Día de los Muertos is about remembering the people who came before you, with marigolds, music and food instead of mourning. Not many films get that right. These three are the ones worth putting on: two animated films set in the land of the dead, and one spy film with the most famous Day of the Dead scene ever shot.
Number 1
Coco
A boy who is forbidden to play music follows a guitar into the Land of the Dead and meets the family he only knew from photographs. It won the Oscars for animated feature and original song, and the last ten minutes will get you no matter how many times you have seen them.
Streams on Disney+
Number 2
The Book of Life
Two friends love the same woman, and two rulers of the afterlife place a bet on who wins her. Produced by Guillermo del Toro, with characters that look like carved wooden figures. It came out three years before Coco and is funnier and stranger.
Streams on Disney+
Number 3
Spectre
The James Bond film that opens in the middle of a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City, in one long unbroken shot across the rooftops. The parade was invented for the film. The city liked it so much that it started holding a real one the next year.
Streams on Prime Video
Streaming services are for the United States, checked 13 November 2026. Titles move between services, so check before you start.
Keep track of the one you start
ReelStack is an iPhone app that remembers which episode you are on, shows which service has every show and film, and tells you the day a new episode arrives. No account. Free for your first eight titles, then $4.99 once.
