6 Thanksgiving Movies You Can Stream Instead Of Talking To Your In-Laws

You've got your trains, your planes and your automobiles.

But really, who wouldn’t want to go on a road trip with John Candy?

So your mother-in-law is asking you again, whether she’ll ever be a grandmother. Your options include feigning a disaster in another room, straight up ignoring her or claiming you have to go to the bathroom, again. Or, you could turn on a Thanksgiving-themed movie and have everyone gather ’round, shut up and watch it together.

Thanksgiving movies might not be as abundant as Christmas flicks, but there are still some holiday-related titles streaming on Netflix you can use as an excuse for not talking to anyone for a few hours.

1. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987): You’ve got your John Candy, you’ve got your Steve Martin, it’s set in 1987 and there’s perhaps no more perfect turkey day flick than this pre-bromantic comedy road-trip romp. How are these two total strangers who are NOTHING alike going to make it home from New York City to Chicago in time for Thanksgiving when their flight gets canceled? The spoiler alert is in the movie’s title.

2. Dutch (1991): Ed O’Neill has a new girlfriend and is not about to muck up the holidays for her. So of course he volunteers to pick up her kid (a young, pre-Empire Records Ethan Embry) from boarding school. He’s a brat straight out of hell and their trip home for Thanksgiving is accordingly awful.

3. American Son (2008): If you’re in the mood for a drama, this flick involves a 19-year-old marine who finds out that he’s deploying to Iraq earlier than planned. He goes home to tell his family the news over a traditionally dysfunctional Thanksgiving meal, and hilarity does not ensue.

4. The Last Waltz (1978): For you music lovers, this Martin Scorcese flick features the final concert by The Band, which was staged at San Francisco’s Winterland arena on Thanksgiving Day 1976. No turkeys involved.

5. Addams Family Values (1993): You can watch the first Addams Family movie beforehand if you feel like it, but the sequel is the one with the Thanksgiving theme. Wednesday Addams leads a retelling of the First Thanksgiving where the Native Americans win in a way only Christina Ricci in white makeup and a dark wig can do it.

6. Rocky (1976): What do you mean this isn’t a movie about Thanksgiving? Fine, it’s not, but there’s another one of those fantastic family meal scenes that makes us all feel like we’re in this together.

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