15 Best Movies That Will Bring Your Family Closer To Each Other

Families spend a great deal of time together, and this makes them a group of people that value their relationships. Even so, people often find it hard to know how they should act as a family when they are in a public place such as a movie theatre or park. 

Family Outing Movies is a collection of family-friendly movies featuring great actors and actresses. This collection shows you a range of movies that can be enjoyed by all the family at a time when everyone needs an escape. Family Outing Movies is for you if you want to watch a movie about holidays, adventure or just with your kids.

Vacation

Year: 2015 

Running time: 1 h 39m  

Rating: R

Genre: Comedy, Adventure

Where to watch: Netflix 

Director: Jonathan M. Goldstein, John Francis Daley

Cast / Starring: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Skyler Gisondo, Chris Hemsworth

Vacation (2015) by Jonathan M. Goldstein is a comedy/drama film about three lifelong friends who get hit by a car and have to deal with their struggles in life, step by step. They go on vacation to their home town for the summer and each one of them is having issues at home and the only thing that brings them together is their love for each other; whether it’s good or bad does depend on the amount of time you spend watching this movie.

Old

Year: 2021 

Running time: 1 h 48m  

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Where to watch: Netflix

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Cast / Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Alex Wolff

Old (2021) is a action/sci-fi movie directed by M. Night Shyamalan. If you like M. Night Shyamalan and his other movies, including Signs and The Village, then this will be right up your alley as well!


Three families end up at a family resort for vacation where they are lead to a private beach. As soon as they step foot they feel changes around them as they start aging each passing minute. The kids soon grow into teenagers and adults and a series of confusion and mixed emotions follow as the families go through all the stages of their life in a matter of few years, ultimately leading to the death of the parents and the two kids who have now grown into adults to find a solution to avoid their own old age and death.

Little Miss Sunshine

Year: 2006

Running time: 1 h 42m  

Rating: R

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Where to watch: VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Tv

Director: Jonathan Dayton

Cast / Starring: Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collete, Alan Arkin

Little Miss Sunshine is a charming, witty and extremely moving comedy that follows the misadventures of a family driving cross country in their 1980 VW Van. It is an insightful look at the relationships between fathers, sons and sisters and explores the bright side of life’s difficulties; often times through a series of absurd situations and comedic dialogue.

The script is clever and funny and the actors are brilliant at their roles.

Moonrise Kingdom

Year: 2012

Running time: 1 h 34m  

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Where to watch: VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Tv

Director: Wes Anderson

Cast / Starring: Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, Bill Murray, Jared Gilman

Moonrise Kingdom is a 2012 American fantasy comedy film directed as mentioned by Wes Anderson, written by Anderson and Hugo Guinness, and starring Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Edward Norton and Frances McDormand. The film was released to an extremely positive critical reception from critics, who praised its ingenuity but criticized its lack of freshness.

A young boy embarks on an adventure with a girl, using an abandoned hotel as a hideout. Together, they plan to resist the rule of their imposing uncle.

Home Alone 2: Lost In New York

Year: 1992

Running time: 2 h 0m  

Rating: PG

Genre: Comedy, Kids, Family, Holiday

Where to watch: VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Tv, Disney+

Director: John Hughes

Cast / Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O’Hara

A sequel to the beloved family-friendly comedy, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York sees Macaulay Culkin and Joe Pesci reuniting for another adventure of wacky hijinks as they try to protect their parents (Cathy Moriarty and Daniel Stern) in a hotel room without their knowledge. Screenwriter John Hughes returns to the director’s chair for this one, building upon the clever gags of the first film with even more preposterous situations, from a primordial Bogart to the likes of Martin Short’s Luscious Links. 

The multiple references to horror films are obvious from the start — do you really think these things can happen? Those absent parents stand on a cusp between good and bad parenting: They’re neglectful but loving; too generous about letting Michael stay out at night, but give him too many allowances. And as usual for John Hughes’s most famous creation, it all ends with a truly dramatic face-off between surrogate parents and children who don’t want their parents’ approval anymore.

Finding Ohana

Year: 2021

Running time: 2 h 3m  

Rating: PG

Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Comedy

Where to watch: Netflix 

Director: Jude Werg

Cast / Starring: Alex Aiono, Lindsay Watson, Kelly Hu, Owen Vaccaro

Finding Ohana is a feel-good ride on the emotional rollercoaster of two families reunited by love. The Sweets are an interracial family, who are building their lives with new hope when tragedy strikes. Will they be able to overcome it?

Extortion

Year: 2017

Running time: 2 h 3m  

Rating: R

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Where to watch: VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Tv

Director: Phil Volken

Cast / Starring: Barkhad Abdi, Danny Glover, Eion Bailey, Tim Griffin, Bethany Joy Lenz

Extortion is a 2017 American thriller film directed by Phil Volken and written by David Loucka and Rocco Vitale. In the movie, the kidnapper would assure a family member that money would be delivered if they did not pay a ransom demand. It involves a father who is left with mere hours to decide whether to pay up or risk his daughter’s life.

It’s the story of a family trip gone wrong

We’re the Millers

Year: 2013

Running time: 1h 50m  

Rating: R

Genre: Comedy, Action

Where to watch: VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Tv, HBO Max

Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Cast / Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Will Poulter, Emma Roberts, Jason Sudeikis

We’re The Millers is a comedy drama about three people who fake their way of living through life. Ethan (Jason Sudeikis) works as a convenience store cashier in Denver of America. He gets married to Molly (Jennifer Aniston), his girlfriend for 5 years who has two kids from previous relationships—the kid’s mother, Rebecca (Jessica Alba) and her husband Larry (Matt Dillon). But when she learns that Ethan has been involved with other women behind her back, she gets upset and breaks down. So she takes her children back to their father at California where she was born but left for 5 years or so ago – Now she enrolls him into school as if he’s their new temporary enrollment until the divorce papers arrive from Colorado.’

Endangered Species

Year: 2021

Running time: 1h 41m  

Rating: R

Genre: Comedy, Action, Adventure, Mystery and Thriller

Where to watch: VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Tv

Director: M.J. Bassett

Cast / Starring: Rebecca Romijn, Jerry O’Connell, Michael Johnston, Chris Fisher

In the movie Endangered Species, a wealthy American family goes on a vacation to Kenya. The family is on safari when they come across a group of poachers who are about to kill a rhino. The father decides that he has to stop them, so he does something that will change his life forever.

Mad Families

Year: 2017

Running time: 1h 41m  

Rating: R

Genre: Comedy, Action, Adventure

Where to watch: VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Tv

Director: Fred Wolf

Cast / Starring: Charlie Sheen, Leah Remini, Juan Gabriel Pareja, Charlotte Mckinney

Mad Families (2017) is a film that engages with the dynamics of a nuclear family, and the challenges that come with being an adult in your own home. The tone of this movie is dark and somber, compelling you to look at your own life. A film that leaves you pondering how things were done at home when you were growing up, as well as pondering what your family’s relationship could have been like if circumstances had been different.

An outing on the Fourth of July goes sideways when a family has to face the fact of sharing their vacation with two other families.

Grown Ups

Year: 2010

Running time: 1h 42m  

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Comedy, Adventure

Where to watch: VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Tv

Director: Dennis Dungan

Cast / Starring: Adam Sandler, David Spade, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Kevin James

Dennis Dungan’s Grown Ups is a film about childhood, family and growing up. It follows the story of three childhood friends who have reunited at their college reunion to reminisce about their lives and the mistakes they made along the way. Jack (a slacker still stuck in his past), Amy (an uptight waitress with no future), and Dale (a guy harboring jealousies against his wife) are all struggling with their life choices, particularly Jack. 

In a fresh attempt to find meaning in his life and apparently improve his marriage, Jack brings along his friends and has one wild night filled with partying at both bars in town. After being caught smoking a joint by an undercover cop, Jack’s past catches up with him when he gets arrested for underage drinking.

Force Majeure

Year: 2014

Running time: 2h 0m  

Rating: R

Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Drama

Where to watch: VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Tv, Paramount+, Showtime

Director: Ruben Ostlund

Cast / Starring: Johannes Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Fanni Metelius, Kristofer Hivju

Force Majíeure is a 2014 Swedish comedy drama film written and directed by Ruben Ostlund. It stars Bahador Zandegi, Mads Mikkelsen and Leif Cichy. The screenplay was adapted from the original play by Robert Mailhammer, which was first staged in 2011 in Swedish theatres.

We witness how a person’s acts of selfishness costs him to lose his marriage as well as the love of his kids in the event of an avalanche.

The Great Outdoors

Year: 1988

Running time: 1h 31m  

Rating: PG

Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Drama

Where to watch: VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Tv,

Director: Howard Deutch

Cast / Starring: Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Annette Bening, Chris Young

The Great Outdoors is a 1988 American comedy-drama film directed by Howard Deutch, and was written by Paul Rudnick. It stars Macaulay Culkin as David “Rooster” Culkin, who along with his father (Ed O’Neill), mother (Cynthia Nixon) and sister (Danielle Bacher) go to their summer home in the Catskill Mountains of New York State. The film’s title derives from a phrase used in comedic works such as “The Honeymooners” or “All in the Family”.

National Lampoons Vacation

Year: 1983

Running time: 1h 38m  

Rating: R

Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Drama

Where to watch: VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Tv, Netflix

Director: Harold Ramis

Cast / Starring: Chevy Chase, Anthony Michael Hall, Randy Quiaid, Imogene Coca, Christie Brinkley

National Lampoon’s Vacation is no doubt one of the most iconic films ever made. It follows the adventures of Griswold family as they take a family vacation to Walley World and have the most unexpected adventure. In addition to its silly humor, it also features one of the best casts of all time. 

What About Bob?

Year: 1991

Running time: 1h 39m  

Rating: PG

Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Drama

Where to watch: VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Tv

Director: Frank Oz

Cast / Starring: Bill Murray, Julie Hagerty, Tom Aldredge, Charlie Korsmo

Self-involved psychiatrist Dr. Leon Marvin has the bad luck of taking on a new patient, Bob Wiley, just as he’s planning to go on vacation with his family. An exemplar of neediness and compendium of phobias who trails after him like an ill-mannered basset hound

Everyone loves Bob, and his oblivious patient makes himself at home in Dr. Marvin’s office—so much so that the good doctor may end up losing his professional composure (and possibly heading for the loony bin).

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