2025 Staff Picks: Family-Friendly MoviesLike this list

12 items

• Elio

  Add Elio to your for later shelf

  We were completely charmed by this movie that explores themes of loneliness, belonging, grief, loss, family, acceptance, self-discovery, and identity. Elio and his space-alien best friend Glordon are endearing and relatable. The animation is bright…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Bad Guys 2

  Add The Bad Guys 2 to your for later shelf

  Based on the popular children’s book series by Aaron Blabey, the animal characters (Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, Mr. Piranha, and Ms. Tarantula) are a hoot as they try to turn from their criminal ways to do good. This hilarious heist movie…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Superman

  Add Superman to your for later shelf

  James Gunn's reboot is a rare example of a movie meeting the hype. It isn't just an action-packed spectacle. There wasn't a single moment where the emotional stakes didn't feel palpable. Factor in strong performances, stunning cinematography, and a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Day the Earth Blew Up

  a Looney Tunes Movie

  Add The Day the Earth Blew Up to your for later shelf

  I loved this movie because it is true to the wacky tradition of Looney Tunes, with Daffy Duck and Porky Pig characters well portrayed, and Petunia Pig as an offbeat scientific genius. A lot of fun! Recommended for age 7+. Suggested by Bill.

• The Fantastic 4

  First Steps

  Add The Fantastic 4 to your for later shelf

  We enjoyed this movie because from start to finish, it emphasized the theme of family within the superhero genre. We appreciated the emotional depth that came from watching a family work together to save others. Additionally, the retro-futuristic…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• How to Train Your Dragon

  Add How to Train Your Dragon to your for later shelf

  The Viking village of Berk has problems with dragon attacks. When the frequently teased Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third shoots down a dragon with one of his unconventional (yet ingenious) inventions; no one believes him. However, Hiccup…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Paddington in Peru

  Add Paddington in Peru to your for later shelf

  Everybody’s favorite polite bear is back for a third movie, and it's another charming cinematic event. Paddington and the Brown family fly to Peru to visit his Aunt Lucy, only to learn that she’s left the Home for Retired Bears and gone missing in…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Karate Kid

  Legends

  Add Karate Kid to your for later shelf

  This is the sixth film in The Karate Kid franchise, uniting the storylines from the original movies with a continuation of 2010 remake and the TV series Cobra Kai. Besides sentimental feelings about the franchise, one of my favorite things about…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Lilo & Stitch

  Add Lilo & Stitch to your for later shelf

  Meet Stitch. He’s a misbehaving, misunderstood, genetically engineered alien who is sentenced to exile but escapes and crash lands on Earth, in Hawaii. Stitch is taken to an animal shelter, where he’s adopted by Lilo, a lonely six-year-old girl who…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Freakier Friday

  Add Freakier Friday to your for later shelf

  Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis maintain such good chemistry from the 2003 movie. I loved that they included a reference to Lindsay Lohan's "The Parent Trap" and was thrilled to see that the sequel has more body swapping than their first movie.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Night of the Zoopocalypse

  Add Night of the Zoopocalypse to your for later shelf

  Codirected by storyboard artists Rodrigo Perez-Castro and Ricardo Curtis and based on an unpublished story originally created by Clive Barke for an adult audience and adapted into a family-friendly film. It’s a little scary as gentle zoo animals are…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Transformers One

  Add Transformers One to your for later shelf

  Based on a mix of the original Generation 1 Transformers universe from the 1980s and the Aligned universe from the early 2010s, which included video games, animated television series, comics, and novels, "Transformers One" tells the untold origin…Read moreRead more of this annotation