The Best Five Thanksgiving Movies Of All Time Ranked

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There are two kinds of Thanksgiving people. 

The ones who pretend they are there for “gratitude and togetherness,” and the ones who admit they are there for carbs, couch time, and falling asleep on the couch at 4 in the afternoon to the sound of background football noise.

Outside of the morning's Macy's Day Parade, and now three NFL games we are treated to, Thanksgiving Day movies play a big role in the day. The good ones understand that the holiday is equal parts heartwarming and horrifying. Travel disasters. Relatives who overshare far, far too much. And food that may or may not be cooked through. 

Thanksgiving movies for sure don't get the shine that Christmas movies do, but the good ones are great. So they deserve some recognition. Let's rank the top 5. Starting with #5. 

#5- Home For The Holidays (1995)

Since we're in the circle of trust here, I'm going to be honest with you guys. I needed a number 5, because you can’t do a top 4 countdown, so I had to dig deep to find something, and this was the best of what I found that I have 1- seen before, and 2- don't hate. 

Home for the Holidays nails the feeling of coming home for Thanksgiving as an adult and immediately reverting back to your teenage self. Holly Hunter’s character shows up to home broke, stressed, and on edge, and then dinner with her loud, chaotic family turns into an emotional meltdown. You got sibling rivalries, generational misunderstandings, and the kind of small, subtle sentimentalness that only show up between people who have years of history. Chicks love this movie. 

#4 - Scent of a Woman (1992)

The haters will say that this is a boarding school movie, but the heart of the story unfolds over Thanksgiving break. Al Pacino’s blind, retired lieutenant colonel character drags his young caretaker to New York for one last blowout weekend. And their hotel stay and fancy dinners play out against the loneliness of a holiday away from family. 

Their last-minute Thanksgiving visit to his relatives is an absolute master class in unspoken resentment, regret, and how hard it can be to truly connect. 

#3- Dutch (1991)

This is kind of a sleeper mpvie and I have never really understood why. I think of this one as a rougher cousin of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. 

It is also (in my opinion) Ed O’Neill's second best role behind Little Giants. 

He plays a well-meaning guy who offers to drive his girlfriend’s snobby prep school son home for Thanksgiving. A road trip disaster follows, complete with fistfights, car trouble, and just enough bonding to keep it from turning into pure misery. It is not subtle, but it is a solid “two guys who hate each other stuck in a car” Thanksgiving watch, with a surprisingly warm payoff. A classic John Hughes film.

#2 - A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)

If you grew up in this country, this special is basically hardwired into your brain. 

It is short, sweet, and simple, but it captures the nervous pressure of trying to host people when you have no idea what you are doing. 

Watching Charlie Brown and Snoopy throw together a “meal” of toast, popcorn, and jelly beans is the ultimate reminder that Thanksgiving is more about who is there than what is on the table. The gentle sincerity still works on kids and adults. A true all-timer.

#1- Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

If you have not seen Planes, Trains and Automobiles, I am not saying your childhood was bad. I am just saying it was incomplete.

This is not just the best Thanksgiving movie. It is one of the best comedies ever made. Flat out. 

Every year, people argue about “comfort movies” and “holiday classics” and whatever else, and somehow, there are still human beings walking around who have never watched Steve Martin and John Candy share a motel bed and scream, “Those are not pillows.” That should be required viewing before you are allowed to complain about travel on social media.

Circle of trust again- did I write this entire blog just so I had a reason to gush and gargle this movie? Probably. But it'ss very well deserved. 

For the younger crowd who grew up with Marvel, TikTok humor, and 7 different streaming services, here is the pitch-

Planes, Trains and Automobiles is about an extremely stressed out, tightly wound guy ("Neal", played by Steve Martin) just trying to get home for Thanksgiving and a chatty, overly friendly stranger ("Del", played by John Candy) who keeps accidentally making his life worse. 

Thats it. 

No multiverse. No CGI sky beam. Just two guys, a bunch of travel disasters, and a script that is so perfectly written that there is not a single wasted scene in the entire film.

Steve Martin plays the most miserable business traveler you have ever seen in every airport. 

John Candy plays the guy who talks to you in line when you clearly do not want to be talked to. 

ANd by the end of the movie, you somehow love them both. Their chemistry is unreal. One is quietly boiling, the other is cheerfully clueless, and every time the universe throws another problem at them, it gets funnier and somehow more heartfelt.

What makes this movie absolute gold is how real the annoyances feel. 

Delayed flights. 

Rental car hell. 

Sharing cramped hotel rooms. 

Sitting across from a stranger who chews way too loud. 

The jokes are all simple and human. Nothing crazy or over the top. That is why it still hits 35 years later, while half the comedies from five years ago already feel outdated and stale.

And without spoiling it for the young people, this movie does something almost no modern comedy ever pulls off. 

aIt is genuinely laugh out loud funny, and then, without warning, it punches you right in the gut. There is a quiet emotional turn near the end of the movie that recontextualizes everything you just watched, and it does it without a big speech or cheesy music telling you how to feel. It "earns it" as only a true John Hughes movie can.

We also get one of the greatest “lose your mind at customer service” scenes ever filmed. Every person who has ever dealt with a useless and rude gate agent, or a broken app, or a “there is nothing I can do” answer will feel that scene deep in their plums.

Want to know which movie is most-definitely NOT in the top 5 Thanksgiving Day movies? 

p.s. - Fun Facts about Planes, Tranes, and Automobiles