What do I watch with a nearly 13yo who doesn’t like anything???

[LadyContrary]

Just as the title says. We are having a movie night. DS likes nothing atm - he is a grumpy teenager who communicates more through grunts than actual words. I suspect he’s in it just for the snacks anyway.

He doesn’t like (brace yourselves for the list)

• Christmas movies (for girls, apparently!!!)
• Star Wars/ lord of the rings vibe (seen many times)
• anything too scary (as if I would ever let him watch a proper horror film!)
• anything at all.

Every suggestion from me has been a NO!!!
He likes football, all sports in general, planes and travelling. He liked Jurrasic Park films, Sully: mirace on the Hudson, Men in Black - just a few examples for inspiration..

I’m feeling lost for ideas, any suggestions welcome! We have Disney+, Prime, Netflix, Sky, Paramount, Apple and pretty much any other streaming service (I know, I know, waste of money).

The new avengers is on Disney + and really good, quite deep and a bit different. There's also fantastic 4 on at the mo. How about all the marvel films?? That'll take a while! We enjoyed Brooklyn 9 9 at that age but not sure if it's a 15 or 12.

My 15 year old DS and I watch/have watched over the past 2 years:

• Ted Lasso
• Stranger Things
• Doctor Who
• Fallout
• Riverdale (til it went mad!)
• Adolescence
• Dexter - every series!

TBH I tend to let him choose as I am just happy he wants to hang out lol, but we do often like similar things. I was not very interested in Ted Lasso but it turned out to be the best show ever!

Maybe let him watch something you might not usually... obviously if you think he can cope/process etc. That might get his attention.

The Meg films (crap but enjoyed by my daughter who likes Jurassic Park and Jaws, and fun to watch together), Arachnophobia, Anaconda (scary dangerous animal movies but not horror).

We have never been very strict about age certificates, because DD isn't upset by scary stuff. At 12 DD watched ..

All the Jurassic Park series

Knives Out and Glass Onion, Murder on the Orient Express etc as she loves murder mysteries.

All the fucking Marvel films 🙄

My grumpy teen loved the Monty Python movies at that age - he was a really typical Kevin and Perry teenager, didn't like us acknowledging him in public, talking to his friends, doing any (pretty much everything was "embarrassing") but, for some inexplicable reason, like me, he loved Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Life of Brian. They are both really old films (he is still a teenager, albeit just, and is maturing into a lovely adult - there is hope) and we can both quote them pretty much word for word. As it turns out "Your father smells of elderberries" is quite good for ending arguments

Mitchells vs the Machines is an absolute hoot and great for this age group

Dumb and Dumber
My usually difficult to please son liked Wonka (he was 13 at the time).

Not a film, but if he likes travelling then watch Celebrity Race Across the World. My boy likes that. He also likes the Recent series of The Traitors. Loves The 1% Club, The Wheel, Gladiators.

I absolutely loved watching James Bond film with my dad when I was young, but I feel some of them are really inappropriate now.

So much sexism etc I'm not sure I can bear to watch them with my child, they are so cringe. Sorry Dad 😂

Loads of violence (and more sexism) in the later ones too.

knowing, Nicholas Cage. My son used to like that when he was around the same age.

Airplane was too slow for ds (and me, sadly). But both the Bill and Ted movies stood up ❤️

There are plenty of sports long form documentaries on Amazon Prime - running (especially ultras), football, boxing and cars/F1/Indy 500/Le Mans/etc.

We've been watching 90s action movies and the likes with my similar 13 year old - things like Independence Day and Twister which he's enjoyed. He's also liked the Godzilla movie and the more recent War of the Worlds. He'll still enjoy the occasional kids film too.
It's a tricky age I think - he's grown out of Disney/ Pixar, is a bit bored of superheroes (although loved Guardians of the galaxy) but still wants loads of action and not too much dialogue!

Does he not like any of the Marvel stuff?

Guardians of the galaxy or something like that?

Yes probably a bit 😬

My DD is nearly 13. She loves the Spiderverse animated ones (Into the.. and Across the...). You say he liked Jurassic Park... so know it's not a film but we watch Jurassic Park:Chaos Theory together (I love it as much as she does). Again not a film but a bonding activity involving the TV, we've watched loads of series of Taskmaster. We watch the bleeped version, usually.

DD would be on her phone or reading in her room, if we didn't have things we watch together (when she's not out playing or training for her football squads). She likes the Marvel films, too.

Edited to add: Doctor Who!

School of Rock? High Fidelity?
Not sure if you can guess, but I find Jack Black funny 🤣 But, both films are really good and have great sound tracks

Great shout, I was probably 13 the first time I saw the Life if Brian and remember cry laughing!

Classic films like rocky, godfather, kill bill, fight club, martial arts films etc
I never paid too much attention to age ratings I think they're a bit OTT
You know your kid and what they'd be sensitive to
What about anime ones like studio ghibli, grave of the fireflies (sad), your name, slam dunk, ghost in the shell, akira (soooo good)

Sorry I realise my suggestions are incredibly violent for a 12 year old but I grew up on horror, classic films and Sci fi so perhaps I am not the best !!!
I also watched a lot of golden age of Hollywood in early teens as I was obsessed with hitchcock and Marilyn Monroe. Can be a good idea?
Also the Charlie Chaplin movie is hilarious even still. I just like introducing kids to classics I think!

Tv show wise
The fallout tv show on amazon is really good.
Alien has a tv show I'm enjoying. It's not that scary and kinda stands alone
Ted Lasso is about football and quite wholesome
The walking dead tv series or the last of us start out strong
Stranger things obvs

DS wanted a comedy, I had a few suggestions, went for White Chicks in the end. He’s laughing his head off, we’re half way in and hasn’t been on his phone yet!

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I like to hang out with him, we watch Traitors, Masterchef, Chase and Race Across the world together. Films are a rare treat so he’ll probably be in his 30s before we manage to watch half of the recommendations on here 😂

I see the thread has moved on but have you tried one of those Movie picking apps. Movie Matcher is one that has worked for us but there are others.

And they key to raising teens now I am almost out the other side 1. Sense of humour. 2. Keep loving them even when they are arsehats. 3. Positive adult role models that aren't their parents.

We're in the same position - 2 DS age 12 & 14. We always used to have a Friday movie night but this has dropped off a bit now. But I agree - sometime its good to push it a bit and make those connection points happen!
Loads of good recommendations here. A series is good - not such a big commitment - we've loved Stranger Things, Sweet Tooth, Ted Lasso.

Love and Monsters on netflix was a really good family film.
Also enjoyed - Maze Runner series, Hunger Games, Under Paris (a shark movie and kind of so bad its good! on Netflix I think), Tropic Thunder was stupid and un PC but enjoyed by us all.

My boys loved Forrest Gump at this age

Oh and Titanic, they loved Titanic