Best films released in the UK this month: September 2023
Highlights this month include Past Lives, A Haunting in Venice and The Creator.
September is always an exciting time of year for film fans – what with several major titles debuting at the big film festivals in Venice and Toronto.
And although in most cases it will be a while before the films premiering there make their way to cinema screens around the world, there are plenty of exciting releases to keep us busy until then.
Highlights of the UK's September slate include movies as varied as potential Oscar contender Past Lives, Kenneth Branagh's latest Poirot mystery A Haunting in Venice and an original sci-fi from Rogue One director Gareth Edwards called The Creator.
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Meanwhile, there's also new horror flick Cobweb, intriguing drama The Lesson, the tenth entry in the Saw franchise, and the latest social drama from Ken Loach – so certainly no shortage of variety!
To help you pick out the highlights, we've put together a selection of some of the best films to watch this month – check out the video above or read on for our choices.
Cobweb
Release date: Friday 1st September in cinemas
This creepy horror flick is the feature debut of French director Samuel Bodin and tells of a young boy who hears a terrifying voice inside his bedroom walls – only for his parents to tell him he's just imagining things.
Child star Woody Norman is superb in the lead role as eight-year-old Peter, while Antony Starr and Lizzy Caplan play the parents whom he – and the audience – are unsure whether to trust.
Past Lives
Release date: Friday 8th September in cinemas
This widely acclaimed film written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Celine Song is about two South Korean childhood sweethearts who reconnect in New York many years later.
Exploring the Korean concept of 'inyeon', it's a romantic, emotional and deeply intelligent drama that is unsurprisingly being tipped to feature heavily in the coming awards season.
A Haunting in Venice
Release date: Friday 15th September in cinemas
Kenneth Branagh puts on the oversized moustache once again for his third Agatha Christie adaptation, which this time sees Hercule Poirot despatched to Venice for a spooky new case – based on the 1969 novel Hallowe'en Party.
He's once again been able to call on an impressive supporting cast, with Camille Cottin, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Kelly Reilly and Michelle Yeoh among the stars playing key suspects this time around.
The Lesson
Release date: Friday 22nd September in cinemas
Richard E Grant and Daryl McCormack lead the cast for this drama from director Alice Troughton – whose previous credits include several episodes of Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
The film tells the story of a young writer (McCormack) who takes up a job tutoring the son of his literary hero (Grant), only for him to realise that the family he's now living with is deeply dysfunctional – and hiding some shocking secrets.
Dumb Money
Release date: Friday 22nd September in cinemas
The story of the 2021 GameStop short squeeze is told in this comedy-drama which is directed by Cruella's Craig Gillespie and boasts an incredibly starry cast.
Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D'Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley and Seth Rogen are among those to play crucial roles.
The Creator
Release date: Thursday 28th September in cinemas
This original sci-fi thriller is the first film from writer/director Gareth Edwards since he helmed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story almost eight years ago.
The movie is set during a future war between the human race and artificial intelligence and stars John David Washington as a special forces agent who is recruited to hunt down and kill the elusive architect of advanced AI.
The Old Oak
Release date: Friday 29th September in cinemas
The latest – and possibly last – film from legendary British director Ken Loach premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in 2023 and now arrives in UK cinemas.
As ever, Loach delves into social commentary – this time exploring tensions that arise in a once thriving mining community when Syrian refugees are homed in the town's empty houses.
Saw X
Release date: Friday 29th September in cinemas
The tenth installment in the Saw franchise is set between the first two films and follows John Kramer (Tobin Bell) as he travels to Mexico for a risky medical procedure.
He soon discovers that the operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable – and so he sets about using more of his deranged and ingenious traps to turn the tables on the con artists.
Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on tonight.
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