A little Christmas cheer can lift your spirits any time of year. As a small gift to you, we’ve gathered a collection of the best Christmas movies on Netflix. These are perfect for family gatherings or moments when you just want to feel the warmth of the holidays.
Netflix
IMDb rating: 7.0/10
Genre: Family comedy
Starring: Clay Kaytis
Director: Kurt Russell, Darby Camp, Judah Lewis
Motion Picture Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 44 minutes
Kurt Russell stars as the coolest Santa on this list, helping a family get back on track after the death of their husband and father—played by Russell’s real-life family member Oliver Hudson. There’s more car theft here than you’d expect for a Christmas film, but it all adds up to good-hearted redemption (and a sequel).
Netflix
IMDb rating: 6.1/10
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Vanessa Hudgens, Sam Palladio, Nick Sagar
Director: Mike Rohl
Motion Picture Rating: TV-PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 41 minutes
Who hasn’t this happened to? Baker Stacy (Hudgens) goes to Europe to compete in the Royal Christmas Baking Contest and runs into someone who looks exactly like her and turns out to be the fiancée of a prince. The pair switches lives for two days, giving the princess her last chance at a “normal” life. If you guessed that Stacy and the prince fall in love, you might be familiar with this sort of story.
Netflix
IMDb rating: 5.9/10
Genre: Romantic comedy
Starring: Isabela Merced, Shameik Moore, Odeya Rush
Director: Luke Snellin
Motion Picture Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 32 minutes
Waffle Town—a fictional waffle-based restaurant in Illinois—is the center point for this collection of three Christmas tales. Each story intersects with Waffle Town, either because the characters work there, eat there, or want to throw a party there. Each story is heavy on pathos and character-based relationship drama that will appeal to teens (and those of us who still love a good teen drama).
Netflix/Studio Canal
IMDb rating: 6.7/10
Genre: Drama
Starring: Maggie Smith, Jim Broadbent, Michael Huisman
Director: Gil Kenan
Motion Picture Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 46 minutes
There are a few movies on this list that propose origin stories for Santa Claus. In this one, regular kid Nikolas embarks on a tremendous magical adventure as he searches for his father, who has gone in search of the mythical village of Elfhelm. Given the main character’s name, you may see where this is going to end up, but the journey is quite a ride.
Netflix
IMDb rating: 8.2/10
Genre: Animated comedy
Starring: Jason Schwartzman, J.K. Simmons, Rashida Jones
Director: Sergio Pablos and Carlos Martínez López
Motion Picture Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes
This alternate take on Santa’s origin story is maybe the most award-winning movie on this list. Not only was it nominated for an Oscar (the first Netflix animated movie to get that recognition), but it also won seven Annie awards for animation and a British Academy Film Award. In it, the spoiled son of a Norwegian postmaster and a reclusive backwoodsman named Klaus team up to deliver presents and create the figure of Santa Claus.
Netflix
- IMDb rating: 6.4/10
- Genre: Fantasy musical
- Starring: Forest Whitaker, Keegan-Michael Key, Hugh Bonneville
- Director: David E. Talbert
- Motion Picture Rating: PG
- Running Time: 2 hours, 2 minutes
This tale of Christmas redemption was originally planned as a stage play, but was turned into a mega-successful Netflix movie: It was nominated for 10 NAACP Image Awards in 2021, the most of any work that year. In it, an inventor (Forest Whitaker) has his latest invention stolen, loses his business, endures the death of his wife, and becomes estranged from his daughter. When his invention-loving granddaughter comes to live with him, events that bring him justice, happiness, success, and love are put into motion.
Netflix
IMDb rating: 5.2/10
Genre: Animated comedy
Starring: Nat Faxon, Jay Gragnani, Ramone Hamilton
Director: David H. Brooks
Motion Picture Rating: TV-PG
Running Time: 45 minutes
In this installment of Netflix’s ongoing series adapting Dav Pilkey’s hit Captain Underpants book series, pals George Beard and Harold Hutchins—and their super-heroic creation, Captain Underpants—travel back in time to change some Christmas traditions.
Netflix
IMDb rating: 5.2/10
Genre: Musical
Starring: Dolly Parton, Christine Baranski, Treat Williams
Director: Debbie Allen
Motion Picture Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes
This movie will bring to mind a countrified version of “A Christmas Carol,” with Christine Baranski starring as a Scrooge-like villain returning to her hometown to take the land and sell it to a mall developer. An angel—played by Parton, who also wrote all the music—shows her the potential consequences of her actions, leading to a change of heart.
Netflix
IMDb rating: 6.2/10
Genre: Romantic comedy
Starring: Michael Urie, Philemon Chambers, Luke Macfarlane
Director: Michael Mayer
Motion Picture Rating: TV-PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 39 minutes
Single All the Way takes a classic home-for-the-holidays premise and breathes new life into it by adding same-sex relationships. In it, LA hotshot Peter returns to his family home in New Hampshire for the holidays, but can’t bear to be asked about his relationship status for yet another year. He convinces his friend Nick to come home with him and pretend to be his boyfriend. This gets complicated, of course, because Peter’s mom has a blind date with her spinning instructor, James, waiting for him.
Netflix
IMDb rating: 6.2/10
Genre: Animated Adventure
Starring: Keythe Farley, Dee Bradley Baker, Kaliayh Rhambo
Director: Stephen Chiodo
Motion Picture Rating: TV-Y
Running Time: 40 minutes
Santa isn’t the only mysterious thing flying through the sky and trying to avoid detection in this animated film. That’s right: aliens are among us at Christmas. These aliens are attempting to steal the Earth’s gravity, and can only be stopped by an alien named X and—of course—the spirit of Christmas.
Netflix
IMDb rating: 6.0/10
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Darby Camp
Director: Chris Columbus
Motion Picture Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 52 minutes
In the first film in this series, Kurt Russell features along with Oliver Hudson, the son of Russell’s long-time partner, Goldie Hawn. In this sequel, the family affair continues, this time with Hawn co-starring as Mrs. Claus (she’s in the first film, too, but takes on a bigger role here). Mr. and Mrs. Claus team up with the family from the first film to repel a threat to Santa’s Village and to reunite families.
Netflix
IMDb rating: 5.0/10
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Romany Malco, Sonequa Martin-Green, Darlene Love
Director: Leslie Small
Motion Picture Rating: TV-PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 32 minutes
A hip-hop radio DJ loses his job when the station he works at is bought by a conglomerate and changes the station’s focus. His slightly spoiled kids and their Christmas wish lists are unsettled by this change in their lifestyle. As Christmas approaches and new opportunities arise, they have to figure out what’s most important in life—family, connections, and meaning.
Netflix
IMDb rating: 5.5/10
Genre: Musical comedy
Starring: Bill Murray, Paul Shaffer, Miley Cyrus
Director: Sofia Coppola
Motion Picture Rating: TV-MA
Running Time: 56 minutes
This special breaks the fourth wall, with Bill Murray playing himself. His about-to-be-filmed Christmas special is disrupted by a snowstorm that prevents most of his guests from arriving. Murray ventures into the snowy night and happens upon a cast of famous people—from Chris Rock to Miley Cyrus, Jenny Lewis to George Clooney to Amy Poehler—who help him sing and dance his way to Christmas morning.
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