The 13 best movies hitting Hulu in September 2022

The first chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy features a buff and growling Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Liam Neeson as Ra’s al Ghul, Cillian Murphy as the Scarecrow, Gary Oldman as James Gordon, and Katie Holmes as love interest Rachel Dawes. The dark and brooding reboot of the Batman character was much needed after the franchise got, well, beyond batty with Joel Schumacher’s .

If you missed this found-footage sci-fi/action film starring Dane DeHaan and Michael B. Jordan when it came out in 2012, we understand because there were far too many found-footage movies during that time period. This one about three Seattle high school seniors who develop extraordinary telekinetic powers after coming into contact with a mysterious object features some wild special effects and explores how absolute power corrupts even decent people.

Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his unforgettable performance as the Joker in this sequel to Batman Begins. The second installment of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy recasts the role of Rachel Dawes with Maggie Gyllenhaal and also introduces Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. is considered one of the best superhero movies ever made and a template for many of today’s superhero flicks, so revisit it if you haven’t seen it in a while, especially for Ledger’s performance.

Jessica Chastain really went for it with her performance as televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker and was deservedly rewarded with a Best Actress Oscar. This biopic about Tammy Faye’s life and her troubled marriage to Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield) is not as informative as the documentary of the same name that was released in 2000, but it gave Chastain an opportunity to completely disappear into the role of a bizarre real-life figure. You can’t take your eyes off her and may pray for more!

This 1999 film directed by David Fincher and based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk stars Edward Norton as a bored-with-life office worker who starts an underground fight club with Brad Pitt’s character. The controversial cult film is filled with subliminal images, which quick-eyed viewers can catch by pushing their “pause” buttons while streaming on Hulu. Supporting players include an unhinged Helena Bonham Carter, a peroxided Jared Leto, and the late Meat Loaf.

C. Thomas Howell plays a young man driving a car from Chicago to San Diego who makes the mistake of picking up the titular psycho hitchhiker, played by the late Rutger Hauer. Although the movie got lukewarm reviews at the time of its release and didn’t drive away with a trunk full of box office cash, it developed enough of a cult following over time to spawn a 2003 sequel (also starring Howell) as well as a 2007 remake.

This British psychological thriller stars Cate Blanchett as a young teacher named Sheba Hart who enters into an inappropriate sexual relationship with one of her students. Judi Dench plays a veteran teacher named Barbara Covett who discovers Sheba’s secret and develops dangerously obsessive feelings toward her younger coworker. The movie was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for Dench and Blanchett, respectively.

It’s the dog days of summer, kids are going back to school, and Shark Week is in the rearview mirror, but if you want to see one more shark horror-thriller before the official end of summer, check out this 2003 low-budget gem. Based on a true story, the movie is about a married couple who embark on a scuba-diving tour only to be left behind in the open ocean after some headcount confusion. Actors Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis really sell the desperation, fear, and ultimate resignation to their fates that we can only imagine that the real-life couple must have felt with sharks circling and time running out.

Woody Harrelson plays Hustler founder and unlikely First Amendment champion Larry Flynt in this Milos Forman-directed biopic starring Courtney Love as Flynt’s fourth wife, Althea Flynt. The acclaimed movie got Oscar nominations for both Harrelson and Forman, and even rocker Love earned more praise for her performance in this role than for any other in her career. As the current Supreme Court rolls back freedoms we have enjoyed for decades, it’s nice to remind yourself that occasionally the highest court in the land gets it right.

To celebrate the 2012 fantasy movie’s 10th anniversary (where did the time go?), Hulu is adding , the directorial debut of Rupert Sanders, to its September streaming schedule. The movie stars Kristen Stewart as Snow White, Chris Hemsworth as the titular Huntsman, and unhinged Oscar winner Charlize Theron as the vampy Queen Ravenna. Snow White And The Huntsman actually received two Oscar nominations, for Best Visual Effects and Best Costume Design, so if you’re understandably skeptical about this movie, those two aspects are the reason to check it out.

David Fincher’s biographical drama about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and the subsequent lawsuits is essential viewing for all millennials. also stars Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker, and actor-turned-wannabe-cannibal-turned-timeshare-salesman Armie Hammer as the Winklevoss twins. The movie won several Oscars, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin and Best Original Score for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

Jamie Lee Curtis is enjoying a career renaissance lately for her performances in , , and the Halloween franchise. People who only know her as final girl Laurie Strode in the latter movies may forget how funny she can be on-screen, like in this 1994 action-comedy in which she plays a woman who has no idea that her loving husband (Arnold Schwarzenegger) leads a double life as a government spy. Curtis deservedly won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress–Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her role as Helen Tasker. If you’ve never seen it, check her out in on Hulu as an appetizer before you go to the theaters to see .

The interesting aspect of this historical action-drama by Ridley Scott set in medieval France is that the story leading up to the titular last duel is divided into three distinct chapters, each one giving a different character’s conflicting perspective of the events prior to the duel. Matt Damon stars as Jean de Carrouges, a knight who challenges Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) to a duel after Carrouges’ wife (Jodie Comer) accuses Le Gris of raping her. Although the movie received positive reviews for its performances and cinematography, the budget-busting epic bombed at the theaters when it was released during the pandemic. It’s not up there with or as one of Scott’s best, but fans of the director and the lead actors should give this one a peek now that it’s available on Hulu.