The 9 best movies new to streaming in September 2023

02.09.2023 - 14:29 / polygon.com / William Friedkin / Denis Villeneuve / Vin Diesel / September / New / In September / Best

Happy fall, Polygon readers! September is upon us, and that means it’s time time to dust off your favorite sweater and dapple a little pumpkin spice in your morning coffee. We’ve got a whole slew of new movies, television and books to look forward to in the coming weeks and months, not to mention all the exciting new films arriving on streaming this month.

Our roundup for September includes Denis Villeneuve’s 2016 sci-fi thriller Arrival, the 2013 sci-fi action film Riddick starring Vin Diesel, William Friedkin’s supernatural horror classic The Exorcist, and more.

Let’s dive in and see what this month has in store.

Year: 2016
Genre: Sci-fi thriller
Run time: 1h 56m
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker

Based on Ted Chiang’s 1998 short story “Story of Your Life,” Arrival is Dune director Denis Villeneuve’s first foray into hard science-fiction and easily ranks as one of his best.

Starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, the film centers on Louise Banks (Adams), a linguistics professor enlisted by the US government to lead a team of investigators on a first contact expedition when twelve mysterious spaceships touch down across the planet. With a beautiful score composed by the late Jóhann Jóhannsson — his last collaboration with Villeneuve before his death in 2018 — and a moving premise focused on the intrinsic power of language and communication, Arrival is an intimate sci-fi love story for the ages. —Toussaint Egan

Year: 1986
Genre: Coming-of-age drama
Run time: 1h 29m
Director: Rob Reiner
Cast: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman

One of the great Stephen King adaptations, Stand by Me is a coming-of-age film about four 12-year-old boys who set out to find the body of a missing kid. The boys trek across the Oregon forests, running into local hoodlums and speeding trains. But despite the dangers, the real thrill of the movie comes from the transformative power of childhood friendships. The main character closes the movie with a line that basically sums it all up: “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?” —Petrana Radulovic

Year: 2001
Genre: Medieval action comedy
Run time: 2h 20m
Director: Brian Helgeland
Cast: Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, Rufus Sewell

Inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Knight,” Brian Helgeland’s semi-anachronistic medieval adventure comedy A Knight’s Tale stars Heath Ledger as William, a young peasant with a gift for jousting who poses as a knight and embarks on a quest for fame and glory alongside his friends Roland (Mark Addy) and Wat (Alan Tudyk). Along the way the trio meet Geoffrey Chaucer himself (Paul Bettany), a loquacious writer with a gift for theatrics who aids William on his journey of self-made fame