These Thanksgiving Movies Made Us Thankful for Netflix

Halloween and Christmas movies are wildly popular, but these best Thanksgiving movies are also totally worth watching.

We love Halloween and Christmas movies as much as the next person, but if you’re skipping Thanksgiving movies, you’re missing out.

From family hits to raunchy comedies, these Thanksgiving flicks are worth a watch.

Thanksgiving

Sony Pictures Entertainment / YouTube

Thanksgiving gives us all something to be thankful for: That the only thing getting butchered this year is our great aunt’s sad excuse for stuffing. The plot of Eli Roth’s latest movie is darkly brilliant. An axe-murderer seeks revenge on the residents of Plymouth, Massachusetts after a tragic Black Friday riot.

The killings seem random, but they’re obviously a part of a bigger scheme. The creative use of items off the Thanksgiving table as murder weapons makes this one the perfect film for anyone who’s not quite done celebrating Halloween.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Paramount Pictures / Amazon

Year released: 1973

Cheesiness score: 5

Heart toastiness level: 9

Why we’re grateful to see A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: It’s only 25-minutes long, so you have no excuse not to watch this timeless Thanksgiving movie. Learn the meaning of Thanksgiving with the Peanuts gang we all know and love.

Watch now on Apple TV

Holidate

Netflix / IMDb

Year released: 2020

Cheesiness score: 8

Heart toastiness level: 8

Why we’re grateful to see Holidate: Anyone with a nosy relative or five sympathizes with the character who’s always being asked, “So, are you seeing anyone?”

Two young strangers decide to put an end to the annoying questions by pretending to be each other’s significant other. Not surprisingly, two attractive, compatible people keeping it platonic isn’t as easy as they anticipated.

Watch now on Netflix

You’ve Got Mail

Warner Bros / IMDb

Year released: 1998

Cheesiness score: 3

Heart toastiness level: 10

Why we’re grateful to see You’ve Got Mail: If you loved Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in “Sleepless in Seattle,” you’ll love them in “You’ve Got Mail.” Online, the pair hit it off swimmingly. In person, they’re mortal enemies. Will they fall in love for real, or will their romance go up in flames?

Watch now on Hulu

Home for the Holidays

Polygram Television / Amazon

Year released: 1995

Cheesiness score: 4

Heart toastiness level: 5

Why we’re grateful to see Home for the Holidays: The holidays are fun — most of the time. Some years, one stroke of bad luck follows the next, leaving us feeling more like hibernating than party planning. That’s where “Home for the Holidays” finds 40-year-old Claudia Larson, who shows up single to spend Thanksgiving with her irritating family. One disaster comes after the next, but the character development makes it a worthwhile watch.

Watch now on Amazon Prime

Free Birds

Reel FX / IMDb

Year released: 2013

Cheesiness score: 6

Heart toastiness level: 4

Why we’re grateful to see Free Birds: Full disclosure? We mostly love “Free Birds” because it entertains the kids while we sip wine and catch up on family gossip in the kitchen. Surprise, surprise, it’s about a pair of turkeys who decide that turkey should be off the menu for good, traveling back in time to rewrite Thanksgiving history.

Watch now on Hulu

Friendsgiving

Netflix

Year released: 2020

Cheesiness score: 5

Heart toastiness level: 2

Why we’re grateful to see Friendsgiving: Honestly, if it weren’t for the star-studded cast, we’d pass this one up. It’s a crude comedy-drama about a woman named Abby whose quiet Thanksgiving plans go out the window when her best friend brings along her new boyfriend and her over-the-top mother. It’s not very original, but it’s goofy enough that you can put it on in the background while trying not to scald the mashed potatoes.

Watch now on Netflix

Pieces of April

MGM Studios / IMDb

Year released: 2003

Cheesiness score: 1

Heart toastiness level: 9

Why we’re grateful to see Pieces of April: If you’ve ever felt like the black sheep of the family, you’ll love this one. April, played by a young Katie Holmes, is a rebellious 20-something who agrees to host her dysfunctional family for Thanksgiving. Between hunting down a suit for her boyfriend and an oven that actually works, there’s a lot of relatability and depth packed into an honest and amusing comedy drama. We didn’t expect to tear up, but we did.

Watch now on Amazon Prime

What’s Cooking?

Because Entertainment / IMDb

Year released: 2000

Cheesiness score: 4

Heart toastiness level: 8

Why we’re grateful to see What’s Cooking?: Four families from four different cultural backgrounds give us irrefutable evidence that our families are more alike than not. We all fight, we all screw up in the kitchen, and we’re all connected in more ways than we realize — family dysfunction included.

Watch now on Amazon Prime

A Family Thanksgiving

Hallmark / Amazon

Year released: 2010

Cheesiness score: 9

Heart toastiness level: 6

Why we’re grateful to see A Family Thanksgiving: It’s a Hallmark movie. What can we say? It follows a young lawyer who’s dead set on making partner. A chance encounter with a psychic gives her a peek into what her life could have been like and makes her rethink her priorities. It’s predictable, but there’s a certain comfort in knowing what will happen within the first 10 minutes of the film.

Watch now on Pluto TV

Grumpy Old Men

Warner Bros / Amazon

Year released: 1993

Cheesiness score: 3

Heart toastiness level: 8

Why we’re grateful to see Grumpy Old Men: Think you have a frenemy? Think again. Two neighbors, one love interest who moves in across the street and a rivalry that stands the test of time. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau make a fabulous team in this comedic, ’90s Thanksgiving flick.

Watch now on Amazon Prime