If you’re home for the holidays, you probably have a short downtime when the family just wants to sit around and watch a movie. A choice is absolutely impossible – every family has different requirements.
To solve the problem, we’ve put together a list of movies that can be streamed on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu for any type of family, whether you’re the kind of family that’s already fed up with the Christmas colors or the Kind of a family obsessed with outer space, or even if you are organizing friendsgiving this year.
Niko Tavernise / Netflix
For families who want to talk as little as possible
Martin Scorsese’s last film takes a whopping three hours and 30 minutes. That’s three and a half hours of blessed silence (or at least comments directed at the screen, not at you). Luckily, the movie about the real killer claiming to have killed Jimmy Hoffa is also one of the best of the year. The legends Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci deliver incredible performances and anchor a work that reflects not only the recent history, but also the bittersweet past of the time.
Streaming on Netflix
touchstone pictures
For families who need to make a compromise between a Ken Burns documentary and the latest Fast & Furious movie
National Treasure (2004)
Does your uncle claim that your great-great-great-grandfather died before revealing the place of a lot of gold he buried somewhere? Is there a painting in the house where you grew up that looks like a map with a big X? Does your family routinely quarrel over how much money can be spent on 23andMe? Are you all just American history nuts? Then I have a movie about Nicolas Cage as a historian, whose whole family is obsessed with the possibility that American Masons hid a lot of treasure during the Revolutionary War.
Streaming on Netflix
Next entertainment world
For families who have exhausted the cinematic Universe of Marvel
Psychokinesis (2018)
If your family has looked every comic movie to the point of exhaustion, it’s time to go beyond Disney’s limitations when it comes to superheroes. The psychokinesis staged by Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan) shows Ryu Seung-ryong as a dead father who suddenly has telekinetic abilities and must use them to rescue his daughter’s roast chicken restaurant from a mob.
Streaming on Netflix
Netflix
For families who always go to concerts together
Springsteen on Broadway (2018)
Just hours after Springsteen closed on Broadway, a Netflix version of the show was available for streaming. If your family are fans of the boss and missed his residence, or if you just love passionate jams, then Springsteen on Broadway is a joy and does not exclude what theatergoers have except the physical presence of Bruce Springsteen himself. Springsteen speaks in two and a half hours about his life and work and of course singing a bit.
Streaming on Netflix
Sony Pictures Animation
For families who can not decide whether Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield or Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man
There are many reasons why Spider-Man: Into the Spider’s verses is a perfect movie, but the fact that it is iridescent, an ambitious, versatile storyline, is a heartwarming watch for all ages. When high school student Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) witnesses the death of Spider-Man (Chris Pine) and sees himself mirched in the powers of Spider-Man the next day, after being bitten by a colorful spider, he finds himself in one Conflict that comes with nothing but one of Spider-Man’s biggest Nemeses, Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), but several other Spider-People.
Streaming on Netflix
Sony Pictures Release
For families with wild siblings
Step brothers (2008)
At a distance Adam McKay’s Step Brothers are considered one of the best comedies of the last 20 years. Moments like Adam Scott, who forces his family to cappella, or Richard Jenkins monologue “Do not Loose Your Dinosaur,” or Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, who perform “Por Ti Volaré” in the Catalina Wine Mixer, are indelibly pop culture. The story of two stepbrothers (Ferrell and Reilly), whose instinctive antagonism turns into an unbreakable friendship, is absurd but also damn funny.
Streaming on Netflix
Good go USA entertainment
For families who are already tired of Christmas being red and green
Shadow (2018)
Zhang Yimou’s action drama Shadow offers a change from holiday colors by playing almost exclusively in shades of gray. The costumes and sets are mostly black and gray, with occasional skin and natural flashes the rare exception. A story of farm intrigues with doppelgangers, love and Wuxia action, there is something for everyone.
Streaming on Netflix
Walt Disney Studios
For families who already have theirs Rise of Skywalker Tickets and are hype
Refresh what has happened in a distant galaxy and watch Star Wars: The Last Jedi before Skywalker’s ascent in December. The SparkNotes version: Rey (Daisy Ridley) receives Jedi training from the legendary Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), while Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac) try to save the resistance from the relentless pursuit of the First Order.
Streaming on Netflix
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
For families who already have theirs Rise of Skywalker Tickets are chilled
Sphere balls (1987)
Mel Brooks’ spaceballs are a parody of the original Star Wars trilogy as well as almost all other science fiction objects of the time. They are still flawlessly funny. With “Yogurt” instead of Yoda, “Dark Helmet” instead of Darth Vader and “Princess Vespa” instead of Princess Leia, it is a reef for note in Lucas’ original work and a perfect aperitif for Skywalker’s The Rise.
Streaming on Amazon
Warner Bros. Pictures
For families working on their next D & D campaign
Ascending Jupiter (2015)
Jupiter Ascending may not really have dungeons or dragons, but there are enough fantastic ideas to run one, two, three, or maybe a thousand campaigns. The Jupiter ascending stars Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum, written and directed by the Wachowski sisters, are the everyday earthly woman who discovers a whole world. It exists beyond the earth and half human, half dog, sent to take her into space. Interplanetary policy follows. Sean Bean turns into a bunch of bees.
Streaming on Netflix
Pixar
For families with children of different ages
Incredibles 2 has something to offer for both children and adults as it blends superhero hijinks, a surprisingly heavy message about their place in popular culture and our dependence on heroes in general, as well as the difficulties of parenting. Director Brad Bird’s action for action package takes the whole package into an exciting loop, making the family of superheroes the film (and its predecessor The Incredibles) focuses on incredibly dependable, even though they all have supernatural powers.
Streaming on Netflix
Drafthouse Films
For friends who do not want to host friendsgiving next year
The invitation (2015)
Are you tired of doing Friendsgiving every year? Let your friends wonder if this year’s going to be a craze by showing them The Invitation, the best movie of the last few years about a dinner party that has gone terribly, terribly wrong. We will not spoil the twists, but that will be better if you have a red light on the porch and if you make subtle hints about joining a cult or really engaging in spiritual philosophy before anyone looks at the movie ,
Streaming on Netflix
Paramount Pictures
For families who like to roar
Sometimes you just want to scream and cuddle, and one of the most reliable places to look for screaming and cuddling is Mission: Impossible. In Fallout, Tom Cruise re-emerges as the super spy Ethan Hunt, leading increasingly to death-defying stunts in our conversation. You’ll also see Henry Cavill, Cruise breaking his ankle during the jump, and the most fearful chopper / cliff fight of all time.
Streaming on Amazon, Hulu
Paramount Pictures
For families whose grandpa only sees old westerns
True Grit (2010)
Watch a new movie by streaming the version of True Grit from the Coen brothers, in which Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Hailee Steinfeld appear as a trio in search of a killer. Charles Portis’ original novel was published in 1968 and the film with John Wayne appeared in 1969; The Coen brothers work with the same material, but they focus on the strength of the young Mattie Ross (Steinfeld) and pack the canvas full of colorful characters in support of their story. It’s an emotional jerk of a movie and with a bit of snow perfect for the holidays.
Streaming on Amazon
A24
For families who need a moment of reflection to say, “At least we are not.”
The holidays can be a stressful time, especially if you are wondering how you may be related to your loved ones, and counting the minutes until you no longer have to be around. If this is the case, try Hereditary, which follows the Graham family as mourning and inherited trauma, setting them into a nightmarish, supernatural downward spiral. At least it’s not that bad!
Streaming on Amazon
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
For families who like to cook
Great night (1996)
What could be better than a Thanksgiving dinner? Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub make pasta! Big Night, co-directed by Campbell Scott and Tucci himself, plays Tucci and Shalhoub as brothers who run an Italian restaurant in the 1950s. The restaurant fails, but it seems they have the last chance when they are told that the famous singer Louis Prima will have dinner there. They pull out all the stops for the big night and invite everyone to attend the festival to prepare for the visit of Prima.
Streaming on Amazon
A24
For families who want to enjoy moments with college kids
Lady Bird (2017)
Growing up can be rough in a small and large way, as perfectly portrayed in Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. Saoirse Ronan plays Christine, who calls herself “Lady Bird” and who has the desire to attend college in a large city and to master the conflict between her family’s financial difficulties and their parents’ apparent inability to understand them. The film is particularly poignant as a portrait of pushing and pulling between mother and daughter, as Lady Bird and her mother (Laurie Metcalf) seem to have no similarities or can not properly express their love for each other as the days count down until Lady Bird leaves the house ,
Streaming on Amazon
Graham Bartholomew / Aviron Pictures
For families obsessed with twist-endings
OK, if your family members are obsessed with twist-endings, they probably already know what’s going on with Serenity. But if not, this is the perfect movie for the whole family to watch after dinner, with a revelation that will guide you through the New Year. Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway star in this fantasy thriller as the captain of a fishing boat and his ex-wife, who ask him to murder her abusive new husband for the sake of her son. That’s all? You have to be careful to find out.
Streaming on Amazon
James Dittiger / Paramount Pictures
For families who have just seen Ford against Ferrari and want to keep the engine running
Hot Rod (2007)
If Ford against Ferrari left you with a craving for vehicle cinema, the lonely island has covered you. Hot Rod, directed by Akiva Schaffer, plays Andy Samberg as Rod, a potential stuntman. His failed attempts to do sick tricks with his moped are becoming increasingly urgent, as his stepfather (Ian McShane), who constantly belittles him, needs a heart transplant that costs $ 50,000. Determined not to let his stepfather die before he earns his respect, Rod plans an epic stunt to raise the money for the operation.
Streaming on Amazon
Bleecker street
For families who have just seen Knife out and wants to keep the Southern James Bond accent
Logan Lucky (2017)
When Knives Out left you craving for more Southern Daniel Craig (but with a little more raid), Ocean’s 11-director Steven Soderbergh lets you surprise with a continuation of the spiritual assault. The Logan family – Jimmy (Channing Tatum), Clyde (Adam Driver) and Mellie (Riley Keough) – plan to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Career criminal Joe Bang (Craig) comes with bleached blonde hair and a clear non-bond accent for his confident expertise.
Streaming on Amazon
focus features
For families looking for just a singalong
Pirate Radio (2009)
Although Pirate Radio is cursed with too many titles (The Boat That Rocked in its UK home, Good Morning England in France, Radio Rock Revolution in Germany and I Love Radio Rock in Italy), Pirate Radio shamelessly reviews every major musical act out of the 1960’s with music from The Kinks, The Beach Boys, The Who, The Turtles, David Bowie and so on. The hits keep coming back as the movie, which revolves around a fictitious pirate radio station, unfolds, works in romances and various other tropes of growing up, while Carl (Tom Sturridge) gets his way among the colorful DJs.
Streaming on Amazon
Aidan Monaghan / Amazon Studios
For families who want to get the most out of their New York subscriptions
The Lost City of Z (2016)
In 2005, David Grann published in The New Yorker an article entitled “The Lost City of Z,” in which he reported on what might have become of the British explorer Percy Fawcett, who disappeared in 1925 in search of an ancient lost city. A long book explaining both history and Grann’s own travels in Fawcett’s footsteps. The book then became an artful adventure film directed by James Gray (Ad Astra), focusing on Fawcett’s journey and the consuming nature of obsession and exploration.
Streaming on Amazon
Jay Maidment / Lionsgate
For families stuck in the city
The commuter (2018)
If you feel grumpy that your holiday environment is not such a winter wonderland as it could be, you can really relax in that feeling by watching The Commuter, a thriller playing almost all at once. Michael (Liam Neeson) commutes every day on the Hudson Line. His modest routine is interrupted when a woman tells him he has to find a hidden passenger on the train or face the death of his friends and relatives.
Streaming on Amazon, Hulu
Paramount Pictures
For families with exotic pets
Rango (2011)
The most stressful part of a Toy Story movie is usually when a toy is separated from the rest of the gang by falling out of a car. They are so small! How do you get it back to safety? Rango answers a similar question and sends a pet chameleon into the Mojave Desert after his terrarium accidentally fell out of his owner’s car. The following adventure, in which he is voted sheriff of a city of creatures, sets him up in front of opponents like the Gila monster Bad Bill and the gunman Rattlesnake Jake and offers the strangest and most beautiful character designs and genre subversions you’ve ever seen.
Streaming on Amazon
Warner Bros. Pictures
For families who wish to be on the beach
Let the cool, refreshing waves of the seven underwater kingdoms in Aquaman flood you. Patrick Wilson as Orm. Willem Dafoe with a little man bun. Jason Momoa, a half-Atlantic, half-human superhero, is reluctant to take on his Atlantic responsibilities. Giant crab monster. Dinosaur in the center of the earth. Nicole Kidman with a trident. Julie Andrews as a deep-sea monster. Aquaman has everything.
Streaming via HBO Now or Hulu’s HBO add-on
Paramount Pictures
For families with children who are just entering high school
Middle Girls (2004)
Although it’s been 15 years since Mean Girls came out, it’s a classic for a reason. Lindsay Lohan plays Cady Heron, who is thrown into the world of public school after being taught at home all her life. Although she befriends Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian Leigh (Daniel Franzese) at first, she soon finds herself in orbit of small and superficial plastics, led by Regina George (Rachel McAdams). As she moves further into the world of plastics, she is forced to choose between true friendship and popularity in high school.
Streaming via Cinemax or the Cinemax add-on from Hulu
Sanja Bucko / Warner Bros. Pictures
For two families celebrating the holidays together for the first time
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Dealing with icy in-laws is a tale as old as time, but Crazy Rich Asians, who are piling Rome-Com-Trope on Rome-Com-Trope, have taken a new turn. Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) accompanies her friend Nick (Henry Golding) to the wedding of his best friend in Singapore. Only once does Rachel discover that Nick’s family – and everyone he knows – is astronomically rich and all members of high society. As such, it becomes a struggle to win the approval of Nick’s mother (Michelle Yeoh), who looks down on Rachel for too many reasons.
Streaming via HBO Now or Hulu’s HBO add-on
neon
For families who are happy how sad it is that every year the Curiosity Rover sings “Happy Birthday” for itself
Apollo 11 (2019)
Everyone can agree with the fact that the space is overwhelming; Maybe we’re not sure if that’s an impressive or a terrible thing. (Why not both?) The documentary Apollo 11 is rather impressive and uses archival footage that the public has never seen before to tell the story of the first space flight in which men enter the moon. Director Todd Douglas Miller does not use talking heads, letting the footage of one of the most incredible moments in history speak for itself.
Streaming on Hulu
Annapurna pictures
For families who are not giving presents this year
The shackles of capitalism loosen with Boots Riley’s dark comedy, in which Lakeith Stanfield appears as a young telemarketer, who after learning a “white voice” succeeds in his work, crossing between profit and ethical work as his friends seek to unite. The more he learns about the company, the harder it is to reconcile with the money he earns, especially since the company’s exploitative practices are moving into the field of science fiction.
Streaming on Hulu
Naiti Gmez / Magnolia pictures
For families who are thinking about converting
If you want to make a difference this Christmas, consider Satanism. As noted in Penny Lane’s documentary, the Satanic Temple may be one of the best religious groups ever, since its sole purpose is to promote religious freedom and combat discrimination of all kinds. Their followers may sometimes look silly – their original speaker, a dedicated actor, sportive horns, and a cloak – but they are pure of heart.
Streaming on Hulu
Universal pictures
For families looking for a new YA series after too many Harry Potter marathons
So OK, we do not get Mortal Engines 2, but at least Mortal Engines is one of the most imaginative movies that can be seen on screens in a while. And if you like it enough, it leads you to the series of books in which you dream of relocating the cities for a little while longer. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic future in which cities have become huge, moving machines that pursue and consume each other to gain supremacy. There is also a sad cyborg father. It is great.
Streaming on Hulu
Gerardo Jaconelli / Orion Pictures
For families who can not decide between a Christmas movie, a high school movie, a zombie movie or a musical
If you really can not commit yourself to something you want to see, why not watch a movie that covers as many basics as possible? Anna and the Apocalypse is a high school movie that takes place at Christmas, includes the Zombie Apocalypse and breaks out into a song at any appropriate moment. It’s a mish-mash of the most unlikely genres and, as such, a lot of fun when characters sing through zombie slaughter and deadly danger and use giant candy canes as weapons.
Streaming on Hulu
neon
For families who are arguing over whether to go to church over the holidays
Suffice it to watch Aretha Franklin performing, to believe everyone in God, and Amazing Grace, where Franklin records her eponymous live album, is a religious experience. Although the film was recorded in 1972, it remained invisible until 2018 due to problems with the synchronization of the audio and Franklin’s own interventions. It is now available, thanks to Franklin’s family, who has been responsible for releasing the movie after her death, and it is a great experience to see (and hear) Franklin singing.
Streaming on Hulu
Magnolia pictures
For families who want to be greener
Anyone can be a hero when it comes to being more environmentally aware, as the Icelandic-Ukrainian film Woman at War shows (albeit more drasticly). A gentle choir teacher has set herself the task of interrupting the operation of an aluminum plant in the Icelandic highlands with bow and arrow and general know-how to switch off the power of the plant. However, her activism is interrupted when her year-long petition for the adoption of a child is finally approved.
Streaming on Hulu
Magnolia pictures
For families founded
Shoplifters (2018)
Shoplifters is a popular choice for every family. Directed by Master Hirokazu Kore-eda, it is one of the most poignant films ever made (I never cried anymore). It’s all about what “family” is and how much love is capable. The shoplifters of the movie title are a found family that sometimes steals to get through. The de facto parents of the group take on another child if they repeatedly abandon it, and though they consider it best, the new family growth disturbs the established dynamic and threatens to tear it apart.
Streaming on Hulu
IFC Films
For families starting to enter the practice class
Swimming with men (2018)
Eric (Rob Brydon), an accountant, gets into a mid-life crisis – d. H. In the perfect condition where the men’s synchronized swim team presses them to join them as they need another person to balance their routines. By chance, each team member is in a crisis of their own, but during the training for the World Cup in Milan they find a new meaning together.
Streaming on Hulu
Aardman animations
For families with new vegetarians
Chicken Run (2000)
Aardman Animations is best known for Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, but Chicken Run could be his crowning glory. The film plays in a chicken coop. The chickens they contain produce eggs, but they can soon become pies, as the owners of the farm decide to switch to chicken pies for more profit. When a rooster arrives in their midst claiming to be able to fly, they ask him to help them do the same, so that they can fly away from the farm and flee. It’s The Great Escape, but with chickens.
Streaming on Hulu
Sony Pictures Classics
For families working on a new giant puzzle
Puzzle (2018)
Is it possible to make a compelling film about the puzzle? Yes, it is. Marc Turtletaub’s puzzle, based on the Argentinean film of the same name, is surprisingly great. Kelly Macdonald is a housewife who discovers a puzzling talent, and Irrfan Khan is the puzzle master she encounters while pursuing her passion. It’s a quiet movie – which is probably not surprising because the emphasis is on the puzzle – but a warm one that excels when Agnes (Macdonald) breaks out of its shell.
Streaming on Hulu
TriArt movie
For families, where everyone is mad at daddy right now
Force Majeure (2014)
Do you have your own family crisis? Do you want to have someone on hand? Ruben Östlund’s film follows a family that, after a brief moment of concern, discovers things they would rather not. When an avalanche breaks out in a ski resort, a patriarch flees instead of trying to save his family. Well done, Dad.
Streaming on Hulu
Pictures by Francois Duhamel / Annapurna
For families with precocious daughters who can handle a little blue humor
The burgeoning female sexuality experiences a sunny day with Booksmart, Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut. Best Friends Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) have spent most of their school time reading the books and decide to spend the final day celebrating with the other kids. The film is characterized by the fact that he does not become bookmaker heroes of Molly and Amy at the expense of other students. In fact, everyone is shaken fairly in a rare but refreshing change.
Streaming on Hulu
