In the words of Parks and Recreation‘s Leslie Knope, “Oh, it’s only the best day ever!”
Popularized on that very sitcom, Galentine’s Day, typically observed today, February 13, is a day to celebrate female friendship and sisterhood. As Leslie says, it’s “ladies celebrating ladies.”
Whether you go big for Galentine’s Day with brunches and parties or prefer a more low-key affair with your besties, there’s nothing quite like a movie night to cap things off.
Below, we rounded up 31 of our favorite movies that would fit right in at a Galentine’s Day movie night. From classics of the ’90s to this year’s Barbie, plenty of movies keep friendship front and center.
Parks and Recreation Season 2, Episode 16: “Galentine’s Day” (2010)
Okay, so technically, we’re cheating a little with this first one since it’s a TV episode and not a movie, but we couldn’t leave off the episode that popularized this celebration of all things female friendship.
where to stream parks and recreation
Booksmart (2019)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Booksmart is a movie for the girls who never went to a party in high school and still turned out okay. The movie follows best friends Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) as they attempt to pack four years of partying and rule-breaking into one night — the night before graduation.
where to stream booksmart
Barbie (2023)
Spend Galentine’s Day in Barbieland by checking out one of this year’s best picture nominees. Barbie follows Barbie (Margot Robbie) as she ventures into the real world to solve an existential crisis and ends up gaining a new perspective — and some new friends.
where to stream barbie
80 For Brady (2023)
“If you let go of the notion that broad comedies (pun intended) are an inherently low art form, I think you’ll find that80 for Bradyis a genuinely fun time,” wrote Decider’s Anna Menta, on the comedy that is good, actually.
80 For Brady stars four aging screen legends (Rita Moreno, Jane Fonda, Sally Field, and Lily Tomlin) as four best friends who get together every Sunday to watch their favorite team — the New England Patriots — as they head to the 2016 Super Bowl to see their favorite team in person.
where to stream 80 for brady
Mamma Mia! (2008) and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
Sure, Mamma Mia! and its (superior, in my humble opinion) sequel are primarily concerned with answering the question of Sophie’s parentage, female friendship is actually the heart of the films. In the first movie, we meet Donna (Meryl Streep) and her ever-supportive best friends Rosie (Julie Walters) and Tanya (Christine Baranski). The sequel uses flashbacks to portray Donna, Rosie, and Tanya (Lily James, Alexa Davies, and Jessica Keenan Wynn) during one particularly life-changing summer.
where to stream mamma mia!
where to stream mamma mia! here we go again
Pitch Perfect (2012)
Pitch Perfect is a perfect — no pun intended — movie to watch with your pals on Galentine’s Day. It’s full of great music, lots of laughs, and found family, as Anna Kendrick’s Beca finds a place she belongs on campus with the all-female acapella team.
where to stream pitch perfect
Bottoms (2023)
Bottoms touts itself as “a movie about empowering women (the hot ones)” and it makes a fun (and bloody) Galentine’s Day watch. The movie follows lesbian high schoolers Josie (Ayo Edebiri) and PJ (Rachel Sennott) who start a fight club as a way to hook up with cheerleaders (Havana Rose Liu and Kaia Gerber).
where to stream bottoms
Little Women (2019)
If you’re spending Galentine’s Day with your sisters, you can’t go wrong with Little Women, even if it’s more bittersweet than most choices. Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation of the classic novel starred Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, and Eliza Scanlen as the March sisters.
where to stream little women
Bridesmaids (2011)
Celebrate Galentine’s Day with one of the best comedies of the 21st century so far, Bridesmaids. It follows Annie (Kristin Wiig), who encounters a series of comedic misfortunes in the lead-up to her best friend’s wedding, which she’ll serve as maid of honor at.
where to stream bridesmaids
Girls Trip (2017)
Four longtime friends (Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith) take a trip to the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans by turning one of their work trips into a girl’s trip. They reconnect after growing apart with the help of some dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing.
where to stream girls trip
Joy Ride (2023)
Take a chaotic trip through China with Audrey (Ashley Park), Lolo (Sherry Cola), Kat (Stephanie Hsu), and Deadeye (Sabrina Wu) as they travel the country to find Audrey’s birth mother. The R-rated comedy is raunchy but also has a lot of heart and a lot to say about friendship.
where to stream joy ride
(1991)
Thelma and Louise is a critically acclaimed genre-bending road movie that follows two best friends (Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis) who embark on a short road trip that turns into them running from the law after an incident in a bar.
Book Club (2018)
Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen star as a quartet of friends who spice up their book club after over 40 years together by reading Fifty Shades of Grey, and embark on new chapters of their lives — some begin new romances while others reignite old flames.
where to stream book club
The Parent Trap (1998)
Double the Lindsay Lohans, double the fun! The Parent Trap follows identical twins who were separated when their parents divorced shortly after they were born — Hallie was then raised by her dad in California, while Anne grew up in London with her mother. When the twins meet at summer camp eleven years and nine months later, they concoct a plan to get their parents back together.
where to stream the parent trap
Ocean’s 8 (2018)
Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) takes the reigns in a heist of her own in this spin-off of the Ocean’s series, which sees her and seven other women (Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, and Helena Bonham Carter) attempt a sophisticated and complicated robbery at the Met during the Met Gala.
where to stream ocean’s 8
Mean Girls (2004)
If you think streaming Mean Girls with your Galentines is a bad idea, you can’t sit with us. The iconic movie, which turns 20 this year, is eternally quotable and always good for a rewatch. Simply put, Mean Girls never disappoints.
where to stream mean girls
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)
The sisterhood from this movie (America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, and Blake Lively) is still going strong today. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants follows four best friends who buy a mysterious pair of jeans that somehow fits all of them despite varying sizes and then share the jeans throughout their first summer apart. It makes the perfect nostalgia watch this Galentine’s Day.
where to stream the sisterhood of the traveling pants
Whip It (2009)
Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut is all about female friendship. It follows teenager Bliss Cavendar (Elliot Page) as she loses interest in the flashy Texas pageant community she grew up in and finds belonging with the “Hurl Scouts” — a roller derby team that’s tight-knit, but not very good.
where to stream whip it
Waiting to Exhale (1995)
Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon star as four best friends in Waiting to Exhale, which follows their bonds with each other and the men they date as all four wait to find themselves comfortable with themselves and their relationships.
where to stream waiting to exhale
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
More a film about mothers and daughters than best friends or sisters, The Joy Luck Club is about the bonds and relationships between four Chinese-American women and their Chinese immigrant mothers, as they strive to understand each other amidst a culture clash.
where to stream the joy luck club
Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
A new friendship between Jess (Parminder Nagra) and Jules (Kiera Knightley) leads to Jess joining a semi-pro soccer team against her strict parents’ wishes in this inspiring movie that explores themes of culture, societal norms, and of course, friendship.
where to stream bend it like beckham
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
The creative minds behind Bridesmaids (Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo) reunited on and off camera in Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, which follows lifelong friends Barb and Star as they leave their small midwestern town for the first time in their lives to vacation in Vista Del Mar, Florida.
where to stream barb and star go to vista del mar
Hustlers
Inspired by a true story, Hustlers follows a group of strippers (Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Lili Reinhart, Cardi B, Lizzo, and Keke Palmer) who scheme to take their lives back by stealing money to get back at the Wall Street bankers who frequent their club.
where to stream hustlers
Sisters (2015)
The comedy dream team of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey reunited on screen in 2015’s Sisters following their first film collaboration, Baby Mama. In Sisters, they play, well, sisters. Summoned back to their childhood home to help clean it out before selling it, reckless Kate (Fey) convinces straight-laced Maura (Poehler) that they should throw one last wild rager in the house.
where to stream sisters
Josie and the puss*cats (2001)
If a cult classic is your idea of a great Galentine’s watch, you can’t go wrong with Josie and the puss*cats. Rachael Leigh Cook stars as Josie, the frontwoman of her band, while Tara Reid and Rosario Dawson back her up. The movie follows the band as they’re roped into a scheme with the United States government conspiring to brainwash the youth with subliminal messaging. It also features a great performance from The Traitors host Alan Cumming.
where to stream josie and the puss*cats
The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)
Go on a mad dash through Europe with Audrey (Mila Kunis) and Morgan (Kate McKinnon) as they’re thrust into an international conspiracy and chased by relentless assassins, all thanks to Audrey’s ex-boyfriend — a C.I.A. agent who never told her about his life in espionage.
where to stream the spy who dumped me
9 to 5 (1980)
Don’t get sad, get even — that’s the plot of 9 to 5. Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, and Dolly Parton star as a trio of office workers who live out fantasies of overthrowing their “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” boss.
where to stream 9 to 5
Wine Country (2019)
A group of Saturday Night Live greats (Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, and writers Paula Pell and Emily Spivey) come together for Wine Country, which also marked Poehler’s feature directorial debut. The movie follows a group of longtime friends on a weekend getaway to Napa Valley.
where to stream wine country
Someone Great (2019)
Gina Rodriguez stars in Someone Great as a music journalist adrift after her boyfriend of nine years breaks up with her right as she’s set to move cities for a new job. She decides to have one last hurrah in the city with her two best friends (DeWanda Wise and Brittany Snow), as the movie celebrates the unbreakable bonds of female friendship.
A fun note for the Swifties: Writer-director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson cited “Clean” as one of her inspirations for the movie, and in turn, Taylor Swift has noted that Someone Great inspired “Death By A Thousand Cuts.”
where to stream someone great
Set It Off (1996)
Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, and Kimberly Elise star in Set It Off as four close friends who, after one of them is fired from her bank teller job, plan and execute a heist of that very bank. Each friend has a different reason for doing it — to achieve a better life for them or their families.
where to stream set it off
The First Wives Club (1996)
Three divorcées (Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton) band together to get revenge on their ex-husbands for leaving them for younger women. 2014’s The Other Woman has a similar tilt (and noted The First Wives Club as an inspiration), except in that movie the three women teaming up all discover they’re sleeping with the same man.
where to stream the first wives club
