Netflix provides a perfect opportunity for families to sit down and watch movies together at home. The streaming service has a ton of great family favorite films from which to choose.
There is something here for everyone, from great family-friendly comedy movies and adventurous sci-fi flicks to rediscovering classics.
Whether parents are trying to introduce their children to movies from their childhood, or kids show their parents new films from this generation, kids of all ages can find something to enjoy.
From a time-traveling DeLorean to a talking mouse and from a family of superheroes to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Netflix has it all.
Here are 15 of the best family movies you can catch this month on Netflix.
Updated in January 2022: Every month, Netflix removes many movies from its streaming service.
The good news is that Netflix reloads with many new movies, and we are always looking for replacements.
Hook (1991)
Steven Spielberg directed a family movie based on the tales of Peter Pan in 1991 titled Hook.
The movie starred Robin Williams as Peter Pan and Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, and the movie was mostly seen as a letdown through the year of Spielberg’s career.
However, both for kids who grew up when the movie was released and for young explorers today, there is a lot to love about the movie, which was very much a boy’s tale about adventures and friendship.
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Kung Fu Panda is a DreamWorks animation movie about a clumsy panda bear who learns he might be the chosen one.
The voice cast was spectacular, with Jack Black voicing Po, the panda. He is joined by Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu and Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, and Jackie Chan as the Furious Five.
Despite no one believing in him, Po trains hard and ends up standing up to the Furious Five’s enemy, Tai Lung, a snow leopard who believes he deserves Po’s new role in the community.
Beethoven (1992)
Beethoven is a family comedy about a giant dog and the family he tormented.
The movie stars Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt as a married couple with three kids. When a batch of puppies are stolen, one St. Bernard puppy escapes and wanders onto their property.
While George doesn’t want to take in a dog, his family convinces him otherwise. They name him Beethoven and when he grows into a full-grown dog, he helps the family overcome their problems while driving George completely crazy,
Gremlins (1984)
One of the best Christmas horror movies ever made arrived in 1984 with Joe Dante’s Gremlins.
The movie had a father bring home a special Christmas gift for his son – a unique animal known as a mogwai. There were some simple rules. Don’t get it wet, expose it to light, or feed it after midnight.
Exposing it to light would kill it, but the other rules were broken, which caused Gizmo to spawn more mogwais, which eventually turn into Gremlins – destructive little monsters who try to destroy everything in sight.
This is a unique Christmas movie that fans can watch anytime of the year and never fails to entertain.
Addams Family Values (1993)
Released in 1993, Addams Family Values was the sequel to the big-screen remake of the classic horror television show.
Considered the better of the two movies, the cast returns with Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd, and Christina Ricci in the lead roles.
In this sequel, a serial killer marries Uncle Fester and plans to kill him for his inheritance. However, she never realized what the family had planned for her.
Escape The Undertaker (2021)
Netflix still has the interactive movies that they are releasing for viewers to choose their own adventures.
This year, they teamed up with WWE and released Escape the Undertaker.
The movie has retired WWE superstar Undertaker as an evil man and fan-favorites The New Day, have to go to Undertaker’s spooky mansion and go through adventures while the viewer gets to decide their fate.
The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)
The Mitchells vs. The Machines is one of the best family movies Netflix released in 2021 and might end up the best-animated movie of the year by year’s end.
The movie features the Mitchell family, with a father and daughter who used to be close but now can’t seem to understand each other. The daughter is ready to go to college and never plans to return.
Wanting to fix things with his daughter, dad sets up a road trip to drive her to college. However, a robot uprising occurs and the Mitchell family finds themselves the last free humans, and it is up to them to save the world … if they can learn to get along.
Finding ‘Ohana (2021)
Finding ‘Ohana was a Netflix original that arrived in January 2021 and received critical praise as a quality family movie.
The film follows two siblings from Brooklyn as they take a trip to Oahu and end up in an adventure they never expected. By the end, they discover their Hawaiin heritage and some hidden treasure.
Finding ‘Ohana has an 85% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and was a huge hit for the streaming service upon its release.
The BFG (2016)
Released in 2016, The BFG is a Steven Spielberg movie for Disney that is based on the classic story by Roald Rahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).
The movie is a fantasy film about a world with giants and a 10-year-old orphaned girl named Sophie who befriends one of the benevolent giants.
While both are outcasts among their own people, they end up the only thing standing between a war between the humans and the giants that want to eat everyone.
Mark Rylance starred as The BFG, filmed and then animated using motion capture technology.
Escape from Planet Earth (2013)
Escape from Planet Earth is an animated movie from the Weinstein Company about an alien race who heads to Earth to answer a distress call.
The team sent includes astronaut hero Scorch Supernova (Brendan Fraser) and his nerdy but helpful brother Gary (Rob Corddry), head of mission control at BASA.
However, as they head to the dangerous planet of Earth, they end up falling into a trap by a nefarious enemy and Gary is the person who has to save the world.
A Monster Calls (2016)
A Monster Calls is a fantastic family movie on Netflix, but it is also a very sad movie, so be prepared to discuss the subject matter with kids after the final credits roll.
The movie stars Lewis MacDougall as Conor, a 13-year-old boy whose mother (Felicity Jones) is terminally ill. He is sent to live with his grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) while his mother is taken into a care facility.
A giant tree-like monster (voiced by Liam Neeson) then visits the boy and offers to tell him three stories, and then Conor has to tell him a story at the end.
The monster, and its stories, are clearly allegories for what Conor is going through as a child and his story at the end is equally heartbreaking and hopeful.
Over the Moon (2020)
Over the Moon was an animated Netflix original movie released in 2020.
The movie is about a girl named Fei Fei, who learns of the legend of the Moon goddess Chang’e, who took an immortality potion. Sadly, she ascended to the moon and is forever waiting for the love of her life to rejoin her.
The little girl’s mother dies, and she gives her a bunny before her death. Her life then falls into turmoil when her father decides to remarry, and she sets off to prove that Chang’e is real.
Enola Holmes (2020)
Released in 2020 as a Netflix original movie, Enola Holmes is a story about the famed detective Sherlock Holmes’s little sister.
Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown plays Enola, based on a character from the books by Nancy Springer.
In this movie, which is expected to be the first in a series, Enola’s mother (Helena Bonham Carter) disappears, and Enola is left in her two older brothers’ care.
However, when Mycroft decides she needs to go to a finishing school for girls, she runs away.
Enola’s goal is to find her mother, but along the way, she is swept up in a mystery that she has to solve concerning a boy who is tabbed to become a Marquess but has an assassin trying to kill him.
ParaNorman (2012)
You need to wait until Oct. 18, but on that day, ParaNorman hits Netflix.
This movie was made by the stop-motion animation studio Laika and is a perfect family movie for Halloween.
Norman is a child who can see and speak to the dead, although no one believes him. This puts him in great danger when he learns a ritual is underway that will unleash a great evil in the town.
However, the real evil turns out to be the town’s people, who fear those risen from the dead and sets out to kill them. Norman has to protect the dead from the living.
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
Released in 2008, the Spiderwick Chronicles is the film that helped introduce the world to Freddie Highmore.
Based on Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi’s novel, Highmore stars as Jared, a young boy who finds a field guide that allows him to see mythical creatures, including a fairy named Thimbletack.
Unfortunately, he also releases the Mulgarath and its goblin army.
Jared and his family must defend their home against the goblins, and eventually, Jared has to stand up to Mulgarath to save all he loves. Mark Waters (Mean Girls) directs this family movie on Netflix.
idk if i want to watch these movies :v