Family Movie Nights

To help families spend time together and share common experiences, The Leadership Institute provides recommendations for Family Movie Night. Each week, a new movie recommendation and explanation is available for your consideration. Enjoy the show!

If you are looking to see where a particular movie is streaming or is available online, please visit https://www.justwatch.com

Nightjohn
“Words are freedom.” Sarny is a young girl growing up as a slave on a Southern plantation in the 1830’s. Though life is rough, she feels fortunate to be chosen… Read More
Duma
When the young South African boy Xan finds an orphaned baby cheetah, he decides to raise it, calling it Duma. When the cat becomes too old to continue raising on… Read More
The Iron Giant
Here’s a lesser-known animated film from the filmmaker who would go on to direct The Incredibles and Ratatouille for Pixar. Nine-year-old Hogarth lives in a small town in the 1950s.… Read More
Empire of the Sun
It’s the 1940s, and Jamie Graham (played by a young Christian Bale) is a British schoolboy living in Shanghai with his parents. He enjoys an upper class lifestyle, but takes… Read More
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Here’s a whimsical classic from the 70s. The master candy maker Willy Wonka is famous throughout the world for his delicious treats, but he hides in his secretive factory where… Read More
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
With Thanksgiving feasts (and perhaps some holiday shopping) around the corner, here’s a family comedy that features some delicious weather, but warns of the dangers of excessiveness. Flint Lockwood has… Read More
Coraline
The young Coraline Jones is miserable after she and her parents move to a new house out in the middle of nowhere. She is completely bored, misses her friends, and… Read More
Return to Oz
It’s been six months since Dorothy returned to Kansas, and Aunt Em is worried about her. Dorothy’s not sleeping well and she keeps talking about strange nonsense such as a… Read More
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them…   No Catholic list of film recommendations… Read More
A Monster Calls
While a film about a boy conjuring an imaginary beast to guide him through an emotionally tumultuous time may sound like the plot of a children’s film, this more serious… Read More
The One and Only Ivan
Here’s a lighthearted family film featuring animals who, in typical children’s story fashion, can speak to each other, but not to humans. Rescued from poachers as a baby and raised… Read More