Life

Thanksgiving Movies You Can Stream While You Eat Leftovers

by Chrissy Bobic

Nothing says holiday season like stuffing your face and spending the rest of the day on the couch. There might be some family time thrown in there, but you can all gorge on turkey and pumpkin pie together before you put on sweatpants and hunker down in the living room for the rest of the day. And thanks to some of the Thanksgiving movies you can stream on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, there are options for everyone. Thanksgiving is no Christmas, so you won't find a plethora of Hallmark-inspired romantic comedies centered around the holiday of giving thanks and feasting, but you will find some choice movies to get you in the holiday spirit.

I like to think of Thanksgiving as the real jumping off point for the holidays. I might already have my Christmas tree up, but Thanksgiving is the time when it's finally socially acceptable to talk about the holidays out loud without getting eye rolls and grunts in return. And there's no better way to usher in the holiday season than with a marathon of Thanksgiving movies on streaming platforms. The 2011 direct to stream movie A Holiday Engagement on Netflix should help quench that romantic comedy thirst, however. It's about a girl who hires someone to be her boyfriend when she goes home for Thanksgiving. Obviously they fall in love, or at least that's my initial thought because, well, movies.

Or, you can teach your kids part of the truth behind Thanksgiving with Addams Family Values on Hulu. Wednesday Addams is basically my spirit animal as she wreaks havoc on the summer camp play about pilgrims and Native Americans. But across all three streaming platforms, there are Thanksgiving movies to watch with the family or alone after you've had enough family time to last you until the next holiday.

'Son In Law'

One of Pauly Shore’s most memorable movies is easily Son in Law, in which he plays a slacker resident adviser who goes home for the holidays with one of the students on his floor. He comes along to her family's rural farm as a friend, but after he makes an on the fly decision to pose as her fiancé to ward off her hometown boyfriend, things get awkward. This gem is available on Amazon.

'Home For The Holidays'

Home for the Holidays has family dysfunction, snarky teenagers, and generations of familial issues. Basically all of the trappings of a real life Thanksgiving. It's available on Amazon and Hulu if that's your thing.

'Planes, Trains, And Automobiles'

Steve Martin’s character is on his way home for the holidays when his flight home is rerouted and he’s essentially left stranded. His only choice is to road trip home with the well meaning stranger played by none other than John Candy. It’s a total Odd Couple situation, but by the end of the movie, they’re obviously chumming it up. Find this classic on Amazon.

'The Addams Family Values'

Just in case you'd rather show your kids the true meaning and story behind Thanksgiving, The Addams Family Values can help you out. Granted, the play within the movie about the first Thanksgiving which literally goes up in flames isn't meant to be entirely historically accurate, but it does paint a ~somewhat~ more truthful picture. This piece of history is available on Amazon.

'Kristy'

Just in case you aren't over horror movies yet from the Halloween season, Kristy is one set during Thanksgiving, of all holidays. When Kristy is somehow the only college student who stays on campus during Thanksgiving weekend, she’s pursued by a group of masked strangers who are on a mission to hunt her down and kill her. You can find this one on Netflix.

'Pieces Of April'

I may have actually watched this on DVD back in the day when I saw Joey Potter, ahem Katie Holmes, on the cover and figured I'd give it a shot. It's a drama that takes place over the course of Thanksgiving day and follows April (Holmes) as she hosts her estranged family in her small New York apartment and works through issues while everything that can go wrong with the meal does go wrong. It's available on Amazon and on Hulu too.

'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving'

Of course you can’t have a Thanksgiving movie marathon without a Charlie Brown movie. Even if there aren't any kids at your Thanksgiving feast or you don't have any to pass down the movie too, it's a holiday staple. Find this one on Amazon.

'A Holiday Engagement'

You know the story. Girl meets boy. Hires him as her boyfriend and goes home to fool her family into thinking she has it all together. Family falls for boy. So does she. At least I'm 99% sure that's where this is headed. This romantic gem is on Netflix.

'Jack And Jill'

Although the Adam Sandler movie in which he plays himself and his over the top twin sister takes place on both Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, it’s still a solid movie for the start of the holiday season. If you can get past Sandler’s goofy portrayal of Jill and overly annoyed Jack, it’s actually kind of a feel good movie by the end. Find this holiday comedy on Amazon.

Once you've watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and eaten your fill, there's nothing like dedicating the rest of the day to a marathon of movies in honor of the holiday. And if you happen to fall asleep halfway through, you can just blame that on the turkey.