As the last skeleton decorations go back in the closet and all your inflatable ghosts go back into the attic until next year’s spooky season, there’s no time like the present to get pre-gaming for this year’s Turkey Day. With a blink-and-you’ll-miss-them matter of weeks between Nov. 1 and the onslaught of Christmas, it’s easy to forget the holiday before the HOLIDAY, especially if you aren’t the one cooking the bird (or tofurkey) on Thanksgiving Day. But, don’t worry, maybe you can at least bring the store-bought pumpkin pie.
So this year, why not luxuriate a little in the season that takes place before Black Friday, Tech Monday, and the week before Christmas? Here are, in no particular order, fifteen festive flicks to help you slip into the Thanksgiving spirit as easily as your favorite house slippers.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
There’s no point in opening our list with anything other than the granddaddy Thanksgiving holiday movie of all time. Without a doubt, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is sure to illicit all the feels of nostalgia — even for those who weren’t alive when it first aired. And while turkey with cranberry sauce and all the trimmings is still the national Thanksgiving meal gold standard, Charlie Brown and co. have made popcorn, pretzels, toast, and jelly beans an acceptable second option for nearly a half-century.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Big Christmas will probably always maintain its hold on Hollywood as being the number one topic for holiday films — so that just makes a holiday pic with Thanksgiving bonafides all the more special. If anything comes close to a nationwide Thanksgiving movie, it’s the beloved John Hughes classic, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and its tale of two hapless holiday travelers doing everything they can to just make it home for the big meal.
The Blind Side
The real-life story surrounding this heartfelt drama might be getting its fair amount of controversy right now, but we certainly won’t let that take away from the fact that this is a memorable drama project which can definitely be enjoyed during the massive holiday season. After taking in a homeless young teenager, the Tuohy family quickly realizes that they have a new family member to welcome with open arms — which even includes a special Christmas card.
You’ve Got Mail
While You’ve Got Mail isn’t explicitly about Thanksgiving, one does occur during the course of the movie and that’s good enough for the feel-good rom-com to make our list. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are still one of the greatest romantic comedy pairings of all time, and this remake of The Shop Around the Corner makes for plenty of charm and magic for the holidays.
Little Women
Thanksgiving is nothing without family and it’s hard to find a movie more about family than Little Women. The troubles and triumphs of Meg, Amy, Beth, and Jo March always make for a great Turkey Day movie marathon entry. You can practically make a marathon of nothing but different Little Women adaptations but we favor the most recent Greta Gerwig-directed version featuring Florence Pugh and Saoirse Ronan (the Katherine Hepburn version or the Winona Ryder version are both laudable).
The Family Stone
Okay, we’ll admit that this list is going to inevitably experience some Christmas creep — filmmakers can’t seem to be able to resist the tinseled allure of the number one holiday. But many films — including this holiday rom-com — could just as easily be about Thanksgiving if you give or take a tree or two. Misunderstandings, awkward dinner conversations, and food disasters make The Family Stone just as apropos for Thanksgiving viewing as it is for Yuletide.
Home Alone
Now, this is technically a Christmas movie, but what’s a ’90s kid going to do without this on their watchlist? There’s no arguing that, no matter how the home is decorated, Home Alone is one of the most traditional ways to kick off a twenty-first-century holiday season to millennials and gen z-ers alike. So Merry Christmas and Happy Thanksgiving, ya filthy animals.
What’s Cooking?
A lot of people absolutely slept on What’s Cooking? when it came out in 2000, but its different tales of the cultural and generational struggles of four diverse families resonate now more than ever. Anchored by a solid cast of Hollywood character actors, What’s Cooking? may be the holiday family film you never knew you needed until now.
Friendsgiving
Speaking of non-traditional families, Friendsgiving sends up the now-common tradition of an “orphan’s” gathering of friends unable or unwilling to spend the holiday with family. Kat Denning stars as Abby, a recently out lesbian attempting a quiet holiday meal with her sister that keeps on escalating into a feast full of strangers.
Miracle on 34th Street
At some point during November, perhaps one day after Thanksgiving or maybe one week into the month, you will relent to the fact that Christmas, like Winter, is coming. When you finally lose all resolve that jingle bells must and will be heard, there’s no better bridge-gap movie from November to the “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” than Miracle on 34th Street. It even starts during Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. So abandon your Grinchy-ness early and give it up for Kris Kringle and the United States Postal Service.
This Christmas
A heartfelt drama with plenty of comedic side dishes, This Christmas offers a multigenerational dive into one family as they return home for Christmas. There’s plenty of meat on the bone here, but the movie also has one of the best “boyfriend claps back during the holiday meal” scenes of all time. So, I don’t know about the rest of you, but this is definitely being added to the top of my watchlist for Thanksgiving this year. And yes, it’ll be just as played out during Christmas time.
Knives Out
From the cozy sweaters to the wooden mantel and crisp fireplace, it’s hard to imagine conducting a Thanksgiving watch marathon without adding Rian Johnson’s puzzling project to the list. And, of course, if your own family are huge fans of fun-filled games and solving mysteries from time to time, there’s no better film to indulge in during this Thanksgiving than the star-studded extravaganza. Feel free to enjoy the sequel, as well.
Home for the Holidays
Home for the Holidays might be low-key about its iconic Thanksgiving movie status, but that doesn’t make it any less a classic for all of its obvious quirks. Mixing gut-busting humor and expected drama, the film is practically the other side of the coin you get with most holiday films and for all its laughs it doesn’t provide many pat answers or clichés. If you like your feels a little bittersweet (just like some yummy sweet potato pie), then this may be your best holiday dish.
Lez Bomb
There’s no denying that the holiday season sometimes turns out to be unofficial “coming-out season” as well. Bobby Farrelly of Farrelly Brothers fame produced this 2018 coming out and coming home for the holidays mash-up back in 2018. Looking back, its endless array of misunderstandings and mishaps lend an LGBT twist to a National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation-style farce. The film also has a jaw-dropping array of supporting talent including Cloris Leachman and Bruce Dern.
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Something about Wes Anderson films just seem to lend themselves to November but possibly none more so than Fantastic Mr. Fox. Anderson’s stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s novel boasts a great story and a star-studded voice cast of Anderson regulars, but its rich Autumn color palettes and almost obsessive use of food make it the most Thanksgiving-esque Anderson film ever.
The Oath
No matter how much we may try to get around it, the stereotype of the huge political argument breaking out during the Thanksgiving meal is a stereotype for a reason. The Oath takes that argument to a (hopefully) ridiculous extreme with the conceit of a fictional loyalty oath that the public will be required to sign on the day after Thanksgiving. Arguments and incredible mayhem ensue. This might not be the right movie for families with split political loyalties, but it might be just right for your own little holiday echo chamber.
Addams Family Values
We would be remiss if we were to leave out the film version of the greatest First Thanksgiving Play ever. Addams Family Values skewers the season mercilessly and while the revenge fantasy end sequence of the Addams kids’ summer camp stay is the high point of the movie, is it really even Thanksgiving until we’ve seen Pugsley dressed as a turkey singing “Eat me!?” We think not.
