3 best (HBO) Max movies to watch for Thanksgiving

By Blair Marnell Published November 28, 2024

Thanksgiving is here, and if you’re household isn’t glued to the NFL games on Turkey Day then you should know that there are other options. Max offers subscribers a wide variety of movies to choose from. And since we’re assuming that you’re spending Thanksgiving with your family, disturbing flicks like A Clockwork Orange are not on the menu.

Our picks for the three best (HBO) Max movies to watch for Thanksgiving are pretty family-friendly, even though the final selection is a bit more mature than the other two films. But between these three movies, you’ll find magic, music, romance, and more.

Need more Thanksgiving recommendations? Then try 10 great movies to watch on Thanksgiving, the 5 great Netflix thrillers to watch on Thanksgiving, the 10 great Amazon Prime Video movies to watch on Thanksgiving, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2024: all confirmed performers.

Although the Fantastic Beasts franchise proved to be disappointing at the box office by the time the third film came around, the first movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, is extremely charming and it isn’t bogged down by unnecessary Harry Potter connections. Eddie Redmayne (the star of Peacock’s The Day of the Jackal) headlines the film as Newt Scamander, a quirky British wizard who has come to America in the early 1920s on a personal mission with his coterie of creatures living in his magical briefcase.

An American witch, Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), is convinced that Newt has broken the law of American wizards, even she and her sister, Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol), become close to him and his new human friend, Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler). But the real threat to the magical world is the ruthless Percival Graves (The Penguin‘s Colin Farrell) and an abused teenager, Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), who is more powerful than he seems.

Watch Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them on Max.

Fantastic Beasts and Wonka actually pair up nicely together, even though the latter is a musical. Timothée Chalamet steps into some pretty big shoes by taking over the role of Willy Wonka as a young man. This is a prequel to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and the title character hasn’t yet become a trickster. If anything, he’s a naïve dreamer who wants to combine his talent for magic and chocolate into something wonderful.

Willy’s ambitions to own his own chocolate store are dashed by rivals who want to crush him before he can get a foothold in their industry. But they’ve underestimated Willy’s resiliency and his passion for his work. Once Willy figures out what he needs to do to succeed, not even these so-called chocolate barons can stand in his way.

Watch Wonka on Max.

Before the age of Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow was 1593’s most-eligible bachelorette in Shakespeare in Love, the Oscar-winner for Best Picture in 1998. Paltrow also won an Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of Viola de Lesseps, a young woman who is pressured by her family to marry Lord Wessex (Colin Firth), a much older man.

Viola’s true passion lies in theater, and she quickly becomes infatuated with William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes), a playwright who is so inspired by her talent that he writes Romeo & Juliet. William and Viola’s passion burns brightly, but not even their newfound love can break the social norms of the times. At least not without a little help from Queen Elizabeth I, the role that earned Judi Dench an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Watch Shakespeare in Love on Max.

We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.