October 2023: all the new movies coming out on Digital and VOD this month, from new releases to hidden gems to watch right now or soon!
Which new movies are coming out on digital and VOD in October 2023? It’s time to look at the new releases of the month, from highly anticipated films to lesser known hidden gems to watch right now or soon on your TV!
Let’s discover the new movies on digital and VOD out in October 2023! The list is below in order of release and divided by films to watch digital and on demand in the US and in the UK. Keep coming back to this page for updates, and happy watching!
- October 2023: On Digital & On Demand – U.S. Releases
- October 2023: On Digital & On Demand – U.K. Releases
1. OCTOBER 2023: NEW MOVIES ON DIGITAL & VOD – U.S. RELEASES
WE KILL FOR LOVE
Director: Anthony Penta
U.S. Release: October 1
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: We Kill for Love goes in search of the forgotten world of the direct-to-video erotic thriller, an American film genre that once dominated late night cable television and the shelves of neighborhood video stores. Balancing film art with scholarship, it pulls back the curtain to reveal the heart and soul of a forgotten and often maligned film movement.
CREEPY CRAWLY
Directors: Chalit Krileadmongkon & Pakphum Wongjinda
U.S. Release: October 3
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: While quarantining at a Thailand hotel, guests begin disappearing with no explanation from staff, leaving the group to wonder whether there may be some truth to local urban legends about a terrifying creature rumored to possess its victims.
MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB
Director: Jason Arber
U.S. Release: October 3
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: A radio host and her crew set out to discover the truth behind some disappearances for a true crime show. They will soon learn that there is far more to discover when they meet Mary and her lamb. Who will make it out alive of this house of horrors?
THE MEAN ONE
Director: Steven LaMorte
Global Release: October 3
Official synopsis: In the audacious horror parody, The Mean One (David Howard Thornton) is a hairy, green-skinned grump in a Santa suit, living on a mountain high above the town of Newville, despising the holiday season. Young Cindy You-Know-Who (Krystle Martin), whose parents were butchered by The Mean One twenty Christmases earlier, is returning to town to seek closure… but when the Mean One launches a new reign of terror that threatens to destroy Christmas, Cindy finds a bold new purpose – trapping and killing the monster.
THE PLUS ONE
Director: Erik White
U.S. Release: October 3
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: Lizzie (music superstar Ashanti) is looking to have the perfect destination wedding thanks to her doting father (Cedric the Entertainer) but her carefully laid plans are thrown into disarray when her “man-of-honor”, Marshall (Jonathan Bennett, Mean Girls), brings his “ex-from-hell”, Marie. It is going to take an all-out effort from Lizzie’s friends and family to keep Lizzie from losing her mind as her “happily ever after” is faced with ruin. THE PLUS ONE is an uproarious and charming romantic comedy.
OBJECTS
Director: Vincent Liota
U.S. Release: October 3
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: Objects is a documentary that looks at the connection we all have to the things that keep us tied to our pasts, our memories, and continue to be touchstones for our emotional journeys. The film profiles three people who have grown profound emotional connections to things they came upon, accidentally, at pivotal moments in their lives and have held onto ever since. That trio includes NPR correspondent and former Radiolab co-host Robert Krulwich, who has kept a clump of grass for fifty years, author Heidi Julavits, who has saved and preserved wardrobe from an obscure French actress from the 50s, after the woman’s life became an object of fascination, a puzzle to solve, for her, and graphic designer Rick Rawlins, who among other cherished keepsakes, has safeguarded a sugar egg he received as a child for four decades.
UNSTUFFED: A BUILD-A-BEAR STORY
Director: Taylor Morden
U.S. Release: October 3
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: Unstuffed tells the story of the famed Build-a-Bear workshop. Weaving together stories from when Maxine Clark first conceived the idea, the company’s struggles to stay afloat, and the endless happiness it has provided for children and adults alike.
JOAN BAEZ I AM A NOISE (LIMITED)
Directors: Karen O’Connor, Miri Navasky & Maeve O’Boyle
U.S. Release: October 6
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: A raw and intimate portrait of the legendary folk singer and activist that shifts back and forth through time as it follows Joan on her final tour and delves into her extraordinary archive, including newly discovered home movies, diaries, artwork, therapy tapes, and audio recordings.
MIRANDA’S VICTIM
Director: Michelle Danner
U.S. Release: October 6
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: Miranda’s Victim is based on true events. In 1963, eighteen-year-old Trish Weir (Abigail Breslin) is kidnapped and sexually assaulted. Her assailant, Ernesto Miranda (Sebastian Quinn), confesses without legal representation and serves a two-year sentence, only to have the verdict later overturned. In the resulting retrial, a determined prosecutor (Luke Wilson) seeks to hold Ernesto accountable for his crimes, despite grueling opposition from Ernesto’s defense attorney (Ryan Phillippe). What follows is a legal proceeding that forever changes the nation’s justice system.
MONSTERS OF CALIFORNIA
Director: Tom DeLonge
U.S. Release: October 6
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: After discovering research left behind by a missing government agent, Dallas Edwards and his misfit high school friends embark on a righteous and dangerous adventure to uncover a paranormal conspiracy in Southern California that brings them face-to-face with some of the government’s most guarded mysteries.
VINDICTA
Director: Sean McNamara
U.S. Release: October 6
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: When a city is terrorized by a sadistic serial killer, a seasoned detective and a newly recruited paramedic are forced into a deadly game of vengeance, only to discover the key to stopping the bloodshed lies in unlocking the truth of their own haunted pasts. Elena Kampouris (Children of the Corn), Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings franchise), and Jeremy Piven (Entourage) star in this edge-of-your-seat thriller from the director of On a Wing and a Prayer.
STATE OF THE UNITY
Director: Nathaniel Paul Hoff & Jillian Speece
U.S. Release: October 6
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: In 2016, Brooklyn-based band, The Bergamot embarked on a timely journey to perform in all 50 States while inviting people to sign their message of unity on their station wagon (known as The Unity Car). What ensued is a heartwarming tale of human perseverance, empathy and understanding during one of the most polarizing times in American history.
YOUR FRIEND, MEMPHIS
Director: David Zucker
U.S. Release: October 6
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: Memphis is exuberant, headstrong, and wild at heart. As a young man living with cerebral palsy, he is used to being looked at with skepticism when it comes to achieving his dreams, but he refuses to back down. He lives on the edge, pursuing them with grit and passion. Although Memphis believes to his core that he’s meant for greatness, he finds himself stuck in Austin with dead-end jobs, a claustrophobic apartment, and no government assistance.
His parents struggle to be there for him: they have baggage of their own. They waver between supporting Memphis’ desire for independence and pushing him towards a more pragmatic reality. His best friend Seneca, an aspiring performer, struggles to reconcile her own big ambitions with her small town life. Memphis, as always, pushes on.
THE LATENT IMAGE
Director: Alexander McGregor Birrell
Global Release: October 8
Official synopsis: A handsome stranger appears at a young thriller writer’s cabin deep in the American wilderness. Mysterious, intriguing, attractive and terrifying, has he found the perfect inspiration for his new book or are his darkest fantasies about to come to life?
DOWN LOW
Director: Rightor Doyle
U.S. Release: October 10
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: Down Low is an outrageous comedy about one wild night, a deeply repressed man, the twink who gives him a happy ending, and all the lives they ruin along the way.
GARDEN CITY, KANSAS
Director: Bob Hurst
U.S. Release: October 10
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: “On the High Plains of Southwest Kansas, a thriving community sustained for decades by waves of immigrants becomes the target of white nationalists intent on killing the latest arrivals: Muslims,” reads the movie’s synopsis. “When they attempt to recruit a local man with a conscience he infiltrates them, partnering with the FBI and risking his life to prevent the attack and bring the domestic terrorists to justice. Animated courtroom testimony of the plot is interwoven with the inspiring story of immigration and the determination of a community to welcome the world.”
JULES
Director: Marc Turtletaub
U.S. Release: October 10
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: Jules follows Milton (Ben Kingsley) who lives a quiet life of routine in a small western Pennsylvania town, but finds his day upended when a UFO and its extra-terrestrial passenger crash land in his backyard. Before long, Milton develops a close relationship with the extra-terrestrial he calls “Jules.” Things become complicated when two neighbors (Harris and Curtin) discover Jules and the government quickly closes in. What follows is a funny, wildly inventive ride as the three neighbors find meaning and connection later in life – thanks to this unlikely stranger.
MALICIOUS
Director: John Fallon
U.S. Release: October 10
U.K. Release: October 16
Official synopsis: The McCabe family’s weekend getaway was never meant to be a life-changing experience. Governor William McCabe, a respected politician, was looking forward to some rest and relaxation. His beautiful wife Lauren and distant stepdaughter Erin strain to enjoy their time together, as the façade of the trophy family has worn dangerously thin. Things take a severe turn for the worse when a charismatic stranger knocks on their door and triggers an unexpected chain of events.
MERCY ROAD
Director: John Curran
U.S. Release: October 10
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: Set almost entirely in a moving vehicle, Mercy Road is an unrelentingly tense psychological thriller in real time: A man covered in blood leaps into his work truck and races against the clock to save his daughter. Who is he? What are his sins? Where is he going and what will he find when he gets there?
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING, PART 1
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
U.S. Release: October 10
U.K. Release: November 6
Official synopsis: Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most.
15 CAMERAS
Director: Danny Madden
U.S. Release: October 10
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: When Cam and Sky bought their duplex, it seemed like the perfect investment opportunity for the young couple; a starter home, a mortgage offset by renters, and even a guest room for Sky’s sister, Carolyn. But as Sky and Cam slowly uncover hidden cameras and secrets of the duplex’s previous owner, obsession consumes their marriage and they both fall into destructive forms of voyeurism. When new tenants move in downstairs, their fixation with observing others has deadly consequences and they are forced to confront the very things they have been consumed by.
THE BELL KEEPER
Director: Colton Tran
U.S. Release: October 13
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: A group of friends travel to a haunted campsite with a mysterious bell. According to legend, if you ring the bell at midnight, a murderer will appear. This group’s plan to debunk the myth goes awry as they discover that the truth is stranger – and far more frightening – than fiction.
DANGEROUS WATERS
Director: John Barr
U.S. Release: October 13
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: sailing adventure spirals out of control in this tightly wound-survival thriller. 19-year-old Rose (Odeya Rush) lives a tough, small-town life in Florida with her single mother Alma (Saffron Burrows). Their luck seems to take a turn when Alma’s new businessman boyfriend, Derek (Eric Dane), whisks them away on a sailing adventure to Bermuda. While at sea, Derek’s “business” is revealed to be less than legitimate when their boat is attacked by savage villains, set on fire, and Alma is viciously killed. Distraught and persecuted by Derek and The Captain (Ray Liotta), Rose unearths a primal instinct of survival and a terrifying need for vengeance. She will not yield until those responsible for her mother’s murder are dead.
DARK HARVEST
Director: David Slade
U.S. Release: October 13
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: In a cursed town, the annual harvest becomes a brutal battle for survival. On Halloween 1963, Sawtooth Jack, a terrifying legend, rises from the cornfields, threatening the town’s children. Groups of boys unite to defeat the murderous scarecrow before midnight. Richie, a rebellious outcast, joins the run, motivated by his brother’s previous victory. As the hunt progresses, Richie makes a shocking discovery and faces a pivotal choice to break the relentless cycle.
DEAR DAVID
Director: David Slade
U.S. Release: October 13
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: Shortly after comic artist Adam (Augustus Prew) responds to Internet trolls, he begins experiencing sleep paralysis — while an empty rocking chair moves in the corner of his apartment. As he chronicles increasingly malevolent occurrences in a series of tweets, Adam begins to believe he is being haunted by the ghost of a dead child named David. Encouraged by his boss to continue the “Dear David” thread, Adam starts to lose his grip on what is online…and what is real. Based on the viral Twitter thread by BuzzFeed comic artist Adam Ellis.
IN THE FIRE
Director: Conor Allyn
U.S. Release: October 13
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: A doctor from New York (Amber Heard) travels to a remote plantation in the 1890s to care for a disturbed boy who seems to have inexplicable abilities. She begins treating the child, but in doing so ignites a war of science versus religion with the local priest who believes the boy is possessed by the Devil and is the reason for all the village’s woes.
THE ROAD DANCE (LIMITED)
Director: Richie Adams
U.S. Release: October 13
U.K. Release: out now on digital and on demand. Watch The Road Dance!
Official synopsis: In a small, remote village in the Outer Scottish Hebrides, Kirsty (Hermione Corfield) yearns for adventure and another life across the ocean. Though she finds comfort in time spent with her mother and younger sister, she sees hope and a future with Murdo (Will Fletcher), an intelligent, curious poet. The two fall in love as World War I looms, and Murdo is soon conscripted to join the other men of the village to fight.
As a gesture of farewell, the village hosts a road dance, a celebration attended by every resident, but this sense of community is soon shattered by an unspeakable incident that changes Kirsty’s life forever. Sensitively adapted from John MacKay’s 2002 novel, this sweeping tale of adversity and resilience captures the attitudes of the time while offering a moving melodrama for audiences of any time period.
THE LOST WEEKEND
Director: Eve Brandstein
U.S. Release: October 13
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: The true tale that took 50 years to tell. It follows John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s personal assistant, May Pang, as she recounts her 18-month relationship with John—a relationship orchestrated by Yoko herself. During this extraordinary period, May helped John reunite with his son Julian and participated firsthand in his most productive period post-Beatles in which he released albums like Mind Games, Walls and Bridges, and collaborated with powerhouses like David Bowie and Elton John. Featuring moments with Julian Lennon, Mick Jagger, Alice Cooper, and Paul McCartney, May chronicles it all from her unique perspective as a 22-year-old experiencing her first unforgettable love.
SOUND OF FREEDOM
Director: Alejandro Monteverde
U.S. Release: October 13
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: After rescuing a young boy from ruthless child traffickers, a federal agent learns the boy’s sister is still captive and decides to embark on a dangerous mission to save her. With time running out, he quits his job and journeys deep into the Colombian jungle, putting his life on the line to free her from a fate worse than death.
FAILURE TO PROTECT
Director: Jeremy Pion-Berlin
U.S. Release: October 17
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: FAILURE TO PROTECT follows five parents – Anna, Trish, Rheta, Ernst, and Rosa – as they fight desperately to reunify with their children taken by Child Protective Services (CPS). It’s an unwavering and nuanced look at the child welfare system where criminals have more rights than parents.
KILLHER
Director: Robyn August
U.S. Release: October 20
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: Four friends head to the woods for a pre-bachelorette party. They soon realize they’ve set up camp next to a mysterious recluse and he is not a happy camper. Things only gets worse when people start to die and a terrible secret is revealed.
WAITING FOR THE LIGHT TO CHANGE
Director: Linh Tran
U.S. Release: October 20
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: Over the course of a week-long beach side getaway, Amy, having recently undergone dramatic weigh loss, finds herself wrestling between loyalty to her best friend Kim and her attraction to Kim’s new boyfriend.
SATURN BOWLING
Director: Patrica Mazuy
U.S. Release: October 24
U.K. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: When his father dies, Guillaume, a police officer, inherits the family bowling alley and decides to give it to his half-brother Armand. But the gift is cursed, setting off a series of brutal murders. Both brothers find themselves drawn into a demon-filled abyss and will have to face their tainted heritage. Darkness reigns over their world where the only rules are the rules of the hunt.
BOUDICA: QUEEN OF WAR
Director: Jesse V Johnson
U.S. Release: October 27
U.K. Release: October 30
Official synopsis: After her family is slain and her land stolen, warrior queen Boudica (Olga Kurylenko) leads a fierce rebellion against the Roman Empire, inspiring her people to fight for freedom.
SUITABLE FLESH
Director: Joe Lynch
Global Release: October 27
Official synopsis: Suitable Flesh sees Psychiatrist Elizabeth Derby become obsessed with helping a young patient suffering extreme personality disorder. But it leads her into dark occult danger as she tries to escape a horrific fate.
2. OCTOBER 2023: NEW ON DIGITAL & VOD – U.K. RELEASES
END OF TERM
Director: Matt Menony
U.K. Release: October 2
U.S. Release: TBA
Official synopsis: History repeats itself at the Ford Barrington Art School and a group of students find themselves being relentlessly tormented by the lingering spirit of Garth Stroman, an artist who had a disturbing vision 50 years earlier. As graduation day draws near, these students embark on a journey of artistic exploration that grows increasingly daring and extreme…
