The Best Thanksgiving Films to Watch After Dinner
Eight films where the turkey, the travel chaos and the family arguments are part of the story.
Christmas has hundreds of films. Thanksgiving has a small, loyal handful, and most of them are about the same two things: how hard it is to get home, and how complicated it is once you arrive.
That is what makes them perfect for the hours after dinner, when everyone is too full to move. Here are the eight we would choose, starting with the one that tops almost every list.
Eight films for Thanksgiving Day
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
An uptight advertising executive just wants to get home to Chicago for Thanksgiving, and ends up stuck for days with a relentlessly cheerful salesman of shower curtain rings. Steve Martin and John Candy are perfect together, and the ending earns its lump in the throat.
Watch it if: you only have time for one Thanksgiving film.
More about this film on TMDB
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
Peppermint Patty invites herself and her friends to dinner at Charlie Brown’s house, and he ends up serving toast, popcorn, pretzels and jelly beans. It runs under half an hour, which makes it ideal while the real dinner settles.
Watch it if: there are small children at the table, or adults who used to be.
More about this film on TMDB
Home for the Holidays (1995)
A single mother who has just lost her job flies home to Baltimore to spend Thanksgiving with her loud, loving, exhausting family. Jodie Foster directed it, and anyone who has survived a family dinner will recognize every minute.
Watch it if: your own family has just gone home.
More about this film on TMDB
Addams Family Values (1993)
A scheming nanny sets her sights on Uncle Fester while Wednesday and Pugsley are packed off to summer camp. Wednesday’s takeover of the camp’s Thanksgiving play is one of the great comedy scenes of the 1990s.
Watch it if: you want the least sentimental option.
More about this film on TMDB
Pieces of April (2003)
April lives in a tiny New York apartment and has invited her estranged family for Thanksgiving, then discovers that her oven doesn’t work. Small, funny and unexpectedly moving.
Watch it if: you like quiet films that sneak up on you.
More about this film on TMDB
Scent of a Woman (1992)
A scholarship student takes a weekend job looking after a blind, retired Army officer, who has secret plans for one last extravagant trip to New York over Thanksgiving. Al Pacino won his Oscar for it.
Watch it if: you have the whole evening and want a big performance.
More about this film on TMDB
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
A kindly old man hired to play Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade insists that he is the real thing. It opens on Thanksgiving morning, which makes it the perfect bridge into the Christmas season.
Watch it if: you are ready to start thinking about December.
More about this film on TMDB
Free Birds (2013)
Two turkeys travel back in time to the first Thanksgiving to get turkey taken off the menu for good. One for the youngest viewers in the room.
Watch it if: the kids need something of their own.
More about this film on TMDBScores are TMDB user ratings recorded on October 8, 2026, and can change over time.
Planning the day's viewing
A full Thanksgiving Day has three natural gaps, and each one suits a different film:
- While the cooking is going on: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving or Free Birds will keep children out of the kitchen.
- Straight after dinner: Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Short, funny and easy to follow from the sofa.
- Late evening, once the house is quiet: Home for the Holidays or Scent of a Woman.
Still off work on Friday? We have a separate list of cozy films for the long Thanksgiving weekend. And when the calendar turns, our best Christmas films are ready.
Questions and answers
What is the most popular Thanksgiving film?
Planes, Trains and Automobiles is the film most often named as the Thanksgiving classic. The whole story is a journey home for the holiday.
Are there Thanksgiving films for children?
Yes. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Free Birds are both made for young viewers, and the Charlie Brown special runs under half an hour.
Is Miracle on 34th Street a Thanksgiving film or a Christmas film?
It is mostly a Christmas film, but it begins at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, so many families watch it on Thanksgiving to open the season.
