Once the young cinephiles in your house find a new favourite film, they may beg to watch it again…and again…and again. So make sure it’s a good one, by picking from our list of Netflix‘s 25 greatest movies for the whole family.
There are childhood fantasies that won’t drive parents nuts, darker stories for tweens to tackle, and a good spread of animated and live-action adventures alike to savour across all age groups.
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The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
Watch on NetflixSteven Spielberg and Peter Jackson make a fine pair of collaborators—kinda like their film’s camaraderie between explorer Tintin and hapless Captain Haddock. Hergé’s globe-trotting comics are brought to life via sophisticated motion-capture tech, and whether it works as a convincing facsimile of reality or not is pretty irrelevant (it mostly does). What’s important here are the giddy chase sequences and fight choreography, the sense of wonder that brings to mind an Indiana Jones animated adventure.
BMX Bandits (1983)
Watch on NetflixEqual parts daggy and damn cool, this sporty adventure comes from Ozploitation great Brian Trenchard-Smith—but it’s probably most recognised as an early role for Nicole Kidman, still sporting her original bouncy red curls as the female member of a teen cycle crew. BMX Bandits is packed with enough wholesome 80s nostalgia to make your family wanna get on their bikes and ride.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Watch on NetflixHallelujah it’s raining food, in this high-energy comedy based on a beloved 1970s children’s book. It’s made by the guys behind The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street, so it’s naturally packed with jokes, delivered by a voice cast of comedy pros Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Bruce Campbell and Mr T as a hysterically macho cop. Plus there’s a great gag deconstructing that dumb trope where a nerdy girl takes off her glasses and lets down her hair and she’s instantly hot.
Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019)
Watch on NetflixThis lively live-action adaptation takes The Brady Bunch Movie approach to its source material: acknowledging everything corny about the original kids show, and plonking it into a snarky real-life setting. As the ever-plucky Dora, Isabela Morner gradually learns that not every kid knows how to swing from a vine and discover buried treasure with the help of an intelligent monkey (Danny Trejo!): but she’ll need the help of some ‘normal teens’ to beat the villanious Swiper (Benicio Del Toro!!).
Fantastic Mr Fox (2009)
Watch on NetflixRoald Dahl’s story of anthropomorphised woodland critters sticking it to the man is rendered in gorgeous, scrappy stop-motion detail by Wes Anderson. There aren’t too many other movies on this list that make you so keenly feel the character’s wiry textures—or their hunger for cider and roast chicken. With an all-star cast of A-listers and Anderson regulars (Clooney, Streep, Murray, DeFoe, Schwartzman, Wilson, etc.), it’s a cussin’ great film.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Watch on NetflixYou don’t need me to explain who Harry Potter is, do you? All eight films are available on Netflix, but if you only have time to watch one, Alfonso Cuarón’s bewitching third film in the series is in that perfect sweet spot between innocent discovery and the franchise’s darker concluding chapters. Perhaps the greatest achievement of this magical saga is that it matures with each entry, offering kids and parents a scarier and more serious tone with each new adventure.
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Watch on NetflixNerdy viking Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) must kill a dragon to prove that he’s a real warrior—but what’s he meant to do, when he can’t bring himself to take down the rare and cuddly one he captures? This fantasy-adventure flick has spawned a bunch of sequels and spin-off TV series, and it’s not hard to see why: the injured dragon Toothless is a sleek triumph of character design, and young dreamers will quickly get caught up in How To Train Your Dragon’s sprawling world-building. Plus that orchestral score slaps.
Inkheart (2008)
Watch on NetflixBefore Brendan Fraser disappeared from our screens for too long, he starred in this whimsical fantasy, as a father who is able to bring literary characters into our world by simply reading their text aloud. It just might encourage a love of reading in your kids…which is just what you want after watching too many Netflix movies, right? Helen Mirren rides a unicorn, The Wizard of Oz‘s Toto makes an appearance, and Andy Serkis, Jim Broadbent, and Paul Bettany are among the star cast of UK character actors.
The Karate Kid (1984)
Watch on NetflixIf you’re thinking of getting into Netflix‘s Cobra Kai, you’d better first check out the original martial arts movie that made a generation of 80s kids beg their parents to sign up at the local dojo. Ralph Macchio shows preternatural charm as underdog Daniel LaRusso, who takes on bullies and a championship title with the help of Pat Morita’s sage Mr Miyagi. All these years later, The Karate Kid is still the best around—nothing’s gonna ever keep it down.
Klaus (2019)
Watch on NetflixIt takes a while—sometimes generations—for new films to be inducted into our homes as Christmas traditions. Klaus definitely deserves to creep into your holiday movie rotation quick-smart: with traditionally-animated, powdery visual style, it tells an alternative Santa Claus origin story with bundles of heart and humour. Jason Schwartzmann voices a miserly postman working with an even-more-miserly toymaker (J.K. Simmons) to bring a frosty, broken town back together again.
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Watch on NetflixStarring Jack Black as its does-what-it-says-on-the-tin title character, this Dreamworks family film could’ve been a lazy animated endeavour. Instead, it’s got exciting martial arts sequences, ambitious visual style and emotional storytelling to get Pixar quivering with envy. The all-star voice cast includes Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, Ian McShane and James Hong as the protagonist’s duck dad (it’s explained in one of the sequels, idk).
Labyrinth (1986)
Watch on NetflixJennifer Connelly is spirited away to a fantasy landscape of puppets, problem-solving puzzles, and friendly Cockney worms in this sumptuous production. The creatures and direction are by Jim Henson, and the story’s by George Lucas and Python Terry Jones: what a dream-team of 80s genre talent, especially when making something for a young, imaginative audience. Just try not to let your eyes wander too much towards David Bowie’s extremely bulgy codpiece as the Goblin King Jareth. That thing’s like a black hole.
Matilda (1996)
Watch on NetflixEveryone believes their kids are gifted in some way—except the Wormwoods, whose daughter Matilda (Mara Wilson) ironically happens to have mental powers. Danny DeVito’s colourful direction (and dual performances, as the narrator and Matilda’s horrible dad) stretches Roald Dahl’s humour and nastiness to big-screen extremes, making the villainous Miss Trunchbull (Pam Ferris), her chokey, and her chocolate cake of pain all larger than life. Luckily, the kind Miss Honey (Embeth Davidtz) and Matilda are strong and sweet enough to win in the end.
The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021)
Watch on NetflixThis springy family story manages to make fun of our screen-obsessed culture without devolving into Black Mirror old-man-yells-at-cloud negativity. Wannabe filmmaker Katie (Abbi Jacobson) has to work with her dysfunctional fam to save the world, when an out-of-control algorithm (Olivia Colman) decides that humans just aren’t user-friendly enough.
Monster House (2006)
Watch on NetflixRick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon is one of the writers on this genuinely scary haunted house story—technically it’s fun for the whole family, but even as an adult I’m fairly spooked by some of its animated set-pieces. Perfect for a Halloween sleepover or gently spooky movie marathon, Monster House follows a trio of suburban kids who suspect the shambling old home across the street is not only alive, but hungry to eat intruding neighbours.
Mr Bean’s Holiday (2007)
Watch on NetflixRowan Atkinson’s near-mute comic creation is at his best when he’s out of his element. In this Richard Curtis-scripted adventure, that means Bean must reunite a separated father and son, causing disaster across the French countryside, and ultimately, at the Cannes Film Festival. Willem Dafoe has a great role as an narcissistic filmmaker in what basically amounts to a charming 90-minute-long European vacay—funny in any language.
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Watch on NetflixOne of the first major Ghibli films to break out in the West, My Neighbor Totoro is deceptively melancholy. Your kids might watch and appreciate the cuddly, mystical spirits that Satsuki and Mei encounter from their rural home. But for grown viewers, this is a wistful window back into childhood, that fleeting period before we’re wise enough to grasp the meaning of illness, war, adulthood. I just wanna ride the Catbus back to adolescence, man.
Ponyo (2008)
Watch on NetflixPonyo doesn’t stand out as a fave amongst adult Ghibli viewers—but that’s because it’s not made for them. With slightly younger characters than normal, and a maritime message of loving one’s friends for who they really are, Ponyo is a pastel-coloured picture book story ideal for an audience who are really only beginning to get into movies. Liam Neeson, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, and Tina Fey voice some of Miyazaki’s gorgeously-rendered characters.
Rango (2011)
Watch on NetflixA little bleak and idiosyncratic, Rango uses a similar fish-out-of-water format as kids movie fare like Shark Tale, Flushed Away (above), so on and so forth. But with a sun-bleached Western setting, Gore Verbinski’s computer-animated oddity distinguishes itself. Actors like Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, and a terrifying Bill Nighy appeared on a rudimentary set to act out their gangly character’s lines in person before that footage inspired animators, and it comes across in the film’s rangy physical comedy.
Shrek (2001)
Watch on NetflixTwenty years down the line, it’s hard to determine where a great, subversive kids film ended and where an evergreen meme began. Sure, Shrek kickstarted a now-tiring trend of family cinema that pandered to the paying parents in the audience, with witty pop culture and adult references that would only increase in the (also hilarious) second film. But it still has surprising heart, telling its story of self-acceptance over beauty with humour and integrity. Shrek is love, Shrek is life.
Spy Kids (2001)
Watch on NetflixRight after making From Dusk Til Dawn and The Faculty, Robert Rodriguez hilariously pivoted to zany kids cinema with Spy Kids: the kind of hyperactive adventure your own kids might come up with on the spot after ingesting too many lollies. The cast of stars in these movies is absolutely unhinged: Steve Buscemi, Salma Hayek, Elijah Wood, and, wildest of all, Sylvester Stallone in disguise as George Clooney.
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2008)
Watch on NetflixIf Brian Cox sits you down to reveal the origin story of the Loch Ness Monster, you sit down and you listen, goddamnit: no matter how long he goes on (125 minutes). This Scottish sea-shanty of a family film has a lovely E.T. vibe, with its flashbacks to young lad Angus (Alex Etel) caring for a mysterious egg…and the legendary folklore beast that grows from it.
Watership Down (1978)
Watch on NetflixRichard Adams’ seminal fantasy novel supposes that rabbits have all the same brutal systems of wars, clans, mythologies that humans do: but seeing it animated into the form of a fluid, emotional children’s film is a whole new experience. Dark, lyrical, and with dense world-building, Watership Down will leave your family to sensitively ponder the inner lives of even the smallest flora and fauna.
The Witches (1990)
Watch on NetflixAll the most twisted imaginings of Roald Dahl, Don’t Look Now director Nicolas Roeg, and Jim Henson’s Creature Workshop come together for a freaky cautionary tale: just give this one a rewatch instead of trying the recent Zemeckis take. It’s truly scary, but in that delirious and sick way that kids just get. Anjelica Huston is brilliantly unhinged as the two-faced Grand High Witch.
Zathura (2005)
Watch on NetflixIf your family’s grown bored of board games over the school holidays, why not watch a thrilling, galactic movie about ’em instead? Directed by Disney fave Jon Favreau, and hailing from the same world as Jumanji, this is a sci-fi version of that film’s ‘adventure game come to life’ premise—this time sending some unsupervised siblings into outer space. One of the main reasons it’s so charming? A preference for practical effects, instead of the homogenous CGI that takes up too much of the screen in Favreau’s later blockbusters.
