Comedy and Thrillers Dominate September 2025 Movie Release Schedule

It was a good month for entertainment if you made it to the movie theater in August 2025. Travel prevented us from seeing The Fantastic Four: First Steps at the end of July, so it was on our August list. We caught Relay as part of a mystery movie promotion and it was fantastic. I was pretty sure it would be my favorite movie of the month until we watched Weapons. I’ve recommended it to pretty much everyone I have talked to since then. So worth the cost of admission. September shifts gears and features a lot more comedies and dramas than the summer months offered. Still some thrillers to catch, but laughter will be the best medicine as the kids settle into their first full month of school. Check out your options:

Splitsville

Release Date: September 5, 2025
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Nicholas Braun

After Ashley (Arjona) asks for a divorce, good-natured Carey (Marvin) runs to his friends, Julie (Johnson) and Paul (Covino), for support. He’s shocked to discover that the secret to their happiness is an open marriage, that is until Carey crosses the line and throws all of their relationships into chaos.

The Conjuring: Last Rites

Release Date: September 5, 2025
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Sequel
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Steve Coulter, Rebecca Calder, Elliot Cowan, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Beau Gadsdon, John Brotherton and Shannon Kook

The Conjuring: Last Rites delivers another thrilling chapter of the iconic Conjuring cinematic universe, based on real events. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reunite for one last case as renowned, real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren in a powerful and spine-chilling addition to the global box office-breaking franchise.

Twinless

Release Date: September 5, 2025
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Cast: James Sweeney, Dylan O’Brien, Lauren Graham, Aisling Franciosi, Chris Perfetti, Tasha Smith

In Twinless, two young men meet in a twin support group and form an unlikely friendship. Roman (Dylan O’Brien) and Dennis (James Sweeney) both search for solace and an identity without their other halves and soon become inseparable outside the group. But when Roman meets Dennis’ ebullient co-worker, Marcie (Aisling Franciosi), all is revealed to be not what it seems, as each man harbors secrets that could unravel everything.

Preparation for the Next Life

Release Date: September 5, 2025
Genre: Drama
Cast: Sebiye Behtiyar, Fred Hechinger

Aishe, a Uyghur woman trained by her military father, migrates to New York City where she finds herself laboring in Chinatown’s underground kitchens. She fatefully encounters Skinner, a young American soldier who has just returned from three tours in the Middle East. While falling in love, they discover the possibility of a better life together than the ones they believed they were destined to live alone.

The Baltimorons

Release Date: September 5, 2025
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Cast: Michael Strassner, Liz Larsen, Olivia Luccardi

After cracking a tooth on Christmas Eve, newly sober Cliff embarks on an adventure through Baltimore with Didi, his emergency dentist

The Long Walk

Release Date: September 12, 2025
Genre: Thriller
Cast: Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick, Josh Hamilton, with Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill

From the highly anticipated adaptation of master storyteller Stephen King’s first-written novel, and Francis Lawrence, the visionary director of The Hunger Games franchise films (Catching Fire, Mockingjay – Pts. 1 & 2, and The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), comes THE LONG WALK, an intense, chilling, and emotional thriller that challenges audiences to confront a haunting question: how far could you go?

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

Release Date: September 12, 2025
Genre: Drama, Sequel
Cast: Simon Russell Beale, Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Michael Fox, Joanne Froggatt, Paul Giamatti, Harry Hadden-Paton, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Alessandro Nivola, Dominic West, Penelope Wilton, Arty Froushan, Joely Richardson, Paul Copley, Douglas Reith

DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE, the cinematic return of the global phenomenon, follows the Crawley family and their staff as they enter the 1930s. When Mary finds herself at the center of a public scandal and the family faces financial trouble, the entire household grapples with the threat of social disgrace. The Crawleys must embrace change as the staff prepares for a new chapter with the next generation leading Downton Abbey into the future.

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

Release Date: September 12, 2025
Genre: Mockumentary, Music, Sequel
Cast: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Fran Drescher, Paul Shaffer, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Questlove, Chris Addison

Forty-one years after the release of the groundbreaking mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, the now estranged bandmates David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel, and Derek Smalls (Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer) are forced to reunite for one final concert. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues also marks the resurrection of documentarian Marty Di Bergi (Rob Reiner), who once again tries to capture his favorite metal gods as they contemplate mortality—and the hope that their 12th drummer doesn’t join them in The Great Beyond. Joined by music royalty Paul McCartney and Elton John, Spinal Tap wrestles with their checkered past to put on a concert that they hope will solidify their place in the pantheon of rock ’n’ roll.

Him

Release Date: September 19, 2025
Genre: Horror
Cast: Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, Jim Jefferies

HIM stars former college wide-receiver Tyriq Withers (Atlanta, the upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer) as Cameron Cade, a rising-star quarterback who has devoted his life, and identity, to football. On the eve of professional football’s annual scouting Combine, Cam is attacked by an unhinged fan and suffers a potentially career-ending brain trauma.

Just when all seems lost, Cam receives a lifeline when his hero, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), a legendary eight-time Championship quarterback and cultural megastar, offers to train Cam at Isaiah’s isolated compound that he shares with his celebrity influencer wife, Elsie White (Julia Fox; Uncut Gems, No Sudden Move). But as Cam’s training accelerates, Isaiah’s charisma begins to curdle into something darker, sending his protégé down a disorienting rabbit hole that may cost him more than he ever bargained for.

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

Release Date: September 19, 2025
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Cast: Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, with Kevin Kline, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Some doors bring you to your past. Some doors lead you to your future. And some doors change everything. Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell) are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present…and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.

Xeno

Release Date: September 19, 2025
Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi
Cast: Lulu Wilson, Omari Hardwick, Wrenn Schmidt

XENO is a thrilling and heartfelt adventure, proving that the strongest bonds can be formed in the most unexpected places. A teenage girl and a terrifying alien form a powerful bond after a chance encounter in the desert, sending them on an adventure that questions the nature of good and evil. As government agents close in, the girl discovers the alien is not the extraterrestrial she expected. Compelled to protect her new friend, she uncovers a secret that could change the fate of both their worlds.

One Battle After Another

Release Date: September 26, 2025
Genre: Drama
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, Wood Harris and Alana Haim

When their evil enemy resurfaces after 16 years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunites to rescue one of their own’s daughter.

The Strangers: Chapter 2

Release Date: September 26, 2025
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Sequel
Cast: Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso, Ema Horvath

The Strangers are back – more brutal and relentless than ever. When they learn that one of their victims, Maya (Madelaine Petsch), is still alive, they return to finish what they’ve started. With nowhere to run and no one to trust, Maya must survive another horrific chapter of terror as The Strangers – driven by a senseless, unceasing purpose – pursue her, more than willing to kill anyone who stands in their way.

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie

Release Date: September 26, 2025
Genre: Family, Animated
Cast: Laila Lockhart Kraner, Kristen Wiig, Gloria Estefan, Thomas Lennon, Jason Mantzoukas, Ego Nwodim, Kyle Mooney, Melissa Villaseñor and Fortune Feimster

Since the debut of the Gabby’s Dollhouse series in 2021, kids around the world have been having one big sprinkle party with Gabby and her friends on Netflix. Created by celebrated storytellers Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey, Gabby’s Dollhouse is a mixed media preschool series that unboxes a surprise before jumping into a fantastical animated world full of adorable cat characters that live inside Gabby’s dollhouse.

In the new film, Gabby (Laila Lockhart Kraner, reprising her role from the series) heads out on a road trip with her Grandma Gigi (four-time Grammy Award winner Gloria Estefan) to the urban wonderland of Cat Francisco. But when Gabby’s dollhouse, her most prized possession, ends up in the hands of an eccentric cat lady named Vera (Oscar®nominee Kristen Wiig), Gabby sets off on an adventure through the real world to get the Gabby Cats back together and save the dollhouse before it’s too late.

I’m not sure how many of these we’ll be able to make it to, but we’re going to try to hit a few. Nobody 2, Caught Stealing and The Roses will be prioritized because they released in August. The Long Walk and One Battle After Another at the top of my list for September.

Which August movies did you see and which September are on your wish list?