5 Essential Thanksgiving Movies to Watch With Family in 2024

With Halloween leaving its sugar hangover and Christmas already jingling in the distance, Thanksgiving sits wedged in the middle like the unremarkable slice of turkey in a festive sandwich. And while how good the actual turkey turns out remains in the hands of the chef, the ride could be made ten times easier by picking the perfect cinematic escape to go with it.

In the spirit of all things warm and fall, here are 5 timeless movies that every member of the family can take a bite at during Halloween.

Knives Out

While Thanksgiving is usually remembered by a comedy of errors and sometimes unavoidable conflicts, one thing that everyone can get behind is a good murder mystery. Centered around the members of a family, this whodunnit is a not in your face thriller extravaganza with just enough hilarious moments to keep your entire family hooked.

Home for the Holidays

Jodie Foster’s Home for the Holidays is a reminder that if there’s one thing more chaotic than Thanksgiving dinner, it is the family seated around it. With Robert Downey Jr. and Holly Hunter leading the charge, this film serves up a delicious mess of wild relatives. It is a rollercoaster of hilarity and heartache, proving that no matter how many years go by, the magic of familial dysfunction never gets old.

Addams Family Values

Despite all the black, white, and gray, in the frame it is hard to go by a festival of jingles, warmth, and even turkeys, without remembering the most impactful family in cinema, the Addams family. Released in 1993, Addams Family Values features the entry of Pubert into the eccentric masterpiece that is the Addams family.

 For anyone who finds the usual holiday cheer a bit cloying, this film serves up a perfect helping of dark comedy, proving that the turkey best goes with a side of Wednesday Addams’ sardonic wit.

Tower Heist

While Thanksgiving holidays do not really scream heist and takeovers, for the characters in the Eddie Murphy and Ben Affleck starrer, Tower Heist, that is what the holidays were all about.

The movie calls for one laugh out loud moment after the other as the employees fight tooth and nail to take their pension from a corrupt billionaire, leading up to the days of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Although it does not preach about hugging out your family, it does deliver an ode to team work and just the wonders it can pull.

Thanksgiving

Titled Thanksgiving, this horror thriller will make you awfully thankful for a lot of things. Released in 2023, the movie follows a killer targeting those involved in a Black Friday riot at a superstore. Despite not having any of the elements that the Thanksgiving holidays are mostly known for, the movie is a perfect pick if you have the kind of family that believes warmth and sweetness is something that should be reserved for one’s heart and gift cards. Not to mention, it stars the most likely pick for the Britney Spears biography.

What are your favorite Thanksgiving movies? Let us know in the comments below.