Bitesize Recommends: Five summer filled films for families

BBC Bitesize brings you five great films - recommended by veteran film journalist Adam Smith - to help make sure you love what you watch this summer if ever you’re looking to just kick back, relax, and put a movie on.

Summer is a great time for movie fans. There’s often big blockbuster releases and epic trailers for films that are yet to be released. Plus, the holidays provide loads of free time to catch up on any movies you might have missed from earlier in the year. It’s also the perfect time to get together, prepare some snacks, and catch up on some of the classics from the silver-screen as a family.

Covering different ages of cinema, for all different ages of film-fans, and catering to various tastes, Adam has put together a list of films for families and shared it with us here at BBC Bitesize. From coming-of-age dramas, to magical animated fantasies, action-packed superhero showdowns to a jaw(s) dropping classic, there is something for everyone - each with a hint of summer!

List…camera…action!

High School Musical 2 - (U)

The original High School Musical, released in 2006, introduced us to the pupils of East High School, who go through all the rites of adolescence - first love, divided loyalties, triumph and disaster - while occasionally breaking into song and some amazingly well-choreographed dance routines.

It was a huge hit, helped by great tunes and the directorial skills of the legendary Kenny Ortega (who started out working with Singin’ In The Rain star Gene Kelly and went on to provide choreography for the iconic films Dirty Dancing and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, among a multitude of others.)

Ortega returned for the sequel, which sees the group of friends land summer jobs at the somewhat ominously named Lava Springs Country Club. Here they go through pretty much the same trials and tribulations, with Troy (played by Zac Efron) being tempted away from the love of his life Gabriella (played by Vanessa Hudgens) with promises of a musical scholarship.

It’s fair to say that the plot of HSM2 is not what you would call taxing but this film franchise has never been about deep drama. Instead, they’re about the music and dance, and in High School Musical 2, it’s all high energy, packed with sweet moments, and, as always, absolutely everyone is guaranteed a happy ending.

Spirited Away - (PG)

Fans of Studio Ghibli enjoy arguing about which of the Japanese animation company’s many fantastic movies is the greatest. But Spirited Away, released in 2001 and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, is always at or near the top, and it’s a perfect summer movie for the whole family.

The story features a 10-year-old girl named Chihiro, who (along with her family) stumbles into an abandoned and apparently haunted amusement park. After her parents are inconveniently transformed into pigs, Chihiro is magically transported to a strange parallel world of spirits, where she must pass a series of unusual tests to de-pig her parents and return home.

Spirited Away is packed with magical moments and unforgettable imagery, from the chaotic onsen, ruled over by the gargantuan matriarch Yubaba (who is scary but not too scary), to slimy stink spirits and an unforgettable, haunting train journey across a vast waterlogged plain.

The English voice-over was supervised by then-Pixar boss John Lassiter, who was a huge fan. But the original Japanese dub is wonderful, and it's the perfect introduction to watching a movie with subtitles. Whichever language you choose, it’s a perfect escape for a rainy summer day.

Spider-Man: Far From Home - (12)

Peter Parker goes on his summer hols in this globe-trotting entry in the insanely popular boy arachnid franchise, but like many people’s vacations, things don’t go entirely to plan. Though for Spidey, this isn’t just a case of a lost passport or forgetting to pack a phone charger!

After the death of his mentor, Tony Stark, Peter (played by Tom Holland) decides to take it easy on a school trip to Europe. But, true to form, S.H.I.E.L.D. boss Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) shows up to recruit him in a battle against strange elemental creatures that are attacking cities around the world. He’s helped by a mysterious new ‘hero’, Quentin Beck (played by Jake Gylenhall), who might not be all he seems.

Spider-Man movies have always been the lightest and most fun of the MCU films, however this one does include some scenes that feature threatening behaviour and references to more romantic things, which is why the film is classified as a 12. Overall though this is a perfect summer smash-hit blockbuster, blending the vibes of a carefree summer holiday, stunning backdrops of Prague, Venice and London with typical edge-of-your-seat action.

Jaws - (12A)

Jaws is the movie that pretty much invented the modern blockbuster, and it still holds up as one of the greatest summer movies ever made, even fifty years later.

Set in the fictional beachside town of Amity Island, it stars Roy Scheider as a local police chief who suspects that a killer great white shark is snacking on beachgoers. But the local mayor refuses to close the beaches and wreck the summer for the community. Jaws is a movie that has something for everybody: it’s a gripping thriller, features wonderfully acted characters (in particular Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw who play an excitable marine biologist and a somewhat grumbly shark-hunter) and, in its final act, a thrilling adventure movie.

While there are some frightening scenes but there’s nothing too graphic (partly because Spielberg is a genius director but mostly because his giant rubber shark never worked properly).

It's definitely one to watch though, but perhaps only after that day out at the beach.

Stand By Me - (15)

Released in 1986, Stand By Me is adapted from Stephen King’s novella The Body. Set during a single summer in the late 1950s, it follows four friends who set out along a local railway track to find the body of a classmate who is rumoured to have been killed by a train.

But this slightly dark McGuffin soon fades away to reveal a wonderfully touching celebration of boyhood friendship, in which the gang quarrel, bond, and ponder their futures.

It features great performances from the four leads (plus an enjoyable turn from Kiefer Sutherland putting in quite the performance as the leader of the local bullies) and, thanks to superb direction from Rob Reiner, it flawlessly treads the line between heartfelt sentiment and icky sentimentality. It’s a beautifully made coming of age story, capped with a killer final line that reliably raises a lump in the throat of anyone over the age of 30. A quick note here that there is some occasional swearing, which makes this particular film more suitable for older teens.

Lastly, a mention of this film wouldn’t be complete without recongising the fact that it transformed Ben E. King’s 1961 hit into a tune you can't hear without thinking of lazy summer days.

Altogether now… Dum-dum-da-da-dum-dum.….

This article was published in July 2025