The Best Movies to Stream at Home in October

October isn't just for horror movies anymore. It's also for aliens, famous comedians, and scaling treacherous mountains. The films coming to streaming this month are a varied bunch, with harrowing and illuminating documentaries, action thrillers, and kids movies all premiering alongside each other. 

There may not be any box-office smashes in the lot — we ate good in September — but the movies are loaded with star power, with titles featuring Ben Affleck, John Cena, Emily Blunt, Adam Scott, and more. 

Grab a garbage bag full of popcorn and check out the best new movies coming to streaming in October.

Note: The list includes movies coming to major subscription streaming services for the first time; new movies to stream at home that are only available for purchase or rent are not included in this list. 

You've seen Companion and Obsession, so complete the artificially clingy girlfriend movie trilogy with Soulm8te. In the Blumhouse horror film, a man (David Rysdahl) mourning the death of his wife agrees to beta test a companion robot (Lily Sullivan), and things go exactly where you expect them to go. [Trailer]

Thursday, Oct. 1 on Hulu

The latest from the busiest man in Hollywood, Tyler Perry, is a romantic drama about a relationship between a single mother (Naomi Baker) and the ex-convict (Jay Reeves) who saved her life during a prison riot while she worked as a corrections officer. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 2 on Netflix

Watch this chilling documentary about extreme mountaineering from the comfort of your sea-level couch. Director Amir Bar-Lev follows multiple adventurers in 2020 and 2021 attempting one of the sport's final remaining achievements: to climb the treachourous K2 in the heart of winter. Like most extreme sports documentaries, The Last First is both awe inspiring and tragic. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 2 on Apple TV

The latest installment of the Evil Dead franchise, which is straying further and further from the charm of the original trilogy, sees a woman (Souheila Yacoub) go on a getaway with her in-laws to mourn the death of her husband. But she must fight for her life after they're all turned into demonically possessed monsters, because that's what happens in these movies. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 2 on HBO Max

Martin Mull, who was best known for his roles in Clue, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and more recently as the co-lead in Fox's The Cool Kids, had a long and varied life in show business. But he did it all to pay for his real passion: painting. This documentary on the late comedian's life looks at all his ventures in the arts but focuses on how it all played second fiddle to the medium where his heart truly lay. [Trailer]

Wednesday, Oct. 7 on Netflix

Ben Affleck directs himself in this thriller about a Los Angeles mayoral candidate (Affleck) and his wife (Kerry Washington) getting their hands dirty to come up with ransom payment after their son is kidnapped. Fun fact: Affleck's buddy Matt Damon was originally cast in the lead role alongside Affleck's ex-wife Jennifer Garner as his wife. I feel robbed that we didn't get to see that happen. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 9 on Netflix

Oasis is the world's biggest rock band, at least according to Oasis frontmen Liam and Noel Gallagher. The band's massive 2025 reunion tour comes home via this documentary from writer Steven Knight (yes, the Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight) and directors Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, and the streaming edition includes extended versions of some of their biggest hits as well as full interviews. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 9 on Disney+ and Hulu

Steven Spielberg returned to big-scale alien movies with this secretive project starring Emily Blunt as a meteorologist on the run from government goons after stumbling upon a conspiracy regarding extraterrestrial technology. The movie did not do well at the box office, but now that it's playing in your house, who cares? [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 9 on Peacock

Mattel may have gotten a little cocky when it turned Barbie into a box office behemoth, because its second movie — based on the Matchbox cars toys — is going straight to streaming with straight-to-streaming movie king John Cena behind the wheel. Cena stars as a CIA agent who, along with some old friends, becomes "embroiled in a frantic international pursuit to save the world." Did the writers even try? Jessica Biel and Sam Richardson also star. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 9 on Apple TV

Obsession and Backrooms got all the glory as the big indie horror hits of this year, but don't sleep on Neon's Hokum, which is the most terrifying movie of the three. Directed by Damian McCarthy, who also wrote and directed the 2024 cult horror film Oddity, Hokum stars Severance's Adam Scott as a novelist who stays at a remote inn to spread his parents' ashes. But as we all know from horror movies, remote inns are always haunted, and things quickly get very creepy. [Trailer]

Saturday, Oct. 10 on Hulu

Remember all those scary clown sightings that started about a decade ago and went viral, with people all over the country reporting terrifying Bozos in the wild? Clown Panic does, and it examines the social phenomenon just in time for Halloween with interviews with witnesses, cultural commentators, cops, and the good kind of clowns (if that's actually a thing). [Trailer]

Monday, Oct. 12 on Hulu

Rachel Morrison directs this romantic drama film about a woman (Margaret Qualley) who falls into a sweeping romance with a man (Gabriel Basso) and must rediscover who she is after the relationship suddenly falls apart. She heads to Europe to clear her mind and meets a new man (Aaron Pierre) who tests her ability to love again. Catherine Keener and Patrick Schwarzenegger also star. [Trailer]

Wednesday, Oct. 14 on Prime Video

Global girl group Katseye, which was formed from the talent search series The Debut: Dream Academy, are long past their reality TV days and are now selling out arenas, topping charts, and getting their own documentary film. Wild Hearts goes behind the scenes with the gals, with a special focus on their relationship with their fans, dubbed Eyekons. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 16 on Disney+ and Hulu

Joanna Natasegara directed this music documentary focused on Dutch Moroccan rapper Cilvaringz, whose persistence thrust him into the inner circle of Wu-Tang Clan, and the production of Wu-Tang's legendary seventh album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, of which only one legal copy exists in the world. 

Friday, Oct. 16 on Netflix

Hugh Jackman stars as the legendary archer who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, except in this flick he isn't bouncing around in tights with merry men. This Robin is older, gravely wounded, and reflective on his past as an outlaw as he recuperates in a monastery and befriends an orphaned girl. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 16 on HBO Max

Netflix's Joketober series of documentaries on comedians continues with a look at one of the best to ever stand up, the late Norm Macdonald. The former Saturday Night Live Weekend Update anchor is a comedian's comedian, revered by his peers even as he irked network brass. (His firing from SNL is one of that show's dumbest moves.) Judd Apatow directs. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 16 on Netflix

Sir Edmund Hillary gets all the headlines as the first man to ascend Mount Everest, but he wasn't alone. The biopic Tenzing tells the little-known story of Tenzing Norgay (Genden Phuntsok), a Himalayan climber who went from serving Hillary's team to being part of it and making history alongside Hillary. Tom Hiddleston and Willem Dafoe also star. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 16 on Apple TV

Chris Evans plays a movie star who gets abducted by a radical cult that believes sacrificing people into a volcano will save humanity. Probably worth a shot, honestly. Anya Taylor-Joy and Vincent Cassell also star. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 16 on Apple TV

Maria Bamford, whose Netflix comedy Lady Dynamite is one of the streamer's most unsung hidden gems, is the focus of this documentary, which looks at the comedian's career and her journey with mental health. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 23 on Netflix

Olivia Wilde stars in and directs this black comedy (and remake of the 2020 Spanish film The People Upstairs) about a couple (Wilde and Seth Rogen) who invite their neighbors (Penélope Cruz and Ed Norton) over for dinner, and the menu is full of surprises, secrets, and mind games. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 23 on HBO Max

If you have a far of heights, skip to the next movie. In 2023, a cable car suspended 900 feet above the ground in Pakistan became stuck after one of its cables snapped, leaving eight passengers, including six children, dangling above a valley. This documentary follows their rescue with incredible on-scene footage from drones that will make you feel like you were there (i.e. really glad that you weren't). [Trailer]

Wednesday, Oct. 28 on Paramount+

In the seventh film in the Despicable Me franchise and third film in the Minions prequel series, the yellow fellows take over old Hollywood in the 1920s. But when they try to make a monster movie by unleashing real monsters, they become in danger of losing their SAG cards, as well as their lives. [Trailer]

Wednesday, Oct. 28 on Peacock

Any real fan of sketch comedy looks at the title of this documentary and scoffs, but for those of you who don't know where Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara, Rick Moranis, Eugene Levy, John Candy, Harold Ramis, Dave Thomas, and more broke out and became stars, this documentary on Canada's late-night classic will be illuminating. [Trailer]

Friday, Oct. 30 on Netflix

Everything you need for fall TV:

• The complete guide to fall TV
• The most anticipated shows coming this fall
• All the new shows coming this fall
• The ultimate guide to what to watch in October