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Laurelino Braendel
Megan Stein is the executive editor for The Pioneer Woman, and oversees entertainment, features, and news for the website. Whether it's catching up on the latest true crime podcast, or re-watching the best '80s movies for the zillionth time, she's always here to talk about anything and everything relating to pop culture.
The streaming platform offers a variety of great options, whether you want a cozy romance, a heartwarming comedy or a movie that inspires gratitude. Some of the films focus on the importance of family, like Yes Day and Fatherhood, while others remind us of the act of giving. And if you want to start celebrating Christmas early, we've included some festive movies to get you into the holiday spirit, like Holiday Rush and Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square. (Psst, for more options, check out our full roundup of the best family Christmas movies.)
Washington is Troy Maxson, a sanitation worker who lives with his family in 1950s Pittsburgh. Feeling bitter over his missed opportunity to join the major leagues and achieve his dream, Troy projects his disappointment onto his loved ones, creating tension in the family and even threatening his son's chances of playing college football. Talk about complicated family dynamics.
Love in the Villa revolves around Julie, a kindergarten teacher and hopeless romantic who goes on a solo vacation to Italy after going through a tough breakup. However, Julie is surprised to learn that her villa was accidentally double-booked, forcing her to share her much-needed alone time with a cynical stranger.
Fletcher Reede is a hotshot lawyer whose entire career is built on lying. But his luck changes when he's forced to only tell the truth for a day, making it much harder to do his job and reconcile with his ex-wife. Per usual, Carrey is a comedic genius.
Our favorite country queen teaches us the importance of community and getting into the Christmas spirit in this heartfelt musical. When a cold-hearted makes plans to sell her town during the holidays, an angel arrives and gives her one final chance to redeem herself.
Eager to kick off the holiday season? Start with Holiday Rush, which follows a successful radio DJ who suddenly loses his job right before Christmas. Unfortunately for his wife and kids, he must scale back on expensive gifts. Could this setback be a blessing in disguise?
Kate tries to surprise her husband with a second honeymoon trip to Africa, but she gets the ultimate curveball when he confesses he's no longer in love with her and ends the marriage. Still, she decides to do her honeymoon solo and gets a second chance at love. Although the movie is not specifically about Thanksgiving, it touches on themes like generosity, love and selflessness.
You might want to keep tissues nearby when you watch this touching drama, which tackles themes like loss, family, foster care and immigration. The movie is about an 11-year-old girl who gets separated from her mother by ICE agents. With the help of a kind social worker, she gets paired with a guardian who is also dealing with loss. As the holiday season draws near, the two form an unbreakable bond.
A charming playboy is so determined to keep his rich lifestyle that he poses as a ranch hand, hoping to convince a farmer to sell her family's dairy farm before Christmas. His plans take a turn, however, when he starts to fall for the hardworking farmer.
Just three years after his team wins the Super Bowl, Sean Payton, coach of the New Orleans Saints, gets suspended from the NFL due to his connection to the Bountygate scandal. When he returns to his hometown, he agrees to coach his 12-year-old son in hopes of reconnecting with his family.
Based on Jane Austen's namesake novel, the swoon-worthy romance follows Anne Elliot, who finds herself torn between following her heart and leaving the past behind after Frederick Wentworth, an old flame, comes back into her life. Cue the family drama.
The comedy horror, which was co-written by Sandler, follows Hubie Dubois, who volunteers to patrol his hometown during the Halloween season. When a real murder occurs, he realizes that Salem is facing an imminent threat and gets involved in the investigation. Does he have what it takes to save the town?
Four siblings, including Tim, Jane and a set of twins both named Barnaby, embark on a mission to get rid of their neglectful parents and find new ones. And during their search, they discover the real meaning of family.
The French-language film follows a couple in Qubec as they struggle to raise their kids in the modern world. The story mainly revolves around their 16-year-old daughter Rose, an overachiever who secretly battles with anxiety and depression. Although the movie resembles a breezy comedy, it tackles deep issues like mental health, stress and harmful parenting techniques.
When a whip-smart 5-year-old develops the gift of telekinesis, she uses her abilities to deal with her selfish parents and her school's cruel headmistress. As much as we love the original film, this fun reboot features plenty of catchy numbers the whole family will love.
Set in D.C, a struggling artist named Yusef Davis is determined to launch his painting career. But when he meets a brilliant law student named Chenai Hungwe, they pursue a whirlwind romance. As Yusef tries to balance this new relationship with his art, Chenai is already getting job offers from firms across the country. Can their romance survive long distance?
In this follow-up to My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Toula and Ian are now married with a teenage daughter and experiencing marital issues. While planning for another family wedding, Toula learns a big secret that may fix her strained marriage. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, but the movie also explores the challenges of parenting, maintaining a marriage and keeping up with family traditions.
If you thought your family's Thanksgiving dinner parties were awkward, just wait until you see A Madea Homecoming. In the film, Madea and her family reunite to celebrate her great-grandson's college graduation party, but chaos ensues as surprise guests turn up and old secrets emerge.
If you're down for a goofy, guilty pleasure film that'll deliver all the laughs (and make you appreciate your siblings), you need to watch Sextuplets. It follows Alan, a soon-to-be dad who discovers that he was born a sextuplet. With the help of his brother, he sets out to reunite with his five siblings.
Not all are movies about Thanksgiving, either. There are plenty of films in here that simply include heartwarming lessons about gratitude and the importance of family. See: The Joy Luck Club, a moving drama about the relationships between Chinese American women and their mothers that also happens to feature some delicious-looking food.
One of the newer movies on this list, Friendsgiving stars Malin Akerman, Kat Dennings, Aisha Tyler, Wanda Sykes, Margaret Cho, Chelsea Peretti, and more of your favorites in a lighthearted ensemble comedy about embracing your chosen family. Akerman plays Molly, a woman whose plans to have a quiet Turkey Day end in chaos after her friends decide to crash.
Two Minnesota retirees (played by Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau) are next-door neighbors who have a long-standing feud with each other. Things escalate even further when both men become interested in an attractive women (Ann-Margaret) who moves to town and invites their mutual friend Chuck (Ossie Davis) over for Thanksgiving dinner instead of them.
Directed by Ang Lee, The Ice Storm boasts an A-list cast that includes Kevin Kline, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, Katie Holmes, and Sigourney Weaver. Set during Thanksgiving week, the film follows the drama of two families in Connecticut as the neighbors navigate the social changes happening in 1973.
Okay, to be clear: The Joy Luck Club has nothing to do with Thanksgiving. But the drama, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, centers so much around family and food that it feels appropriate to watch with your nearest and dearest on the November day.
Another movie that may not be about Thanksgiving, per se, but has everything you love about the holiday: food, family, and tradition. Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, and more star in this comedy-drama so popular that a sequel is reportedly in the works almost 20 years later.
Jodie Foster directed this comedy-drama about a newly unemployed single mother (Holly Hunter) who spends Thanksgiving with her dysfunctional family. Naturally, chaos ensues...but it all wraps up with a happy ending. Spending the holiday with stars like Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., and Dylan McDermott? We're in.
Ludacris narrates this tale of a recently divorced man (Jay Harrington) and his kids (Graham Verchere, Genevieve Buechner) as they visit the farm of an eccentric aunt played by Mary Steenburgen. As you can guess from the title, they encounter several creature friends created by Jim Henson.
Thanksgiving dinner is a bountiful feast, but Thanksgiving movies are a bit harder to come by, certainly compared to the celebrations America\u2019s premier (and premiere) holiday is nestled between, Halloween and Christmas. (For the record: Halloween and Scrooged are the best Halloween and Christmas movies, respectively, though The Nightmare Before Christmas can work for both holidays.)
Planes, Trains and Automobiles, John Hughes\u2019s classic road trip comedy starring John Candy and Steve Martin as an odd couple stranded far from home thanks to a surprise snowstorm diverting their flight is the obvious choice\u2014and for good reason. Not only is it blindingly funny (\u201CThose aren\u2019t pillows!\u201D) with a series of indelible visuals (John Candy dressed like the devil and laughing maniacally while Steve Martin blinks at him in horror, certain he\u2019s about to perish, is the image I imagine all of us see right before we die), it\u2019s deeply sweet and a picture-perfect homage to the true message of the Thanksgiving: Family is what we make it and with whom we make it.
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