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Choosing a movie to watch with family can be a pain in the you-know-what. There are so many tastes and age restrictions to consider. Nobody wants to be the person who picks the movie that bores their family members or scars them for life. Here are the best movies to watch with family and hopefully satisfy everyone.
Some might fit what you're looking for more than others. We're all different! Not every family has the same definition of what is and is not appropriate. Maybe you don't make your kids leave the room when you watch movies, but cover their eyes during anything scandalous. Maybe you're a full-grown adult and still feel queasy watching s-e-x scenes with your mom and dad. I'm not here to judge you or tell you how to run your family.
And not every family has little kids to consider, I might add. So while I have selected a few youthful picks this is not a list of kids' movies. Little kids are capable of watching and enjoying movies about grown-ups, you know. It's been known to happen! To me at least, PG-13 still counts as a family film, but I will note the rating just to be upfront. Maybe you're most concerned about bridging the gap between your 15 year-old cousin Jonah and your sister-in-law. I don't know your life! But I do know movies that can be family friendly crowd pleasers.
Nimona (2023)
Rated: PG
ND Stevenson wrote and published the webcomic Nimona when he was in college and Tumblr famous, and now it's a movie! Millennial success stories don't get much better than that. As a fantasy adventure, the movie is unlike anything you've ever seen. The characters and relationships make familiar tropes feel so fresh. This is a great movie to watch with your family when they're sick of overplayed animated movies and feel like they've seen it all.
October Sky (1999)
Rated: PG
Dudes rock. Especially dudes in high school who don't fit in with their football brothers and coal mine fathers and decide to deal with that by learning rocket science. If this movie can get me hyped about a science fair, like, what's every other movie's excuse?
Sing Street (2016)
Rated: PG-13
These dudes who rock started a band! It's kind of a musical and kind of not. The elder millennial, Gen X, and cool Boomer members of your family will appreciate all of the '80s music references. Younger folks will appreciate the rebellious coming-of-age story. Are kids still into those? God, I'm so old.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Rated: G
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Wizard of Oz has been bringing families together for decades. It is a timeless story that's fun to introduce to family members for the first time or rewatch for the 100th time.
The Farewell (2019)
Rated: PG
I think people might not remember that Awkwafina got a Golden Globe for Lulu Wang's movie. (Some stuff happened after January 2020 IIRC). Awkwafina plays a Chinese-American writer named Billi who finds out that her grandmother has terminal cancer and goes to China to potentially see her for the last time. For Western audience members, like yours truly, it challenges a lot of ideas we may have about family. It challenges Billi, and fuels her ongoing existential crisis, as well!
Apollo 13 (1995)
Rated: PG
The best kinds of movies to watch with family, in my opinion, are about people who are good at their job. That job could be sports, investigative journalism, robbing casinos, or going to outer space–I'm eating it up and so are my mom and dad. Apollo 13 is the emotional true story of a Moon mission gone awry and how the brightest minds worked together to bring the astronauts home. I'm tearing up just thinking about it!
Matilda: The Musical (2022)
Rated: PG-13
If you ever think your family is bad, it's good to remember that it could be worse. Why am I choosing the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel and not the '90s film you probably know by heart? I'll answer that question with a question: have you heard Tim Minchin's lyrics? They're as darkly funny, satirical, and intelligent as Matilda herself. Your family will love it.
Star Wars (1977)
Rated: PG
You might forget, because the loudest and proudest Star Wars fans these days are grown adults, that George Lucas' original film was geared toward younger audiences. The first film, later titled A New Hope, is especially kid-friendly with only mild fight scenes, "tense moments" instead of actual scares, and long stretches where you're just watching droids in the desert.
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Rated: PG
Ava Duvernay's adaptation knows just how weird this novel by Madeleine L'Engle is. The movie is swirling, awkward, and brilliant just like the protagonist Meg Murry. I also think, since we see so many movies growing up about boys rescuing girls, that it's important to at least balance with a movie about a girl rescuing her missing dad. But that's not the whole point! Watching movies with family shouldn't feel like homework.
In The Heights (2021)
Rated: PG-13
When it comes to watching musicals with the family, older generations might suggest The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, or Singing in the Rain. I challenge you to challenge them by watching In The Heights. It's about family and communityafter all. And I know your family could use different Lin-Manuel Miranda music to obsess over. Your little cousin's Encanto phase and your mom's Hamilton obsession are getting old!
Cool Runnings (1993)
Rated: PG
Walt Disney Pictures used to make so many great sports movies that the whole family could enjoy. Whatever happened to those? Anyway, this is the iconic story of the origins of the Jamaican bobsled team. It's sweet, funny, triumphant, and did I mention based on a true story?
Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
Rated: PG-13
If your family looooves Mary Poppins but doesn't feel like watching it or Mary Poppins Returns for the 1,000th time, I cannot recommend this film enough. It's a tear-jerker for sure. The movie flashes back and forth between P.L. Travers, who wrote Mary Poppins, working on the film adaptation, and her tumultuous childhood in Australia. It will make you feel every single feeling about growing up, fathers, Disney, and the power of storytelling there is.
Shattered Glass (2003)
Rated: PG-13
Star Wars fans can delight in this being a movie with both Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, even though Hayden Christensen and Rosario Dawson don't share the screen. Everyone else can delight in one of the most low-stakes true crime stories ever made. You'll be rooting for and against Stephen Glass and pumping your fist at how he finally gets caught even though he never hurt a single person.
Paper Moon (1973)
Rated: PG
Played by real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O'Neal, Moses Pray and Addie Loggins are an iconic con artist duo. The grifter and the girl he's agreed to take to live with her aunt make a great team. Is he secretly her father, or just some guy? As they meet other interesting characters along the way and learn how to rely on each other it kind of stops mattering.
Bend it Like Beckham (2002)
Rated: PG-13
This is as much of a family story as it is a soccer football story. Jess is not only honing her already elite soccer skills, crushing on her coach and finding family with her teammates. She's hiding it all from her family at home. The push and pull of those family bonds is the foundation of any good coming of age film.
A League of their Own (1992)
Rated: PG
Honestly, your family could watch baseball movies all day. Field of Dreams and Angels in the Outfield, both rated PG, were favorites of mine growing up, and I wasn't the littlest bit interested in the sport. But there's something so extra special about A League of Their Own. It's educational, heartbreaking, and hilarious too. And in conclusion: Madonna.
Stardust (2007)
Rated: PG-13
This is a weird little fantasy romance that I think more people should see. It's based on a book by Neil Gaiman about witches, pirates, and royal succession. If there's a guy in your family acting all reluctant and weird about watching a fairy tale, tell him Robert De Niro and Daredevil (Charlie Cox) are in it and to STFU.
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Rated: PG-13
I think I went through a phase where every time my dad turned on the hotel TV on a family road trip, the last 20 minutes of Ocean's Eleven was on and we dutifully watched. Did anyone else have this experience? Watching this merry band of career criminals pull off their heist with ease is oddly soothing. Sometimes, that's just what your family needs.
Clue (1985)
Rated: PG
I do feel like this would be rated PG-13 if it were released today. Some of the dirtier jokes aren't as commonplace today. However, that doesn't stop me from coming back to this hilarious comedy over, and over, and over. So don't let it stop you and your family! It's hilarious, quotable, slapstick perfection.
Galaxy Quest (1999)
Rated: PG
The wonderful thing about Galaxy Quest is that it appeals to people who love science fiction adventures like Star Trek and the people who think Star Trek is for dorks. (I'm the former FYI.) It lovingly pokes at the sillier aspects of the genre. But at the end of the day, it's a hilarious story about cynical coworkers who are forced to not fake it for once and actually work together.
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