Sipping steaming-hot chocolate. Sitting by a roaring fire. Donning a thick cable-knit sweater. These are just a few of the coziest ways to settle into the holiday season. But personally, nothing gets me in the spirit of pleasant hibernation and holiday cheer more than sitting down to watch a really good Christmas movie. A heartwarming tale of romance, familial care, and/or the “true meaning of Christmas” is basically my kryptonite. Growing up, I watched a VCR recording of Samantha: An American Girl Holiday every year as soon as it got cold — so many times in a row that I had the holiday-themed Puffs Plus Lotion commercial memorized. I no longer have that VCR tape or even a TV to catch A Charlie Brown Christmas or It’s a Wonderful Life. But thanks to the magic of streaming, I now have a vast array of holiday classics to choose from, as do we all — so vast, in fact, it is at times overwhelming. To help you out, I’ve narrowed them all down to the 20 best Christmas movies to stream right now. And unlike some mythical beings (@Santa), I didn’t even have to break into your house to give you this gift. Enjoy!
The Family Stone
The cast alone is a marvel to behold: We’ve got Claire Danes and Sarah Jessica Parker as sisters, Rachel McAdams absolutely inventing the concept of charm, and Diane Keaton!!! As much as I truly do enjoy the comforting, relatively predictable plot of the average Christmas movie, The Family Stone is funny, surprising, and heart-wrenching in a serious way. It’s less a Christmas movie and more a movie that happens to take place during Christmas.
The Holdovers
This 2023 release is what the kids call an “instant classic.” It’s funny, it’s nostalgic without being too sentimental, and it will make you cry when you least expect it.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Home Alone
A Macaulay Culkin classic, worth watching not only for its high jinks but also for the excellent interior-design inspo.
Streaming on Disney+.
Your Christmas or Mine?
This sweet and silly British rom-com is chock-full of clichés but offers charming performances from Sex Education’s Asa Butterfield (James) and the captivating Cora Kirk (Hayley). They’re college students who have been dating for a few months but are now separating to spend the holidays with their respective families — except that after saying good-bye, each decides to spend the holiday together instead. They both switch trains, turn up at each other’s family homes, and, of course, proceed to get snowed in. It’s a fun, satisfying watch that maintains a sense of holiday cheer throughout.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
I don’t care what anyone says, movies one through three of the Harry Potter franchise are certified Christmas movies — especially this first one. Nothing is cozier!
The Holiday
I’d venture to call this the perfect Christmas rom-com. Iris (Kate Winslet) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz), both dealing with the fallout of holiday heartbreak, decide to switch houses for the season. The houses in question are, of course, an immense, gorgeous Los Angeles mansion with a pool and a beautiful stone cottage in a small English village. This is a Nancy Meyers movie, so you know the kitchens, sweaters, and romantic chemistry go absolutely crazy.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Love Actually
The ensemble Christmas rom-com to end all ensemble Christmas rom-coms (well, not really, as it inspired multiple failed attempts to re-create its magic) needs no introduction. It’s a classic for a reason and — dare I say it? — Hugh Grant’s last truly charming performance.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
That Christmas
Written by Love Actually writer-director Richard Curtis, with Brian Cox voicing Santa Claus, That Christmas is made for children but has the potential to make any adult cry. It’s got lonely and misunderstood kids, a naughty-nice redemption arc, an igloo-building lesson, and turkeys that manage to survive a massive blizzard.
Streaming on Netflix.
The Holiday Calendar
Personally, I love a Christmas movie that includes a little magic. This one, starring Kat Graham as a photographer who’s forced out of stagnation and into love by a magical Advent calendar her grandfather gives her, manages to be as authentically delightful as it is corny. Will she end up with the hot new guy or her longtime best friend who’s also hot? Take a wild guess! Or just drink your hot chocolate and watch this movie.
Streaming on Netflix.
Carol
If you’re yearning this holiday season, why not watch Carol (Cate Blanchett) and Therese (Rooney Mara) yearn for each other from the moment their eyes meet across the counter at Frankenberg’s, a 1950s-era department store, days before Christmas. Beyond being a perfect, if melancholy, Christmas movie, Carol is simply a perfect movie.
Streaming on Netflix and Paramount+.
Die Hard
While I personally won’t be commenting on whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie, I certainly can’t deny that it both takes place during Christmas and is widely watched during Christmas.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Roku, and Tubi.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Listen, I love the Jim Carrey remake as much as the next girl does, but a classic is a classic and the animated original is underappreciated at this point. Watch it!
Streaming on Peacock.
Meet Me Next Christmas
This holiday season, I’m grateful Christina Milian has joined the Netflix Christmasverse. Sure, the entire movie seems built around advertising for Pentatonix’s holiday concert tour — though the group doesn’t actually seem to be performing on Christmas Eve this year, as in the movie — I don’t even care because despite the many questionable musical choices, there’s real chemistry between Milian and her co-star, the incredibly hot Devale Ellis.
Streaming on Netflix.
Happiest Season
It’s a lesbian Christmas rom-com starring Kristen Stewart. I don’t think I need to sell you on it, but you should know that everyone else in it is good too and that it strikes the perfect balance of silliness and strife.
Streaming on Hulu.
The Knight Before Christmas
This movie is bad, but it’s bad in such delightful and, I like to think, self-aware ways that it’s at least as enjoyable to watch as any Christmas classic. Shout-out to Vanessa Hudgens for always leaning into the bit.
Streaming on Netflix.
Elf
I don’t have to convince you to watch Elf. You’re probably watching Elf right now. If not, now you know you can!
The Perfect Holiday
With a stacked cast — Gabrielle Union! Morris Chestnut! Queen Latifah! — and true Christmas spirit, The Perfect Holiday won’t give you an accurate depiction of the music industry but will make you cry, and that’s what counts.
Streaming on Peacock, Hulu, and Paramount+.
Little Women
Little Women is many things. And one of those things is a Christmas movie.
Streaming on Hulu.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Don’t you feel a nostalgic little chill just thinking of Mr. Tumnus and Edmund and those irresistible Turkish delights?
Streaming on Hulu.
While You Were Sleeping
This is Sandra Bullock at her weirdest and most wonderful, finding not only love but family. And isn’t that what Christmas is all about?
Streaming on Roku and Disney+.
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