If you’re anything like us, you’ll have spent the past month of your life trying to get through every Christmas film you can possibly lay your eyes on, from the cheesiest and most low-budget romantic comedies to acclaimed films that have stood the test of time.
But once all that festive fun is over, you might suddenly find yourself with a hole in your viewing schedule.
While you’d be forgiven for thinking that New Year’s Eve is a little neglected compared to Christmas when it comes to dedicated seasonal films, there are actually some brilliant films out there to watch in the lead-up to 31 December, from fun-filled family favourites and timeless love stories to serious dramas and even modern horror classics.
If you’re planning on celebrating at home this New Year’s Eve, here are 10 films you can watch that are perfect for the occasion…
The pinnacle of British rom-coms in our opinion, the very first Bridget Jones film centres around our heroine as she tries to turn her life around over the course of one year, beginning and ending at the same point, which feels fitting for anyone putting together their list of New Year’s resolutions right now.
Of course, 2025 will also see the arrival of the fourth film in the franchise, so if you did want to use Bridget Jones’s Diary as a way of kicking off a rewatch of the whole series, we can’t say you wouldn’t have our support.
Stream it on:Netflix
Yeah alright, this might seem like a bit of an obvious choice, but we could hardly leave it off our list, could we?
In the style of films like Love Actually and Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve uses an all-star cast as a way of telling a variety of interwoven stories over the course of the holiday in one city, in this case New York.
And when we say “all-star cast”, we really mean it – Oscar winners Halle Berry, Robert De Niro and Hilary Swank share the screen with Sarah Jessica Parker, Zac Efron, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sarah Paulson, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Ashton Kutcher and countless others.
Available to buy on: YouTube
Although this movie musical is perhaps best known for Judy Garland’s performance of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (as well as the camp old time that is The Trolley Song), it’s actually perfect New Year’s Eve viewing, too.
Like a fair few films on our round-up, Meet Me In St Louis follows the same group of people – in this case, the Smith family – over the course of a year in their lives, making it perfect viewing for any time over the festive season.
Stream it on: BBC iPlayer
You need look no further for evidence of Meet Me In St Louis’ New Year’s credentials than the first Sex And The City movie, in which Carrie enjoys it on a lonely New Year’s Eve at home.
Sex And The City itself definitely counts as a staple New Year’s Eve film in its own right, too, not just because it follows a year in the girls’ lives as they navigate heartbreak, infidelity and the challenges of old and new friendship, but also its iconic sequence of Carrie running through the snow to complete the countdown at Miranda’s flat.
Team all of that with a great soundtrack, bold fashion choices and some genuinely brilliant one-liners – and you’ve got yourself a good time.
Stream it on: Netflix
Beginning and ending with a New Year’s Eve party, Waiting To Exhale similarly follows the lives of four women in the space of one year, charting their highs and lows and the major changes that occur in that time.
Directed by Forest Whitaker, the movie boasts an impressive cast that includes two-time Oscar nominee Angela Bassett, Emmy winner Loretta Divine, Lela Rochon and the legendary diva herself, Whitney Houston.
Stream it on: Disney+
Definitely not for the faint of heart, The Substance is about as far away from a feel-good romantic comedy as you can get.
Starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, this graphic body horror has some graphic points to make about youth and beauty standards, with the whole story leading up to a blood-spattered New Year’s Eve spectacular.
After becoming one of 2024’s most talked-about and original movies – and some surprising nods already in next year’s awards season – New Year’s Eve could be a perfect moment to finally sample The Substance for yourself if you haven’t already.
Stream it on: Mubi
Admittedly, this big-screen musical never quite reached the heights of Wicked, Les Misérables or Chicago when it was released in 2005 – but there’s no arguing with those timeless tunes from the original Broadway production.
The film version of Rent reunited almost all of the show’s original cast members, retelling the story of a group of struggling artists living in New York’s gritty East Village over the course of one year (or, indeed, “525,600 minutes”) of their shared lives.
An ideal watch if you’re spending the New Year with your chosen family, and love a musical.
Stream it on: Now
There are iconic romantic comedies and then there’s the game-changing When Harry Met Sally.
Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan brought Nora Ephron’s screenplay to life in a big way, making When Harry Met Sally an essential watch 35 years after its first release.
Given how the story reaches its height at a New Year’s Eve party, it’s also the perfect warming and wholesome way to see in 2025.
Stream it on: Prime Video
Lavish costumes, scandalous twists and some truly gripping performances from Daniel Day-Lewis and Lesley Manville earned Phantom Thread a hugely positive reception when it was first released (it holds an enviable 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes, while Letterboxd users have given it an average score of 4.1 out of five stars) in 2017 – and its own New Year’s Eve sequence is an undeniable highlight.
True, compared to other films on our list, Phantom Thread may be a little lighter on laughs and general frivolity, but rest assured it still more than delivers on the entertainment front.
Stream it on: Now
An unconventional love story from the creator of Love Actually, Four Weddings And A Funeral and Bridget Jones’s Diary, About Time begins in the aftermath of a New Year’s Eve party, where a young man is informed by his dad that all of the men in their family have the power to time travel if they want.
What follows is a truly touching story about family, relationships and, of course, the passage of time, and while it’s Domnhall Gleeson and Rachel McAdams who carry the film forward as its central couple, Bill Nighy more than steals the show (as ever!) as the protagonist’s father.
Stream it on: Prime Video
