Animated family films
- Despicable Me
- Up
- Ratatouille
- Kung Fu Panda
- How to Train Your Dragon
- Coco
- Zootopia
- Madagascar
- The Incredibles
- Cars
Movie charades
Movie charades ideas, scenes and characters
Movie charades works because players can act a title, a character, or a famous scene, which gives three ways into every prompt. These 60 ideas span animated films, blockbusters, classics, horror, single scenes, and characters. Pick a group your whole room has actually seen, then generate more in the movies category.
Use this guide
Make the round work.
- 01
Only use films the whole room has seen
Movie charades fails on obscurity, not difficulty. A blockbuster everyone half-remembers is a better prompt than a critically adored film two people have watched. Agree on an era or a genre before you start if the group spans several generations.
- 02
Act the scene, not the words
Most players start by miming the title word by word, which is slow. The faster route is usually the single most famous image in the film: a bow of a ship, a bullet dodge, a lifted lion cub. Save word-by-word signalling for titles with no visual hook.
- 03
Use the film-title hand signal
Cranking an old movie camera is the standard signal for a film. It saves the guessers ten seconds of shouting book, song, and TV show before they land on the right category.
- 04
Characters are easier than titles
If a group is struggling, switch to characters. A costume, a walk, or a catchphrase gesture is far easier to perform than an abstract title, and it keeps the same movie theme.
- 05
Set a two-minute cap on hard titles
Long multi-word titles can swallow a round. Cap them at two minutes, then reveal the answer and move on. The reveal is often the funniest part anyway.
Prompt starters
Ideas to pull from fast.
Use a list as a starting point, then open the game when you want the round to run itself.
Blockbusters everyone knows
- Avatar
- The Avengers
- Indiana Jones
- Back to the Future
- Ghostbusters
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Rocky
- Top Gun
- Mission: Impossible
- The Fast and the Furious
Classic movie charades
- Singin' in the Rain
- King Kong
- Psycho
- Casablanca
- Mary Poppins
- The Sound of Music
- Gone with the Wind
- Rear Window
- Some Like It Hot
- Breakfast at Tiffany's
Scary movie charades
- Jaws
- The Shining
- A Quiet Place
- Scream
- The Mummy
- Alien
- Godzilla
- Dracula
- Frankenstein
- The Birds
Famous scenes to act out
- The Titanic bow scene
- The Rocky staircase run
- The Matrix bullet dodge
- Dancing with an umbrella in the rain
- A lightsaber duel
- The Jurassic Park water ripple
- The E.T. bike flight
- The Home Alone face scream
- The Forrest Gump bench
- Lifting a lion cub over a cliff
Movie characters
- Harry Potter
- Darth Vader
- James Bond
- Batman
- Wonder Woman
- Yoda
- Willy Wonka
- Hermione Granger
- Captain America
- Elsa
Before you start
Questions, answered.
What are good movie charades ideas?
The best movie charades ideas are films with one unforgettable visual moment: Jaws, Titanic, Rocky, Jurassic Park, The Lion King. Players can act the scene instead of spelling out the title, which makes the round far quicker.
How do you signal a movie in charades?
Mime cranking an old-fashioned film camera with one hand. That is the standard signal for a film, and it tells guessers the category before you start acting the title itself.
What are easy movie charades for kids?
Animated films work best: Up, Cars, Coco, Madagascar, Zootopia, and Kung Fu Panda all have a signature animal, vehicle, or motion a child can act immediately.
How do you act out a movie title with several words?
Hold up fingers for the number of words, then hold up fingers again to show which word you are acting. Tug your earlobe for sounds-like, and sweep a circle when you want to act the whole title at once.
Can I generate random movie charades words?
Yes. Open the generator with the movies category selected and draw a random film prompt each turn, or generate a batch of ten to print before the party.
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