The 13 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Thanksgiving
The holidays can feel like an eternity. And whether those eternities are as pleasant as the few presented in the film Eternity is unclear. But a nice unifier is gathering around a screen and watching something together, and there are plenty of options this Thanksgiving to choose from, from a trip to the Upside Down, eternity, or Zootopia.
Featured Presentations
Eternity
The conceit is simple: When you die, you get to pick an eternity to live in. Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) has a wrench thrown into her afterlife plan when she finds herself having to pick between her husband of half a century, Larry (Miles Teller), who died recently, and her first husband, Luke (Callum Turner), who died 60-something years prior. It’s a sweet little well-made comedy with supporting performances from Da’Vine Joy Randolph and John Early.
In theaters now
Stranger Things season 5
After ten years, we’re finally getting a wrap-up of the Duffer brothers’ phenomenon of a television show. Picking up soon after the events of season four — where, you know, the Upside Down literally ripped through Hawkins — our many protagonists are banding together one more time to find and bring down Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). I’m hoping we get answers to the following questions: Is Max alive? Does Robin dial down the Anxiety–from–Inside Out 2 act? Does Steve have another gratuitous shirtless scene? Will these people remember that Will might be useful to finding Vecna? Will we give Winona Ryder something really good to actually do again?
Streaming on Netflix
➽ Ten years, five seasons, a lot of characters and demo-creatures — there’s a lot to remember about Hawkins and the Upside Down, so we’ve got your survival guide here.
Zootopia 2
This is for the children and the “Hear me out re: Nick Wilde” crowd.
In theaters now
Blossoms Shanghai
Acclaimed director Wong Kar-wai and Criterion are bringing his first-ever television series to American audiences. Adapted from Jin Yucheng’s novel Blossoms, this drama follows a businessman named Ah Bao (Hu Ge) as his luck rises in the wake of the Shanghai stock-exchange opening.
Streaming on the Criterion Channel
The Beatles Anthology
Beatles fans are living in heaven these days. Yes, the legendary lads always seem to be floating in the pop-culture ether, but lately they’re all but unavoidable to even the layperson: There was the eight-hour Peter Jackson documentary Get Back, this year brought a new memoir from Paul McCartney, and soon we’ll have four whole films about each member. Not to be outdone, Disney+ is back again with The Beatles Anthology, a nine-episode restoration of the famous 1995 documentary that chronicled the band’s many lives, replete with lengthy interviews with John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Three episodes will drop nightly Wednesday through Friday. —Ray Rahman
Streaming on Disney+
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
The third season of Apple TV’s dinosaur documentary series moves several million years forward in time to an era in which the dinos are all dead and gone. Instead, woolly mammoths and scimitar cats prowl the icy landscape. There’s another change, too: Tom Hiddleston is taking over narration duties for Sir David Attenborough. —James Grebey
Streaming on Apple TV
The Criterion Channel’s ‘Family Reunions’ collection
If your family appreciates great works of cinema, the Criterion Channel has a whole collection of films about family gatherings, like Rachel Getting Married, Margot at the Wedding, Hannah and Her Sisters, and The Celebration. At the risk of maybe hitting a little too close to home, there’s hardly a better occasion to watch a movie about a bunch of family members who have plenty of drama yet still love one another all the same. —J.G.
Streaming on the Criterion Channel
Turkey Day on TV
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the National Dog Show
One (or both?) of these is probably worth throwing on to distract your charming in-laws from sniping over politics as they wait for food to be served. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will air live on NBC starting at 8:30 a.m. in all time zones. Yes, the cute tiger Derpy, from KPop Demon Hunters, will make his television debut. And on the canine front: The National Dog Show starts at noon, also in local time, on NBC. —Eric Vilas-Boas
➽ The Packers-versus-Lions game is free on Tubi for those of you who don’t have cable but do have a father-in-law who needs something to watch.
Phone a Friend
We asked Vulture staff about some of their favorite movies to watch around Thanksgiving.
“Since the day after Thanksgiving is traditionally our putting-up-Christmas-décor day, we usually slide into Christmas viewing. Little Women (1994 or 2019) is our go-to.” —Genevieve Koski, senior TV editor
“When dinner’s over and I’m just the right amount of tipsy, that can mean only one thing: Load up The Last Waltz and pause the ‘This film should be played loud!’ title card until just enough dishes are done so I can sit back down, have some bonus pie and wine, and stare at Robbie Robertson’s beautiful face for two hours. Like most, I use the Neil Diamond segment as my bathroom break.” —Devon Ivie, writer
“What airs after the Thanksgiving Day Parade? The dog show, duh! Best in Show is a perfect Thanksgiving movie because it has all the interpersonal drama and low-stakes stress of a holiday plus a bunch of cute pooches to take your mind off everything.” —Bethy Squires, writer
Finally Streaming
Bugonia
“By the time Bugonia is over, with a series of beautiful and haunting images that seem to come out of nowhere, we understand that beneath its bemused dispassion lies a deep longing for connection. Early in the film, Teddy looks at his dying bees and sees similarities with humanity: “A dead colony atomized in a trillion directions with no way home again.” By the end, it’s clear the director has seen the same thing.”
Read the rest of critic Bilge Ebiri’s review on Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest feature here.
Available to rent on Prime Video and Apple TV
➽ Plus: Another unhinged Colleen Hoover movie is available to stream now.
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of November 21.
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