10 movies to watch with your mom this weekend

Just in case you need a reminder, Mother’s Day is on Sunday, May 10. Whether or not you’ll be able to see your mom in person this year, you can still treat her to a classic movie day thanks to services like Netflix Party and Metastream.

Below, we’ve rounded up some options for movies to watch with every kind of mom this weekend, whether she’s a rom-com junkie or a horror aficionado. They all feature loving, complicated maternal relationships, from Jamie Lee Curtis estranged from Judy Greer in 2018’s Halloween sequel to Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis swapping bodies in Freaky Friday. It’s a lot of Jamie Lee Curtis, is what we’re saying.

Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife

Photo: Netflix

Both of comedian Ali Wong’s Netflix stand-up specials, which she performs while seven-months pregnant, are absolutely hilarious. But for our purposes her second special, Hard Knock Wife, has more jokes about motherhood. Be warned: Wong’s comedy is raunchy. If your mom isn’t cool with sex talk or f-bombs, opt for the rom-com she wrote with co-star Randall Park, Always Be My Maybe.

Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife is streaming on Netflix.

Bend It Like Beckham

Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) juggles her love of football (soccer, to us Americans) with the expectations of her conservative family in the hit 2002 comedy. When Jess joins a football league with the help of her friend Juliet (Keira Knightley), she quickly establishes herself as a star player, but has to hide her success from her parents. Directed by Gurinder Chada (Bride and Prejudice, Blinded by the Light) Bend it Like Beckham explores complicated family dynamics in a quirky and heartwarming story. You and you mom will be singing along to “Hot Hot Hot” all day.

Bend it Like Beckham is streaming on Hulu.

Crazy Rich Asians

Photo: Sanja Bucko/Warner Bros. Pictures

Based on Kevin Kwan’s novel of the same name, Crazy Rich Asians stars Constance Wu as Rachel, an NYU professor who’s dropped into Singapore high society when her boyfriend Nick (Henry Golding) brings her home to a family wedding. While the bulk of Crazy Rich Asians deals with Rachel’s conflicts within Nick’s family, especially with his intimidating mother, Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh,) the scenes between Rachel and her mom Kerry (Tan Kheng Hua) are some of the film’s sweetest moments.

Crazy Rich Asians is streaming on HBO (also available as Hulu and Amazon Prime add-ons.)

Freaky Friday

Photo: Walt Disney Studios

The original 1976 Freaky Friday starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster, the 2003 remake with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, and the 2018 Disney Channel Original Movie are streaming on Disney Plus. Depending on when your mom grew up, she might prefer the 1967 version, but in my mind there’s just no topping Jamie Lee. She and Lohan have incredible chemistry as mother and daughter who magically switch places, and her impression of a sullen teen trapped in her mom’s body is just delightful.

Freaky Friday is streaming on Disney Plus.

Grey Gardens

Photo: Portrait Films

The iconic documentary about a reclusive mother and daughter, Big Edie and Little Edie, living on a dilapidated estate in East Hampton, New York, is classic Mother’s Day viewing. It’s fascinating to enter the world that the two eccentric women created for themselves at Grey Gardens, especially when Little Edie is waxing poetic about what she wants out of life or Big Edie is singing “Tea for Two.”

Grey Gardens is streaming on Criterion Channel.

Halloween

Universal Pictures

If your mom is a horror fan, the 2018 sequel to John Carpenter’s Halloween, also titled Halloween, is a lot of fun. Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode, whose obsession with Michael Myers puts a strain on her relationship with her daughter (Judy Greer) and granddaughter (Andi Matichak). It’s an empowering take on the slasher genre, with Judy Greer delivering one of the single greatest line readings of all time with a simple, “Gotcha.” (Just wait for it.)

Halloween is streaming on Cinemax (also available as Hulu and Amazon Prime add-ons.)

Lady Bird

Image: A24

Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age film stars Saoirse Ronan as a creative high school student, Christine, who rechristens herself Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan) much to the chagrin of her practical mom, Marion (Laurie Metcalf). Their contentious relationship will feel familiar to those who were particularly angsty teens. If you watch with your mom, by the end you’ll likely both be in tears and/or apologizing for all the mean stuff you said to each other back then.

Lady Bird is streaming on Amazon Prime.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Jonathan Prime/Universal Pictures

Either of the delightful films in the Mamma Mia! franchise are perfect mom movies, but Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again has Cher singing “Fernando,” which pushes it over the edge for our recommendation.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is streaming on HBO (also available as Hulu and Amazon Prime add-ons.)

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Photo: IFC Films

Another sweet rom-com about a tight-knit immigrant family, My Big Fat Greek Wedding is based on the semi-autobiographical one woman show by writer and star Nia Vardalos. If you’re looking to watch something breezy and fun, this is the movie to pick. The stakes are very low, John Corbett is adorable, and Tom Hanks produced it. What’s not to love?

My Big Fat Greek Wedding is available on Hulu.

Troop Beverly Hills

Photo: Columbia Pictures

Troop Beverly Hills ranks up there with Legally Blonde and The House Bunny when it comes to movies about feminine, “ditzy” women who overcome lowered expectations and underestimation to achieve greatness. Shelly Long stars as Phyllis, a wealthy socialite who takes over as the leader of her daughter’s girl scout troop in order to preserve their relationship in the midst of a contentious divorce. (The daughter, Hannah, is played by a very young Jenny Lewis) It’s a silly and sweet movie, with very ’80s hair and costumes that will look familiar to many moms.

Troop Beverly Hills is streaming on Tubi.

Hulu/Disney Plus bundle

• $13

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Disney is offering a bundle combining its three streaming services — Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus — for $12.99/month.

• $13 at Disney Plus

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