Easteris on the horizon, and that means it is time to paint the eggs and put on the Sunday best. Easter is an interesting holiday in terms of celebration.Holidays like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and others are fun as a child and also as an adult, as their meaning of them can evolve into different levels of enjoyment. Some holidays like New Year’s Eve can become even more fun as an adult, but Easter is different.
It means one thing as a child filled with baskets of gifts and candy and Easter egg hunts, but changes drastically as an adult. For those with a religious background, it can be aspiritual day full of meaning, but to the non-religious, it may seem like a Sunday with nothing huge to offer. However, Easter is a holiday that has many meanings to many people. As a symbol of rebirth and renewal, either in relation to Christianity or to Spring. Life blossoms and the cold winters give way to beautiful spring that can be spent with loved ones. One activity to do is enjoy a movie with friends, families, or even solo.
Updated March 27th, 2024: This article has been updated to reflect more movie options to watch this Easter.
Hollywood knows the value of the holiday, as Easter weekend is prime real estate for big theatrical releases. The biggest Easter release for 2023 isThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, looking to capture the family audience. Adult viewers also have Amazon’sAirfor their Easter weekend viewing. Yet, if you are looking for something else, be it a film with an overtly religious tone, a secular vibe, or something enjoyable for the whole family, check out these movies to watch on Easter.
Hopis a family-friendly offering that dives deep into modern notions of Easter, namely the Easter Bunny. While plenty of films explore thelore and mythology of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny has a lot of potential. This 2011 film is about a young rabbit named E.B. (Russell Brand) who runs away from his home on Easter Island to follow his dreams to be a drummer instead of succeeding his father as the Easter Bunny and ends up finding a human named Fred (James Marsden) to take on the mantle instead.
The Iconography of Easter in CGI and Live-Action
The movie is Illumination Entertainment’s only film to feature CGI and live-action elements and has a lot of fun playing with various Easter iconography, like rabbits, chicks, and Easter eggs.Hopis playful, quick fun for the whole family.
15Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday
A movie named after the holiday is always a safe bet, just ask John Carpenter’sHalloween,which is practically mandatory viewing for the month of October.Easter Sundayis loosely based on stand-up comedian Jo Koy’s life growing up in a Filipino household.
A Filipino Family Easter
Easter Sundayis the most recent addition to the list, and in an odd move, Universal Pictures decided not to release the movie around Easter but picked a late summer release date. While the movie was a box office bomb, it can find new life on home video and streaming as film audiences return to Easter season for a good laugh.
14Rise of the Guardians
Rise of the Guardians
Billed asThe Avengersof children’s icons,Rise of the Guardiansfocuses on a team of childhood legends: Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), and the Sandman, as they recruit Jack Frost (Chris Pine) to battle Pitch Black (Jude Law) from engulfing the world in darkness by destroying children’s belief in them.
An Easter Bunny of Hope
Though it was released in November to cash in on the holiday season and has a winter aesthetic, the film takes place near Easter. The Easter Bunny is the film’s guardian of hope, and his explanation that Easter is about new beginnings and new life is a perfect explanation of the holiday.
13Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971)
Here Comes Peter Cottontailis a stop-motion Easter special from Rankin/Bass Productions. Based on the novel, The Easter Bunny That Overslept, the story revolves around Peter Cottontail, who lives in Easter Valley, where all the bunnies help prepare for the eponymous holiday. Peter is expected to become the new Chief Easter Bunny, but an evil rabbit, January Q. Irontail is determined to take his place and ruin the holiday once and for all. Thanks to Irontail, Peter oversleeps on Easter, but a time machine gives him a chance to set things right.
An Easter Bunny For All Seasons
The special animated in Rankin/Bass' famous Animagic style, is especially famous for its voice cast, which include Casey Kasem as Peter, Danny Kaye as the narrator, and Vincent Price, who voices the villainous Irontail. Just as Rankin/Bass based many oftheir famous Christmas specialson popular holiday carols,Here Comes Peter Cottontailwas based on the song of the same name from Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, who were also behind “Frosty the Snowman.”
12Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
For kids, Easter is a holiday commonly associated with candy, second only behind Halloween. For that reason,Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factoryis a delightful pick for an Easter viewing. Released in 1971, the movie was a box office disappointment but went on to become an instant classic thanks to its repeated screenings on television.
Whimsy and Candy
Not only does the movie feature plenty of sweet treats, but aesthetically the film features a warm glow associated with spring. The film’s score makes for a perfect Easter soundtrack, with the right amount of whimsy to make one’s heart take flight and believe in a world of pure imagination.
11The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Based on the highly popular book of the same name,The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobefollows the Pevensie children as they are transported to a magical land called Narnia through an entrance in a wardrobe, and get drawn into a conflict against the evil White Witch (Tilda Swinton). The four children, known to the residents of Narnia as two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve, must join forces with the mysterious and powerful Aslan (Liam Neeson) to end the eternal winter that has covered the land and return the sun.
A Christian Allegory That’s Perfect for Easter
Like a few other films on the list,The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobecan be considered both a Christmas and Easter movie (so much so that its theatrical release was in December, but hit DVD just in time for Easter). The film’s central backdrop sees winter making way for spring to bloom, and Aslan sacrificing himself and being reborn. Author C.S. Lewis' religious faith was a major part of his work and his life, and he created amodern Christian allegorythat could be enjoyed by those of faith and non-faith alike.
10Superman Returns
Superman Returns
Superman Returnsacts as a sequel toSuperman: The MovieandSuperman IIand sees Superman (Brandon Routh) return to Earth after five years away, and now must find a place in a world that has moved on from him. Aside from the renewal of the Superman franchise at the time, the film draws heavily from religious symbolism. Superman’s origin story is comparable to that of Moses, but for years various writers have imagined the figure asa Christ-like savior; throughout the film, people reference Superman as a savior.
A Christ-Like Sacrifice
In Superman’s fight with Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey), he stabs the man of steel with a shard of Kryptonite in the side (referencing the crucifixion), and Superman sacrifices his life to save the people of Earth. The film finds a familial bond, with Superman discovering he has a son with Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) named Jason, who seems to have inherited his powers. Superman recounts the lesson his father Jor-El (Marlon Brando) imparted to him when he discovers Jason’s lineage, that “the son becomes the father, and the father the son,” a very Christian sentence.Superman Returnsis an Easter movie down to its thematic DNA.
Related:Every Actor Who Played Superman, Ranked
9Hank & Mike
Hank and Mike
Hank and Mike is a holiday-themed comedy that skews older than most movies about Easter bunnies. The titular Hank and Mike are two blue-collar Easter bunnies who seem like perfect opposites. Mike is insecure and straight-laced while Hank is deadpan and obnoxious, effectively the “Odd Couple” in bunny suits. After the two get downsized in favor of other holidays, they’ll take on a variety of odd jobs as their lives start to unravel. Things take a dark turn when Hank ends up pawning Golden Egg award.
Being an Easter Bunny Isn’t an Easy Job
The story takes place in a world where being an Easter bunny is a job someone can have and, like many jobs, lose. Much of the humor comes from the fact the two leads, among other characters, are wearing bunny costumes. The characters of Hank and Mike originated in the sketch-comedyYB Normal. The two also appeared in a short film in 2000, which served as the basis for the film.
8The Matrix
The Matrix
Released on the Easter weekend of 1999, Warner Bros. knew there was something thematically present inThe Matrix. The story is about Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves), a computer hacker going by the name Neo, who discovers his world is a simulation in a computer created by machines who have conquered humanity. Neo is prophesied to be The One, the individual who will free humanity from the Matrix with the help of Trinity.
The Matrix Is a Spiritual Film
The One and the name Trinity have religious connections behind them.The Matrixis filled with symbolismand references (many of them religious), so much so that people’s various readings of it were critiqued inThe Matrix Resurrections(which itself has an obvious Easter-type title). As it stands,The Matrixserves as a great alternative for audiences looking for something spiritual while also providing some mind-bending action that still manages to amaze them after all these years.
7The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
One of the most successful movies of all time,The Sound of Musicis the story of Maria (Julie Andrews), a young Austrian postulant in 1938 Salzburg, Austria, who is sent to the villa of a retired naval officer and widower, Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plumber) to be governess to his seven children.
The Sound of Music Was Syndicated Into Easter History
After changing the family’s life, she marries Captain Von Trapp, and the two, along with the children, find a way to survive the loss of their homeland to the Nazis. The film is often considered an unofficial Christmas movie due to years of television broadcast, yet some networks have taken to running it at Easter (likely for the religious themes), and the film’s vast green canvas makes it a perfect springtime treat.
