There are certain ingredients without which Thanksgiving dinner is incomplete, beginning with the traditional fixins such as turkey, dressing and macaroni and cheese, and ending with some version of friends, family and fun. The latter can take on many forms, from playing card games around the dinner table to putting up Christmas decorations and stringing lights around the tree before the next major family holiday. And while for some there’s nothing better to watch on turkey day than football, we’ve rounded up a few additional options for everyone who might find themselves in your home, from the little ones seated at the kids table to the adults seeking a respite from weeklong food preparations and the stress of Black Friday shopping that’s to come.
Thanksgiving movies don’t typically get the same attention as spooky Halloween flicks and feel-good Christmas films, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of options when it comes to stories about one of the biggest family gatherings of the year. In fact, the entries on our list run the gamut of genres, from rom-coms and road-trip comedies to horrors, fantasies and, of course, (family) dramas. So, if you’re not already planning to head to the theaters to catch Wicked, Gladiator II or Moana 2 with your loved ones, here are 36 movies that are worth a watch from home this Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday weekend.
‘Addams Family Values’
This is far from the most traditional Thanksgiving movie on the list, but the scene in this 1993 dark comedy in which Wednesday is cast as Pocahontas in the Thanksgiving play at Camp Chippewa and decides to enact revenge on her fellow camp peers who are portraying pilgrims makes this worth the watch alone.
‘Black Friday’
In this 2021 horror comedy starring former teen heartthrob Devon Sawa, Michael Jai White and Bruce Campbell, a group of toy store employees have an even worse night than expected when they show up to work the night of Thanksgiving and find themselves fending off throngs of Black Friday shoppers who’ve been infected by a parasitic organism.
‘The Blind Side’
The story at the center of this 2009 biographical sports drama is well known, but there’s something extra special about watching Sandra Bullock’s Leigh Anne Tuohy take in 17-year-old foster kid “Big Mike” Oher the night before Thanksgiving on the actual holiday. (However, there has been real-life drama over this film: Oher has said he doesn’t like the movie, and he and the Tuohys have engaged in legal action since it was released.)
‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, based on Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip, is a tale of two Thanksgiving dinners that finds Charlie Brown making new traditions with friends Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Franklin and Snoopy. The special originally aired on Nov. 20, 1973.
‘Dutch’
Ed O’Neill stars in this 1991 comedy as Dutch Dooley, an average Joe who endures a series of mishaps on a road trip with his girlfriend’s snooty son, Doyle, whom he agrees to pick up from his private school in Georgia and bring home to Chicago for the Thanksgiving holiday.
‘A Family Thanksgiving’
In this 2010 Hallmark Channel Original Movie, a high-powered attorney reconsiders her life as a single career woman when a mysterious older woman introduces her to an alternate reality on Thanksgiving Day where she’s a happily married wife and mother.
‘Four Brothers’
When an older woman is gunned down in a convenience store while shopping for Thanksgiving dinner, her foster sons, played by Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, André Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund, decide to take matters into their own hands and avenge her murder.
‘Free Birds’
In this 2013 animated comedy, two turkeys, voiced by Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson, travel back in time to the first Thanksgiving to change the course of history and stop humans from domesticating and eating their kind.
‘Friendsgiving’
Based around the Thanksgiving trend that’s become a tradition of its own for individuals wanting to celebrate with their found family, Friendsgiving is a bit of a cautionary comedy about two friends whose plans for a low-key holiday dinner get turned upside down when one too many guests show up at the dinner table. The 2000 film stars Kat Dennings, Aisha Tyler, Chelsea Peretti, Jane Seymour and Wanda Sykes.
‘Funny People’
The Thanksgiving scene in this otherwise non-holiday flick is what lands this 2009 Judd Apatow film on the list. The black comedy-drama stars Adam Sandler as a retired comedian who tries to fix his relationships with the people in his life after he’s diagnosed with a terminal illness. It features an all-star lineup of talent including Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana and Jonah Hill.
‘Garfield’s Thanksgiving’
In this 1989 animated special based on the Garfield comic strip, the famous food-loving orange cat is none too pleased when he’s forced to go on a diet the day before Thanksgiving.
‘Grumpy Old Men’
Next-door neighbors John Gustafson and Max Goldman’s longstanding feud is taken to higher levels when they find themselves competing for the affection of a woman who’s new to the neighborhood after they find out their mutual friend has had Thanksgiving dinner with her.
‘Hollidaysburg’
In this 2014 coming-of-age comedy-drama starring Rachel Keller, a group of high school friends reunite in their hometown of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, during Thanksgiving break following their first semester away at college.
‘Home for the Holidays’
A single mother whose daughter opts to spends Thanksgiving with her boyfriend returns to her childhood home alone for a holiday dinner with her dysfunctional family. The 1995 film stars Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Claire Danes and Dylan McDermott.
‘The House of Yes’
In this 1997 dark comedy, Parker Posey plays a woman obsessed with Jackie-O who, recently released from a psychiatric hospital, plots to break up her twin brother’s engagement over the Thanksgiving holiday.
‘The Humans’
In this 2021 American psychological drama starring Richard Jenkins, Amy Schumer and Steven Yeun, Thanksgiving takes a dark turn when three generations of the Blake family gather together for holiday dinner in a rundown New York City apartment.
‘The Ice Storm’
Set during Thanksgiving 1973, The Ice Storm is a story about two upper-class Connecticut families who use alcohol and sexual experimentation to escape the social changes of the early ‘70s. The ensemble cast includes Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, Katie Holmes and Sigourney Weaver.
‘Instant Family’
Another entry whose Thanksgiving dinner scene lands it on the list, 2018’s Instant Family stars Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne as a couple who become a mom and dad of three overnight when their plans to adopt one child are thwarted upon meeting siblings in need of a home.
‘Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow’
The Emmerson family occupies their internet-free time chasing a monstrous legend in the quaint town of Turkey Hollow where they’ve come to visit their Aunt Cly for the holidays in this 2015 Lifetime Original Movie.
‘Krisha’
In this 2015 psychological drama, a 60-something recovering addict attempts to reconcile with her family on Thanksgiving Day.
‘Kristy’
When a college student can’t afford to fly home during Thanksgiving break she finds herself terrorized by a cult while on campus alone in this 2014 horror starring Haley Bennett and Ashley Greene.
‘Miracle on 34th Street’
George Seaton’s Miracle on 34th Street is as much a Thanksgiving Day tradition as cranberry sauce. The Academy Award-winning film begins on the morning of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and tells the story of an old man who’s hired to play Santa Clause at the iconic department store on 34th Street in New York City and claims to be the real thing.
‘Pieces of April’
This 2003 comedy-drama starring Katie Holmes centers on eldest daughter April Byrnes as she attempts to prepare what’s expected to be her estranged family’s last Thanksgiving dinner together following her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis.
‘Planes, Trains, and Automobiles’
Steve Martin and John Candy encounter hilarious misadventures on their unexpected three-day journey back home for Thanksgiving dinner in this road trip comedy.
‘Prisoners’
The abduction of two young girls following a Thanksgiving dinner in Conyers, Pennsylvania, is the subject of this 2013 thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman and Viola Davis.
‘Rocky’
Rocky isn’t a Thanksgiving movie per se, but the date does hold significance in the original 1976 sports drama, even if it doesn’t mean much to the film’s lead Rocky Balboa, played by Sylvester Stallone, who, in the film, delivers the famous line, “To you it’s Thanksgiving, to me it’s Thursday.”
‘Scent of a Woman’
In 1992’s Scent of a Woman, Chris O’Donnell stars as a preparatory student who takes a temporary job as an assistant to a blind and depressed retired Army lieutenant colonel, played by Al Pacino, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
‘She’s Gotta Have It’
This 1986 Spike Lee joint makes the list for its scene where Nola Darling invites three of her male suitors to her Brooklyn apartment for Thanksgiving dinner.
‘Son in Law’
A South Dakota farm town valedictorian brings an unlikely free spirit from her Los Angeles college home for Thanksgiving in this 1993 cult classic starring Pauly Shore and Carla Gugino.
‘Soul Food’
Large Sunday dinners are the norm for the Josephs — and the place where family drama unfolds in 1997’s Soul Food staring Nia Long, Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Beach and Mekhi Phifer.
‘Sweet November’
Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron star opposite each other in this 2001 romantic comedy about a couple who engages in a one-month trial courtship that has an unexpected outcome.
‘Thanksgiving’
In this 2023 Eli Roth slasher film starring Patrick Dempsey, a small Massachusetts town is terrorized by a killer during the Thanksgiving holiday.
‘A Waltons Thanksgiving’
Actor Richard Thomas, who played John-Boy Walton in the original CBS historical drama The Waltons, stars in this film which follows the Walton family as they prepare for Thanksgiving and the annual Harvest Festival Fair.
‘The Weather Man’
In Gore Verbinski’s The Weather Man, Nicholas Cage stars as a Chicago meteorologist who, amid a mid-life crisis, reconnects with his estranged family during the Thanksgiving holiday.
‘What’s Cooking?’
In this 2000 comedy-drama starring Mercedes Ruehl, Kyra Sedgwick, Julianna Margulies, Alfre Woodard and Dennis Haysbert, four ethnically diverse families — Vietnamese, Latino, Jewish and African American — share a Thanksgiving meal, each having their own take on the traditional holiday dishes.
‘You’ve Got Mail’
The Thanksgiving scene is what lands this nostalgic 1998 rom-com about two strangers who fall in love via email, starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, on the list.
