The 12 Best Movies to Watch on Mother’s Day

Celebrate moms with this spring bouquet of comedies and dramas streaming right now (just make sure the tissue box is handy!)

Thelma M. Adams,

AARP

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En español

Published May 06, 2020

/ Updated May 07, 2024

Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried in the musical romantic comedy Mamma Mia

(Left to right) Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried in "Mamma Mia!"

Peter Mountain/Universal Studios

My mother and I share a sense of humor — and the love of movies that led me to become a critic. My college-age daughter’s favorite job ever was working at the box office of our local art house theater. The movies that we love and share unite three generations — and, come Mother’s Day, we’ll celebrate by watching movies about mothers. Whether comedy, tragedy or somewhere in the middle, these are the 12 mom movies to which my family keeps returning.

Sigourney Weaver holding an assault rifle holding Carrie Henn in her arm in the film Aliens

Sigourney Weaver (left) and Carrie Henn in "Aliens."

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

Aliens (1986, R)

In the original Alien (1979), the mother of all monster movies, astronaut Ripley (Sigourney Weaver, now 74) encounters a slobbering carnivorous creature from outer space. In the sequel Aliens, Ripley gets between a monstrous matriarch and her babies, protecting a little girl from the aliens’ clutches. The result is out-of-this-world scares wedded to an emotion to which humans can relate: the fierce protective love a mother has for her offspring.

Watch it: Aliens on Prime Video, Hulu

Don’t miss this: The Best (and Worst!) Moms in Movie History

Walt Disney Pictures/Everett Collection

Brave (2012, PG)

An absolutely delightful animated mother-daughter fairy-tale adventure about a young princess and archer (Kelly Macdonald) who leaves her oh-so-wise royal mother (Emma Thompson, 65) behind in order to fight a curse and prepare for adult responsibilities. The 2013 Oscar winner as best animated feature encourages girl power — and good-natured behavior.

Watch it: Brave on Disney+, Prime Video

Zelda Harris and Alfre Woodard looking at each other in a scene from the film Crooklyn

Zelda Harris and Alfre Woodard (right) in "Crooklyn."

Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

Crooklyn (1994, PG-13)

Writer-director Spike Lee, 67, digs into his family’s Brooklyn roots for this charming, warm-hearted, sentimental tale about the Carmichael family in crisis in the ’70s. Alfre Woodard, 71, and Delroy Lindo, 71, shine as the parents, while adorable elementary schooler Zelda Harris grows up fast when she discovers a family illness threatens her security.

Watch it: Crooklyn on Apple TV, Prime Video

Keeley Karsten, Sophia Kopera, Michelle Williams and Gabriel LaBelle in a scene from the film The Fabelmans

(Left to right) Keeley Karsten, Sophia Kopera, Michelle Williams and Gabriel LaBelle in "The Fabelmans."

Merie Weismiller Wallace/Universal Pictures/Everett Collection

The Fabelmans (2022, PG-13)

Director Steven Spielberg, 77, digs into his personal history for a heartbreaking coming-of-age story about a family that revolves around a free-spirited, creative and possibly bipolar mother, dazzlingly portrayed by five-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams.

Watch it: The Fabelmans on Hulu, Paramount+

Jamie Lee Curtis places her hands on her face as Lindsay Lohan looks on in Freaky Friday

Jamie Lee Curtis (left) and Lindsay Lohan in "Freaky Friday."

Walt Disney/Courtesy Everett Collection

Freaky Friday (2003, PG-13)

The idea that you don’t really know a person until you walk in her shoes is taken to comedic extremes when mom Jamie Lee Curtis, 65, and daughter Lindsay Lohan magically switch bodies. Always memorable is the scene where the weight-conscious mother gobbles French fries without guilt, one of the perks of her daughter’s more forgiving metabolism.

Watch it: Freaky Friday on Apple TV, Disney+

The female cast members of The Joy Luck Club posing for a picture together

(Left to right) Kieu Chinh, Ming-Na Wen, Tamlyn Tomita, Tsai Chin, France Nuyen, Lauren Tom, Lisa Lu and Rosalind Chao in "The Joy Luck Club."

Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

The Joy Luck Club (1993, R)

Best-selling author Amy Tan, 72, adapted her big-hearted, multigenerational novel, weaving the highlights and heartaches of four Chinese women and their American-born daughters. Celebrate the sprawling yet intimate movie that Roger Ebert called, “One of the most touching and moving of the year’s films.”

Watch it: The Joy Luck Club on Apple TV, Paramount+

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore sitting on a couch in the film The Kids Are All Right

(Left to right) Annette Bening and Julianne Moore in "The Kids Are All Right."

Suzanne Tenner/Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection

The Kids Are All Right (2010, R)

Teens Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson have two absolutely fabulous mothers — Annette Bening, 65, and Julianne Moore, 63. However, when the kids become curious about their biological father, Mark Ruffalo, 56, it challenges their carefully curated home life. The Oscar-nominated alternative family comedy from Lisa Cholodenko, 59, is funny, touching and universal.

Watch it: The Kids Are All Right on Apple TV, Prime Video

Saoirse Ronan places her head on Laura Dern's shoulder in Little Women

Saoirse Ronan and Laura Dern (right) in "Little Women."

Wilson Webb/Sony Pictures

Little Women (2019, PG)

Writer-director Greta Gerwig adds a fresh bounce to the Louisa May Alcott chestnut about the four March sisters (Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen) and their beloved Marmee, beautifully played by Laura Dern, 57. Nominated for six Oscars — and scoring the win for costume design — Gerwig’s vibrant adaptation cherishes the special bonds between mothers and daughters and the inevitable crises that test them.

Watch it: Little Women on Apple TV, Prime Video

Meryl Streep smiling in a scene from the film Mamma Mia

Meryl Streep in "Mamma Mia!"

Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

Mamma Mia! (2008, PG-13)

Irresistible! This sun-drenched contemporary musical has a beat you can dance to in your living room. Meryl Streep, 74, sings her heart out as an island-bound earth mama whose “Dancing Queen” daughter, played by Amanda Seyfried, returns home to wed. But, when it comes to marching her down the aisle, who’s her papa? Is it Stellan Skarsgård, 72, Pierce Brosnan, 70, or Colin Firth, 63?

Watch it: Mamma Mia! on Apple TV, Prime Video

Don’t miss this: The 10 Best Meryl Streep Movie Performances, Ranked!

Albert Brooks and Debbie Reynolds in the lingerie section of a store in a scene from the film Mother

(Left to right) Albert Brooks and Debbie Reynolds in "Mother."

Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

Mother (1996, PG-13)

Albert Brooks, 76, wrote, directed and stars in this bittersweet classic. Laugh until you cry as neurotic twice-divorced Brooks reluctantly moves in with his judgmental nut-job of a parent, played by the late Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds. According to Carrie Fisher’s biographer, Sheila Weller, the Star Wars star lobbied Brooks to cast her mother in a role that was intended for Doris Day — and movie mama history was made.

Watch it: Mother on Apple TV, Prime Video

Shirley MacLaine hugs Debra Winger in a photo for the film Terms of Endearment

Debra Winger and Shirley MacLaine (right) in "Terms of Endearment."

Courtesy Everett Collection

Terms of Endearment (1983, PG)

Who needs an excuse to weep when this Debra Winger-Shirley MacLaine best picture winner, written and directed by James L. Brooks, 84, is just a stream away? After daughter Winger, 68, gets the Big C, both she and her perfectionist mother, MacLaine, 90, confront the ravages of the disease and navigate the trickier curves of their close relationship. Hankies, please!

Watch it: Terms of Endearment on Apple TV, Prime Video

Don’t miss this: 9 Reasons to Love Shirley MacLaine on Her 90th Birthday

George Clooney and Julia Roberts arrive on a beach in the film Ticket to Paradise

Julia Roberts (center) in "Ticket to Paradise."

Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Ticket to Paradise (2022, PG-13)

Seeking a mother-of-the-bride from hell? Look no further than Julia Roberts, 56. What’s the only thing that the pissed-off divorcée can agree on with her ex-husband George Clooney, 63? Their only daughter shouldn’t go through with her destination wedding in Bali. These A-list opposites can’t help but attract, and both are easy on the eyes as they unite in a dastardly attempt to thwart the nuptials, only to trip on the last threads of their affection for each other.

Watch it: Ticket to Paradise on Apple TV, Prime Video

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Thelma M. Adams, the former film critic for Us Weekly and the New York Post, is a novelist who writes on film for AARP, The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

The 12 Best Movies to Watch on Mother’s Day

Celebrate moms with this spring bouquet of comedies and dramas streaming right now (just make sure the tissue box is handy!)

​Aliens (1986, R)

​Brave (2012, PG)

​Crooklyn (1994, PG-13)

​The Fabelmans (2022, PG-13)

​Freaky Friday (2003, PG-13)

​The Joy Luck Club (1993, R)

​The Kids Are All Right (2010, R)

​​Little Women (2019, PG)