Thanksgiving is a little-known holiday when it comes to movies, but some famous examples celebrate the holiday surprisingly well. Compared to many classic Christmas movies, Thanksgiving has fewer cinematic masterpieces and far fewer holiday elements to base the entire feature film on. However, some films have deliberately set the story around Thanksgiving or centered the entire story around it, resulting in a variety of vastly different stories featuring the famous traditional American feast. Born.
Some Thanksgiving movies are traditional holiday movies that evoke a warm, cozy atmosphere and family-friendly laughter. As with the others, it’s strictly a Thanksgiving movie. die hard Strictly speaking, it’s a Christmas movie, and it takes place during the season without any direct recognition of the story or theme. Regardless of the type, there are some notable Thanksgiving movies worth watching as an annual tradition.
10 airplanes, trains, cars
1987
One of the few movies that is mandatory viewing for many households on Thanksgiving. airplanes, trains, cars is a relatable buddy road trip adventure comedy. In this movie, Steve Martin plays a man who is exhausted by running across the country to meet his family’s Thanksgiving dinner in time, as promised. Unfortunately, he picks up Del Griffith, played by John Candy. He’s an unpleasant but friendly bachelor salesman, and Martin’s Neil Page’s journey is a harrowing ordeal.
It’s easy to see why airplanes, trains, cars For many, it has become an annual tradition. Martin and Candy’s chemistry and slow evolution from one-sided friendship to brotherly bond is a treat worth watching, worthy of a spot on your average Thanksgiving dessert spread. The film also gives some much-needed recognition about the fact that not everyone has an idyllic family to go home to every holiday season.
9 spiderman
2002
The modern-day dominance of the superhero genre still owes a lot to the original Sam Liami. spiderman Trilogy. The first entry in the series tells the origin story of Peter Parker as Spider-Man, following his iconic story from his fateful radioactive spider bite to his final showdown with the Green Goblin. But it’s easy to forget that the film’s standard time span spans the Thanksgiving season, and that the film also doubles as a worthy holiday film.
The scene that best represents it spiderman The charm of this Thanksgiving movie is, of course, the Thanksgiving dinner scene. There, the delightfully evil Green Goblin, played by Willem Dafoe, slowly appears during a tense dinner. The fight between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin inside a giant inflatable parade float in New York City is also reminiscent of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, even though it’s technically a separate event. This little sense of the season, spiderman Even now, more than 20 years later, it was a very memorable and fun time.
8 dutch
1991
dutch ‘ is a movie that depicts the awkwardness and stress of sharing a holiday with a family with whom you have little in common. Ed O’Neill plays the title character, a rough-and-tumble middle-class roughneck who is forced to rub shoulders with his girlfriend’s posh upper-class family during the holiday season. Tasked with taking his girlfriend’s ex-husband out on vacation after his girlfriend’s ex-husband goes MIA on a work trip, Dutch and his new boss bond over a road trip fueled by chaos and mishaps. go.
Although it was criticized at the time of release, dutch Since then, as the years have passed, it has developed a small cult following, emphasizing holiday themes. John Hughes may have been derived to some degree from both his earlier work. airplanes, trains, cars Although similar to this movie, it still has enough character in its own right to be worth watching outside of this imitation context. A hearty stew with a nostalgic taste, dutch As an adorable time capsule of the ’90s, you can enjoy some well-deserved holiday love outside of the critical circuit.
7 Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving
1973
Charlie Brown has become a staple in many households for various holidays. charlie brown christmas to Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. 1977 Charles Schulz masterpiece peanuts The characters were transported to yet another holiday, and it quickly became one of the most beloved films associated with that holiday, simply because it had no competition. This time, Charlie Brown deals with the stress and anxiety of hosting a big Thanksgiving dinner for all his friends, despite having little to no cooking skills.
surely, Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving is more like a TV special than a feature film, with its modest story lasting just 25 minutes. But that doesn’t make the film any less valuable as a cozy tradition at a special time of the year, earning it a place as one of the most respected and recognized Thanksgiving movies . Still one of the best Charlie Brown specials. Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving It’s the epitome of easy family viewing that is rarely seen.
6 Thank you I’ll kill you
2009
At the other end of the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie spectrum, Thank you, Killing. It’s certainly not a family movie, but Thank you I’ll kill you Still, there’s plenty of holiday fun that’s perfect for the right people. This little-known horror B-movie revolves around a sentient, talking turkey who commits a gruesome series of murders as part of an ancient Native American curse. It’s intentionally outrageous and made on a limited budget, but Thank you I’ll kill you is a giant of bad-but-good holiday-themed horror.
Rather than being a silent slasher protagonist, the creatively named Turkey is more Freddy Krueger than Jason, taunting his victims with a series of obscenities before raping them in unspeakable ways. The film’s gory horror on paper is diluted by hilariously cheap creature effects and amateurish acting, resulting in a gut-wrenchingly funny murder romp for those with a dark sense of humour. are. “Gogogogogogo, Mother Father.”surely.
5 thanksgiving
2023
For those looking for a more hardcore holiday-themed slasher, the simple title thanksgiving Great choice! From the thoughts of horror visionary Eli Roth, thanksgiving is a rare example of a fake trailer for another movie universe movie becoming a real feature in its own right. The plot revolves around an ax murderer disguised as a pilgrim, nicknamed “John Carver.” He targets survivors of a deadly customer rush during the Black Friday sale on the anniversary of the tragedy, leaving a number of gruesome social media posts in its wake. .
A more clever and deliberate combination of humor and gore, thanksgiving He has received surprisingly high praise as a villain who wears a common mask. For a film with this level of visual slickness, the gore is shockingly intense, a welcome (or unwelcome) surprise for the curious viewer. This grindhouse feast for the eyes is still new, but it’s very likely to become an annual touchstone for horror fans around the world.
4 grumpy old people
1993
Another movie that uses Thanksgiving as a setting rather than the core of the story, grumpy old people is an insightful romantic comedy that has the potential to gain a lot of mileage as a regular watch every year. The film’s central conflict, which takes place in the snowy, desolate tundra of rural Minnesota, revolves around a love triangle between two casual friends and a new professor who moves into the neighborhood. Masu. What follows is the aftermath of a friendship sparked by a sudden love affair that turns out to be as delicate as the icy lake on which it was formed.
To those who watched fargo And they were most into small-town drama. grumpy old people A perfect suggestion for the holidays. Although the plot technically runs through Christmas and even into spring, the intimate Thanksgiving dinner scene early in the runtime is definitely one of the film’s biggest highlights. It’s bright, lively, and packed with concrete chemical reactions. grumpy old people A perfect choice for the holiday season.
3 rocky
1976
The original is one of the most emotional sports movies ever made. rocky Needs almost no introduction. Action star Sylvester Stallone’s big break and passion project in the late 1980s. rocky The titular boxer tells the powerful story of his rise from amateur boxing to crossing the horns and meeting one of the greatest athletes of his generation. For all its strengths, rocky It also works really well as a Thanksgiving movie.
I repeat, Dutchman, Rocky Technically, it lasts until New Year’s Eve, when the title match against Apollo Creed takes place. However, one of the most memorable scenes in the film is when Rocky’s best friend Paulie asks his shy sister Adrian out on Thanksgiving night. Adrian, of course, eventually becomes Rocky’s wife. Watching Paulie rip a healthy leg out of Adrian’s roast turkey and throw it into an alley to chase him and Rocky out of the house is sure to whet the appetite in many households this Thanksgiving.
2 american gangster
2007
One of the rare movies where Denzel Washington can play a villain (or at least morally bankrupt). american gangster It also holds the honor of being the only time the celebrated actor appeared on screen in preparation for the Thanksgiving feast. The biopic is a fictionalized version of the life of real-life gangster Frank Lucas, a prominent drug lord who ruled Harlem with his heroin trade in the 60s and 70s. american gangster They spent time showing Lucas’ multifaceted nature, including his life as a simple family man.
This dual nature is highlighted in the Thanksgiving dinner scene where the Lucas family gathers to eat turkey and watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, just like in a typical American family. I am. At the same time, of course, a live caged turkey is sent to Detective Trupo, played by Josh Brolin, who witnesses his prized Mustang explode thanks to a bomb planted by Lucas’ henchmen. As a story of American excess and greed, this is very fitting. american gangster I never thought it would be held on such a big eating holiday.
1 free birds
2013
to be honest, free birds It’s only because it has no competition that it ranks among the best Thanksgiving movies, but that doesn’t mean this animated movie isn’t worthy of the holiday season. As is infamously reiterated by the memes surrounding this film, free birds This is a story about a turkey rafter who travels back in time to the first Thanksgiving to take turkey off the menu. Specifically, Wild Turkey Jake, played by Woody Harrelson, is leading the effort to recruit Reggie, played by Owen Wilson, who receives an annual turkey pardon from the president.
Despite the creative premise, most of the best jokes are free birds It actually takes place in modern times, and the action of the time travel shenanigans is somehow less convincing. In some ways, this movie is perfect as a post-Thanksgiving food movie, a film that distracts you with 20 minutes or so of light entertainment before you fall into a food-induced coma and then fade to negligible quality. There is. Even if it doesn’t stand out compared to the best animated Christmas movies. free birds is the supreme ruler in the world of thanksgiving movie.
