Every holiday has its own specific set of movies, but Thanksgiving movies always seem to fall under the radar.
Maybe it’s because everyone is in a candy coma from Halloween still, or maybe it’s because department stores skip right over Thanksgiving and go from Halloween to Christmas. Either way, Thanksgiving feels cozy, homey, and like you just went up 1-2 pant sizes. While you’re waiting for Christmas cheer to officially slap you in your merry face, check out these four Thanksgiving movies to ease you into the season.
First, this is a classic and you will likely find it on any Thanksgiving movie list, and for good reason. During one of the busiest travel times of the year, Neal (Steve Martin) is trying to make it from New York to Chicago to spend time with his family on Thanksgiving. Of course, nothing goes as planned. He gets linked up with Del (John Candy), who is totally his opposite, and the two have to endure delays, cancellations, shared hotel beds, and so much more together before they can make it home. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is streaming on Paramount+
The Addams Family is a perfect family, year-round, no matter what. You will not convince me otherwise. Addams Family Values is specifically perfect for Thanksgiving because of Wednesday’s (Christina Ricci) iconic scene where she gives a more historically accurate tale of pilgrims and natives on Thanksgiving day and burns it all to the ground, literally. Addams Family Values takes place across the Thanksgiving holiday and truly shows us what it means to show up and support your family, no matter how normal or weird they are. Addams Family Values is streaming on Paramount+.
Thanksgiving may be dysfunctional because your cousin or uncle is a little eccentric and never watches what they say, but there is nothing more chaotic than your closest group of friends getting together and dishing up chaos and serving turkey. This is the premise for Friendsgiving, where two friends host their close-knit group of friends for a holiday dinner. It’s chaotic, eccentric, dysfunctional, and hilarious. Friendsgiving is streaming on Starz.
Thanksgiving can be stressful on its own, but adding the element of needing to come out to your family on Thanksgiving is even more stressful. To make it top-tier stressful, you can add bringing your girlfriend home for the holiday while you tell them. That’s what happens in Lez Bomb, but the perfect plan of coming out doesn’t go as expected when the girl’s male roommate shows up and thwarts her plans. Lez Bomb is available to stream on Peacock and Tubi.
