Thanksgiving is all about togetherness — whether you’re spending the holiday with family or friends. After the big feast is over and the football games are done, there’s nothing better than gathering to watch a great film. Though it might not have as many cinematic offerings as the two major holidays that come before and after it (you win, Halloween and Christmas!), there’s no shortage of movies that channel the spirit of the season’s flannel-clad, quality-time craziness. 

So even though the films on this list don’t all directly involve Thanksgiving, you’ll still find lots of family drama, dinner parties, and food-filled gatherings with friends. And if you happen to be a bit more puritanical about your holiday-themed film roundups, fret not — there are still offerings here that take place during and around Turkey Day. Across the board, these heartwarming dramas, dysfunctional thrillers, and hometown-set rom-coms are a wonderful way to spend your holiday before sleeping off all that tryptophan.

Always Be My Maybe

This film is for all those out there hoping to reconnect with their teenage crushes while they’re home for Thanksgiving. The 2019 romantic comedy stars Ali Wong as Sasha Tran, an internationally famous chef who returns to her hometown of San Francisco to open a restaurant after breaking up with her fiancé. While there, she meets up with her high school love interest, Marcus Kim (Randall Park), and the two eventually grow closer. It’s an entertaining and lighthearted rom-com, and has enough mouth-watering food shots that you might want to watch only after the big meal. A winning, self-aware Keanu Reeves also makes an unmissable cameo as one of Tran’s dates.

Always Be My Maybe

1h 42m   PG-13   2019

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Enola Holmes 2

While the other films on this list celebrate and deconstruct relationships between parents and children, this wildly entertaining entry in the Enola Holmes franchise is — among other things — a loving send-up of sibling bonds. Gather with your own sisters and brothers this Thanksgiving to watch young detective Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) and her brother (a somewhat more famous detective with the last name of Holmes, played by Henry Cavill) race through the streets of Victorian London to unravel a sinister conspiracy. Brace yourself for plenty of twists and turns as Enola works to crack the case. And here’s another revelation: The story draws on a fascinating historical event you might never have heard of before. That alone should give you something to talk about at the dinner table.

Enola Holmes 2

2h 11m   PG-13   2022

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Fatherhood

Family relationships are front and center in this tender tale of a single dad, played by Kevin Hart, who’s raising his daughter after the sudden death of his wife. To pull at the heartstrings even more, the film is based on the memoir Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love by Matthew Logelin. Logelin, who shared his wrenching personal experience on a blog followed by national television and People, doesn’t shy away from less flattering details in his telling. That same honesty is captured in this film, which dives into the many annoyances and challenges of caring for an infant — especially as a widowed parent. Alfre Woodard also makes a welcome appearance as Matt’s mother-in-law, and Melody Hurd plays the role of his daughter. 

Fatherhood

1h 50m   PG-13   2021

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Good Sam

Many Thanksgiving traditions involve giving back in some way, whether through donations or volunteer work. This feel-good film, based on Dete Meserve’s romantic mystery novel of the same name, focuses on a mysterious figure who is giving back in a big way — in this instance, by leaving bags full of $100,000 in cash outside homes across New York City. Intrepid local news anchor Kate Bradley (Tiya Sircar) is soon on the case, trying to figure out who’s behind the anonymous donations. It doesn’t take long for some unexpected complications to arise, including a surprising amount of building fires and a few solid love interests in the form of hedge fund manager Jack Hansen (Marco Grazzini) and a local firefighter (Eric Hayes). The film’s heartening ending may give you the extra motivation you need to get out there and pay it forward yourself over the holidays.

Good Sam

1h 30m   TV-PG   2019

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His Three Daughters

“I feel like we haven’t spoken since Thanksgiving,” is one of the first things Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) says to her sister Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) in this touching dramedy following distant siblings as they reunite before their father dies. Along with their sister Katie (Carrie Coon), the women navigate longstanding tensions as well as complicated instances of condescension, rudeness, and lingering bitterness. (So, you know, pretty much like most family gatherings!) Passive aggressive comments about liking the food at family dinners aside, this thought-provoking character study is full of heartwarming vignettes about finding transcendent moments in shared grief and what it really means to be a family.

His Three Daughters

1h 44m   R   2024

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Holidate

We’ve all been there: You just started dating someone and all of a sudden a major holiday comes up. Do you spend it together? Or, if you’re single, how do you navigate those probing questions during your solo visit home? These types of romantic conundrums are just what Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey) try to solve by agreeing to be each other’s “holidate,” aka a non-romantic partner you spend all major holidays with. Not surprisingly, things end up getting a bit emotionally complicated in this charming romantic comedy. It also features a climactic scene during — you guessed it — a Thanksgiving dinner. Fair warning: The film may also leave you with some burning questions. Did they really go on a date for every single holiday? (Arbor Day would like to have a word.) Also, do people really spend this much time at malls?

Holidate

1h 44m   TV-MA   2020

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Hustle

Watching live sports is as big a part of most Thanksgiving Day gatherings, even if the game is just on in the background while cooking (or eating). If you’re looking for a film that will appeal to both die-hard sports fans and more casual observers, you’ve come to the right place. Hustle stars Adam Sandler as Stanley Sugerman, a talent scout for the Philadelphia 76ers who needs a win and finds one via a talented local player in Spain. (Anyone still suffering from PTSD after watching the anxiety-provoking Uncut Gems can take solace in the fact that this is a far less stressful basketball-related cinematic offering from Sandler.) NBA superfans will appreciate the film’s many athlete cameos, and everyone will enjoy the family dramedy and grounded performance by Queen Latifah as Sugerman’s wife.

Hustle

1h 58m   R   2022

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Like Father

This time of year is all about reconnecting with loved ones, including those you may not have seen for some time. That spirit of reconciliation pervades this comedic drama starring Kelsey Grammer and Kristen Bell as an estranged father and daughter. After being left at the altar on her wedding day, Bell’s workaholic character, Rachel, decides on a drunken whim to take her father on the honeymoon cruise instead. That spur-of-the-moment, quickly regretted decision leads to many sun-soaked days of shenanigans and adventures that culminates with an impressive, sequin-clad performance of “Come Sail Away” by Styx. (Seth Rogen also briefly appears as a nautical love interest.) At the very least, the film may convince you to book a cruise for your next family trip. 

Like Father

1h 43m   TV-MA   2018

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Love at First Sight

So many of us need to travel during this time of year. But what if that travel could actually change your life for the better? That’s the question at the heart of this charming rom-com, which stars Haley Lu Richardson and Ben Hardy as two twentysomethings who meet by chance at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport and form an immediate bond. Based on the 2011 novel The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, this crowd-pleasing romance might just cast all of the long flights and delays that inevitably happen during holiday travel in a whole new light. After all, who knows who you may find yourself sitting next to on a future trip home for a dreaded family obligation? Fate (or, at the very least, highly favorable statistics) may be working in your favor.

Love at First Sight

1h 31m   PG-13   2023

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Martha

Anyone can serve a turkey for Thanksgiving. But have you considered delicately roasting a bird that’s encased in a perfect, golden brown layer of puff pastry that’s then presented on a luxurious — yet tasteful — tablescape? That (very) aspirational example is one of the many entertaining recommendations from the queen of domesticity, Martha Stewart, in this fascinating new documentary on her life. Director R.J. Cutler’s incisive exploration escapes being either too complimentary or too critical of its celebrity subject. It’s a revealing and honest look at one of the most impactful media figures of our time, leaving you appreciating her role as one of our culture’s first-ever influencers.

Martha

1h 56m   R   2024

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The Platform

If you’ve ever gone back for seconds on Turkey Day and been enraged to find that your favorite side dish has been polished off, we have the movie for you. Granted, this isn’t a family film, and it requires a dark sense of humor to fit into the Thanksgiving genre, but there’s undoubtedly plenty of feasting. The 2019 Spanish dystopian thriller takes place in a prison-like building where detainees are placed on different stacked levels, with a hole down the center through which a platform descends once a day, full of food. Those in the upper levels are free to gorge on as much food as they want, while those at the bottom are left with whatever remains. They can’t save any food after the platform moves on, and each month they wake up reassigned to a new level, for better or worse. One new cellmate, Goreng (Iván Massagué), musters the courage to plot an escape. You may have a renewed appreciation for your full tummy after viewing.

The Platform

1h 35m   TV-MA   2019

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To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

For students, life is lived from one holiday to the next, and there’s something about a high school rom-com that reignites that school year feeling. After Lara Jean (Lana Condor) says goodbye to her college-bound older sister, Margot (Janel Parrish), she doesn’t think she has much to look forward to until Margot returns for Christmas. As an introverted romantic, Lara Jean depended on Margot to help get her out of her shell. But then the love letters Lara Jean wrote to her crushes over the years are somehow delivered to those boys — one of them being Margot’s recent ex-boyfriend, Josh (Israel Broussard). To avoid him, Lara Jean convinces another ex-crush, Peter (Noah Centineo), to enter into a fake relationship that starts to feel dangerously close to real. There are more than a couple family dinner scenes, all leading up to a very tense Christmas when all of Lara Jean’s lies catch up to her. 

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

1h 40m   TV-14   2018

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Tower Heist

Thanksgiving is full of distractions, from the multiple dishes cooking in the kitchen to the onslaught of family visitors who need to be entertained. All of which makes it the perfect day for a daring heist, especially in a building along the route of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. That’s the idea in this caper starring Ben Stiller as Josh Kovaks, the building manager of an upscale Manhattan high-rise that’s home to wealthy Wall Street businessman Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). When Shaw is arrested for embezzlement, Josh has to tell the building employees that the crook was also responsible for managing their pensions, which are likely gone. The FBI agent on the case lets slip that Shaw is likely hiding $20 million in his penthouse, so Josh assembles a crew of building employees, a down-on-his-luck tenant, and a childhood friend turned petty criminal, Slide (Eddie Murphy), to help steal it. With Shaw in court on Thanksgiving Day, and the parade distracting the staff, Josh and his crew attempt to get back some of what’s theirs. 

Tower Heist

1h 44m   PG-13   2011

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Walk. Ride. Rodeo.

So much of Thanksgiving is about being together as a family, and this inspirational film based on a true story celebrates everything you can achieve with familial support. Spencer Locke plays Amberley Snyder, a nationally ranked rodeo barrel racer who is left paraplegic after a car accident. The majority of the film details her recovery, which she gets through with the persistent help of her mom, Tina (Missi Pyle), and a succinct mantra: “Walk. Ride. Rodeo.” Those words sum up Amberley’s goals to walk again, ride horses again, and compete in rodeos once more. The uplifting drama is a good reminder of how families rally when things get tough and just how much is possible when others believe in us. Also, animal lovers take note: There are some truly stunning horses and beautiful riding scenes in the film.

Walk. Ride. Rodeo.

1h 39m   TV-PG   2019

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Additional reporting by Ananda Dillon.

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