Take a look at the top 50 classic Christmas movies to watch this December. Christmas season is here and you can start having the Christmas feels and vibes from the movies you watch. It is the best time of the year and pieces have been created from various industries to make this season enjoyable.
Lots of movies come out every single day but without a doubt, your Christmas celebration will not be complete if you do not watch certain movies.
50 Classic Christmas Movies to Watch This December
Some of these movies were released in times past but without a doubt, there still have that Christmas spirit with the best storylines.
We will start with the most recent of them all so that you can have that present decade feel.
Top 50 Christmas Movies you Should Watch
Here are some of the top movies to watch this Christmas;
Falling for Christmas (Netflix)
The fact that Lindsay Lohan is in a Christmas movie is all you need to know about Netflix’s Falling for Christmas. If that’s not enough to entice you, she plays a spoiled heiress to her father’s Aspen resort business, she gets amnesia, and she falls for a local lodge keeper (Chord Overstreet).
It’s a very good example of why you shouldn’t watch a holiday movie because of the plot.
A Christmas Story Christmas (HBO Max)
Whether we asked for it or not, the continuations and remaking of Christmas classics are big business for filmmakers. Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) is now all grown up and must give his own family the magical kind of Christmas his father gave him in this sequel set in the 1970s. This new take has received lots of diverse reviews.
Santa Camp (HBO Max)
Christmas movies do not have to be about a small-town baker attempting to save her bakery, an innkeeper attempting to save her inn, or a candlemaker attempting to save her candles. Documentaries, such as Santa Camp, which follows an annual gathering of Santa Wannabes as they welcome their first diverse Santas and empower Mrs. Clauses, also work well to capture the Christmas spirit.
It’s a very interesting film that isn’t afraid to challenge conventions, and the ending may break your heart.
Klaus
The animation of this movie is so beautiful that you almost forget about the story, which serves as a super sweet origin story for Santa Claus: A lazy, underachieving postman (Jason Schwartzman) befriends a reclusive toymaker (J.K. Simmons), and the two set out to bring joy to a dark, town through handmade gifts.
Love Hard
This Netflix original stars Nina Dobrev as a relationship advice writer whom you won’t believe has trouble in her own love life, so she takes a chance on an online suitor. The only problem was that she was being catfished by a shy guy (Jimmy O. Yang), who had successfully transformed into a rom-com lead. As an apology, he tries to help her get the guy she thought she wanted (Darren Barnet), and you know what happens next.
Black Christmas
If the nun does not scare you enough, watch this horror film about a group of sorority sisters who are stalked by a killer during the holiday season. Its impact on the slasher genre cannot be overstated, and the final scene will stay in your heart for a long time.
Shazam
Shazam, a film about a 14-year-old foster kid who gains the ability to transform into a superhero, can be watched as a Christmas film because it takes place during the holidays and is all about family, love, and togetherness. It’s also about attempting to defeat an evil scientist.
Spirited (Apple TV+)
This is another story of A Christmas Carol. Only this time, the Ghost of Christmas Present is examining his life. Spirited has the most famous cast of this year’s Christmas movies (apologies, Lacey Chabert), with Will Ferrell as the spectral representative of Christmas and Ryan Reynolds as the miserly human who’s supposed to be the one changing. It is also a musical.
Three Wise Men and a Baby (Nov. 19, 8/7c Hallmark)
This is more like the avengers of Hallmark because, with it, three stars came together. Andrew Walker (My Family Christmas Tree), Tyler Hynes (Unexpected Christmas), and Paul Campbell (Christmas by Starlight). They play the roles of three dudes who find themselves caring for babies through Christmas.
Santa Bootcamp (Nov. 19, 8/7c Lifetime)
Melissa Joan Hart directs this film, which stars Emily Kinney from The Walking Dead as an event planner. She is tasked with putting on an extravagant Christmas gala for a mall magnate. In her search for the perfect Santa, she attends a Santa Bootcamp where she meets an instructor (the lovely Rita Moreno). This instructor teaches her to love Christmas all over again. Is she also smitten by the handsome mall magnate?
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (Nov. 25, Disney+)
Because of how famous The Star Wars Holiday Special is, Disney+ is experimenting with a holiday special set in the Guardians of the Galaxy universe. When Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) is unable to spend Christmas with his family, Drax and Mantis set out to find him an unforgettable Christmas gift. Kevin Bacon may be kidnapped as part of their plan.
Single All the Way
By casting two gay men as the romantic leads, Single All the Way accomplishes a lot. The goal of normalizing their Christmas love story through conventional, all-too-familiar storytelling devices works in their favor, and having the hilarious Jennifer Coolidge along is very good for the money.
Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
This stop-motion Christmas film about a mayor who is too mean to allow presents to be delivered to his town may not be the best from the production house that also brought us Rudolph and The Year Without a Santa, but it does feature Fred Astaire and a wizard known as the Winter Warlock, so it gets an A+ in our list.
Krampus
Christmas horror is not as common to see as romantic Christmas entanglements. However, Krampus is a welcome addition to the holiday film list. Krampus is a big, scary monster who punishes those who have lost their Christmas spirit. This movie is based on the scary German Santa who beats children with sticks.
The Princess Switch
In this movie, Vanessa Hudgens stars as a small-town baker who looks exactly like the duchess (also played by Hudgens) of a fictional country called Belgravia. This film eventually has become a Netflix Christmas trilogy. When the two swap places for the day, they encounter a cheesy Christmas disaster.
Let It Snow
Based on John Green’s best-selling novel, this teen movie follows a group of high school students as they navigate love and friendship after a snowstorm hits their small town on Christmas Eve.
Remember the Night
In this movie, when Barbara Stanwyck’s character is arrested for shoplifting just before Christmas, it’s up to the D.A. (played by Fred MacMurray) to help her get out of jail.
It’s a Wonderful Life
This movie is a tribute to the efforts of a small-town do-gooder (James Stewart, in his most beloved role). It cements the idea of Christmas as a time for giving. The movie is tinged with magical passages, goodwill, and an alternate plotline.
Elf
Will Ferrell’s overgrown-child role hilariously complements this comedy about a guileless giant elf searching for his father in New York City. However, the film’s focus isn’t fully on comedy. The way the story cherishes the holiday spirit and has a lot of heart and soul; in a genre that’s become generically saccharine. This is one modern Christmas movie that’s genuinely sweet.
Bad Santa 2003
He drinks like a fish, and curses like a sailor, let’s not even talk about his sexual desires. Billy Bob Thornton’s department store St Nick is the polar opposite of a saint. It’s nothing short of a Christmas miracle that Terry Zwigoff’s comedy transforms this pathetic sad sack into a sympathetic hero.
Home Alone (1990)
This holiday classic, written by John Hughes, is essentially a children’s version of Straw Dogs. Regardless, everyone is on the bad side in this film, from Catherine O’Hara’s woefully neglectful mother to Macaulay Culkin’s sadistic moppet and Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci’s vindictive crooks. Even the coldest hearts will warm and the saddest faces will smile once they watch this film.
Mickey Saves Christmas
With hits like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, Rankin/Bass has made stop-motion animated films a holiday season staple. I guess Disney saw this as a challenge and created its own stop-motion holiday film, Mickey Saves Christmas.
It follows the tried-and-true formula of someone screwing up Christmas and a race against time to ensure that everyone receives their gifts.
A Hollywood Christmas
What about a Christmas film about being in a Christmas film? The thing has been done before (A Christmas Movie Christmas), but not nearly enough, in my opinion. In this movie, a film director (Jessika Van) is filming a Christmas film when her real life is disrupted by a slew of Christmas movie tropes.
Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas
Dolly Parton appears in this movie. That’s all you need to know in order to watch it. If you must know what it’s all about, here it is. Dolly and her friends are filming a network TV holiday musical special. She is guided through her past by three wise, presumably bearded mountain men in between big music numbers and production chaos.
The Year Without a Santa Claus
The Year Without a Santa Claus was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, the home of Rudolph. With songs like “The Snow Miser,” “The Heat Miser,” and “I Believe in Santa Claus,” as well as Shirley Booth as the narrator, this stop-motion classic is a must-see.
Last Christmas
The Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding movie from director Paul Feig received harsh criticism in 2019, but the film has more to offer than critics initially thought. Despite a twist ending that doesn’t quite fit, this is a Christmas film centered entirely on George Michael songs.
Combine that with great chemistry between the leads and a completely irrational Eastern European character played by Emma Thompson, and you’ve got a winner.
The Snowman
The Snowman is a gorgeous animated tale of a young boy’s short-lived adventure with his winter creation. It’s the perfect length for a quick watch after dinner but before tucking in. Despite being based on Raymond Briggs’ children’s book of the same name, the film’s themes of impermanence and innocence make it a perfect movie for people of all ages.
The Lion in Winter
The Lion in Winter, set around Christmas 1183, tells the story of King Henry II of England (Peter O’Toole) and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn). When he got to about King Lear scenario involving his three sons. Now, the king must decide who will be his heir to the throne one Christmas, despite his dislike for any of them.
A Christmas Prince
This was one of Netflix’s first movies into the holiday genre, and it’s complete garbage at first glance. But, once you get past the fact that you can predict every move with absolute certainty, you realize that A Christmas Prince is actually perfect. There’s no plot to follow, don’t tell the screenwriters who tried, its just pure holiday spirit.
One Magic Christmas
Before Netflix holiday movies, there was this now-forgotten Disney release from 1985. The legendary Harry Dean Stanton plays an angel who watches over a struggling working-class family. Their matriarch, Mary Steenburgen, has some close calls as she learns the true meaning of Christmas. It has a rare blend of grit and sentiments, and draws heavily from other movies; It’s A Wonderful Life, and, call us crazy. It has shades of Groundhog Day, which wouldn’t be released until another eight years.
Last Holiday
Queen Latifah acts as a patient who is misdiagnosed as terminally ill due to a faulty MRI machine. As a result, a woman who has always played it safe spends her savings on a European vacation to meet her culinary inspiration. The problem with all of this is what happens when you don’t have a terminal disease and have spent all of your money?
White Reindeer
Suzanne’s world is turned upside down just before Christmas when her husband Jeff dies unexpectedly. Things become even more complicated when she discovers that he has been having an affair with a stripper, an unlikely friend. She may be a bad influence, but she makes the film better by transforming it into a sweet, sad, and raunchy sex comedy.
Office Christmas Party
Miller and Jennifer Aniston play rival siblings with opposing views on how to run the company they share. Miller’s Clay sets out to throw the office Christmas party to end all office Christmas parties in order to win the business of a high-stakes client. This turns out to be an event so bad that it may just end their company, too.
The Night Before
The Night Before is messy in the way that any Seth Rogen comedy should be, and it’s definitely the Christmas movie that is worth adding to your list. It’s the perfect story for those people who refuse to grow up you know the people I am talking about. You might be one of them. What comes next? The unavoidable! Time comes and kicks them to remind them that they are no longer children.
Jack Frost
In this movie, Michael Keaton plays Jack Frost, a bitter, aging rocker who is killed in a car accident on Christmas Day. A year later, his son plays a song on his grandfather’s old harmonica and resurrects him as a snowman. Poor special effects may turn this into a horror film rather than a heartwarming Christmas classic.
Four Christmases
In this 2008 film, Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn play a couple who must visit all four of their divorced parents’ homes. Have you ever wanted to delve so deeply into your childhood?
Holiday Rush (2019)
Just before Christmas, a widowed radio DJ is fired from his job. After being forced to move in with his aunt, he and his four children learn the true meaning of the season as they adjust to a new way of life.
Scrooge
There have been far too many film adaptations of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol to count, but The New York Times film critic A.O. Scott considers this 1951 version (originally titled Scrooge when it was first released) to be the best.
Batman Returns
Sure, it’s the type of action film that, despite being set during the holiday season, isn’t really about Christmas. Tim Burton’s second Batman film has all the trappings of his similarly gothic Christmas tale, the Nightmare Before Christmas. However, it is undeniably more violent, dangerous, and sexy.
It’s a Wonderful Binge
Tired of the sugary holiday cheer and looking for something on Santa’s naughty list? Check out this Hulu original film. This is another parody of The Purge, except instead of murder, all drugs and alcohol are legal for one day a year. This day happens to be Christmas this year.
Something From Tiffany’s
Think about the scenario “whoops my engagement ring for my girlfriend got switched with another guy’s gift. Now his girlfriend has the ring so I need to get it back from her but maybe I should just fall in love with her instead”. This plot is Prime Video’s big Christmas movie of the year. It’s so relatable.
Adult Swim Yule Log
Casper Kelly, the creator of Too Many Cooks, brings the sensation to Adult Swim. He turns the simple joy of flaming logs into a night- horror film that compresses an entire season of American Horror Story into 90 minutes. This movie may be completely absurd and has little to do with Christmas. However, it’s a fun prank to play on your mother when you go home to visit.
I Believe in Santa
I Believe in Santa, about a woman who despises Christmas and falls for a man who LOVES CHRISTMAS, is this year’s best new film. It has a higher level of self-awareness than a Hallmark movie. However, it also has a core of earnestness that makes it the ideal movie to dislike but secretly love. Simply watch the trailer.
Anna and the Apocalypse
Anna and the Apocalypse adds a particularly bizarre twist to the genre of Christmas movies. Anna’s neighborhood faces the worst-case scenario: a zombie apocalypse. Worse, she and her friends have to deal with it all through a series of musical numbers. It has no right to work as well as it does. You can’t just help but watch it.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Small-time thief Robert Downey Jr. makes his Hollywood debut in this crime comedy movie. This movie also stars Val Kilmer as a private investigator hired to provide background for the aspiring actor. There are as many complications in this movie likewise comedy, and Michelle Monaghan steals the show in a sexy Santa costume.
8 Women
Lots of drama such as Christmas singing, dancing, emotions, and so on happen When those eight women are together. Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Béart, Virginie Ledoyen, Firmine Richard, Fanny Ardant, and Ludivine Sagnier, have complete freedom.
The Holiday
Nancy Meyers is the Queen of Cozy, and this Christmas-themed romantic comedy may be her warmest and coziest film ever. Two women, one in London (Kate Winslet) and the other in Los Angeles (Cameron Diaz), face simultaneous romantic disappointments. This leads to them swapping homes over the holidays and finding new men to swoon over.
Love Actually
This comedy is both beloved and despised. Even if you dislike the film, you can’t deny its influence on holiday-themed comedies over the last decade.
Mixed Nuts
This Steve Martin film was not appreciated when it was released. Nora Ephron co-wrote this movie just one year after Sleepless in Seattle. It it has all the hallmarks of an Ephron film: smart comedy, witty lines, and a well-known leading man. This film is about a man who runs a suicide prevention hotline, was a little dark for the Rudolph-sweater-wearing set at the time. However, it left a very terrible mental image.
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Those hideous Christmas sweaters were not always considered as cool, as they are now. Therefore, we can understand Bridget Jones’ (Renée Zellweger) displeasure. She sees her potential love interest, Mark Darcy (a wonderfully stuffy Colin Firth), dressed in such a way with a giant reindeer face on it.
Summary
One of the great contributors to the Christmas spirit is the types of movies. All these movies appeal to the Christmas season. They depict the messages of Christmas and they are all must-watch movies of this century.
