With Thanksgiving approaching, many anticipate the inevitable food-induced lethargy, reconnecting with far-flung relatives, and the traditional debate over post-football viewing. If you’re keen to sidestep a remote control showdown with your uncle, don’t worry: our curated holiday movie guide is here to help. While Christmas and Halloween boast a plethora of film choices, Thanksgiving movies are a more exclusive bunch, making each one resonate uniquely with the holiday spirit. Unlike holidays filled with themed decorations and songs, Thanksgiving remains a singular event, free from months of commercial buildup. This rarity extends to its films, making them particularly special.

A great Thanksgiving movie goes beyond just showcasing autumn scenery, cozy attire, and lavish feasts. The finest films of the season capture the frenzy of perfecting side dishes, the resurfacing of past family tensions, or the camaraderie found among strangers over a turkey wishbone. Our selection promises a spectrum of emotions: chuckles, tears, heartbreak, and even a touch of anxiety. Whatever mood you’re in, you’ll find something here. In the holiday spirit, we present the 12 best Thanksgiving movies, ranked. (Note: “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” isn’t on our list since it’s a 30-minute TV special, but it’s still worth a watch.)

Krisha (Krisha Fairchild), estranged from her family due to years of addiction, returns home drug-free and determined to cook Thanksgiving dinner for everyone. While some family members believe in her change, her son Trey (Trey Edward Shults) remains distant, having been raised by her sister Robyn (Robyn Fairchild). As the holiday unfolds and tensions rise, Krisha succumbs to old habits, resulting in a dinner disaster that could permanently sever her familial bonds.

Long estranged from her family due to a lifetime of addiction, Krisha (Krisha Fairchild) returns home clean and sober, intent on cooking Thanksgiving dinner for everyone. Although many believe her claims of reform, Krisha’s son, Trey (Trey Edward Shults), wants nothing to do with his mother, who left him to be raised by her sister, Robyn (Robyn Fairchild). As the day progresses and becomes increasingly difficult, Krisha finds herself indulging in drugs and alcohol, leading to a disastrous dinner that threatens to destroy her ties to her family once and for all. 

Now’s about as good a time as any to say that not every film on this list is going to be heartwarming, and “Krisha” is about as downbeat a Thanksgiving movie as you could ask for. Yet for many, it’s an honest portrait of how not every holiday is happy, especially if you come from a broken home. Shot on a shoestring with nonprofessional actors by first time writer-director Shults, it’s a powerful look at the baby steps one has to take on the road to redemption, and the importance of Thanksgiving to bring even the most fractured of families together.

• Cast: Krisha Fairchild, Robyn Fairchild, Chris Doubek, Billie Fairchild, Trey Edward Shults, Bill Wise
• Director: Trey Edward Shults
• Year: 2015
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 83 minutes
• Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV+, Plex

Rebellious April Burns (Katie Holmes) lives with her boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke), in a small New York City apartment. Despite her limited space and equally limited cooking experience, she’s hosting Thanksgiving dinner for her estranged family, who are driving up from the suburbs. April’s mom, Joy (Patricia Clarkson in an Oscar-nominated performance), is dying of breast cancer, and the drive up with her family is taxing for multiple reasons, not least of all because things have been strained between her and April for years. April, meanwhile, must enlist the help of her neighbor, Wayne (Sean Hayes), when Bobby leaves to purchase a new suit.

Shot on consumer-grade digital cameras, “Pieces of April” is a relic of the Sundance glory days, when a bunch of famous actors could go indie with the barest of resources and still make a big splash at the festival. Written and directed by Peter Hedges (father of Lucas), it’s charged with an immediacy that’s undoubtedly a result of its tight production schedule. Ultimately, it’s an ode to the power of Thanksgiving to bring families together in spite of their differences, even if the food isn’t that great.

• Cast: Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke, Alison Pill, Sean Hayes, Oliver Platt, Sisqo
• Director: Peter Hedges
• Year: 2003
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 80 minutes
• Where to watch: Prime Video, Kanopy, Mubi, Apple TV+

Tennessee interior designer Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) takes a special interest in Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a Black student attending her kids’ high school, when she notices him searching the football bleachers for leftover food. When she sees him walking home in the cold one night, she discovers he’s on his own and invites him to stay at her house. After having Michael over for Thanksgiving dinner, Leigh Anne and her husband, Sean (Tim McGraw), decide to take him in permanently and help him overcome the odds to become a professional football player.

Although the true story behind “The Blind Side” has come under scrutiny in recent years after the real Michael Oher filed a lawsuit against Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy for allegedly tricking him into signing a conservatorship, the film itself remains a popular hit amongst faith-based audiences who love stories of God, family, and football. In that way, it’s the perfect choice for family viewing on Thanksgiving, especially after the big game. Reviews were on the whole positive, and the film was such a populist hit that it managed to snag an Oscar nomination for best picture and earn Bullock the best actress prize.

• Cast: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Kathy Bates, Jae Head, Lily Collins
• Director: John Lee Hancock
• Year: 2009
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 129 minutes
• Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV+, Plex

On scholarship at an exclusive preparatory school, Charlie Simms (Chris O’Donnell) is looking for a way to make some extra money over the Thanksgiving holiday while his classmates are back home. He takes a job chaperoning retired Lieutenant Army Colonel Frank Slade (Al Pacino), who lost his sight in an accident. Drunk and embittered, Frank needs Charlie to drive him to New York to visit his family for the holiday, and along the way they take a whirlwind trip to Manhattan. Intent on killing himself after one last great adventure, Frank instead finds new meaning in life and comes to Charlie’s defense against a prep school bully (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and uptight headmaster (James Rebhorn).

Although it’s somewhat infamous for Pacino winning his long-overdue best actor Oscar over Denzel Washington in “Malcolm X,” “Scent of a Woman” is nevertheless a showcase for the kind of over-the-top performance style that would make Pacino a meme icon. If nothing else, it belongs on this list for the Thanksgiving scene, in which Frank nearly kills his nephew (Bradley Whitford) for being a little too pushy at dinner. Beneath the bombast, Pacino hints at a layer of self-loathing that’s almost too painful to watch.

• Cast: Al Pacino, Chris O’Donnell, James Rebhorn, Gabrielle Anwar, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bradley Whitford
• Director: Martin Brest
  
• Year: 1992
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 156 minutes
• Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV+

On Thanksgiving Day, 1983, Marty Pascal (Josh Hamilton) returns to his Virginia hometown to spend time with his family. While his mother (Geneviève Bujold) and little brother, Anthony (Freddie Prinze Jr.), are eccentric in the normal way, his twin sister, Jackie-O (Parker Posey), is on a whole other level. Recently released from the psychiatric ward, Jackie-O is obsessed with former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, prancing around in the pink outfit she wore the day her husband was assassinated. When Marty shows up with his new fiancée, Lesly (Tori Spelling), it sends Jackie-O spiraling, and she conspires to break the two apart so that she may resume her incestuous relationship with her brother.

Adapted from Wendy MacLeod’s play by first time writer-director Mark Waters, “The House of Yes” will tickle the funny bone of anyone who likes a touch of bitterness in their apple cider. It’s as dark and twisted a comedy as they come, and critics were sharply divided upon its release. Yet it’s lingered over the years, thanks in large part to Posey’s deliciously off-kilter performance as a woman who clings to the glamour of an icon to mask her own insecurities.

• Cast: Parker Posey, Josh Hamilton, Tori Spelling, Freddie Prinze Jr., Geneviève Bujold
• Director: Mark Waters
• Year: 1997
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 85 minutes
  
• Where to watch: Prime Video, Pluto TV, Apple TV+
  

It’s 1965, and Arlo Guthrie is doing his best to avoid the Vietnam War draft. After getting booted out of college, he drops by to see his friends, Alice Brock (Pat Quinn) and her husband, Ray (James Broderick), who live in an abandoned church that’s become a crashing pad for hippies. After enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with his newfound family, Arlo decides to repay the favor by dropping off some trash at the dump. Since the dump is closed for the holidays, he leaves the trash in a ravine, leading to his arrest for littering. Arlo finds himself in front of the draft board, where he must convince them he’s unfit to serve.

With “Bonnie and Clyde,” Arthur Penn helped usher in the New Hollywood by bringing French New Wave sensibilities to American filmmaking. He used that newfound power to direct a movie version of Guthrie’s 18-minute folk tune “Alice’s Restaurant,” which has become required listening for generations of hippies every Thanksgiving. Much like the song, the film takes a comic view of the labyrinthine hoops young men had to jump through in order to avoid being sent overseas to die in a war they opposed, highlighting the utter absurdity of such a thing.

• Cast: Arlo Guthrie, Pat Quinn, James Broderick, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, William Obanhein
• Director: Arthur Penn
• Year: 1969
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 111 minutes
• Where to watch: Buy on Amazon
  

Things couldn’t be going worse for Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter): She’s just been fired from her job, she’s kissed her boss, and her teenage daughter, Kitt (Claire Danes), has decided to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, who she’s probably going to sleep with for the first time. Rather than spend the holiday alone, Claudia travels back home to Baltimore to visit her family, which is as big a mistake as she could possibly make. As her eccentric clan bickers and squabbles, Claudia finds herself falling for Leo Fish (Dylan McDermott), who’s tagged along with her brother, Tommy (Robert Downey Jr.).

Considering it’s directed by Jodie Foster, it shouldn’t be surprising that “Home for the Holidays” is an actors showcase, with plum roles for Anne Bancroft and Charles Durning as Claudia’s overbearing parents, Geraldine Chaplin as her nutty aunt, Cynthia Stevenson as her conservative sister, and Steve Guttenberg as her uptight brother-in-law. Rather than create cartoonish caricatures, Foster’s all-star ensemble bring depth and humanity to the Larson family, making the underlying humor and pathos all the more effective. Hunter is the steady center as Claudia, who finds structure as her life descends into chaos.

• Cast: Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Anne Bancroft, Dylan McDermott, Geraldine Chaplin, Steve Guttenberg, Claire Danes, Cynthia Stevenson, Charles Durning
• Director: Jodie Foster
• Year: 1995
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 103 minutes
• Where to watch: Prime Video, MGM+, Apple TV+
  

As Gomez and Morticia Addams (Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston) welcome baby Pubert into the family, Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) is starting to feel the pains of lifelong bachelorhood. The arrival of a new nanny, Debbie Jellinsky (Joan Cusack), awakens romantic yearnings in Fester, and before you can say “I do,” the two are married and living in luxury. Yet it turns out Debbie is a black widow intent on making Fester her latest victim, which the two older Addams children, Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman), try to prevent despite being sent away to summer camp.

If you’re wondering why this isn’t being included on a list of Halloween movies, you’ve obviously forgotten that the comedic centerpiece of “Addams Family Values” is the Camp Chippewa production of the first Thanksgiving, starring Wednesday as Pocahontas. Rather than break bread with the English settlers, Wednesday’s Pocahontas leads a revolt of the camp rejects against the popular kids, taking revenge against the snobbish Amanda Buckman (Mercedes McNab) by roasting her like a turkey. It’s one of the many things that make this the rare sequel to outshine the original, as director Barry Sonnenfeld ups the comedic and stylistic ante at every turn.

• Cast: Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack, Christina Ricci, Carol Kane
• Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
• Year: 1993
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 94 minutes
• Where to watch: Paramount+, Prime Video, Kanopy, Apple TV+
  

In 1607, the Powhatan natives witness the arrival of three English ships intent on forming the Virginia colony of Jamestown. Among the explorers is Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell), who falls in love with native princess Pocahontas (Q’orianka Kilcher), even as the British and the Native Americans clash over control of the New World. When Smith is reported dead, Pocahontas marries settler John Rolfe (Christian Bale) and travels to England with him. Yet the return of Smith reawakens the passion she felt for him during those tumultuous times.

The story of the first Thanksgiving has become something of a fairy tale for those who wish to sanitize the country’s genocidal founding. Rather than present a sanitized version of history, Terrence Malick turns “The New World” into a rueful elegy for what could have been. As presented in the film, the love between John Smith and Pocahontas transcends barriers of race, language, and culture, exemplifying the spirit of what this country supposedly stands for. The cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki and production design by Jack Fisk evoke a naturalistic, near-documentary recreation of America’s earliest days, and the score by James Horner is as haunting and romantic as the one he composed for “Titanic.”

• Cast: Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale, August Schellenberg, Wes Studi, Q’orianka Kilcher
• Director: Terrence Malick
  
• Year: 2005
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 135 minutes
• Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV+

It’s 1973, and two upper-middle-class Connecticut families are celebrating Thanksgiving weekend. Ben Hood (Kevin Kline) is looking to spice things up by having an affair with his neighbor, Janey Carver (Sigourney Weaver). His wife, Elena (Joan Allen), is equally bored with her life, and their daughter, Wendy (Christina Ricci), is experimenting with sex for the first time with Janey’s son, Mikey (Elijah Wood). The eldest Hood child, Paul (Tobey Maguire), is away at boarding school in New York, and his trip back home is delayed by the impending ice storm that threatens to upend more than just the holidays.

In lesser hands, this adaptation of Rick Moody’s novel could be little more than a “Peyton Place” set in the Watergate era. Yet as directed by Ang Lee and adapted by screenwriter James Schamus, “The Ice Storm” is a haunting and melancholic study of affluent malaise. As the adults and kids alike struggle with their individual growing pains, the titular storm serves as a metaphor for the rapidly changing times that wreak havoc on their comfortable existence. You’ve never seen a cinematic Thanksgiving dinner as uncomfortable and revelatory as the one depicted here, which makes it feel all the more authentic.

• Cast: Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Henry Czerny, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, Sigourney Weaver
• Director: Ang Lee
  
• Year: 1997
• Rating: R
  
• Runtime: 112 minutes
  
• Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV+
  

Over the course of two years, a trio of sisters — Hannah (Mia Farrow), Lee (Barbara Hershey), and Holly (Dianne Wiest) — experience many ups-and-downs while meeting for Thanksgiving dinner. Hannah’s husband, Elliot (Michael Caine), falls in love with Lee, who’s in a relationship with the secluded artist Frederick (Max von Sydow). Holly, meanwhile, competes for acting roles and boyfriends with her best friend, April (Carrie Fisher), with whom she starts a catering company. Hannah’s hypochondriac ex-husband, Mickey (Woody Allen), experiences a midlife crisis after narrowly escaping a brain tumor diagnosis, which leads him to question the meaning of existence in a godless world.

Structured like a great Russian novel, “Hannah and Her Sisters” explores the messiness of life through multiple stories of characters who believe their intellects will keep their hearts’ desires from overwhelming them. Although Allen has often been pegged as a cynic, there’s a warmth and compassion to his examination of human foibles, never more so than in this film, which ends on a note of hope. “Hannah and Her Sisters” earned seven Oscar nominations, including best picture, and won prizes for Allen’s screenplay and for Caine and Wiest in supporting actor and actress.

• Cast: Woody Allen, Michael Caine, Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey, Max von Sydow, Dianne Wiest
• Director: Woody Allen
• Year: 1986
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 107 minutes
  
• Where to watch: Prime Video, MGM+, Kanopy, Apple TV+
  

It’s two days before Thanksgiving, and advertising executive Neal Page (Steve Martin) is on his way from New York to Chicago to spend the holiday with his family. Things hit a snag at the airport, where weather delays his flight. No problem, because shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith (John Candy) is here to help. The uptight Neal finds himself joined at the hip with Del, who means well but annoys Neal with his obnoxious behavior. As they journey across the country, a friendship forms that exemplifies the true meaning of the holiday spirit.

In much the same way that “It’s a Wonderful Life” has become required viewing on Christmas, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” is a must-watch for every Thanksgiving. A surprisingly adult change of pace from the patron saint of teen angst, John Hughes, it’s a road movie in the classic mode of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Yet even though it’s the big laughs that draw audiences in (“Those aren’t pillows!”), it’s the sentimental core that’s made this one a classic. At its heart, it’s a story of how we’re all special creatures deserving of a place to call home, especially during the holidays.

• Cast: Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins, Michael McKean, Dylan Baker, Kevin Bacon
• Director: John Hughes
• Year: 1987
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 93 minutes
  
• Where to watch: Prime Video, MGM+, Apple TV+