There are nearly ten horror or horror-adjacent films coming to cinemas in October 2025, like The Black Phone 2 and Shelby Oaks, but if you’re not looking for the scares, worry not, there will be other films to check out as well.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson looks unrecognisable in The Smashing Machine. Tron: Ares is the third film in the series, but whether it’s going to change the series past mediocre results is to be seen. Two films that had screenings at MIFF recently that I reviewed, Beast of War and We Bury The Dead, are also getting limited releases this month.
Here are all the new films coming to Australian cinemas in October 2025.
OCTOBER 2
The Smashing Machine
The story of mixed-martial arts and UFC champion, Mark Kerr.
Betting With Ghost 2: The Gem Hunter
Five individuals embark on a journey, each with their own schemes, to transport the body of actress Anh Thu back to her hometown. In return, her ghost promises them a diamond ring worth 9 billion VND. Who will claim the prize, or will the trip reveal their darkest selves?
HIM
A young athlete descends into a world of terror when he’s invited to train with a legendary champion whose charisma curdles into something darker.
Kantara Chapter 1
Exploring the origins of Kaadubettu Shiva during the Kadamba dynasty era, it delves into the untamed wilderness and forgotten lore surrounding his past.
OCTOBER 3
Grow
Grow is a tale of pumpkins, sabotage, and unlikely family bonds. A farmer living in the self-proclaimed ‘Pumpkin Capital of the World’ takes in her estranged niece Charlie. Charlie decides to enter the local pumpkin growing competition where she and the other pumpkin growers face fierce competition, sabotage and a genetically engineered rival.
OCTOBER 9
Tron: Ares
A highly sophisticated Program, Ares, is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission.
A House of Dynamite
When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond.
Beast of War
A group of young soldiers, fresh out of boot camp, find themselves stranded on a raft in the middle of the ocean after their ship is sunk by the enemy and must battle for their lives against a giant hungry great white shark.
Eleanor the Great
After a devastating loss, witty and proudly troublesome Eleanor Morgenstein, 94, tells a tale that takes on a dangerous life of its own.
Love in Vietnam
A passionate cross-cultural romance unfolds between Vietnam and Punjab, inspired by the classic Turkish novel ‘Madonna in a Fur Coat.”
The Travellers
Stephen Seary, a charismatic successful stage designer returns to Australia to visit his dying mother. What was to be a quick trip descends into a frustrating and sometimes quirky challenge as family responsibilities, a difficult relationship with his curmudgeonly father, unresolved conflicts with long-forgotten antagonists, romantic interludes, and the presence of an annoying sister make his return to Europe and the opera he has contracted to design increasingly problematic.
We Bury the Dead
When her husband goes missing in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment, Ava joins a “body retrieval unit” in the hopes of finding him alive. But her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she’s burying start showing signs of life.
OCTOBER 16
After the Hunt
A college professor finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light.
Black Phone 2
As Finn, now 17, struggles with life after his captivity, his sister begins receiving calls in her dreams from the black phone and seeing disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp known as Alpine Lake.
Roofman
A charismatic criminal, while on the run from the police, hides on the roof of a toy store. There, he adopts a new identity and becomes involved with an employee, beginning a relationship as unlikely as it is risky.
Ballad of a Small Player
When his past and his debts start to catch up with him, a high-stakes gambler laying low in Macau encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation.
Night of the Zoopocalypse
A wolf and mountain lion team up when a meteor unleashes a virus turning zoo animals into zombies. They join forces with other survivors to rescue the zoo and stop the deranged mutant leader from spreading the virus.
OCTOBER 17
The Wilderness
Kidnapped and abandoned in the Utah desert, a group of troubled boys are forced into a ruthless “Wilderness Therapy” program. Cut off from the world, they must survive both the elements and the mind games of a director who may not be trying to save them at all.
OCTOBER 23
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
Denji encounters a new romantic interest, Reze, who, unbeknownst to him, harbours a dangerous ulterior motive.
Shelby Oaks
A woman’s desperate search for her long-lost sister falls into obsession upon realizing that the imaginary demon from their childhood may have been real.
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
Bruce Springsteen’s journey crafting his 1982 album Nebraska, which emerged as he recorded Born in the USA with the E Street Band. Based on Warren Zanes’ book.
The Mastermind
In 1970, Mooney and two cohorts wander into a museum in broad daylight and steal four paintings. When holding onto the art proves more difficult than stealing them, Mooney is relegated to a life on the run.
Twinless
Two grieving men bond in support group and form unlikely friendship.
Familiar Touch
An octogenarian woman transitions to life in assisted living as she contends with her conflicting relationship to herself and her caregivers amidst her shifting memory, age identity, and desires.
Regretting You
Centers on the strained relationship between young mother Morgan Grant and her teenage daughter Clara, exacerbated by Morgan’s husband Chris’s tragic death, forcing them to navigate life’s challenges together.
Same Same But Different
In 1973, Graham “Skroo” Turner and his mates bought a double-decker bus, sold tickets for a seat for eager travellers and embarked on a journey of a lifetime. Unbeknown to them and their travellers this would be the beginning of something that would shape the future of travel as we know it today. Fast forward 50 years later, and Cody has decided to follow in their footsteps and see what travelling is all about.
OCTOBER 29
Anniversary
A provocative thriller about a very close-knit family that is torn apart as a new movement “The Change” envelops the country.
OCTOBER 30
Good Fortune
A well-meaning but rather inept angel named Gabriel meddles in the lives of a struggling gig worker and a wealthy venture capitalist.
Bugonia
Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
Shell
Down on her luck actress Samantha Lake is invited into the ultra-glamorous world of Zoe Shannon, CEO of wellness company SHELL. When SHELL patients begin to go missing, Samantha realises Zoe may be protecting a monstrous secret.
Kiss of the Spider Woman (2025)
Valentín, a political prisoner, shares a cell with Molina, convicted for public indecency. An unlikely bond forms as Molina recounts a Hollywood musical plot starring Ingrid Luna.
Sweat It Out!
Charts the rise and fall of the iconic Australian music scene, affectionately dubbed ‘Oz Rock’.
It’s the story of ambition, power and passion. Of the bands that succeeded, and those that didn’t. It’s a tale of oversized, colourful characters who risked it all – and the legion of fans who joined them on their journey, sweating it out in the tiny inner urban pubs, massive outer suburban beer barns and jampacked provincial hotels. It’s the story of a country forging its identity through music and an ethos of bands that toured longer, drove further and played harder to be heard. When bands would play live seven nights a week, sometimes playing three gigs in one day – sometimes even playing three gigs, in three different states, in the one day.
OCTOBER 31
Residence
The enigmatic hero, a speechless child and a ragtag motley crew journey through a zombie filled apocalyptic landscape to seek refuge in a medieval fun park whilst being pursued by an unstoppable deranged lunatic.
What films are you most excited to see in cinemas this month? Let me know in the comment section below.
Is there anything missing from this list? If so, let me know, and I’ll add it!
You can also check out what’s coming to streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, and more on our ‘What’s Streaming‘ page.
[Descriptions & cinema dates gathered from Flicks.com.au & IMDB]
