The fact that so many movies exist around the holidays nearly cements the fact that we crave certain norms. With the current state of the world changing the way we look at just about everything, it's not surprising that it's effecting how we think, how we plan, and how we deal with both cinema and the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving dinners and gatherings are bound to be ideological minefields this year, thanks to everything from Gaza and elections to artificial intelligence and civil rights. Instead of delving into the complications of these issues, sometimes people can bond better by simply watching something together, be it Thanksgiving Day football or, in our case, a great holiday film.

The really interesting thing about Thanksgiving movies is that many of the classics aren't even straight-up Thanksgiving movies per se. Most of the time there's really just one or two incredible scenes that are so strong, they spread the Thanksgiving cheer all throughout the film. So, with the world in a shape most of the people reading this have never experienced, and Thanksgiving having more curveballs than an MLB game, take solace in the fact that we have 25 films which are bound to make you feel a whole lot better, no matter where, how, or who you watch them with.

The qualifications for how a title is included in this list of Thanksgiving films are as follows:

• The overall quality of the film.
• The explicit relation the film has with the Thanksgiving holiday.
• The rewatchable quality that allows the film to become a holiday tradition.

25 Funny People

Funny People is a quiet dramedy starring Adam Sandler that hits you like a punch in the gut if you can pay attention to the whole thing. The movie sees Sandler as a comedian who is diagnosed with a terminal illness and given about a year to leave. He befriends another comedian, played by Seth Rogen, and the two of them form a very interesting friendship/business relationship. Again, you might be wondering, "Yeah, that sounds great, but where the heck is Thanksgiving?" Check out the video and the rest of the entry below.

Funny People has a Thanksgiving scene that takes this comedic film and turns it on its ear (see above). Sandler's character, George, gives a toast that underlines how important it is to appreciate all the time we get to spend with the people we care about. This changes the tenor of the film which, given its main plot points, was probably headed for a major change anyway. While one of the least Thanksgiving-related films on this list, Funny People ends up having the last laugh with its unique look at how people act around the holidays. Watch on Hulu or rent on any digital platform.

24 Rocky

Alright, Rocky is a prime example of a Thanksgiving film that isn't a Thanksgiving film. In fact, the Thanksgiving scene in this film doesn't end up in much of a sit down. It does culminate with the turkey being thrown out the window, however. Rocky is an iconic American story about a down-on-his-luck prizefighter who gets a title shot and gives the champion the fight of his life.

In the case of Rocky, Thanksgiving is used to flesh out the cultural and psychological specificities of the characters. Rocky is very much about a man learning what he's actually grateful for, which very much relates to Thanksgiving. By the end of the film, it's no longer about winning a fight for Rocky, but recognizing the people in his life who love him and care for him. Watch on Max or Prime Video, and rent on any digital platform.

23 Son in Law

Son in Law is obviously a much worse film than Rocky, but it's also much more involved with Thanksgiving, which puts it at the edge of this list. It's a pretty clever premise that could've gone many ways, but once you realize that Pauly Shore is the lead actor, you pretty much know what to expect here in this '90s comedy. In the film, a college student (played by a young but already wonderful Carla Gugino) invites her RA (Shore) back home to her South Dakota farm. One thing leads to another and Shore is pretending to be Gugino's fiancé.

What Son in Law is very good at is mimicking the awkwardness and confusion of an extended family's Thanksgiving dinner, especially if you're a college student returning home. You may have changed quite a bit during college, and your family will have no idea. The clash of personalities and mindsets are funny and realistic in many ways, and the food looks delicious. Rent or buy on Prime Video or other digital platforms.

22 The Big Chill

Old friends getting together to kick around old times usually ends up being a great time... in real life. In 'reel' life, it starts off great but then the layers start getting peeled back, old scars are revealed, and suddenly things go from rosy to ragged. In The Big Chill, a bunch of friends (one of the best casts ever assembled) get together for a lost weekend which comes on the heels of a funeral for their friend from college.

The Big Chill is in many ways the first real Friendsgiving film. While the actual Thanksgiving holiday only appears in a flashback (and casts a serious shadow over the film's proceedings), the idea of people coming together over memories and meals is pertinent throughout the film. Sure, The Big Chill both is and isn't a holiday movie. That doesn't mean it can't evoke enough emotion to remind us we should be thankful for things (like our friends before they're gone). Rent or buy on Prime Video or other digital platforms.

21 Thankskilling

If you don't mind a little stupidity and violence after your Thanksgiving meal, Thankskilling is a so-bad-it's-good classic waiting in the wings. It's a dumb Thanksgiving movie for sure, but it's all-in with the holiday and never takes itself seriously, making for a fun horror movie 15 years before Eli Roth's more polished and brilliant Thanksgiving.

Beginning with a topless Pilgrim from Plymouth being killed with a tomahawk by a wisecracking turkey, Thankskilling announces its intention right off the bat, and has a blast diving into the motifs and symbols of the holiday. The plot is so over-the-top and borderline incomprehensible in the funniest of ways, but the vibe is all Thanksgiving, and the villain (Turkie) is basically the horror genre's mascot for the holiday the same way an evil Santa Claus represents Christmas horror. Watch for free on Tubi and Pluto TV.

20 Avalon

Avalon is a classic American tale of new beginnings. In this film from the great Barry Levinson, the Kaye family, comprised of Polish Jews, comes to the United States in the early part of the 20th century. Various generations live under this roof, and we see how they assimilate to American culture over generations.

While not always explicitly related to the holiday, Avalon is brilliant in the way it mirrors the idea of early settlers coming to this country for a better lifethere is a Thanksgiving scene that easily lands this film in the top Thanksgiving movies. Everybody packed together in one room, complaining about when they're going to eat, kids complaining about the food, family tensions brewing... the scene is magic! "You cut the turkey?????" Avalon is a movie for all families to watch during this thankful time. Rent or buy on Apple TV and other digital platforms.

19 Addams Family Values

Uncle Fester is madly in love with a woman named Debbie, but his family knows she's no good in this sequel to the hit from 1991, which is set during the Thanksgiving holiday and features a Thanksgiving-related play. Director Barry Sonnenfeld and his excellent cast (Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci, Carel Struycken, Jimmy Workman, Christopher Hart, and Joan Cusack) return for Addams Family Values in this twisty, funky movie with one of Lloyd's best performances.

So why is Addams Family Values one of the greatest Thanksgiving movies ever? Well, that has everything to do with a speech that Wednesday Addams (Christina Ricci) gives that essentially calls out the treatment of Native Americans. It discusses how it's basically immoral to celebrate Thanksgiving and all of this is made more amazing because this scene is happening in an enduring family film. As a straight-up film, Addams Family Values isn't up there with the greatest movies of all time. As a Thanksgiving movie, that speech and the general humor in the film make it one of the best you can watch this season. Watch on Paramount+ and Fubo TV.

18 Grumpy Old Men

Again, Grumpy Old Men is not a film that is all about Thanksgiving, but it certainly has a Thanksgiving feel to it in the most comically curmudgeonly way. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau play two bitter old men who just happen to be after the same woman, played by Ann-Margret. Already not on the greatest of terms, the relationship between Lemmon and Matthau's characters only gets worse, making for many scenes that should make old Odd Couple fans smile.

Thanksgiving moments appear in this film, they just don't dominate it. A Thanksgiving dinner is partly the catalyst which sets off the romantic competition in the film (and features a wonderful Ossie Davis). Grumpy Old Men is given to moments of shock talk, pranks, beautiful snowy scenery, and some hilarious one-liners by Burgess Meredith as Lemmon's grandpa. Watch for free on Pluto TV or stream on Paramount+.

17 Alice's Restaurant

It isn't often that a song inspires a whole movie, but if any tune would do it, it's Arlo Guthrie's humorously deadpan 18-minute song, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree," which inspired the movie Alice's Restaurant, starring Guthrie himself. The epic track tells a linear and quasi-autobiographical story about Guthrie traveling the country, getting arrested, and avoiding the Vietnam draft. The movie is just as lackadaisical, and one of the great 'hang out' films from the 1960s.

Even more so than the song, Alice's Restaurant is built around communal engagement, food, and Thanksgiving. The most laid back anti-war film you'll ever see, the film also stars Pat Quinn, James Broderick, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, William Obanhein, Shelley Plimpton, and M. Emmet Walsh. Watch for free on YouTube.

16 What's Cooking?

What's Cooking is all Thanksgiving, a delicious indie movie with a wonderfully interesting ensemble cast with diverse personalities and lives. The film is all about cultural variety, and jumps around between four families of different ethnic backgrounds — Jewish, Black, Latino, and Vietnamese (portrayed by Joan Chen, Julianna Margulies, Mercedes Ruehl, Kyra Sedgwick, Alfre Woodard, Maury Chaykin, Estelle Harris, Dennis Haysbert, Lainie Kazan, Victor Rivers, Douglas Spain, Kieu Chinh, Kristy Wu, François Chau, Ralph Manza, and many more).

What's Cooking oscillated between these four families as they celebrate Thanksgiving in their own different ways, and encounter their own specific problems and dysfunctions. You can practically smell the food in this film, and there's a lot of it, but there's also a lot of sweet, mild humor, small romantic moments, and beautiful, authentic reflections of family relationships. Watch for free on Tubi, Pluto TV, Prime Video, and other digital platforms.

15 Dutch

In the coming-of-age comedy Dutch, the titular working man (Ed O'Neill) is dating the divorced Natalie (JoBeth Williams), and he offers to drive her stuffy 13-year-old, Doyle (Ethan Randall), from his private school in Atlanta to his mother's home in Chicago for Thanksgiving. Doyle is not interested, as he blames Natalie for the divorce and wants nothing to do with mom's new boyfriend, especially given the man's lowly, working-class roots.

Though John Hughes didn't direct Dutch, he did write it, and he seemingly reproduced Planes, Trains and Automobiles, or at least combined all the scraps which didn't make it into that film. Both movies have a very similar storyline, with a mismatched pair of travelers attempting to make it home for turkey dinner. And it goes to show that Hughes had an affinity for the holiday. This particular pairing makes for a journey filled with bickering, mishaps and, eventually, bonding. Though it was met with plenty of bad reviews at the time, with Roger Ebert complaining that John Hughes was just repeating himself, Dutch has gone onto become a holiday favorite comedy. Watch on Max.

14 The War at Home

This often ignored tale from 1996, directed by Emilio Estevez, is a rich character study about the effects of war on everybody, not just those that fought in it. Thanksgiving dinner becomes the conduit through which all the traumas of the past are made manifest. Estevez also stars in The War at Home along with his father, Martin Sheen, and Kathy Bates. He plays a soldier at home after fighting in Vietnam, and we come to see how he has an even bigger fight ahead now that he's returned.

The Thanksgiving celebration looms over the first half of this film, promising an emotional blowout, and the actual holiday dinner does not disappoint in the way it unleashes the tension plaguing many of these characters. For many, Thanksgiving is a controversial holiday, both because of America's early genocide of Indigenous people, and because family can so often be a minefield to navigate. The War at Home taps into all of this and becomes a great and subversive Thanksgiving movie as a result.

13 The Oath

The very funny Ike Barinholtz does a great job at directing, writing, producing, and starring in this underrated dark comedy that's perfect for Thanksgiving. The Oath satirically taps into the proverbial political arguments that families have at the dinner table (and the crazy uncle with antiquated views) by presenting a near-future in which citizens have been asked to sign a legal document swearing allegiance to the United States ahead of Black Friday, which makes Thanksgiving a little awkward for a family with different ideological perspectives.

The simple premise alone leads itself to some great dialogue and situations in The Oath, before things start to get really wild. It'd be a shame to spoil anything in this unique film, but suffice it to say that it's a Thanksgiving blast (and Tiffany Haddish is excellent). Rent or buy on Prime Video or other digital platforms.

12 You've Got Mail

In You've Got Mail, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan once again unwittingly end up together (in a then-modern remake of the Jimmy Stewart classic, The Shop Around the Corner). Through correspondence on the internet, the two find they are attracted to each other. However, (not knowing who the other person is online - at least at the start), in reality they can't stand each other. The fact that they are both in the same business, selling books, doesn't make the situation between them much better.

Yet, amid all of this, the Thanksgiving cheer shines through, and this romantic comedy (while no Sleepless in Seattle) still holds up as a great movie to watch around the holiday. Set on and around Thanksgiving, You've Got Mail has everything we want in a holiday film, from the colors and the soft light, to the wintry weather and the charming romance. Watch for free on Tubi or rent or buy on other digital platforms.

11 Tadpole

Tadpole is often forgotten today, but it was a little indie miracle when it came out, grossing more than 12 times its $150 thousand budget. In many ways, the film acts as a kind of modern Catcher in the Rye, following a very precocious and advanced 15-year-old named Oscar during his Thanksgiving break from a preppy boarding school. His parents are perfectly played by the beloved John Ritter and an especially wonderful Susan Sarandon as Oscar's stepmother. Except, Oscar has jealously romantic feelings for her and subtly competes with his own father.

Aside from magnificently laying out a truly dysfunctional family situation, Tadpole gorgeously captures a variety of feelings — the wistfulness of youth; New York in winter; Thanksgiving break, and returning home after being away at school; the hormonal rush of puberty. Food (and drinks) also play a perfect role in the film, which features Aaron Stanford, Bebe Neuwirth, and a lovely Kate Mara. It's a perfect little indie gem. Rent or buy on Prime Video or other digital platforms.

10 Scent of a Woman

Mixed with moments of life lessons, poignant scenes, and ultimately an affirmation of life (and friendship), Scent of a Woman is one of the best, slow burn holiday films there is. The film follows a young college student in the middle of a complicated disciplinary situation, who is tasked with assisting a blind man. The film is a long but loose, funny character drama with a perfect winter setting.

Set around Thanksgiving, Scent of a Woman features a Thanksgiving scene that is awkward, brutal, and totally necessary to the story the film is telling. Al Pacino (in a performance that won him an Academy Award) plays the crotchety Lt. Colonel Frank Slade. He is being looked after over the holidays by college student Charlie Simms (Chris O'Donnell). Quickly, we see that Frank is in charge and, after a very disruptive Thanksgiving meal, Charlie comes to realize just how unhappy Frank is. Thanksgiving is used brilliantly as a narrative and psychological device here. Watch for free on The Roku Channel or rent or buy on other digital platforms.

9 The House of Yes

It's Thanksgiving in Washington, D.C., and a hurricane is hitting the luxurious old home of an extremely dysfunctional family. The inimitable Parker Posey is at her very best in The House of Yes, playing a mentally unstable woman with an unhealthy connection to Jackie Onassis and an incestuous infatuation with her brother Marty, who is coming home for Thanksgiving. Little does she know, Marty is newly engaged and bringing his beau along.

Taking the traditional Thanksgiving theme of filial dysfunction to absurd degrees, this brilliantly witty film sets up an uncomfortably hilarious situation and lets the actors (Posey, Josh Hamilton, Tori Spelling, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Geneviève Bujold) have a ton of fun with it. The deeply rooted insanity in the family comes to a head, ruining Thanksgiving dinner and unleashing comic chaos. Thanksgiving is literally about American history (that often gets whitewashed and inaccurately presented), and so is The House of Yes in many ways, using the national tragedy of the JFK assassination as an allegory for the cultural trauma we inherit and try to live with. Watch for free on Pluto TV or rent or buy on other digital platforms.

8 Home for the Holidays

Holly Hunter headlines this delicious Thanksgiving film that shoots at the heart of many a family gathering — passive-aggression and majort personality differences. When her daughter bails to spend Thanksgiving with her new beau, Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter) goes home to spend the holidays with her family... alone.

In Home for the Holidays, Larson's family is filled with quirks and populated by such actors as Robert Downey Jr., Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, and Steve Gutternberg. The comedy is rich, the wit is acerbic, and the odd-ball hilarity of all these families and personalities in one place is palpable. Directed by Jodie Foster, Home For the Holidays is almost an anti-Thanksgiving movie. Though, while it skewers family dynamics (and just about everything else), this perpetually timely tale ultimately has its heart in the right place. Watch on Showtime or rent or buy on other digital platforms.

7 Hannah and Her Sisters

Woody Allen may not be thought of as the go-to guy for holiday films, but Hannah and Her Sisters, like it or not, is very much a Thanksgiving movie. The story is one of a love triangle told over two different Thanksgivings between sisters played by Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, and Barbara Hershey. The film puts Michael Caine in this triangle, and it's one of Caine's rare performances as a complete scumbag loser. Woody Allen himself is pretty hilarious as one of the sister's exes who is having an existential and spiritual crisis (what's new).

These most recent years haven't been the greatest for Woody, but this film remains one of the best to explore relationships seriously and dovetail that with Thanksgiving. With its well drawn characters, poignant storylines, and biting look at the way family members and lovers deal with one another, Hannah and Her Sisters is both a character study, personal expose, and a true-blue Thanksgiving film (the color palette alone screams Thanksgiving). Watch on Max or rent or buy on other digital platforms.

6 The Ice Storm

Probably the most understated but tragic film set at Thanksgiving, The Ice Storm is a fittingly cold and melancholic look at the post-Woodstock age of the 1970s. It perfectly illustrates how Boomer parents produced the disillusioned and cynical Gen X. The film features a beautiful performance from Kevin Kline and Joan Allen, a disturbing Sigourney Weaver, and heartbreaking, authentic performances from young Christina Ricci, Tobey Maguire, and Elijah Wood.

Ang Lee's movie is set during the Thanksgiving holiday, when Tobey Maguire's character returns from college to visit his family and discovers a web of dissatisfaction and secrets. The ensemble cast is phenomenal, the suitably icy setting is perfect, and the feeling of repression and secrecy behind the parties and gatherings in the film is pitch perfect. The ending, too, is devastating. Watch on Max or rent or buy on other digital platforms.