Thanksgiving is a day for turkey, pumpkin pie, football, and dreading awkward conversations with family—at least that’s what we’ve learned from the movies, which have used the autumn festivities as the setting for comedies and dramas about stuffing one’s face while trying not to strangle one’s relatives for a very long time. No doubt many will again reunite with loved ones (and not-so-loved-ones) this Thanksgiving and hope for the best.

But if you need a break from fighting about the midterm elections with your weird uncle or just need a reason to relax while you wait for the tryptophan to kick in and knock you out, consider one of these movies for a brighter spin on the American holiday.

Raise a glass and a remote and celebrate with one of these great Thanksgiving movies, which will either serve as a distraction or a reminder that it could always be a lot worse.

Home for the Holidays

This is a 1995 comedy about the Thanksgiving get-together of Holly Hunter’s thoroughly dysfunctional clan. What ensues is the gold-standard for family-gathering holiday films, full of absurdity, and, ultimately, a rousing sense of the ups and downs of dealing with relatives.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Steve Martin’s marketing executive just wants to get home to New York for Thanksgiving in the 1987 comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but fate constantly stifles those plans–well, fate and John Candy’s salesman, a chipper and clumsy clown who becomes his unlikely traveling partner during this rollicking three-day adventure. The pillow scene remains an all-time classic gag.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Maybe it’s not as iconic as A Charlie Brown Christmas or It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, but this Peanuts holiday special is a good holdover between Halloween and Christmas. This Emmy-winning classic sees Peppermint Patty infiltrating Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving holiday, which he naturally scrambles to put together with his trademark anxiety. (Have you ever wondered where these kids’ parents are?)

Free Birds

Reggie is a turkey who was lucky enough to be pardoned on Thanksgiving by the President of the United States. Jake, on the other hand, is a wild turkey with a political agenda: he kidnaps Reggie in an effort to promote the Turkey Freedom Front, a guerrilla group set to end Thanksgiving for good. Together, they maneuver a time machine, going back to the very first Thanksgiving to rid turkeys from the menu for good. It’s a cute film for the whole family.

Addams Family Values

This sequel to the big-screen adaptation of the classic TV sitcom finds the spooky-ooky Addams family once again up to their weird, gothic ways. But their family is thrown into turmoil when a new nanny has her sights on Uncle Fester and plans on marrying him for his riches before killing him off. Wednesday and Pugsley know something’s up, but the nanny convinces Gomez and Morticia to send them to summer camp—where they are forced to participate in a completely bonkers musical rendition of the first Thanksgiving.

Grumpy Old Men

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are two bitter lifelong rivals who engage in ludicrous warfare over the affections of their new Wabasha, Minnesota neighborhood resident. That conflict includes an amusing Thanksgiving dinner, in which the two do their best to act like feuding immature children.

You’ve Got Mail

When booksellers Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox meet in an anonymous chat room, they quickly fall into an e-romance. Little do they know they actually know each other—as business rivals, no less. Join in on both Kathleen and Joe’s Thanksgiving celebrations, both of which feature a little song and dance, in this classic rom-com.

Funny People

When George Simmons, a retired and wealthy standup comedian, is diagnosed with leukemia, he decides to mentor an up-and-coming comic. Don’t miss George’s Thanksgiving toast in this Judd Apatow comedy.

Beethoven

While the cult classic family film doesn’t exclusively take place during Thanksgiving, it has somehow become a Thanksgiving staple. Is it because the eponymous giant St. Bernard, like most people at T-Day, likes to stuff himself with food? Is it because it’s about the unconventional bonds of family? Who can say? Regardless, it pops up on TV every year around the holiday and has spawned seven sequels and a video game, so they clearly got something right.