The holidays can be incredibly stressful, but there are few things better thangathering around to take in a great film on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day. Whether you’ve got a belly full of delightful treats or an adult beverage in hand, sitting back with the people you love most to share in the experience of watching a great film is a swell way to de-stress. Which is why we here at Collider have compiled a list ofthe best films to watch on Christmas. Whether you’re looking for something family-friendly or a more non-traditional pick, we’ve got you covered.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Why does it snow every Christmas in a fictional suburban California town? WrinkledWinona Rydertells her granddaughter that it’s because Edward Scissorhands (Johnny Depp), a tender artificial boy who was left incomplete when his Geppetto passed away before completing his hands, carves ice sculptures on top of the mountain. Wrinkled Winona says he was banished after he got into a Christmas scuffle with some of the residents who don’t take kindly to people who look and act different than they do.
Tim Burtonsneaks in false accusations and sets bullies upon his homemade hero, but he perfectly balances the darkness with bright, fake suburban cheeriness that comes straight out of aJacques Tatifilm. Burton’s suburban gothic is one of the original “look closer…” films about the lack of uniqueness in homogeneous communities, andit’s made even more timeless by its Christmas setting. —Brian Formo
Edward Scissorhands
A scientist (Vincent Price) builds an animated human being – the gentle Edward (Johnny Depp). The scientist dies before he can finish assembling Edward, though, leaving the young man with a freakish appearance accentuated by the scissor blades he has instead of hands. Loving suburban saleswoman Peg (Dianne Wiest) discovers Edward and takes him home, where he falls for Peg’s teen daughter (Winona Ryder). However, despite his kindness and artistic talent, Edward’s hands make him an outcast.
Watch on Max
Home Alone (1990)
If you need an escape from the family during the holiday season, you should spend some time with the 1990 Christmas comedy classicHome Alone. Directed byChris Columbusand with music byJohn Williams, you might get some residualHarry Pottervibes from this tale about an overlooked member of the vast McCallister brood who’s left at home when the family heads off to France for Christmas. WhileHome Alonemay have some seasonal similarities to the Boy Wizard franchise,John Hughes’sweet butoften darkly comedic script sets this dysfunctional family tale apart.
The McCallisters are an affluent, and if we’re being honest, snobby family; the trouble-making Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) isn’t exactly a Christmas angel, but you start to feel bad for him once the Wet Bandits (Joe PesciandDaniel Stern) attempt to break in to his home and exact vengeance upon the boy for putting them through his Rube Goldbergian House of Horrors. And while Kevin gets plenty of screentime to get up to all sorts of hijinks without parental supervision, the specter of Old Man Marley — the rumored neighborhood “Shovel Slayer” — looms over his holiday fun. In the end, Hughes ties all of these disparate plot points together in a conclusion that redeems Kevin’s mother (Catherine O’Hara) for her gross oversight, teaches Kevin the true spirit of Christmas, and punishes the bad guys for their serial burglaries. Perhaps most importantly, but often overlooked, is Kevin’s facilitation of the reunion between Old Man Marley and his estranged family. The fact thatHome Aloneis able to bring all of these stories to a satisfying conclusion as well as it does, while providing plenty of physical comedy and memorable one-liners along the way,makes it a worthy watch any time of year, but especially so around the holidays. –Dave Trumbore
Home Alone
An eight-year-old troublemaker, mistakenly left home alone, must defend his home against a pair of burglars on Christmas eve.
Watch on Disney+
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
If you’re looking foran offbeat way to spend your Christmasyou can’t go wrong withShane Black. The writer-director behindIron Man 3has a penchant for setting his works during the most wonderful time of the year andKiss Kiss Bang Bangis not only his most holiday spirited film,it’s also his best.Kiss Kiss Bang BangstarsRobert Downey Jr.as a low-rent thief drawn into the world of Hollywood glamour by happenstance who also gets himself andVal Kilmer’s no-nonsense private detective, “Gay Perry” tanked in a murder cover up in the process.
While Black already hadLethal Weaponand a couple other big screenwriting credits to his name,Kiss Kiss Bang Bangwas his first time at the helm and directorial debuts just don’t come any better. Borne out of Black’s love for the pulpy noir novels of yesteryear,Kiss Kiss Bang Bangis a vibrant update on the genre that relays its twisty-turny narrative through whip-smart dialogue delivered to perfection by Kilmer and Downey Jr.The duo has an electric odd-couple chemistrythat alternately makes you laugh out loud or hits you right in the feels. Adorned with the trappings of the Christmas season, right down toMichelle Monaghan’s silly little third act Santa suit,Kiss Kiss Bang Bangis a prime choice for the Christmas lineup when you need a break from the old standbys. –Haleigh Foutch
Rent on Amazon Prime
Gremlins (1984)
There are three rules to properly care for a mogwai: keep it out of the sunlight, don’t get it wet, and don’t let it feed after midnight. When the first rule is broken, bunches of cute furballs are produced (and… commerce! That’s the American way). Once one mogwai becomes many, a struggling father starts to think of the profit that could be made by producing and selling them. The furballs reproduce like mad. But they also break the second rule because they got the midnight munchies.Then they turn into scaly monsters.
Okay, you’ve memorized that goofball set-up, but watch it again to remind yourself thatGremlinsalso throws in some character rants about foreign manufacturing and local real estate moguls ruining the small town.Gremlinsis a really fun flick that uses mass production as a way to explore both an older generation’s nostalgia and a new generation’s paranoia. Andhere you just thought it was a goofy Christmas movie. –Brian Formo
A young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.
Love Actually (2003)
Okay soLove Actuallyis super schmaltzy and, at times, a little creepy (I’m looking at you, Rick Grimes confessing your love to your best friend’s wife), but filmmakerRichard Curtis’ ensemble story of love at Christmastime remains positively delightful.Some of the stories work better with others, but there are some great comedy bits throughout plus fine performances fromEmma Thompson,Alan Rickman,Hugh Grant,Bill Nighy, etc., and it all builds to a wonderful crescendo of warmth and happiness that leaves you feeling nice all over. For a feel-good movie about loveandChristmas, turn to this old faithful. –Adam Chitwood
Love Actually
Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England
Watch on Netflix
Die Hard (1988)
For me, it’s not Christmas withoutDie Hard, butwhat makes it a “Christmas movie”rather than an action movie that happens to be set during Christmas? Family. For all of the explosions, cursing, and bloodshed, the goal of the main character is family reconciliation. The holidays bring people together, and whileDie Hardweaves that into something darkly comic, it’s still beneath John McClane’s motivations. The sequels lost sight of the character and focused more on his action prowess, but in the original, he was an ordinary guy who wanted to patch things up with his wife and restore the family unit. In the end, he gets his Christmas wish, although it means going through hell and back. –Matt Goldberg
New York City policeman John McClane (Bruce Willis) is visiting his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and two daughters on Christmas Eve. He joins her at a holiday party in the headquarters of the Japanese-owned business she works for. But the festivities are interrupted by a group of terrorists who take over the exclusive high-rise, and everyone in it. Very soon McClane realizes that there’s no one to save the hostages – but him.
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National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Christmas is a time to come together with family, to celebrate the warmth of togetherness with the giving and receiving of gifts. At least that’s the idea. In actuality, Christmas can be an incredibly stressful affair, from eccentric relatives to last-minute shopping to cooking dinner for umpteen people without ruining a single thing.Thisis the Christmas that the comedy classicChristmas Vacationembodies—the truth of the holiday, where execution doesn’t always meet the idealized version of Christmas, but the most important thing remains:Christmas lights everywherebeing with the people you love. –Adam Chitwood
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
As the holidays approach, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants to have a perfect family Christmas, so he pesters his wife, Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), and children, as he tries to verify everything is in line, including the tree and house decorations. However, things go awry quickly. His hick cousin, Eddie (Randy Quaid), and his family show up unplanned and start living in their camper on the Griswold property. Even worse, Clark’s employers renege on the holiday bonus he needs.
Watch on Hulu
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
James Stewart’s Alfred and Margaret Sullavan’s Klara in The Shop Around The Corner
You’ll never hateYou’ve Got Mailmore than after seeing the magnificent, damn-near euphoric comedy that it’s adapted from, which serves as one of the crown jewels of the greatErnst Lubitsch’s career. Two contentious co-workers,played with warmth and tremendous comic charm byJames StewartandMargaret Sullavan, turn out to be secret lovers, but only in their anonymous correspondences with one another, and Lubitsch lets this morsel of a plot percolate in essentially a single setting, the quaint business of the title. The filmmaker, working with one of his favorite DPs,William H. Daniels, lets the romantic tension and desire seethe in every shot, and somehow breaks the film out of its more theatrical implications.The film ends up being like some wonderful, hand-crafted Christmas snow globe, made with tremendous invention and personal detail, as well as intimately reflective, reflexive flashes for Lubitsch himself that make the sexual and political subtext tremble with every miniature turn of the barebones narrative. –Chris Cabin
The Shop Around the Corner
Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the post as each other’s anonymous pen pal.
Black Christmas (1974)
Released four years beforeHalloween,Black Christmasis the OG holiday slasher flick (unless you countPsychoin those categories) and a must-watch Christmas horror to boot. The film follows Jess (Olivia Hussey), a bright young college student, and the sisters of her sorority house when they decide to remain on campus during Christmas break. Before long, calls start pouring in from “the moaner”—a raspy-voiced, lascivious-tongued lunatic who wastes no time picking off the ladies one by one.
Despite some dated stylistic elements,Black Christmasholds up remarkably well and is downright moderncompared to the moralistic slasher films that would dominate the ’80s. The women ofBlack Christmasare allowed to be complicated, adult characters to the point that the “final girl” — a trope that demands that only the purest survive — is not only sexually active, but confronting her decision to have an abortion. And while the film has well-crafted scare set-pieces and unsettling moments,Black Christmasis a crowd pleaser to satisfy the horror hardened and neophytes alike, or anybody looking to add an extra chill to their Christmas without getting too dark. –Haleigh Foutch
Black Christmas
During their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.
Watch on Prime Video
The Ref (1994)
We lost directorTed Demmetoo soon, and this is arguably his best film, which takes a simple comic premise — a bickering couple is kidnapped right before their big holiday dinner — and mines it not just for laughs, but also for surprising drama. WhileDenis Learyis going full-on-Leary, the performances that really shine areKevin SpaceyandJudy Davis, a couple who need someone as unforgiving as they are to cut through their bullshit. But once they stop trying to one-up the other, the honesty comes through, andThe Refbecomes a movie that’s as moving as it is funny. –Matt Goldberg
