Culture

19 Movies You Can Watch With Your Boyfriend's Parents (That Won’t Make You Cringe)

We’ve all been there. One minute you’re enjoying a cozy movie night with the people you love, and the next, actors are stripping down while the room falls into awkward silence. Let's avoid that this year, shall we?

By Carmen SchoberNov 24th 20252 min read

Dupe/Liene Pogule

I personally still haven’t fully recovered from the time my in-laws picked Disclosure for family movie night when my husband and I were newlyweds. I’m sure they had no idea what they were choosing (it’s marketed as a tech thriller for crying out loud!), but the sexual weirdness between Demi Moore and Michael Douglas culminates in one of the most awkward scenes of all time.

And moments like that are why Gen Z is changing movie culture. Over half say they just want good movies and shows without random sex scenes and constant nudity, so let me spare you from both with this handpicked list of entertaining, cringe-free films for the whole family.

Romantic & Cozy Escapes

Little Women (1994)

The definitive cozy classic. Winona Ryder as Jo and Christian Bale delivering he most charming Laurie ever put on screen.

La La Land (2016)

The songs, the colors, and the chemistry make this a bittersweet modern classic.

Brooklyn (2015)

Saoirse Ronan plays a young Irish woman finding love and independence in 1950s New York.

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

Sandra Bullock delivers peak ’90s rom-com charm in this cozy love story.

A Knight’s Tale (2001)

Heath Ledger is at his most charming in this medieval adventure with an iconic romance thrown in.

Smart & Stylish

The Intern (2015)

Anne Hathaway’s career-girl hustle meets Robert De Niro’s old-school charm.

Knives Out (2019)

A witty, old-school murder mystery with modern twists. No nudity or sexual content, but it does have a lot of f-bombs, although not enough to ruin the experience.