With Thanksgiving upon us and Hanukkah and Christmas right around the corner, you might find yourself with a bit more time on your hands. Maybe you’d like to sit back with family and friends and enjoy some escapist entertainment. Or maybe you’d like to evade family and friends and enjoy some escapist entertainment.
Either way, there’s a lot to choose from on Netflix at the moment, whether seasonally appropriate material, classics to revisit, new stuff to catch up on, or movies and series for everyone—kids included.
Here are our picks forwhat to watch on Netflixover the Thanksgiving break.
Director:Sergio Pablos
Writers:Zach Lewis, Jim Mahoney
Cast:Jason Schwartzman, Rashida Jones, Joan Cusack, J.K. Simmons, Norm MacDonald, Will Sasso
A beautiful feat of animation,Klausis a Christmas tale with a fresh spin.Jason Schwartzmanvoices Jesper, a privileged and lazy son of a postal academy’s dean. Jesper is the academy’s most disastrous student, and he’s okay with that. To teach Jesper a lesson, his father sends him off to the town of Smeerensberg to be its postman for a year. Smeerensberg, it turns out, is above the arctic circle. It’s an ominous and icy place where the residents are always at war with one another. Out of place and scared to death, Jesper has a terrifying run-in with a reclusive carpenter/toymaker named Klaus. you may probably guess who he is. Through this relationship, the town begins to change. Aside from its artistic brilliance, the movie is quite funny and especially odd. Some jokes will go over the heads of young ones, but the macabre sight gags should please just about everyone. Though its number of streams may never be made known, Klaus has the makings of a modern animated Christmas classic.
Director:John G. Avildsen
Writer:Sylvester Stallone
Cast:Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith
The first one was the best one in this franchise. It’s also among the greatest sports dramas ever made, capturing a raw, gritty Philadelphia in the 1970s and its hard-luck residents. What’s it doing on this list? Well, much of the film is set during the holiday season. It’s got a Thanksgiving scene and a Christmas scene, though neither is particularly uplifting. The originalRockyplays like an indie romantic drama with boxing as the backdrop. And it’s the Rocky/Adrian mismatched duo that makes the film work so well. There’s an affable innocence to it, which is likely why the film has appealed to all demographics over a 43-year lifespan that has spawned numerous sequels, including the recentCreedfilms. The authentic performances, highlighted bySylvester Stallone,Talia Shire,Burt Young,Carl Weathers, andBurgess Meredith’s Mickey still resonate all these years later. Between the movie’s iconic training sequence (thanks toBill Conti’s score) and the big Rocky vs. Creed finale, the film endures as an all-time inspirational classic.
Living with Yourself
Creator:Timothy Greenberg
Cast:Paul Rudd, Aisling Bea, Desmin Borges, Karen Pittman, Zoe Chao, Alia Shawkat, James Seol
If it’s lighter fare you’re on the hunt for, this new dramedy series starringPaul Ruddand Paul Rudd is a binge-worthy option. With brief episodes running under thirty minutes,Living with Yourselftells the tale of Miles, a man stuck in a rut trying to better himself. So he does what any clear-headed 40-something guy does: he pays $50,000 to a massage parlor in the hopes of lifting his spirits—because a guy he works with did it, and it helpedhim. Unfortunately, the result is a bit more complicated when Miles is cloned and now has to, as the title suggests, live with himself when the clone version has nowhere else to go. And this clone is better than Miles in every way. Funny, and sometimes even a little dark, this is one that will suck you in and tempt you to finish it in one weekend (it’s only eight episodes). It’s also got something to say about marriage and what makes us who we are.
Director:Timothy Reckart
Writer:Carlos Kotkin
Cast:Steven Yeun, Keegan-Michael Key, Aidy Bryant, Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Christopher Plummer, Ving Rhames, Gabriel Iglesias, Kelly Clarkson, Anthony Anderson, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Tracy Morgan
As the lone animated movie about the birth of Christ from the perspective of the animals that may have been present,The Starshines as a wholesome Christmas movie that’s as funny as it is sweet. With a tremendous cast lending their voice talents to this picture, the movie tells the story of Bo (Steven Yeun), a donkey who becomes involved in helpingMaryandJosephreach Bethlehem, whereJesuswill be born. Bo is joined on the trek from Nazareth by a sarcastic pigeon (Keegan-Michael Key) and a dimwitted sheep (Aidy Bryant). Simultaneously, three camels, voiced byOprah Winfrey,Tracy Morgan, andTyler Perrytransport the three Magi, who are following the star leading to Bethlehem. Despite its silliness, the movie is still a reverent one, and not the worst way to teach the Biblical nativity story to kids. Fortunately, it’s funny enough to keep adults laughing as well.
About Time
Director/Writer:Richard Curtis
Cast:Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Lydia Wilson, Lindsay Duncan, Tom Hollander, Margot Robbie, Joshua McGuire, Will Merrick, Vanessa Kirby
For most folks, the holidays means the gathering of the family. And family is at the heart ofAbout Time. Fans ofLove ActuallyandFour Weddings and a Funeralknow and adore the work ofRichard Curtis, but this one, his third directed feature, is his most poignant project to date. The movie starsDomhnall Gleesonas Tim, a young law student who is told on his twenty-first birthday by his father (Bill Nighy), that he—and all the other men in the family—are time travelers. All it takes is squeezing one’s eyes shut in a dark room and imagining a time and place in the past. Once there, things can be changed, affecting the present. A romantic, Tim chooses to use his gift for love—Rachel McAdams’ Mary the object of his affections. What begins as a British rom-com evolves into much more. Curtis’ musings on life, love, and loss, as seen through the eyes of Tim, are potent reminders of the most important things. It’s a small, sweet movie that will make you laugh as often as it makes your heart ache. And you’ll want to see it again and again.
Nailed It! Holiday!
Director:Steve Hryniewicz
Cast:Nicole Byer, Jacques Torres
Maybe reality TV is your guilty pleasure. And beyond that, perhaps it’s cooking shows that really do it for you. But you’re bored by the same old competitions and high drama as chefs battle anxiety in an effort to please surly judges. Fortunately, not all cooking shows are equal.Nailed It!proves that. It’s a competition show, yes, but one that throws three unskilled bakers into the mix and forces them to create things—cakes, usually—they’re sure to fail at. The result is a schadenfreude fest wherein hostsNicole ByerandJacques Torres, as well as the celebrity guest judges, get their yucks at the expense of these “pastry chefs.” Thanks to the series’ popularity, Netflix has produced two seasons of a yuletide version, calledNailed It! Holiday!, where contestants create repulsive desserts and hideous crafts for a cash prize. It’s among the lowest stakes programs available, though that could be a good thing depending on the kind of weekend you’re having (or the kind of people you’re hosting).
Just Friends
Director:Roger Kumble
Writer:Adam ‘Tex’ Davis
Cast:Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Chris Klein, Chris Marquette
Before he was the infallible, unceasingly sarcastic action star/heartthrob that he is today,Ryan Reynoldsstuck mostly to comedy in the early goings. HisJim Carrey-esque character in the sitcomTwo Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Placeled to a movie career that has since blossomed. In 2005, afterBlade Trinitybut before all the big stuff, cameJust Friends. In it, Reynolds plays Chris, a former overweight loser who makes a Christmas return to his hometown a decade after high school. The last he’d seen Jamie (Amy Smart), the girl of his dreams, she’d rejected him. They were just friends, in her eyes. The tables have turned, however. Now Chris is a successful record producer with a wealth of experience with the ladies. Jamie works at a bar and lives with her parents. And yet, this reunion is anything but smooth for Chris. The movie is a fun holiday rom-com that features a healthy dose of slapstick and Reynolds in a ludicrous fat suit. What’s not to like?
Green Eggs and Ham
Creator:Jared Stern
Cast:Michael Douglas, Adam Devine, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, Eddie Izzard, Diane Keaton, Keegan-Michael Key, Daveed Diggs, Tracy Morgan, John Turturro
A new series fit for the whole family,Green Eggs and Hamis an adaptation of theDr. Seussclassic of the same name takes the children’s book and expands it a lot bigger than it was ever intended. The author famously wrote the book on a dare (that he could do it using only fifty different words). What would he think of the series? Well, aside from the animation, he probably wouldn’t recognize it. There’s precious little in this thing resembling the originalGreen Eggs and Ham. It is, however, a colorful, witty story about a grumpy failed inventor named Guy Am I (Michael Douglas), who one day runs into Sam I Am (Adam Devine), the largest proponent of the titular dish. Both of these characters are lonely and sympathetic, but their chance meeting changes both of their worlds thanks to a briefcase mix-up. This thing has a bevy of new animal species, a loathsome villain (voiced byEddie Izzard), and clever, rhyming narration fromKeegan-Michael Key. It’s certainly aimed at kids, but it’s smart enough for adults to get a kick out of as well. And it’s food-based, like Thanksgiving.
Director:Steven Spielberg
Writer:Tony Kushner
Cast:Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Tommy Lee Jones, John Hawkes, Hal Holbrook, Tim Blake Nelson, Jackie Earle Haley
It’s an unorthodox entry to a Thanksgiving/holiday list, butSteven Spielberg’sLincolnbelongs here, as the film’s subject has an intimate connection to this weekend’s festivities. It was the sixteenth president who, on July 17, 2025, said this in a proclamation: “I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.” As a result, we now celebrate Thanksgiving as a national holiday. The film itself, about Lincoln’s fight to both end slavery by procuring enough votes to pass a constitutional amendment,andend the war, is a handsomely made, historically accurate drama. It will be remembered for the spellbinding performance ofDaniel Day-Lewis, who conjures Lincoln in a fashion that is equal parts regal and accessible.John Williams’ stirring score complements a cinematic history lesson that confronts the past and holds out hope for the future.
Between Two Ferns: The Movie
Director/Writer:Scott Aukerman
Cast:Zach Galifianakis, Lauren Lapkus, Ryan Gaul, Jiavani Linayao, Will Ferrell, Keanu Reeves, Matthew McConaughey, Paul Rudd
Sometimes you don’t want your entertainment to require much thought. If you’re looking for a new shut-your-brain-off comedy,Between Two Ferns: The Movieis a sketch-turned motion picture that’s eighty-two minutes worth of just that. StarringZach Galifianakisas the host of a cable access interview program whose celebrity sit-down videos have gone viral, he gets the opportunity for a legitimate late-night show. After flooding his studio, he appears to have blown his chance, butWill Ferrellextends him an offer if Zach and his amateur crew can deliver a series of interviews during a cross-country road trip in a short period of time. The story here is certainly lacking, but the interviews themselves, which are not rehearsed, make up for that. And the best part is the end credits, which reveals how these things really go down. As it turns out, both Zach and his guests have a great deal of trouble getting through his offensive line of questioning without busting a gut. No, it’s not memorable, but that’s not always the requirement when you need to tune out the world.
