The 28 Best Non-Die Hard Christmas Movies You Can Watch Right Now
Tired: “My favorite Christmas movie is Die Hard .”
Wired: “My favorite Christmas movie is Eyes Wide Shut .”
You could be forgiven for finding the current season’s speculation about Die Hard’s status as a holiday movie tiresome. What started out as a funny little thing turned into an icy hot joke from the “funniest” guy in the office. There are even officially licensed branded merchandise celebrating the movie’s Christmas bona fides! Any discussion of this topic at this point is purely academic and I think we are all ready to move on.
The real question is where to go next? What technically-technical holiday movie would be the internet’s “really…” choice? Forgive me for suggesting that Die Hard might ever get old, but there will definitely come a day when you want to watch another so-called Christmas movie. Tastes and seasonal holidays may vary, but here are 28 smart alternatives.
The Thin Man (1934)
While not a Christmas movie, The Thin Man is as festive as it gets: much of the main action takes place during a drunken holiday party and the subsequent hungover Christmas morning, during which Nick and Nora, two adults without children, open their gifts and have a good time the time that this day gives only to the childless. The sequels will soon feature Nick Jr., so this is the last time Charles’ family will be able to spend Christmas this drunk.
Will it become your next holiday classic? Mix a martini and drink it every December 24th.
Where to stream: Max
Night of the Hunter (1955)
Actor Charles Laughton’s lone directorial effort sees Robert Mitchum’s creepy and seductive (but mostly creepy) preacher weave his way through the local spinsters as an occupation while simultaneously believing he’s on the righteous path. The plot revolves around a Christmas scene, as well as a lynch mob, with the strong implication that being able to quote the Bible is not even remotely the same as having true compassion.
Will it become your next holiday classic? Place a small tree on your raft and run down the river.
Where to watch: Tubi, MGM+, Hoopla, Pluto
Apartment (1960)
The film, which takes place primarily between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, caused wild controversy when it was released and also managed to win a ton of awards, ushering in a new era in Hollywood filmmaking. Jack Lemmon plays Bud Baxter, an insurance clerk who rose through the ranks by renting out his apartment to his bosses for their extramarital affairs. In the midst of it all, a tense attachment develops between Bud and Fran (Shirley MacLaine), the office building’s elevator operator, a woman who herself was in a loveless, joyless affair with Bud’s boss. As is often the case with the holiday season in real life, the plot for each one is as bleak as can be until a few glimmers of seasonal spirit emerge.
Will it become your next holiday classic? If the equally dark “It’s a Wonderful Life” can become a holiday favorite, there’s no reason why “The Apartment” can’t follow suit. (Like that film, this one deals with themes of suicide, which should be kept in mind by viewers sensitive to this type of content.)
Where to stream: MGM+, Fubo
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
A towering, candy-colored musical about young lovers (Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo) separated by circumstances in the titular city. Almost every word is sung in French with operatic zeal… but without the bombastic style that is implied. The film climaxes on Christmas Eve, but it is a bittersweet holiday (the film itself takes place over a little over a year).
Will it become your next holiday classic? One of the most beautiful films ever made, especially in terms of color palette, it also offers a romance that is both realistic and surprisingly melodramatic. So, I think yes.
Where to watch: Max, The Criterion Channel, Kanopy.
Woman’s Problem (1974)
Christmas is the beginning of the chaos that unfolds in this twisted John Waters classic. When she fails to get the cha-cha heels she wanted from Santa, juvenile delinquent Dawn Davenport is headed for the trouble of a lifetime. It’s one of the most memorable holiday moments in movie history and a stark lesson in the importance of giving your kids what they really want.
Will it become your next holiday classic? John Waters isn’t for everyone, but for those of us who dream of cha-cha shoes for Christmas, it’s 100% a movie to watch every year.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Ordinary People (1980)
Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore star in the Best Picture Oscar-winning film about the breakdown of a family after the accidental death of their eldest teenage son. The film’s main scene occurs at Christmas, when the surviving sibling’s resentment of his mother explodes during a family photo shoot.
Will it become your next holiday classic? It’s worth watching, but I’d say no… unless your family life is so devoid of trauma and drama that you feel the need to relive the tragedy vicariously.
Where to stream: Max
Brazil (1985)
Christmas goes to hell in Terry Gilliam’s dystopian but increasingly prophetic sci-fi film. A happy family watches Tiny Tim on TV at the start of the film, but a technical error causes a SWAT team to drop into their living room. We very quickly exit A Christmas Carol and enter bureaucratic, capitalist hell (aka “life”). In Brazil, characters believe in wild things and struggle to distinguish reality from fantasy in a world where elites easily control the flow of information. Imagine!
Will it become your next holiday classic? It’s probably a little intrusive in this day and age, a bit of a comfort viewing, but it’s definitely worth watching at least once.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Less than Zero (1987)
Straightforward college freshman Clay (Andrew McCarthy) returns to Los Angeles for Christmas break to find his old buddies (Jami Hertz, Robert Downey Jr., and James Spader) living an ’80s lifestyle of sex, drugs, and sex. . debauchery They’re all definitely having a very white Christmas, if you get my drift , but it’s not snow falling in Los Angeles (it’s cocaine. I’m talking about cocaine).
Will it become your next holiday classic? It’s probably a generational thing, but people who lived through the ’80s might feel nostalgic.
Where to watch: Starz
Die Hard 2 (1990)
You might be tired of watching the first Die Hard over and over again, but you don’t want to stray too far from the Bruce Willis shoots up terrorists genre. It’s worth remembering that Die Hard 2 is also a Christmas movie, set on Christmas Eve, two years after the first movie. Unlike many sequels, it’s almost as enjoyable as the first, and it really makes clear how terrible it is to travel for the holidays, so there’s no reason not to mix things up a little.
Will it become your next holiday classic? It probably won’t replace the first film in your Christmas viewing queue, but it will at least make for a nice (and by that I mean loud) double feature.
Where to watch: Hulu
Batman Returns (1992)
The holiday season in Gotham is as weird as you could hope for: A surly penguin man is running for mayor while a seductive leather milf prances around, robbing jewelry stores and stealing hearts. As far as Batman films go, Returns offers the best combination of the campy sensibility of the past with the psychological, obsessively dark modern Caped Crusader.
Will it become your next holiday classic? The film’s central Christmas tree lighting sequence involves a woman being thrown from a building, but it’s generally no less violent than Die Hard , and the holiday themes continue throughout (you know, mistletoe is deadly if you eat it). This is probably the best option if you want a superhero themed vacation.
Where to watch: Max, Prime Video
Kronos (1993)
In Guillermo del Toro’s brilliant debut, an elderly antiques dealer and his granddaughter open a centuries-old statue of an archangel and find a scarab that turns a man into something very similar to a vampire. The story takes place during the holiday season, but the Christmas connections are mostly thematic; death and rebirth, temptation and potential redemption abound.
Will it become your next holiday classic? Del Toro turns Christmas on its head and challenges orthodoxy, making it a great choice for holiday skeptics. All of the director’s films are rewatchable, so I advise you to keep the bloody vampire Christmas in your heart, this and every year.
Where to watch: Max, The Criterion Channel
Star Trek Generations (1994)
What better way to spend Christmas than watching the ninth or tenth best Star Trek movie? While the series typically avoids anything to do with religion, Generations finds Captain Picard briefly trapped in the Nexus, an interdimensional world that tempts you into living out your fantasies. Picard seems to be dreaming of a big family Christmas in a vaguely old-fashioned setting. The result is a slight variation of It’s a Wonderful Life , where Jean-Luc witnesses his vision of what his life might have been like if he had never gone to the stars.
Will it become your next holiday classic? This is the only movie on this list that has anything remotely resembling a Christmas theme, but there are better Star Trek movies that can be watched over and over again.
Where to watch: Paramount+
Ref (1994)
Stand-up Dennis Leary plays a con artist who ends up taking a couple (Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey) hostage when a job goes wrong; The joke’s on him because these two are at each other’s throats every minute. They truly are the most bitter and hateful people imaginable, and robber/hostage taker Leary proves to be not only the most likable character in the film, but also a peacemaker, especially after the rest of the family shows up for Christmas Eve dinner. Terrible relatives? During a holiday dinner? Can you imagine?
Will it become your next holiday classic? Regular rotation is a little annoying, but it will allow you to take a break from the holiday rush.
Where to stream: Hoopla
Baby (1995)
Babe offers a complex vision of the holiday season that can best be summed up by saying, “Christmas means carnage!” At least that’s the case with the adorable anthropomorphic animals on Hoggett’s farm. On the one hand, it’s an entire movie about the titular pig discovering the season’s dark secret and then doing everything he can to charm himself out of the oven.
Will it become your next holiday classic? It’s delicious, but you might want to skip the ham after dinner—Oscar nominee James Cromwell went vegan during filming.
Where to watch: Starz
City of Lost Children (1995)
Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s surrealist classic features not one, but several Santa Clauses – most of them are, frankly, pretty scary, but that’s not the point. The film follows Krunk, an elderly man whose inability to dream has made him angry and cruel; now he kidnaps children and steals their dreams in order to survive. The father of one of Crank’s victims (Ron Perlman) joins forces with an orphan (Judith Witte) to rescue the kidnapped children. There is a strong overarching theme of family, however, that reinforces the holiday feel.
Will it become your next holiday classic? It’s surreal and a little scary in places, but it’s also a beautiful tale with warm seasonal themes.
Where to watch: Tubi
L.A. Confidential (1997)
What ‘s more festive than a movie that opens with a Christmas party? At this “Bloody Christmas” party, based on a true story, a group of LAPD officers got drunk and beat up several inmates (mostly Mexican Americans) – something that definitely could only happen in the past and clearly had no significance. whatever relevance it may have today. However, Bing Crosby’s music is the main motif and the entire action takes place during the holiday season. Ho-ho-ho!
Will it become your next holiday classic? It’s as dark as Christmas movies, but no more violent than Die Hard .
Where to watch: Plex
End of Days (1999)
Channeling the now bizarre anxieties of the turn of the millennium, the team of Arnold Schwarzenegger and director Peter Hyams ( Time Cop ) crafted the story of former NYPD detective Jericho Kane (get rid of that for the character’s name on the nose) battling Satan (in the guise of Gabriel Byrna) during the holiday season, and if a devil’s child is born on New Year’s Day, it will mean the end of days. It’s all a little (very) silly, but a fun way to iron out the wrinkles in your brain during a sleepy holiday.
Will it become your next holiday classic? Steeped in Catholic imagery and set during the holidays, it makes for fun Christmas viewing, although it probably won’t stand up to repeat viewings.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Go (1999)
Goh is by far the best of the post- Pulp Fiction wannabes of the late ’90s, it also has the best cast (Taye Diggs , Sarah Polley, Jane Krakowski, Timothy Olyphant, etc.) and the most cunning script, telling the intertwining stories of the Holiday Deal drugs gone wrong. While there’s not a lot of Christmas spirit here (no learning, and none of the characters are even particularly good people), the film reminds us often, and perhaps a little ironically, when it’s all going on – by including a Christmas-themed mid-rave serves this purpose particularly well.
Will it become your next holiday classic? If you’re looking for an antidote to all that holiday cheer, this is a must. (And for the thirsty, shirtless Timothy Olyphant wears a Santa hat.)
Where to watch: digital rental.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
There are an extremely limited number of dreamy erotic mysteries that can simultaneously be called Christmas movies—in fact, that number might be one, and that’s Eyes Wide Shut . Stanley Kubrick’s swan song begins with a slightly naughty adults-only Christmas party and ends with a more traditional holiday shopping spree with the kids. These scenes cap off a dark walk through wintry New York and a ritual orgy, so the film truly captures every aspect of the season.
Will it become your next holiday classic? You could do worse than spend the holidays with Kubrick… but maybe wait until the kids go to bed first.
Where to watch: Showtime.
Outcast (2000)
The opening scenes resemble a textbook version of a Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas movie: Tom Hanks’ Chuck Knowland is a workaholic who skips Christmas dinner to deal with work problems. His only problem with his job is in Malaysia, which sends the FedEx executive on a date with fate in the form of a terrible plane crash and a volleyball named Wilson. After that plane crash, most of the film takes place on a desert island, but “all of this could have been avoided if you hadn’t gone to work on Christmas Day!” remains the main leitmotif.
Will it become your next holiday classic? Knowland’s isolation may seem like a welcome fantasy amid the chaos of a family visit, although nervous air travelers might want to avoid it altogether.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Ice Harvest (2005)
A completely overlooked neo-noir from the late Harold Ramis, Ice Harvest is set on Christmas Eve, a time when only the world’s most interesting people are out and about. John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton play con men who have just robbed a bandit of $2 million. All they want to do is get out of town, a goal made difficult by an ice storm that has closed the roads, forcing them to cool their heels while avoiding pursuers.
Will it become your next holiday classic? It’s a polished noir that chronicles the cascading, complex events of a harrowing Christmas Eve, so it’s a great contender if you’re looking for something to put your personal holiday chaos into perspective.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Maybe you shouldn’t rob a toy store at Christmas? It’s about as close to the seasonal message you’ll hear on Kiss Kiss Bang Bang , but that’s not necessarily what we’re here for. The subdued holiday trappings of Christmas in Los Angeles are represented (pardon the pun) by Michelle Monaghan’s form-fitting Santa suit. Director Shane Black knows a lot about making his movies for Christmas, so you can always pair this movie with Iron Man III and dream of a holiday with Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer. However, this line is almost certainly Black’s best.
Will it become your next holiday classic? As an alternative to Die Hard with an equally charismatic leading man, Kiss Bang Bang might be the perfect replacement.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Proposal (2005)
It’s Christmas in the old West (actually 1880s Australia, but Western movie style abounds) and a murder is around the corner. This case involves the choice given to renegade Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) by lawyer Morris Stanley (Ray Winstone): Burns must either hunt down and kill his older brother, wanted for rape and murder, or his younger brother, already in prison. those imprisoned for less serious crimes will be hanged. The decision began a contemplative journey through the outback, filled with stunning performances and style, but without a hint of holiday greenery.
Will it become your next holiday classic? It may be too quiet for sleepy Christmas viewing, but it deserves a spot on your holiday watch list.
Where to watch: Peacock, Tubi, Crackle, The Roku Channel, Freevee, Vudu, Kanopy, Pluto, Plex.
In Bruges (2008)
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play a pair of not-so-good hitmen holed up in the titular city on the orders of their increasingly unstable boss (Ralph Fiennes). This dark comedy is filled with smart and funny dialogue, and the almost paternal relationship between the two killers is truly charming… as is the Belgian Christmas setting. However, this is a hitman movie that starts with the murder of a child in a church, so the laughs are very specific.
Will it become your next holiday classic? It definitely has a well-deserved reputation as a cult classic, so I’d say there’s a good chance you’ll want to revisit it.
Where to watch: Starz
Mandarin (2015)
Two transgender sex workers (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Maya Taylor) go to Christmas-themed Los Angeles to hunt for Rodriguez’s character’s cheating boyfriend/pimp. There aren’t many weird holiday movies out there (unless you count Meet Me in St. Louis ), and Tangerine convincingly explores Christmas in the Margins. Set in sunny Los Angeles, the holiday trappings are muted—and for the main characters, the word “family” probably won’t mean group photos in cozy sweaters anyway—but it’s still Christmas. A thrilling, stunning performance of “Toyland” seals the deal.
Will it become your next holiday classic? Without a doubt, this could be your weird Die Hard .
Where to watch: Mubi, Fubo, Kanopy, Plex
Carol (2015)
The chemistry between Rooney Mara’s Teresa and Cate Blanchett’s Carol is palpable from the moment their eyes meet in a crowded department store, Theresa busy with the Christmas rush and Carol a glamorous older woman going through a divorce and shopping for her daughter. It’s 1952, and their love doesn’t dare say its name, even to each other. Women suffer because of their love, but not only; Now is the time for heartbreak and romance.
Will it become your next holiday classic? Christmas could always be a little more fun, and this one is a classic.
Where to watch: Netflix
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
A seasonal romance that culminates with the celebration of Hanukkah, Call Me by Your Name in a sweltering Northern Italian setting, Call Me by Your Name doesn’t scream winter holidays… but who needs snow anyway? All you need is a peach and a cozy fire in front of which you can artfully cry. The ending even touches on themes of perseverance and renewal and is therefore surprisingly thematic.
Will it become your next holiday classic? Armie Hammer’s troubled personality complicates the film’s reputation, but otherwise Call Me by Your Name makes for a bittersweet holiday romance.
Where to watch: Netflix
Spencer (2021)
Pablo Larraín’s moody and idiosyncratic biopic breaks almost every rule of the genre to great effect. Kristen Stewart plays Diana, Princess of Wales, who spends the Christmas holiday at the royal family’s Sandringham estate while the tabloids attack her from outside and her own relatives corrode her from inside the palace. It’s kind of like The Shining , but there are too many royals replacing all the ghosts.
Will it become your next holiday classic? I’m not sure it can be re-watched endlessly, but the dreamy atmosphere is well suited for a long winter night.
Where to watch: Hulu