Movies for Adults that Kids Can Watch

Apollo 13. Saw it in the theatre as an 11 year old with my dad, we both loved it.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is almost exactly 50/50 adult movie to kids movie, and both my sons love it.

Stardust.

**Project Hail Mary** is in the theaters right now. I think kids would love it.

The Martian (from what I recall)

The Back to the Future trilogy. I watched it when I was about 11 and absolutely loved it. And for its "present day" being 1985, it hasn't aged that much, so kids can still relate to the story.

Princess Bride

The Mission Impossible films are big hits with my kid (age 12). The Dune films, too. The Ocean’s 11 films. All of the marvel movies. Back to the Future. The Princess Bride. He says Project Hail Mary is his new favorite film of all time.

Secondhand Lions

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 1000% good call! Castaway Roxanne

Early Will Smith blockbusters like Independence Day and Men in Black

Ever After (1998). Peak retelling of Cinderella set in Renaissance France. Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston are amazing in it. If you/they liked Princess Bride, Stardust, Pride and Prejudice, etc, you’ll have a new classic on your hands.

A lot of Hitchcock classics are for adults, but rated PG:  Vertigo Rear Window North by Northwest To Catch a Thief 

If they liked The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, try The Court Jester, also starring Danny Kaye. As a kid I enjoyed Mr. Blanding Builds His Dream House, starring Cary Grant. Similarly, The Money Pit with Tom Hanks and Shelly Long is an option. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World, starring just about everybody, was a family favorite. Not quite as good, but Scavenger Hunt from 1979 is another big cast comedy. Older comedies from the Marx Brothers and Abbott and Costello are options. Old monster movies like Them or Godzilla are potential options, depending on tolerance for scary things. I watched the original Dracula with my wife and son, who enjoyed it. My wife particularly liked that there weren't false climaxes to sit through, once Dracula was destroyed he stayed destroyed. Big epics like Master and Commander might fit the bill, but might be too violent.

Beetlejuice

Batteries Not Included and The Abyss are good ones I still remember watching as a kid and loving.

PROJECT HAIL MARY

O Brother Where Art Thou

Last Action Hero

Clue, It's been a while, but I think it fits Blended, surprisingly decent Adam Sandler flic Oscar (1991), more people need to know about this gem Roxanne (1987), movie adaptation of the classic play Cyrano De Bergerac

Studio Ghibli, Nolan's Batman movies, Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney movies.

My kids are in that exact range. Here are some we've watched over the past 1-2 years that they particularly liked: Field of Dreams Jaws Tremors (watched it twice) Monty Python (especially The Holy Grail) Joe vs. the Volcano (a dark horse, but it really struck them) Top Secret! (My younger one's favorite movie) Tombstone (older one liked it a lot, younger one - meh) T2 Clue (watched it twice, a particular favorite of both) Ocean's Eleven (2001) The Matrix Top Gun (and Maverick) Uncle Buck The Princess Bride (watched it 3 times) Among others.

Napoleon Dynamite is straight up PG.

Fantastic Mr Fox

Big Fish October Sky Pleasantville Big Stardust Bedazzled

Perhaps other movies that were popular from growing up - like Shakespeare in Love, Miss Congeniality, Titanic, Apollo 13, Independence Day, Sister Act, and of course Lord of Rings, Star Wars and Jurassic Park

First one we watched was The Fifth Element and lately we’ve been watching rom coms (27 dresses, Irish wish, Leap year). Mask of Zorro was a hit after watching all the Shreks. I’m trying to convince him to watch Star Wars and maybe we will do Indiana Jones and Stargate at some point. I watched most of these as a kid too haha.

*Ford v Ferrari* was pretty good, and pretty much all of the "adult content" is talking about business and engineering. But from your post, your kids are okay with that.

I have fond memories of watching The Blues Brothers with my dad as a kid. It’s rated R, but I think only for a couple of swear words that I didn’t even notice.

Freakier Friday would be a good option for your criteria

The Mummy movies, Indiana Jones movies, the National Treasure movies, and Sahara. I watched all of them when I was about 7-8ish and thought they were the greatest thing in the world as a kid. Incidentally, I’m now an archaeologist so you see the theme there

Project Hail Mary, not sure why it was pg13.

A word on Project Hail Mary: My 10-year-old son has strong emotional reactions to movies, sometimes to their detriment. PHM made him break down in tears three times. At the end, though, he declared it a 10/10 and "the best movie I've ever seen." Enjoy:) A few others: Princess Bride (easily my first recco), Hoosiers (and many other sports flicks), Raiders of the Lost Ark, MCU, My Octopus Teacher.

2001 has already been mentioned (albeit by someone saying that it shouldn’t count, with which I disagreed) Others in a somewhat similar vein: Silent Running, Forbidden Planet, The Quiet Earth (I think there’s some mild nudity, so you may want to pre-watch), THX-1138, The Day The Earth Stood Still (either, but my somewhat controvesial opinion is that the remake with Keanu Reeves is better than the original), Robinson Crusoe On Mars, The Time Machine (the 60s version, not the 90s one), Destination Moon, Conquest Of Space, When Worlds Collide, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea If they’re okay with mild horror, then I also used to watch the Hammer Dracula films when I was around their age. Mild bright red blood and some heaving cleavag-y bosoms, but I don’t remember anything wildly inappropriate for kids. Perhaps, like The Quiet Earth, watch them ahead of time - only you can know what your kids would be okay with and what you’re comfortable showing them. But, again, I used to watch these films at their age and don’t remember nightmares or anything like that Horror from the 50s is usually pretty safe. Stuff like Them!, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, The Thing From Another World, and The Man With X-Ray Eyes are all films I watched and loved when I was around their age. They’ll probably find them scary, but not *too* scary. I would not suggest Robert Wise’s The Haunting. Great film, but probably too scary for children that age I also wonder if they’d like 12 Angry Men. It’s just people in a room talking, but there’s a lot of forward momentum and interesting characters. If they liked and were engaged with It’s A Wonderful Life there’s no reason why they shouldn’t like it. To Kill A Mockingbird, too, perhaps I’m going to stop because I’ve probably already suggested way too many. I watched a lot of films as a kid, and to this day I still love old films, sci-fi, and horror Maybe start with Forbidden Planet. Amazing film. Amazing effects (only started to look dated in the 90s). And with mild scenes of tension which you could maybe use to judge how they might handle more horror-y films

I watched Arrival with my 2 boys a few years ago and both loved it. I was so surprised by how engaged they were my youngest would have been about 9. This actually led to our now regular weekly movie nights where we take it in turns to choose a film based on a genre selected by throwing a dice:

Steven Spielberg has a ton in this range from Jaws (if theyre okay with intense scenes and light horror), Close Encounters, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park (obviously intense too), The Terminal....

Father of the Bride 1&2. I’ll also throw in Carpool even though it might not fit.

I'm a sucker for baseball movies, loved em even as a kid. Field of Dreams, A League of Their Own, The Natural, 42. I watched Bull Durham and Major League edited for TV a lot, so while I really want to recommend those, they are definitely more mature. They'd probably still hit a PG13 these days except for the F bombs.

Field of dreams, ET,

My kid loves all of Downton Abbey (including the three movies). With the exception of a brief story line involving sexual violence, it is a remarkably appropriate series and set of movies.

Some of my favorites appropriate for that age (no explicit sex or violence, but still aimed at adults) A Hard Day's Night Help! Some Like it Hot Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Bringing Up Baby The African Queen My Man Godfrey Singin' In the Rain It Happened One Night Roman Holiday Mr. Smith Goes to Washington O Brother, Where Art Thou? Sullivan's Travels The Long, Long Trailer The Thin Man Frankenstein/The Bride of Frankenstein (watching both will make Young Frankenstein much funnier when they're both old enough for the sex jokes) Anything starring the Marx Brothers

MONEYBALL is a good one

The Incredible Mr. Limpett

The Straight Story

I loved Young Frankenstein at that age. A few adult references mostly went over my head.  Also loved planes, trains, and automobiles (though there's one f-bomb laden scene).

Legally Blonde Office Space The Hudsucker Proxy Trading Places Mr. Mom Uptown Girls Pieces of April (some sad parts) Sister Act Secondhand Lions

Second “Project Hail Mary.” My 10yo and I watched it Friday night. He went to the library Saturday and checked out the book. Was a big big fan, and it sparked a lot of interests in science, technology, etc.

I read quite a way down, but forgive me if any of these are repeats! My husband and I love those 'so bad they're good' kind of movies, so bear that in mind! High Spirits 9 to 5 (The ladies get high, but that's the worst that happens) The Money Pit Mr. Mom Little Shop of Horrors (I mean, it's got murder in it but in a funny way?) Innerspace (I watched this one as a six year old in the theater!) Romancing the Stone (But don't watch the Jewel of the Nile, it's awful.) Crocodile Dundee (again, some drugs) The Last Starfighter (It's been a long time since I've seen that one!) Splash The Last Dragon (Sho' Nuff!) Big Business Troop Beverly Hills Romeo + Juliet (again, drugs and this time shooting) A League of Their Own Liar Liar Death Becomes Her Galaxy Quest Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (I'm right on top of that Rose!) Encino Man Maverick

Mask of Zorro Now you see me Rental Family

Here's a recommendation i can't make: Jaws .. Ask Me how i know =P

If you can get your kids to ignore some language/alcohol use/gunshots, I'd say The Sting. It's a classic and I've enjoyed it since I was a kid - might not have caught on to the intricacies of the con back then, but the music can be quite the *entertainer* (ahahahah puns). Honestly a lot of heist films probably fall into a similar umbrella - Italian Job, Thomas Crown Affair, etc.

This is why Hallmark Channel movies are popular. 

Since you've already mentioned one of Steve Conrads movies, I'd add the Pursuit of Happyness, The Weatherman, Wonder, and Wrestling Ernest Hemingway. Pretty much any Rohl Dahl inspired material is great. Matilda (Dir Danny Devito), Fantastic Mr. Fox, Witches, Willy Wonky and the Chocolate Factory (1971). Also strangely enough, The Muppets have a fair amount of movies with some subtle hints that their movies are also geared to adults. The Great Muppet Caper is a great film I enjoyed as a kid, and as an adult, I still enjoy today for different reasons.

I’ve been watching a lot of Jacques Tati movies with my kids. They’re mostly physical comedy and it’s all in French anyway. My 4 year old especially loves Mr. Hulot’s Holiday and Mon Oncle.

I think Blues Brothers would play well with kids that age.

Blues Brothers

Waking Ned Devine

Young Frankenstein! My grandkids love the Gene Hackman scene!

Antz (1998)

Better Off Dead

Amadeus

Secondhand Lions, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Shane (1953), True Grit (1969), Who Framed Roger Rabbit, October Sky, The Swiss Family Robinson (1960), Where the Red Fern Grows, Empire of the Sun (1987), Over the Top, The Princess Bride, The Book Thief, Disney's the Kid, How to Train Your Dragon (2025), The Forger (2011), The Devil Wears Prada, 13 Going on 30, Robot and Frank, George of the Jungle, MacFarland USA, Last Action Hero, Antz, Mouse Hunt

The knives out movies were a BIG hit with my 8 and 12 year old

A lot of golden age of Hollywood stuff. Or the lost boys.

My dad (who wouldn't let me watch relatively tame kid action shows like Power Rangers or Ninja Turtles) showed me The Great Escape for the first time when I was probably around 6 or 7. It remains one of my all time favorite "old" movies to this day. Its really more of a classic adventure movie than a serious war movie, with very few scenes depicting any consequential violence, and none of it particularly graphic. It even inspired the kid-oriented parody Chicken Run, which could actually be a pretty fun double-feature now that I think about it. An unintended side effect was that I started channeling that aloof Steve McQueen "Cooler King" energy so hard every time that I was sent to my room, my parents eventually had to come up with alternative punishments. So consider yourself warned.

Leave No Trace, The Farewell, and Conclave (though IDK if kids would be interested in a movie aobut voting for the pope) are modern PG rated movies (specified modern since MPAA are way more strict these days

Field of Dreams

Sense and Sensibility

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. A great introspective of the overimaginative mind of an old soul not quite ready to die. Lots of fun visuals and gags that kids will find fun too.

Starman (Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen) is great story and a good film -there is, however, one lovemaking scene near the end of the movie which is important to the narrative and while it doesn’t have any actual nudity, (unless you count side-b***) there’s no mistaking what’s going on between them. So it’d depend on where you are and how you feel about that for your kid(s).

My 11 year loved The Prestige and it sparked a lot of conversations.

Ok… here’s a fun choice. Kelly’s heroes. It was our ‘family movie’ when I was growing up… It’s an odd mix of comedy, action WW2 and a heist movie all in one… Huuuuge star studded cast. Clint Eastwood plays ‘Kelly’ a disgruntled soldier… he discovers that a cache of Nazi gold is hidden in a bank… but it’s 30 miles behind enemy lines… He recruits a crazy bunch of fellow soldiers to go steal it… including Telly Savalas the sarge, Don Rickles-the money and supply guy, and… Donald Sutherland as a crazy hippie tank commander named ‘oddball’ And TVs Archie Bunker, who plays a hilarious ‘Patton’ type general that has no idea what’s going on… It’s a huge, epic, crazy wonderful movie… we used to watch it as a family about once a year growing up, and I in turn introduced it to my kids when they were that age, and they loved it too :)

Try screwball comedies from the 30s and 40s. Buster Keaton films.