October 2026 releases open the big arthouse season in France. The Cannes Film Festival feeds cinemas all month long: Andrey Zvyagintsev, László Nemes, Na Hong-jin, Kantemir Balagov and Guillaume Canet reach screens within weeks of each other. On streaming, Netflix hands Steinbeck to Florence Pugh and brings back Lupin, Prime Video gives Carrie to Mike Flanagan, and Apple TV climbs Everest with Tom Hiddleston. Here is the complete guide, trailers included.
October 2026 releases in French cinemas
Butterfly Jam, by Kantemir Balagov
In cinemas October 7 | With Talha Akdogan, Barry Keoghan, Riley Keough, Harry Melling | Le Pacte
In Newark, 16-year-old Pyteh splits his days between the wrestling mat and his family’s Circassian diner, on the brink of bankruptcy. One impulsive decision by his hustling father sends his life off course. Kantemir Balagov, discovered with Closeness and Beanpole, shoots in English for the first time and films New Jersey’s Circassian diaspora. The film opened the Directors’ Fortnight.
The Social Reckoning, by Aaron Sorkin
In cinemas October 7 | With Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Bill Burr | Sony Pictures
Sixteen years after The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin returns to Facebook, this time behind the camera. Mikey Madison plays Frances Haugen, the engineer turned whistleblower, Jeremy Allen White plays Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, and Jeremy Strong takes over from Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. The film draws on the “Facebook Files” published in 2021. Jeff Cronenweth shoots it, Alexandre Desplat scores it.
Ni vue, ni connue, by Marc Fitoussi
In cinemas October 7 | With Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Kiberlain, Anne Marivin, Emmanuelle Bercot, Diane Kruger, Ana Girardot, Vincent Dedienne | Memento
Corinne Maclou works film sets as an extra and dreams of a real part. On one shoot, she befriends Sandrine Kiberlain, playing herself, and sees her chance. Marc Fitoussi, a director on Call My Agent!, returns to the backstage of French cinema and casts Isabelle Huppert as an extra. The film opened the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival.
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Minotaur (Minotaure), by Andrey Zvyagintsev
In cinemas October 14 | With Dmitriy Mazurov, Iris Lebedeva, Boris Kudrin | Les Films du Losange
Russia, 2022. Gleb runs a thriving business in a provincial town. His company falters, his marriage too, and violence spreads as the country sinks into war. Andrey Zvyagintsev transposes Claude Chabrol’s The Unfaithful Wife to present-day Russia and signs his first film made in exile, in Latvia. The Cannes Film Festival awarded it the Grand Prix. His first film since Loveless, in 2017.
Iron Boy (Le Corset), by Louis Clichy
In cinemas October 14 | Voices of Gary Clichy, Rod Paradot, Brune Moulin, Alexandre Astier, Jean-Pascal Zadi | Ages 6 and up
On a farm in the Beauce region, 11-year-old Christophe follows in his father’s footsteps. But the boy leans, then falls. The doctor straps him into an iron brace. While the farm goes through hard times, Christophe discovers music and meets Clara. Louis Clichy, co-director of the two 3D Asterix films and a former Pixar animator, draws on his own childhood. The Un Certain Regard jury at the Cannes Film Festival gave it its Special Prize.
Les Misérables, by Fred Cavayé
In cinemas October 14 | With Vincent Lindon, Tahar Rahim, Noémie Merlant, Camille Cottin, Benjamin Lavernhe, Megan Northam, Vassili Schneider, Marie Colomb | StudioCanal
Vincent Lindon wears Jean Valjean’s rags, Tahar Rahim Javert’s uniform. Noémie Merlant plays Fantine, Camille Cottin and Benjamin Lavernhe form the Thénardier couple. Fred Cavayé, who comes from thrillers such as Anything for Her and Point Blank, approaches Victor Hugo as a manhunt. After The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, French cinema carries on with its great literary epics. The San Sebastián Film Festival hosted the premiere.
Karma, by Guillaume Canet
In cinemas October 21 | With Marion Cotillard, Denis Ménochet, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Luis Zahera | Pathé
In a village in northern Spain, Jeanne rebuilds her life with Daniel, who knows nothing of her past. One day Mateo, her six-year-old godson, disappears. The police suspect her at once. Jeanne flees to France and returns to the community she once left, led by Marc. Guillaume Canet goes back to the thriller, twenty years after Tell No One, on a script co-written with Simon Jacquet. At the Cannes Film Festival, out of competition, Karma earned a six-minute ovation.
Une femme aujourd’hui, by Robert Guédiguian
In cinemas October 21 | With Marilou Aussilloux, Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Gérard Meylan, Lola Naymark | Diaphana
Juliette, 30, holds a high-profile job in finance, between travels and passing romances. A colleague sexually assaults her. Her world collapses, and Juliette takes another path to give her life meaning again. Robert Guédiguian gives the lead to Marilou Aussilloux and surrounds her with his longtime troupe.
Klara and the Sun, by Taika Waititi
In cinemas October 21 | With Jenna Ortega, Mia Tharia, Amy Adams, Natasha Lyonne, Steve Buscemi | Sony Pictures
Klara, a solar-powered Artificial Friend, joins the family of Josie, a sick teenager. She watches the humans around her and discovers grief. Taika Waititi adapts Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, with Dahvi Waller as co-writer. Jenna Ortega plays the robot.
Moulin, by László Nemes
In cinemas October 28 | With Gilles Lellouche, Lars Eidinger, Louise Bourgoin, Félix Lefebvre | Studio TF1
June 1943. The Gestapo arrests Jean Moulin in Caluire as he tries to unite the forces of the Secret Army. Klaus Barbie interrogates him in Lyon. László Nemes, Grand Prix winner at the Cannes Film Festival for Son of Saul, makes his first French-language film from a script by Olivier Demangel and shoots this face-off as a chamber piece. Gilles Lellouche plays the title role opposite Lars Eidinger. The film competed in the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival.
Hope, by Na Hong-jin
In cinemas October 28 | With Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, Taylor Russell | Universal Pictures
Wildfires cut off all communications. At the Hope police station, chief Bum-seok and his young deputy defend their village alone against a creature from elsewhere, while a hunting party becomes the prey in the mountains. Ten years after The Wailing, Na Hong-jin returns with 2 hours 37 minutes of science fiction, thriller and monster movie. The film competed in the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival.
More October 2026 releases in cinemas
- October 7: L’Espèce explosive, by Sarah Arnold, with Alexis Manenti, Ella Rumpf and Vincent Dedienne
- October 7: Ton animal maternel, by Valentina Maurel
- October 7: Fausse note, by Alexandre Arcady, with Kad Merad and Benoît Poelvoorde
- October 7: Ducobu et le fantôme de Saint-Potache, by Élie Semoun
- October 14: Le Jour de son retour, by Hong Sang-soo
- October 14: Other Mommy, by Rob Savage, with Jessica Chastain
- October 14: Whalefall, by Brian Duffield, with Josh Brolin
- October 14: Yugly, for younger viewers
- October 21: La Gradiva, by Marine Atlan
- October 21: Wicker, by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, with Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård
- October 21: Clayface, by James Watkins
- October 21: Le Roi du Game, by Éric Judor
- October 21: Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom
- October 28: Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, by Alexandre Castagnetti, with Deva Cassel and Romain Duris
- October 28: Quelques mots d’amour, by Rudi Rosenberg, with Hafsia Herzi
- October 28: Sanguine, by Marion Le Corroller, with Karin Viard
Re-releases
- October 7: L’Eclisse, by Michelangelo Antonioni
- October 7: Secrets & Lies, by Mike Leigh
- October 21: Safe and Poison, by Todd Haynes
- October 28: four Josef von Sternberg films with Marlene Dietrich, including Shanghai Express and The Scarlet Empress
Series and films: October 2026 releases on streaming
On the platforms, October 2026 releases bet on major literary adaptations and the return of flagship series.
October 2026 releases on Netflix
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East of Eden
From October 1 | Limited series, 7 episodes | With Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Joseph Zada, Joe Anders
Zoe Kazan, granddaughter of Elia Kazan, adapts John Steinbeck’s novel and writes every episode. Garth Davis and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre direct. Florence Pugh plays Cathy Ames, the venomous figure at the heart of the Trask saga, opposite Christopher Abbott as Adam and Mike Faist as Charles. More than seventy years after her grandfather’s film with James Dean, Zoe Kazan embraces the whole novel, across two generations.
The Diplomat, season 4
From October 15 | 8 episodes | With Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford
A stolen nuclear weapon, a broken marriage, an unpredictable president. Kate Wyler, US ambassador in London, tries to save all three at once. Debora Cahn, a former writer on The West Wing and Homeland, still runs the show.
Sacrifice, by Romain Gavras
From October 16 | Film | With Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Vincent Cassel, Salma Hayek, Ambika Mod, John Malkovich, Charli XCX
At a charity gala in a Greek mine, a cult led by Joan kidnaps three hostages to offer to a volcano: a fading Hollywood star, a billionaire and an unlucky singer. Romain Gavras makes his first English-language film, co-written with Succession writer Will Arbery. The satire split critics at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival: judge for yourself.
Lupin, part 4
From October 23 | 8 episodes | With Omar Sy, Ludivine Sagnier, Antoine Gouy, Soufiane Guerrab, Shirine Boutella, Théo Christine
Four years have passed. Assane Diop is serving his sentence when a copycat robs several museums in Lupin’s name. Accused in his place, he breaks out to unmask him. Omar Sy and Louis Leterrier now steer the series created by George Kay and François Uzan. Édouard Salier, Everardo Gout and Hugo Gélin share directing duties.
Also on Netflix
- October 8: Below, fantasy limited series with Josh Hartnett, Mackenzie Davis and Charlie Heaton
- October 9: Animals, thriller directed by Ben Affleck
- October 20: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2
- October 22: Nobody Wants This, season 3
- October 23: Grand d’Espagne
October 2026 releases on Prime Video
Carrie
From October 7 | Limited series, 8 episodes | With Summer H. Howell, Samantha Sloyan, Matthew Lillard, Amber Midthunder
Mike Flanagan, creator of The Haunting of Hill House, moves Stephen King’s first novel to 2026, in the age of viral humiliation. Summer H. Howell plays Carrie White, Samantha Sloyan her fanatical mother. Flanagan directs four episodes, including the last two. Stephen King produces.
Masterplan, by Thomas Vincent
From October 16 | Film | With Stanley Tucci, Simona Tabasco, Victor Belmondo
Roger, a legendary thief, sets his sights on the Mona Lisa. He recruits Chiara, a hacking virtuoso, and Jay, an explosives expert, then tells them they are brother and sister, and that he is their father. Gaumont co-produces this French-Italian heist comedy, shot between France and Italy.
Also on Prime Video
- October 2: Paul, comedy in which Paul Mirabel plays himself
- October 14: Love of Your Life, by Rachel Morrison, with Margaret Qualley
- October 21: The Terminal List, season 2, with Chris Pratt
October 2026 releases on Disney+
VisionQuest
From October 14 | One episode every Wednesday | With Paul Bettany, James Spader, T’Nia Miller, Ruaridh Mollica, Emily Hampshire
After WandaVision, Vision sets out in search of his memory and his son, forced to share his mind with Ultron. Terry Matalas, showrunner of the final season of Star Trek: Picard, closes the trilogy opened by WandaVision and Agatha All Along. James Spader returns as Ultron for the first time since Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Also on Disney+
- October 2: Coven Academy, with Malina Weissman
- October 7: The Drop, a Snowfall spin-off
October 2026 releases on Apple TV
Tenzing, by Jennifer Peedom
From October 16 | Film | With Genden Phuntsok, Tom Hiddleston, Willem Dafoe, Caitríona Balfe, Thinley Lhamo
May 29, 1953. Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reach the summit of Everest. Jennifer Peedom, director of the documentaries Sherpa and Mountain, tells the ascent from Tenzing’s point of view, a Himalayan mountaineer fighting to join the British expedition as a climber. Luke Davies, screenwriter of Lion, writes the script. Tibetan actor Genden Phuntsok carries the title role opposite Tom Hiddleston.
Nocturne
From October 30 | 10 episodes, two at launch then one every Friday | With Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz, Stephen Graham, Bill Camp, Rory Culkin
A serial killer’s victim turns up alive. Jonah Lynn, an ex-soldier turned detective, searches for the last missing person, while his protégée, played by Zazie Beetz, goes undercover to get close to the killer. Rowan Joffe and John Hlavin adapt Lars Kepler’s Lazarus and The Sandman. Tim Van Patten directs the first two episodes. Stephen Graham, co-creator and star of Adolescence, plays killer Jurek Walter.
Also on Apple TV
- October 2: The Last First: Winter K2, documentary by Amir Bar-Lev
- October 7: Small Prophets, comedy by Mackenzie Crook
- October 9: Matchbox: The Movie, by Sam Hargrave, with John Cena
- October 21: Where’s Wanda?, season 2
October 2026 releases on HBO Max
War
From October 2 | With Dominic West, Sienna Miller, Archie Renaux
George Kay, co-creator of Lupin, moves to the heart of the London bar. Two firms, Cathcarts & Sons and Taylor & Byrne, clash over a headline case and drag Johnny Warren (Archie Renaux), a young lawyer ready to do anything to make his mark, into their wake. In this world, ambition is the currency and betrayal the method. Dominic West and Sienna Miller lead the cast of this Sky and HBO co-production, directed by Ben Taylor.
Kill Jackie
From October 8 | 8 episodes | With Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Óscar Jaenada, Daniel Ings, Ron Perlman
For twenty years, Jackie Price has sold artworks all over the world, far from her past as an international drug trafficker. When a team of hitmen, the Seven Demons, takes the contract to kill her, she chooses to hunt them down one by one. Catherine Zeta-Jones, also a producer, leads this eight-episode revenge thriller, adapted from Nick Harkaway’s novel The Price You Pay. Around her: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Óscar Jaenada, Daniel Ings and Ron Perlman, from Bilbao to Swansea, with a generous dose of black humour.
Crystal Lake
From October 15 | 8 episodes | With Linda Cardellini, William Catlett, Devin Kessler, Callum Vinson
Before Jason, there was his mother. Pamela Voorhees refuses to mourn the son who drowned in the lake. Two strangers arrive in town and dig into her past. A24 produces this prequel to Friday the 13th, run by Brad Caleb Kane, showrunner of IT: Welcome to Derry. Victor Miller, writer of the 1980 film, is among the producers.
Also on HBO Max
- October 23: Yaga, with Noah Reid and Carrie-Anne Moss
October 2026 releases on Arte
Portobello, by Marco Bellocchio
Thursdays October 15 and 22 at 8:55 pm (3 episodes per evening) | On arte.tv from October 8 | With Fabrizio Gifuni, Lino Musella, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Barbora Bobulova, Fausto Russo Alesi
1983. Enzo Tortora, star host of Portobello, Italy’s most popular TV show, lands in prison. A Camorra informant accuses him of cocaine trafficking, and some twenty others repeat his story. Marco Bellocchio retraces one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice in Italian history. Fabrizio Gifuni, a David di Donatello winner for Exterior Night, works with the director for the fourth time. The Italian Union of Journalists named it series of the year. On Thursday October 22 at 11:45 pm, Arte also airs Sandra Marti’s documentary on Marco Bellocchio.
Impossible, by Emmanuel Finkiel
Friday October 23 at 8:55 pm | On arte.tv from October 16 | TV film | With Swann Arlaud, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Marilyne Canto
On an Alpine trail, a hiker falls to his death. The man who raises the alarm ends up in custody: years earlier, the victim turned him in to the police, back in the days of the Red Brigades. Emmanuel Finkiel adapts Erri De Luca’s novel and stages a duel between a former revolutionary and his judge. Two awards at La Rochelle 2026: best drama TV film and best screenplay.
Un jour on fera l’amour, by Jérôme Bonnell
Thursday October 29 at 8:55 pm | On arte.tv from October 22 | 3 episodes | With Natacha Krief, Édouard Sulpice, Marc Citti, Matthieu Lucci, Jeanne Cherhal
A sweltering summer. Aurore, a thirty-something caught up by childhood wounds, meets Noé, a would-be journalist weighed down by an alcoholic father. Jérôme Bonnell, after Les Hautes Herbes, films the first forty-eight hours of their story, between romantic comedy and drama. The La Rochelle TV Fiction Festival 2026 named it best comedy series, and both leads won ADAMI Young Talent awards.
Also on Arte
- October 1, 9 pm: Camarades, by Benjamin Charbit and Dominique Baumard, final episodes (full series on arte.tv)
- October 9, 8:55 pm: Gerta et le monde déchiré, by Tomas Masin, a Czech saga in two parts (arte.tv from October 2)
- On arte.tv from October 16: One of Us Is Trembling, Danish series by Selma Sunniva, award winner at Séries Mania 2025
- On arte.tv from October 23: Blood, seasons 1 and 2, Irish thriller with Adrian Dunbar
- On arte.tv: Trigonometry, London polyamory chronicle with Ariane Labed, Thalissa Teixeira and Gary Carr (until September 3, 2027)
- On arte.tv: Etty, by Hagai Levi, with Julia Windischbauer, based on the diary of Etty Hillesum
- On arte.tv: Icon of French Cinema, by and with Judith Godrèche (until December 26)
Films on Arte
- October 7: Zero Dark Thirty, by Kathryn Bigelow
- October 11: Shutter Island, by Martin Scorsese
- October 12: Maigret voit rouge, by Gilles Grangier, with Jean Gabin
- October 14: Misericordia, by Alain Guiraudie, Louis-Delluc Prize 2024, followed by Official Competition, with Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas
- October 18: a documentary on Jessica Chastain, followed by Interstellar
- October 28: Ring, by Hideo Nakata
- October 30: The Rocky Horror Picture Show and its documentary
- On arte.tv: Au plus près du paradis, by Tonie Marshall, with Catherine Deneuve; Nebraska, by Alexander Payne; Le Cœur fou, by Jean-Gabriel Albicocco
October 2026 releases on Canal+
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy
From October 6 on OCS | 8 episodes | With Michael Chernus, Marin Ireland, James Badge Dale
The limited series revisits the crimes of the Chicago serial killer and the failures that made them possible.
Also on Canal+
- October 26: final episode of Apollo Has Fallen, sequel to Paris Has Fallen, with Tewfik Jallab and Ritu Arya (full season on the Canal+ app)
October 2026 releases on Paramount+ and VOD
- October 1: La Bataille de Gaulle : L’Âge de fer, by Antonin Baudry, with Simon Abkarian, available to buy digitally (rental from October 7)
- October 9: Avatar: Seven Havens on Paramount+, with Pavi, the new Avatar after Korra (3 episodes)
Enjoy a month of films and series. Among these October 2026 releases, which one are you most looking forward to? Tell us in the comments.
