Thanksgiving is the time when we gather with our families, make some delicious food, and get so stuffed we fall asleep on the couch. If you haven’t fallen asleep yet and still want to do something though, try watching one of our top fifteen Thanksgiving movies streaming right now.
There are a range of horror, feel-good, drama, comedy, and other genres of movies in this list that can cater to any viewer. You don’t just have to watch the Macy’s Day Parade or Thanksgiving Day Football — try one of these movies instead!
15. Home for the Holidays, Paramount (1996)
One of the best Thanksgiving movies to have this year is Home for the Holidays. the 1995 movie focuses on Claudia Larson who goes through a series of unfortunate events, like losing her job and kissing her ex-boss, and decides to spend Thanksgiving with her dysfunctional family. It’s crazy, romantic, and full of drama as Claudia wonders how she’s going to survive the chaos that is her family.
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14. Fantastic Mr. Fox, Prime Video (2009)
The 2009 animated adventure-comedy film is based on Roald Dahl’s novel and features a stop-motion animation. The movie follows Mr. Fox who goes on a spree of thefts that results in his family, and later his community, being hunted down by three farmers. While not specifically a Thanksgiving movie, it does capture the holiday based on the colors, decorations, the spirit of community, sharing resources, and family support.
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13. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
You can’t spend the holiday season without watching Miracle on 34th Street. The movie is brilliant in every way. The movie is not only a Thanksgiving movie, but a Christmas movie, as it spans the whole holiday season. Starting during the Thanksgiving parade, viewers are met with a Kriss Kringle who steps in as the department store Santa Claus for the parade and through Christmas, only to find out that he is the real Santa Claus, causing a stir in Dorey Walker’s family.
12. Thanksgiving, Netflix (2023)
Directed by Eli Roth, Thanksgiving a gripping and gruesome American slasher film. After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, an axe-wielding maniac terrorizes the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, the birthplace of the infamous holiday. The seemingly random killings escalate and become part of a larger plan.
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11. Friendsgiving, Starz (2020)
If you’ve ever had a crazy Thanksgiving dinner that ends in yelling, laughing, or screaming then you’ll enjoy Friendsgiving. Molly and Abbey, along with their close friends and acquaintances host a dysfunctional, comical, and chaotic Thanksgiving dinner.
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10. Black Friday, Prime Video (2021)
Sci-fi and horror junkies should check out Black Friday for their Thanksgiving day watchlist. In the movie, it’s Thanksgiving night and a group of disgruntled toy store employees arrive for work to begin their shift on Black Friday. At the same time, an alien parasite crashes into Earth, and the employees soon find themselves against hordes of shoppers who have been turned into monstrous creatures on Black Friday.
9. Free Birds, Paramount (2013)
Owen Wilson plays a pardoned turkey named Reggie in this hilarious film perfect for all ages, Free Birds. After being pardoned by the president, Reggie lives a carefree lifestyle until fellow turkey Jake recruits him for a journey back in time to 1621, right before the first Thanksgiving. The plan? Make sure turkeys never become a staple of Thanksgiving meals.
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8. The Humans, Prime Video (2021)
Erik Blake has invited three generations of his family to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter’s apartment in lower Manhattan. As darkness falls and things become eerie, the group’s fears are brought to light. This movie, The Humans, shows not only the love of a family connecting them together but also the hidden dread that can lie within family members.
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7. Lez Bomb, Peacock (2018)
Lez Bomb might be for a little older crowds, but it will surely make you laugh at least once. When a closeted woman brings her girlfriend home for Thanksgiving dinner, her coming-out efforts will be thwarted when her male roommate unexpectedly arrives at her house.
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6. Pieces of April, Pluto (2003)
Pieces of April is a feel-good movie about a family coming together to support each other in the worst of times. April Burns lives in New York City with her boyfriend, away from her emotionally distant family. But when her mother is diagnosed with fatal breast cancer, April decides to invite them to her apartment for Thanksgiving. While her father struggles to drive the family there, April is also struggling to cook the meals and must seek a neighbor for help.
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5. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Apple TV (1973)
Enjoy the Peanuts in another holiday special! Peppermint Patty invites everyone to Charlie Brown’s for Thanksgiving, but he is going to see his grandmother. Meanwhile, Snoopy decides to cook his own version of the iconic Thanksgiving meal, with some help from his friends. This is a great movie to put on for the kids while dinner’s being made, or the adults want to chat.
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4. Krisha, Prime Video (2015)
Do you have any family members that are either not allowed at Thanksgiving, or just “mistakingly” not invited? If so, you should check out Krisha, which has similar family dynamics, by A24. When a troubled woman (Krisha Fairchild) reunites with an extended family that she abandoned years earlier, tensions will rise and the truth will come out.
3. The Ice Storm, Amazon Prime (1997)
It’s the 1970s, and an outwardly content family starts to break at the seams over Thanksgiving break in The Ice Storm. The father Ben seeks fulfillment by cheating on his wife Elena, with the neighborhood seductress Janey. Their teenage daughter Wendy also is dabbling in affairs with Janey’s son Mikey. The strained relations reach a critical climax when an ice storm strikes.
2. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Paramount Plus (1987)
Neal Page (Steve Martin) is somewhat of a control freak who is trying to get home to Chicago for Thanksgiving with his wife and kids in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Instead, his flight is rerouted to a distant city in Kansas due to a freak snowstorm, and Neal’s sanity begins to wear thin. It gets tested even further when Neal is forced to bunk with talkative Del Griffith (John Candy), and together they must overcome holiday travel in order to make it to their destinations.
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1. Hannah and Her Sisters, Prime Video (1986)
If you enjoy watching characters grow over time, you’ll enjoy Hannah and Her Sisters. With the focal point being Thanksgiving dinners, three holidays will pass over the length of the movie, revealing the lives of Hannah and her younger sisters Lee, and Holly, and the men in their lives. This might be better suited for older viewers, maybe after the kids have gone off to play in another room.
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