The Christmas movie is a genre unto itself, but Thanksgiving deserves a little more love. Sure, there are plenty of people who prefer Turkey Day to any other day of the year, but there are also plenty of great movies about Christmas’ lead-in.
We’ve pulled together a list of five great comedies set in and around Thanksgiving, each of which has different things to say about the holiday. Like any tradition, Thanksgiving is only what you make of it, and these movies prove that Thanksgiving can be anything from magical or horrible, depending on who you spend it with.
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Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
A brilliant comedy that stands the test of time, Planes, Trains and Automobiles follows a high-strung man who finds his travel plans derailed as he attempts to get home to his family for Thanksgiving. When he finds himself journeying with a talkative man he finds annoying, the two of them bicker and butt heads as they journey across the country.
The film’s ultimate message, which is that we never know exactly what other people’s stories are and should be kind to them as a result, is the perfect message to consider as you celebrate a holiday all about gratitude. It’s also pretty funny, with great performances by leads Steve Martin and John Candy.
You can watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles on Paramount+.
Thanksgiving (2023)
Thanksgiving is ostensibly a horror movie, but you’re much more likely to find it hilarious than horrifying. The movie tells the story of a masked murderer who enacts revenge on a small community one year after a Black Friday riot ended in tragedy.
From the cartoonishness of the opening Black Friday sequence to the fact that it seems to think people still mob stores on Black Friday, Thanksgiving is downright silly, and seems to be at least mostly in on the joke.
You can watch Thanksgiving on Netflix.
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Set over several Thanksgivings, Hannah and Her Sisters uses those gatherings as a framing device to tell its larger story. While you may or may not want to watch a movie directed and written by Woody Allen, Hannah and Her Sisters undeniably represents one of the pinnacles of his career.
It tells a series of interweaving stories about three siblings and their extended relations, and is a meditation on love, death, and all the reasons we stay in live in spite of it all. Hannah and Her Sisters is brilliant, but we get it if it’s also a little too icky to watch.
You can watch Hannah and Her Sisters on Tubi.
You’ve Got Mail (1998)
A rom-com about meeting on the internet that was made at the first moment it could have been, You’ve Got Mail is charmingly quaint about our digital lives, but survives largely on the combined star power of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.
Like many a Nora Ephron movie, You’ve Got Mail has major autumnal vibes, and it’s also about a time when small bookstores were being destroyed by major chains (Amazon wasn’t a thing yet). You’ve Got Mail is a movie about two people who fall in love over a chat, and it’s still one of the best movies about texting there is.
You can rent You’ve Got Mail on Amazon Prime Video.
Mistress America (2015)
One of Noah Baumbach’s most underseen and underrated movies, Mistress America takes place almost entirely in the lead-up to Thanksgiving. The film follows a bored college freshman living in New York City who decides to fill her days by getting wrapped up in the life of her soon-to-be step-sister.
Barbie director Greta Gerwig is utterly magnetic in this central role, and the film revolves in large part around her various delusions and beliefs about herself. The miracle of Mistress America, though, is that the movie manages to make its narcissistic central characters lovable and compelling instead of utterly repugnant. It’s one of the more entertaining movies of the past decade.
You can rent Mistress America on Amazon Prime Video.
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