruction. The film is tense, beautiful and unsettling, a study of obsession and identity.