After a long week, there’s nothing quite like a cozy family movie night to reset for the weekend. Whether that’s a hot new release (Dumbledore, we’re looking at you!) or a brand-new-to-you flick, here are a few of our favorite family movies streaming now. Just whip up a bowl of yummy popcorn and dim the lights, and let your favorite streaming platform bring the magic right to your living room.
Best Family Movies Streaming Now on Netflix
Yes Day
A cute one for family movie night, two parents who are always saying no decide to say yes to all of their kid’s requests with silly, hilarious results. Surprise the kids with a Yes Day of your own (and yes, the secret lies in a few simple ground rules).
Recommended or ages 8+
PG
All Together Now
If you’re looking for a drama that has an overall positive message that you can watch with your teens, All Together Now tells the tale of Amber Appleton and her struggles as she faces homelessness and poverty but never lets go of her dream of attending the Carnegie Mellon University, where her now-deceased father went to school. A well-rounded story with representation, including characters with disabilities. Because of situations that involve homelessness, abuse, and alcoholism, this is best for older (teenager) kids.
Recommended for ages 13+
PG
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
As animated movies go, we know how redundant they can be, but if you haven’t taken the time to watch The Mitchells vs. the Machines with your kids yet, you’re in for a treat. Cleverly done, there’s an unlikely superhero family with realistic problems (quirky brother, complex father-daughter relationship, everyone lost on their screens). What starts as an ordinary (for the Mitchells) road trip ends up turning into an epic people-vs.-robot-takeover. If you don’t laugh at the jokes on your own during this one, the sound of your kids laughing will have you giggling in no time.
Recommended for ages 8+
PG
Enola Holmes
Fun, fast-paced, and surprisingly sweet, the snooping, smartypants little sister of Sherlock on a quest to find her missing mother in this movie based on Nancy Springer’s young adult fiction series of the same name. Sherlock Holmes is already a famous master sleuth, but he’s no match for his younger, teenage sister (who is?).
Recommended for ages 11+
PG13
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
This Oscar-nominated documentary about the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the groundbreaking activists who sparked a revolution will educate and inspire your entire family. Follow a group of campers from Camp Jened—a summer camp for disabled youth that first opened in 1951 in the Catskills of New York, their move to Berkeley, California, and the start of an inclusion revolution still taking place today.
Recommended for ages 11+
Streaming Now on Amazon Prime
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Just released in 2022, the second of the live-action meets CGI Sonic movies is a jam-packed movie for fans of the video game character…or not. This movie has plenty of plot, battles, and one-liners, even if you’ve never heard of Sonic the Hedgehog before (because you’ve been living under a rock for the last 30 years) you’ll enjoy this movie with your kids. Not surprisingly, Sonic is faced with saving the world, again!
Recommended for ages 8+
PG
Wonder
Based on RJ Palacio’s bestselling novel, the movie is centered around Auggie Pullman, a child with facial differences who, after being homeschooled his entire school-aged life, enters fifth grade at a public school for the first time.
Recommended for ages 10+
PG
Sing & Sing 2
Everyone’s favorite amazing animal performers are back in this sequel that is just as packed with fantastic music and allstar cameos as the first one. The continuation of the storyline finds the incredible performers have met fame and all of their challenges. If you want to have a hilarious movie marathon or catch up on the first movie before watching Sing 2, Amazon is currently offering them as a bundle.
Recommended for ages 7+
PG
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
With some unexpected stars including Sam Rockwell and Zooey Deschanel, the movie takes a clever play as a movie based on a Douglas Adams’ book (based on a radio show). In the movie, we meet the last surviving man on Earth who is rescued by an almost human-like alien and the author of the travel guide: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Hilarious space antics ensue. Some of the jokes will go over the kid’s heads, but likewise, some of the jokes the kids will get and parents won’t (such is life). Win-win for movie night!
Recommended for ages 9+
PG 13
Wonderstruck
Based on Brian Selznick’s bestselling novel of the same name, the movie tells the story of two 12-year-old deaf kids in two different times, 1977 and 1927. In their times, both kids run away from home to New York City to the American Museum of Natural History and the two kids’ stories converge.
Recommended for ages 9+
PG
Best Family Movies Streaming Now on Disney+
Black Panther
The action-packed film follows T’Challa who returns home to Wakanda—the most advanced civilization on Earth—to take his place on the throne after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda. If you somehow missed this one at the box office, or even if you didn’t, this awesome film is the first superhero movie Marvel Universe to focus on a superhero of color and is worth watching more than once.
Recommended for ages 11+
PG-13
Turning Red
In this 2022 Pixar film that addresses puberty in a healthy, playful way, Mei Ling is a confident 13-year-old girl who finds herself suddenly transformed into a giant red panda. Tackling tough issues like body changes in an animated form with success is not an easy task, but watching this with your kids will help foster discussions, now or in the future, about the normalcy of body changes. Triple bonus that Sandra Oh is the voice of Mei Ling.
Recommended for ages 10+
PG
Hamilton
The filmed version of the original Broadway hit, a musical combining traditional Broadway-style with hip-hop, jazz, and R&B, tells the story of founding father Alexander Hamilton. Not a big fan of musicals? This one just might convert you.
Recommended for ages 11+
PG-13
Betty White Goes Wild
Known as a champion of animal rights, the late great Betty White’s love of big cats is showcased in this short 44-minute documentary. Possibly one of the few things out in the last several years that gets a G rating!
Recommended for ages 5+
G
The Muppet Movie
The 1979 original classic full-length movie, we’re betting your kids will love this as much as you did and you’ll love the trip down memory lane. Join Piggy, Kermit, Fozzy, and all their friends on an epic road trip to find that “rainbow connection.” Packed with cameos, from celebrities to Big Bird.
Recommended for ages 5+
G
Chasing Mavericks
Based on the true story of surfing icon Jay Moriarty, watch the gripping story of a young man’s quest to surf Mavericks—one of the most dangerous surfing competitions in the world—and the local legend who teaches him his tricks.
Recommended for ages 9+
PG
Streaming Now on HBOMax
The Batman
A Batman reboot that fans of the genre will want to see, parents should know it is fairly violent, even for a comic-hero film. The plot line is not unfamiliar: a sadistic killer is taking down political figures in Gotham and Batman is on the case.
Recommended for ages 14+
PG-13
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Go for an epic weekend or one long day-into-night with a trilogy of the rings binge-fest. The trilogy, based on the iconic works of J.R.R. Tolkien, includes three movies—The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. All three have earned a place in the canon of fantasy movies, no small feat, but all three do have scary material so younger viewers may not sleep well after watching.
Recommended for ages 12+
PG-13
Death on the Nile
A recent release, this Agatha Christie novel comes to life for a new generation with Kenneth Branagh as Poirot. Some more mature themes that teenagers can handle, younger kids will probably just not get it and may even find it boring.
Recommended for ages 13+
PG-13
Aquaman
Jason Momoa stars as the epic comic-book-comes-to-life character of Aquaman. If you haven’t seen it yet, for an action-based, superhero movie it’s relatively tame in terms of violence and scary scenes (there are some) as the human-born heir to the underwater mythical kingdom of Atlantis strives to keep the peace between the aquatic and terrestrial worlds.
Recommended for ages 11+
PG-13
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
The latest addition to the Fantastic Beasts series hits HBOMax at the end of May 2022 so if you haven’t seen it on the big screen yet, you can soon watch it right at home. The backstory of Professor Albus Dumbledore, for fans of Harry Potter, it’s a must-watch.
Recommended for ages 12+
PG-13
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