Six Thanksgiving Films to Get Your Taste Buds Tingling and Your Heart Pumping
In this life everyone experiences their share of losses, challenges, and setbacks. It’s often said that it’s easier to focus on the bad than the good, and even if that’s true that doesn’t necessarily make it right. When tomorrow isn’t promised, how much more appealing is the memory of joy over sorrow? If life is a cycle, inevitably repeating itself, how much more appealing is a life of pleasure over pain? One might confuse this expressed idealism with naivety, but it’s more like spotlighting light itself. As visual storytellers and enthusiasts, we collectively understand that hardships and blues are as certain as the gripping cold that befalls the Film Independent headquarters this time of year. It’s a matter of choice, and here we choose to make the most out of life. To confront it as well as to celebrate it, because there is much to celebrate and be thankful for. Hopefully, that even includes this carefully curated list of six on-theme films!
Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that people can get really anxious about. Whether it be the pressure of cooking, seeing family, or even figuring out if you want to sit this one out. In a way, it acts as a prelude to Christmas. A let’s see how this goes kind of energy. The reality is that life pulls us in all different directions, and holidays are an opportunity to gather. Still, if you need to take a break from the conversation, or if you’re looking for something to keep the festivities going, the following are some Thanksgiving films to keep on your radar. From delicious spreads of food you wish you could just reach in and grab to complicated relationships untangling before you (for better or worse), at least one of these picks is sure to be worthy of home entertainment.
Babette’s Feast (1987)
Director: Gabriel Axel
Original Writer: Karen Blixen
Screenwriters: Gabriel Axel, Annemarie Aaes
Cast: Stéphane Audren, Bodil Kijr, Birgitte Federspiel, Jarl Kulle
Why We Love It: Prepare to experience the finest French seven-course meal you’ve ever seen portrayed on-screen in Babette’s Feast. It’s a singular dinner scene that takes its time, allowing you to feel like you’re there seated at the table alongside the characters, and in the kitchen with the woman behind it all. Babette (Stéphane Audren) is a Frenchwoman who unexpectedly—or rather miraculously—finds herself traveling to a quaint, seaside village in Denmark to work as a maid for two elderly sisters. The sisters, Filippa (Bodil Kijr) and Martine (Birgitte Federspiel), and most of the village residents are of a puritanical faith, which will later cause some anxiety among them about the approaching feast that seems much too foreign. Themes of abstinence and indulgence collide, and shown in different ways throughout the film. Is there a world where these two opposing forces can coexist? Axel’s masterpiece seems to think so, and perhaps it can politely persuade suspicious minds.
Where to Watch: HBO Max, Criterion Channel, Prime Video
Avalon (1990)
Writer/Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Armin Mueller-Stahl, Aidan Quinn, Elizabeth Perkins, Joan Plowright, Elijah Wood
Why We Love It: An Independence Day film just as much as a Thanksgiving film, with more than one Thanksgiving scene that is. Avalon is a generational drama that strikes a wonderful balance of cinematic and candid dramatization. As heartbreaking as the plot can get, Levinson and co. bring that “movie magic” to the screen, drawing attention to the impressive sets, costumes, and cinematography. It’s a decade-spanning story that at times feels like an epic, capturing the life of a Polish-American family in Baltimore. The perspective bounces between Sam Krichinsky (Armin Mueller-Stahl), Jules Kaye (Aidan Quinn), and Michael Kaye (Elijah Wood)—three generations journeying through their own experiences together. Avalon is an immigrant story, an entrepreneurial story, and a coming-of-age story all at the same time. This careful blend of perspectives makes the Krichinsky family feel whole, even when times get rough. Did I mention a promising performance by a 9-year-old Elijah Wood? Ah, the pre-Frodo days.
Where to Watch: Prime Video
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
Director: Ang Lee
Writers: Ang Lee, James Schamus, Wang Huiling
Cast: Lung Sihung, Yang Kuei-mei, Wu Chien-Lien, Wang Yu-wen
Why We Love It: According to Master Chef Chu (Lung Sihung): eating, drinking, men, and women are “basic human desires,” an idea that is explored tenderly in Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman. Set in Taipei, the film follows Chu and his three adulting daughters Jia-Jen (Yang Kuei-mei), Jia-Chien (Wu Chien-Lien), and Jia-Ning (Wang Yu-wen) as they navigate change between their personal lives and home life. Although not directly a Thanksgiving film, they gather for dinner weekly over a full spread of Chinese haute cuisine. Food and family, arguably the top two ingredients that make Thanksgiving, are front and center in this film. It distinctly meditates on growing pains, how and what young adults do in an effort to grow out of the dependency on their parents. Life is frightening, but it changes no matter what, so when you know you know. Perhaps what makes it easier is achieving a level of transparency with loved ones that wasn’t there before, because then you have less in life to worry about. If you’re looking for a sweet, heartfelt story with cooking montages for the senses, this might be your pick.
Where to Watch: Tubi, Kanopy, Prime Video
The House of Yes (1997)
Director: Mark Waters
Original Writer: Wendy MacLeod
Screenwriter: Mark Waters
Cast: Parker Posey, Josh Hamilton, Tori Spelling, Freddie Prinze Jr.
Why We Love It: The House of Yes is probably the least family-friendly pick on this list, and that’s precisely part of its charm. The right amount and quality of food, family, and communion are the main factors that allow for a successful Thanksgiving. However, sometimes the right amount and quality of these pillars don’t exactly come together, and you’re left with unpleasantry and dysfunctionality. That happens to be the case with the Pascale family, specifically when Marty (Josh Hamilton) brings his new girlfriend Lesly (Tori Spelling) to meet his family on Thanksgiving. His sister is obsessed with the assassination of John F. Kennedy, so much so that she goes by Jackie-O (Parker Posey). Twisted, right? Well, yes, and Posey gives one of the best performances of her career. So, if you happen to be in the mood for a little schadenfreude, or if you just want something fun to keep the party going, take a chance on this overlooked dark comedy.
Where to Watch: YouTube Movies & TV, Prime Video
Soul Food (1997)
Writer/Director: George Tillman Jr.
Cast: Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Brandon Hammond
Why We Love It: Sunday family dinners at Mama Joe’s is an upheld tradition for the Joseph family, but when she falls ill her daughters Teri (Vanessa Williams), Maxine (Vivica A. Fox), and Robin (Nia Long) struggle to maintain the tradition. Fortunately for them, the youngest in the family—the next generation—Ahmad (Brandon Hammond) cares deeply for this family tradition, and is moved to do what he can to keep it alive. Soul Food celebrates family in all its beauty and chaos. Big families are tough to navigate sometimes, and the film shows that unabashedly. The weekly meals symbolize the importance of consistent connectivity, something that may not always be possible, but worth pursuing. Hence, the meaningful impact traditions can have. The food becomes its own character that just calls for your attention. Classic soul food dishes like fried chicken and macaroni and cheese never looked so good. Its all-star cast brings top-tier charisma and emotional weight to the table, and leaves you believing in a message of forgiveness, unity, and mindfulness just a little bit more.
Where to Watch: Apple TV, Prime Video
The New World (2005)
Writer/Director: Terrence Malick
Cast: Colin Farrell, Q’orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale
Why We Love It: The New World may not depict the first Thanksgiving, but it depicts the appropriate faces, settings, and moods to help you imagine it. Much like Malick’s other works, it’s an undeniably breathtaking film that transports you to a less bulldozed and polluted North America. Every shot is composed with a poetic eye, immortalizing the unmatched beauty of the natural world. Another thing it immortalizes is the story of Amonute, better known as Pocahontas (Q’orianka Kilcher), and her relationships with John Smith (Colin Farrell) and John Rolfe (Christian Bale); an early piece of history that lacks credible documentation from all sides, often leading myth to precede truth. So, it’s no great surprise that creative liberty is taken, but the film still treats the story less as myth and more as something intensely human. An illuminating debut performance by Q’orianka Kilcher, paired with Malick’s direction brings nuance to a story that could have otherwise been wildly misinterpreted. The New World meditates on nature, cultural differences, great change, etc., all profound topics worthy of conversation throughout a day meant for giving thanks.
Where to Watch: Prime Video
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