10 Best Thanksgiving Movies to Stream on Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu and More

What are you thankful for this year?

Here at Watch With Us, we’re thankful for great movies to watch over the long Thanksgiving break.

We’ve compiled a list of some of the best Thanksgiving-themed films to stream on Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+ and more of your favorite streamers.

Featuring stars like Robert Downey Jr., Tobey Maguire, Katie Holmes, Steve Martin and more, these films will fill you up with laughs, tears and maybe a scare or two.

‘The Ice Storm’ (1997)

It’s November 1973, and no one seems to be thinking about the approaching Thanksgiving holiday. For the Carver family, they’re all obsessed with other things: daughter Wendy (Christina Ricci) with President Nixon and Watergate, son Paul (Tobey Maguire) with a girl at school, mom Elena (Joan Allen) with New Age spirituality and father Ben (Kevin Kline) with having an affair with next-door neighbor, Janey (Sigourney Weaver). Things all come to a head on Thanksgiving weekend, when a chilly ice storm blankets the town, the parents attend a wife-swapping key party and the children experiment with drugs and sex. After it’s over, all of their lives will be changed, some for the better, others for the worse.

If that plot description sounds ominous, that’s because it is. There’s a palpable sense of dread hanging over The Ice Storm, with all the characters seemingly waiting for something horrible to happen. But the beauty of the film isn’t if it does or not — it’s spending time with these morally complex characters at a specific time and place in American history. The Ice Storm isn’t your typical Thanksgiving film — instead of bathing you in the warm and fuzzies, it coolly portrays a family under assault by its own apathy. It’s a beautiful movie to look at and listen to, with career-best performances from everyone in the cast.

Rent or buy The Ice Storm on Prime Video.

‘Home for the Holidays’ (1995)

Claudia Larson’s (Holly Hunter) life is a mess. She just lost her job, her now ex-boss made an awkward pass at her, and her teenage daughter, Kitt (Claire Danes), just informed her she’s about to have sex. What’s worse, she’s about to spend Thanksgiving with her loving but very dysfunctional family, which includes a fussy sister (Cynthia Stevenson), a cuckoo aunt (Geraldine Chaplin) and her brother’s handsome friend (Dylan McDermott), who may or may not be gay. Will this be the holiday from hell for Claudia?

Home for the Holidays starts as a broad comedy, but develops into something more realistic and, yes, meaningful by the end. Director Jodie Foster gets the annual ritual of lower-middle-class Thanksgiving dinner just right — the clumpy Stove Top stuffing, the ramshackle house with worn carpeting and the relatives who are all well-meaning but just slightly irritating. Hunter’s great as a woman unsure of what to do next, but look for Robert Downey Jr. as Claudia’s free-spirited gay brother, Tommy. He handles all the family drama with a quick wit and a few well-placed eye-rolls that save him and Clauda from certain madness.

Home for the Holidays is streaming on Paramount+.

‘Dan in Real Life’ (2007)

Ok, technically, Dan in Real Life isn’t a Thanksgiving movie, but with its warm portrait of a family gathering for a big meal, it might as well be one. The Dan in the title is Dan Burns (Steve Carell), a single father of three girls who travels to his parents’ comfy Rhode Island cottage for a family reunion dinner. Once there, he reunites with his younger brother, Mitch (Dane Cook), and quickly falls for his new girlfriend, Marie (Juliette Binoche). Dan tries to resist his feelings, but when Marie indicates she’s also interested, there’s no way he can resist another chance at happiness — and to start some family drama.

Dan in Real Life is kinda like a classier, better version of The Family Stone. Its characters all seem relatable and real, with Dan and Marie portrayed as reluctant middle-aged lovers who know they’re causing a mess and can’t help it. It’s bizarre that The Office’s Michael Scott and one of France’s best actresses ever could generate such persuasive chemistry with each other, but their oddball pairing works — you root for them to hook up. Stranger still is that among the talented supporting cast, it’s Dane Cook — Dane Cook — who impresses the most as Dan’s charismatic brother.

Dan in Real Life is streaming on Disney+.

‘Pieces of April (2003)

April Burns (Katie Holmes) lives in a small NYC apartment with her boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke), and isn’t close with her extended family. Nevertheless, she invites them over for Thanksgiving dinner. But what starts as a simple meal becomes messier as April’s oven breaks down, her drug-dealer ex pops up to intimidate Bobby and her family’s trip is delayed by her mom Joy (Patricia Clarkson), who is dying of cancer. Will April’s family reach the city in time for dinner? And will April have dinner to serve them if they do?

Pieces of April wears its indie roots proudly, and while the budget is tiny ($300,000), its heart is anything but. April’s attempts to make dinner by recruiting the help of her neighbors verge on broad comedy, while her family’s slow trip to the city delivers a healthy serving of familial drama. But rather than clash, these two distinct elements blend well in the movie’s third act, where dinner is indeed served and old grudges are finally aired out. Anyone who has ever had a turkey day end in happy tears will like Pieces of April.

Pieces of April is streaming on Tubi.

‘Son in Law’ (1993)

Ok, hear me out — this Pauly Shore movie is actually good. Yes, I know that seems unbelievable, but trust me on this. The former MTV veejay stars as Crawl, an annoying California college resident advisor who helps naive midwesterner Becca (Carla Gugino) fit into her new undergraduate life. When she sees he has nowhere to go for Thanksgiving, she invites him to spend it with her back home at her family farm in South Dakota. Crawl accepts, but how well will his surfer dude personality mesh with Becca’s Yellowstone-like family?

Would you guess they clash? Son in Law is a by-the-numbers culture clash comedy with some good jokes and surprisingly effective performances from its cast. Gugino’s long been a talented actress underappreciated by many, and here she wins you over instantly as the innocent-but-not-stupid Becca. At first, Shore is about as appealing as nails on a chalkboard, but even he shows some charisma as a guy who hides behind a loathsome persona to mask how lonely he really is. If you’re on a ‘90s nostalgia kick or just want to watch an undemanding Thanksgiving flick, give Son in Law a chance.

Rent or purchase Son in Law on Prime Video.

‘Friendsgiving’ (2020)

For some, turkey day isn’t about spending time with your blood family, but rather, your found family. And while Friendsgiving won’t win any awards for its writing, directing, production design, costumes or acting, it’s one of the few Thanksgiving movies that features a group of friends spending time together over the holiday.

Molly (Malin Åckerman) and Abby (Kat Dennings) didn’t initially plan to throw a Thanksgiving dinner for their closest friends, but when Molly’s friend-with-benefits Jeff (Jack Connelly) swings by, that plan goes out the window. Soon, more friends join the festivities, including harried mom Lauren (Aisha Tyler) and Molly’s mom Helen (Jane Seymour), who has some unresolved issues to sort out with her daughter. Only one thing is for certain — it will be a Thanksgiving to remember for everyone at Molly and Abby’s increasingly crowded dinner table.

Friendsgiving is streaming on Paramount+.

‘Thanksgiving’ (2023)

The first big-budget, Thanksgiving-themed horror movie is a bloody good time from Hostel and Cabin Fever director Eli Roth. In the historical Massachusetts town of Plymouth, a pilgrim mask-donning maniac terrorizes residents one year after a Black Friday stampede ended in horrific tragedy. As people begin getting picked off one by one, what at first appears to be a series of random killings eventually reveals itself to be part of a diabolical holiday-themed plot.

Thanksgiving is a feature-film expansion on the short trailer Roth directed back in 2007, as part of a group of fictitious trailers made for the Grindhouse double feature of Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof and Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror. Almost twenty years later, Thanksgiving is now a genuine film. It’s a gory, goofy romp — not doing anything particularly different within the slasher genre, but absolutely having a blast with it.

Stream Thanksgiving now on Hulu.

‘Spider-Man’ (2002)

When nerdy teenager Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is bitten by a genetically enhanced spider, he begins exhibiting strange symptoms like superhuman strength, the ability to cling to any surface and a web-like substance shooting out of his wrists. Parker decides to use his newfound powers to help fight crime, taking on the alias of Spider-Man to protect New York City, eventually facing off against the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) — who happens to be the father of his best friend.

You might be thinking, “Wait a minute, Spider-Man isn’t a Thanksgiving movie,” but that’s where you’re absolutely wrong. A pivotal scene in the film takes place during Thanksgiving dinner, when Peter Parker is late to supper with his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), Harry Osborn (James Franco) and his father (Dafoe) and Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). It’s an iconically tense moment that’s emblematic of the stressors of the season.

Stream Spider-Man now on Disney+.

‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’ (1973)

One of the many Charlie Brown holiday short films, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving features a famously terrible Thanksgiving feast consisting of popcorn, jellybeans and pretzels. Charlie Brown gets suckered into hosting a Thanksgiving dinner by the overbearing Peppermint Patty, even though Charlie and his family will be out of town. At Linus’ suggestion, Charlie Brown hosts a gathering before his family leaves, with help from Snoopy and Woodstock.

It’s likely that many of you saw A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving during its annual network syndication while growing up, and it continues to air on television in addition to being available to stream. Like all Charlie Brown TV specials, it’s full of delightful humor, great holiday vibes, cute animation and Snoopy being impish as always.

Stream A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving now on Apple TV.

‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ (1987)

Control freak marketing executive Neal (Steve Martin) struggles to get home to Chicago for Thanksgiving with his family. When a freak snowstorm causes his flight to be rerouted to a rural town in Kansas, he is forced to buddy up with a talkative salesman named Del Griffith (John Candy). Together, the pair embark on a wacky three-day road trip so they can get Neal back home in time to make it to Thanksgiving dinner, getting into a series of mishaps and misadventures in the process.

This classic comedy caper from John Hughes has become an annual Thanksgiving staple for many. Featuring top-tier comedic performances from both Martin and Candy, Hughes does an excellent job of balancing between slapstick farce and genuinely warm sentimentality.

Stream Planes, Trains and Automobiles now on Paramount+.