The 28 Best Holiday and Christmas Movies on Netflix Right Now
The holiday season seems to start around June these days, and Christmas movies have become an enjoyable activity for most of the year. While there is still some variety in seasonal fare, gone are the days when you watched one Christmas movie a year and it was either about a guy trying to jump off a bridge or a kid setting up traps to kill two grown men who want kill him.
Now there are many more of them – many of them are available to stream on Netflix all year round. Here are some of the best deals the streamer is offering during the holiday season, whether it starts early or late. (And while this is a holiday movie selection, yes, it’s heavily Christmas-centric; Netflix’s current offerings focus heavily on Santa and little on everything else.)
Merry Gentlemen (2024)
It may not be entirely traditional, but there’s no rule against adding a little mince pie to your holiday feast. Britt Robertson plays Ashley, a professional dancer who is out of work and so heads home for Christmas – only to discover that the bank is about to close the shady local music venue her parents run. Naturally, it’s time to put on a show! Specifically, a men’s revue featuring plenty of middle-aged hunks like Chad Michael Murray and Maxwell Caulfield to spice up your and your mom’s holiday gathering. You can watch The Merry Gentlemen on Netflix .
Jingle Jungle: A Christmas Journey (2020)
As children’s parties go, this one is a little different in both style and pedigree. This is a true fantasy (rather than the more traditional romance variety) in which a toy manufacturer invents a living matador who fights for his right to individuality. With playwright David Talbert in the director’s chair and an all-black cast that includes Forest Whitaker, Keegan-Michael Key and Anika Noni Rose, the film has a blast in the colorful (and musical!) adventure. You can stream Jingle Jangle on Netflix .
Klaus (2019)
A charming, bespoke origin story for Santa based on nothing in particular, Klaus finds the lazy son of the Postmaster General in 19th-century Norway exiled to a remote island town, where he is tasked with delivering 6,000 letters within a year so he doesn’t get cut off from family condition. When he arrives there, he discovers that the two main feuding families haven’t bothered to send him letters, but that an elderly widower can help him in a scheme he’s come up with to convince the town’s children to write letters in hopes of receiving toys in return – toys created by old Klaus in his quest to the family he never had. It’s all beautifully hand-animated and the emotion is genuine and tear-jerking, Pixar-style. You can stream Klaus on Netflix .
Holiday calendar (2018)
Kat Graham plays struggling photographer Abby Sutton, who receives an old advent calendar from her grandfather. ) gives her a real pair of shoes. As the calendar’s gifts seem to coincide with events that are actually happening, Abby begins to suspect that magic and romance are in the air. Ethan Peck ( Star Trek ) also stars. You can stream The Holiday Calendar on Netflix .
Let It Snow (2019)
Not to be confused with Hallmark’s 2013 film Let It Snow , which is also a Christmas movie but not particularly (or at all) diverse. And this is not the 2020 snowboarding horror film of the same name. I’m saying that when you’re looking for it, you don’t have much room for error. Based on the novel by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle, which interweaves three different stories, Let It Snow features a large and fairly diverse cast of characters involved in the holiday romances, both straight and queer, that take place in the same small town. . You can watch Let It Snow onNetflix .
Carol (2015)
The chemistry between Rooney Mara’s Teresa and Cate Blanchett’s Carol is palpable from the moment their eyes lock in a crowded department store during the 1952 Christmas season. (fortunately, in our time, queer phobia has been completely eradicated). Women suffer because of their love, but tears come less when things go wrong and when it seems that something might have gone wrong for them. You can stream Carol on Netflix .
Hot Frost (2024)
The perfect pairing with The Merry Gentlemen for your slightly horny holiday. In Hot Frost, Lacey Chabert plays a widow who runs a café in the tiny fictional town of Hope Springs, New York. One day, she grabs a scarf from a thrift store and places it around the neck of a particularly chiseled snowman, because while all snowman bodies are valid, getting free winter clothes will require abs. The snowman, of course, comes to life, which leads to a series of wacky misunderstandings, as well as a little holiday romance. You can watch Hot Frosty onNetflix .
There’s Something in the Barn (2023)
A mystery visitor to your barn at Christmas? This can only mean one thing!
Elves, that is. One elf in particular lived on the property of a family returning to their home in the Norwegian countryside (only Dad is not happy about this in any way). At first, it seems cool to have a mythical creature right outside the house – until the family begins to ignore three simple rules that should always be followed in the presence of a barn elf. What starts out as a quirky holiday comedy turns into a full-blown gorefest by the final act. You can watch Something in the Barn onNetflix .
Operation Christmas Drop (2020)
Congressional aide Erica Miller (Kat Graham) drops everything for a mission to visit a coastal Air Force base and find reasons to protect it. She encounters the experienced pilot assigned to accompany her, who is heavily involved in one of the base’s pet projects: the annual airlift of supplies and gifts to various islands in Micronesia. You know where this is going, but that’s part of the fun. You can stream Operation Christmas Drop onNetflix .
A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)
Not exactly the feel-good Christmas movie you may or may not be looking for, this Bad Moms sequel adds Susan Sarandon and Christine Baranski to the original trio of Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn. It arrives just over a year after the first film, which gives it a bit of a slapdash feel, but that’s fitting for a raunchy, female-led Christmas comedy. It largely eschews the salty-sweet balance that made the original a hit, and instead aims for cheeky jokes related to the holiday fiasco. You can watch A Bad Moms Christmas onNetflix .
Carry On (2024)
Sometimes you want a Christmas movie with all the bells and whistles, and sometimes you need a break from all the tinsel. And so: Carry-On , a thriller set on Christmas Eve. The airport is literally the worst place to be on vacation! Taron Edgerton is a TSA agent who was blackmailed into allowing Jason Bateman to board a flight with a very dangerous package. And yet I can’t get through my belt. You can stream Carry-On onNetflix .
Tough Love (2021)
Natalie (Nina Dobrev) goes fishing for Christmas (fun!). A poor woman travels across the country to see a guy she met on an app and discovers that Josh (Jimmy O. Young) has been using photos of his friend Tag (Darren Barnett) all along. Things work out for her with Tag, but she soon has to decide which of the two guys she really has feelings for. You can watch Love Hard onNetflix .
Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (2022)
It may not replace all the many, many early Dickens adaptations in your holiday heart, but this computer-animated musical version boasts some fun songs and a strong voice cast led by Luke Evans and Olivia Colman. It’s a little less scary and sentimental than many of the other options, so it might be a good way to introduce little kids to a holiday story. You can watch Scrooge: A Christmas Carol onNetflix .
Chicken Run (2000)
The holidays take place against the backdrop of this fun, avian take on The Great Escape , with a reminder that Christmas isn’t as much fun if you’re stuck on a farm laying eggs. The Aardman brothers’ edgy comedy has incredibly funny stop-motion animation and a lot of chicken. It remains the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time. (Netflix also has a sequel that came out two decades later, Chicken Little: Dawn of the Nugget .) You can watch Chicken Little onNetflix .
That Christmas (2024)
This rather delightful animated Christmas for all ages boasts a very impressive cast, with Brian Cox as Santa, as well as Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker and Bill Nighy (among other British luminaries). A record-breaking snowstorm in the coastal city of Wellington-on-Sea ruins Santa’s plans but also threatens to tear several families apart, physically and emotionally, in a series of intertwined stories that combine a dash of comedy with heartfelt emotional moments. . You can stream This Christmas onNetflix .
See you next Christmas (2024)
Veteran TV and film director Rusty Cundiff ( Tales from the Hood and Chappelle’s Show , among many others) directs I’ll See You Next Christmas , starring Christina Milian as a woman who rushes around New York City looking for sold-out tickets to Pentatonix (strange as it may seem, but true). You see, last year at Christmas she met a guy named James and they agreed to reunite at an Affair to Remember -themed concert – but wait! The handsome ticket concierge (Devale Ellis) who helps her is also quite nice. You can stream “See You Next Christmas” onNetflix .
Holiday (2020)
Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey) have figured out a way to deal with all the issues that arise (apparently?) when you’re single and show up at family gatherings: They’ll be each other’s platonic plus. – at holiday dinners. Would this movie be a holiday movie if there wasn’t anything other than friendship in the near future? It all turns into the climactic Thanksgiving dinner. You can stream Holidate onNetflix .
Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square (2020)
It’s the holidays and Regina Fuller (Christine Baranski!) heads home to evict a bunch of people and sell some land to a shopping center developer. Naturally, she has a lot to learn, with the help of Jennifer Lewis and Dolly herself (who plays the role of a singing angel). Dolly wrote all the musical numbers and it’s all funny in the best way. The entire cast is several shots taller, as are the dance numbers choreographed by Debbie Allen. You can stream Christmas on the Square onNetflix .
Falling in Love with Christmas (2022)
Speaking of Christmas casting coups, this time Lindsay Lohan is back in the lead role after a decade. She plays a snotty heiress who loses her memory after a skiing accident and learns lessons about love and life while recovering at a ski lodge run by the down-to-earth Jake Russell (Chord Overstreet). You can stream Falling for Christmas onNetflix .
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
The story of love and sex featuring young, energetic Elio (Timothée Chalamet) and older Oliver (Armie Hammer) in Call Me by Your Name takes place mostly during the summer in northern Italy. However, there is a touching Hanukkah scene at the end in which Elio takes inspiration from the holiday and decides to endure his grief. In terms of screen time, this is not so much, but it conveys the spirit of the holiday perfectly. You can stream Call Me by Your Name onNetflix .
Mandarin (2015)
Just a typical girl/buddy/revenge comedy movie about two trans sex workers who are on the hunt for the man who did one of them wrong. As heartwarming and zany as it is, it all takes place on Christmas Eve in Hollywood (so don’t expect snow). Shot on a pair of iPhones, director Sean Baker and company demonstrate the intimacy and spontaneity that modern technology can bring. You can watch Tangerine onNetflix .
Princess Change (2018)
Stacy De Novo (Vanessa Hudgens) is a pastry chef from Chicago who travels to the fictional Belgravia to take part in a holiday baking competition. There she meets the Duchess, who is also the fiancée of the local prince (Sam Palladio) and who looks a lot like Stacy (surprise: they’re both played by Hudgens). They decide it would be interesting to see how the other half lives, and so they swap lives, unsurprisingly complicating the relationship with the prince. If you like this movie, the series continues with two more films that add another Hudgens. You can watch The Princess Change onNetflix .
A Christmas Prince (2017)
Another trilogy, you say? Look, sometimes you just want to crash on the couch and spend hours chatting pre-holiday. No problem: an American journalist (Rose McIver) heads to the fictional Aldovia in search of scoops. A case of mistaken identity leads to her being mistaken for the young princess’ mentor. And, of course, she soon begins to become close to the prince (Ben Lamb). It goes so well that it is being made into two more films. (Yes, the plots of all these films are almost identical, which is a nice feature, not a bug.) You can watch A Christmas Prince onNetflix .
Noel’s Diary (2022)
It’s more of a comedy/drama with a holiday twist, so it’s less silly and a little less predictable than some other modern Christmas movies (for or against will largely depend on your mood). Writer Jake (Justin Hartley) returns home for Christmas to settle his late mother’s estate; he is just in time to meet Rachel (Barrett Doss), who is looking for information about her birth mother, who was Jake’s nanny. You can watch Noel’s Diary onNetflix .
The Christmas Chronicles (2018)
In a very sweet Christmas adventure, a couple of kids (Judah Lewis and Darby Camp) accidentally crash Santa’s sleigh (Kurt Russell plays Santa here). There’s a lot of fun here (for the whole family) and Russell seems to be having a lot of fun. If you like this one, the sequel is about as good. You can watch The Christmas Chronicles on Netflix .
Holiday Rush (2019)
In another drama, Holiday Rush , widowed hip-hop radio DJ Rush (Romany Malco) loses his job and returns to his old home with a plan to buy the local station where he got his start with his producer Roxy (Sonequa Martin- Green). ). Professional plans do not go entirely smoothly, but the couple discovers that their feelings may not only be about business. You can stream Holiday Rush onNetflix .
Our little secret (2024)
Lindsay Lohan is back for her third Netflix film after her big comeback in 2022’s Christmas Has Fallen . Here she joins a stacked cast that includes Kristin Chenoweth, Ian Harding, Jon Rudnitsky and Chris Parnell, in a story about a pair of exes forced to holiday together (her new boyfriend’s sister is dating her old boyfriend and neither of them wants someone to know). Seasonal shenanigans begin! You can stream Our Little Secret onNetflix .
Lonely Completely (2021)
Peter (Michael Urie) is working a very stressful Los Angeles-type job on his way home to New Hampshire for the holidays. Tired of questions about being alone, he decides to invite his best friend Nick (Philemon Chambers) to pose as more than just a roommate. Time-tested option! Complications arise when his mom (Kathy Najimy) introduces him to her fitness instructor, James (Luke MacFarlane), before learning about a fake boyfriend who’s about to become a possible real boyfriend. The hilarious cast also includes Barry Bostwick and Jennifer Coolidge. You can stream Single All the Way on Netflix .