Best Christmas Movies (December 2025)

Though there’s nothing quite like the excitement of the holiday hustle and bustle, one of the very best parts of the season is winding down for a cozy movie night by the glow of the fire — or, for most of us, the soft twinkle of the Christmas tree lights. We’ve made our list (and checked it twice!) of our most-loved holiday favorites. Here are our picks for the best Christmas movies.

What are the best Christmas movies?

First off, we have to make a distinction. There are movies about Christmas — films built on holiday cheer, goodwill, family togetherness, all that good stuff. And then some movies aren’t really about Christmas but happen to be set during the season or feature a festive scene or two. For this list, we’re sticking with the films that truly embody the spirit of Christmas. So, no Die Hard here even if it is definitively a Christmas movie.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Undoubtedly one of the most heartfelt movies ever made, It’s a Wonderful Life is the holiday classic that defines all holiday classics. It’s a film that gently reminds us of how much we have to be grateful for and that our lives touch others in ways we don’t always see. That’s an easy thing to forget when you’re feeling low. 

For those who haven’t seen it, It’s a Wonderful Life starts with a framing narrative: an angel, desperate to earn his wings, is sent to help a life-weary George Bailey (James Stewart) remember the value of his life. In said framing narrative, we first learn George’s life story through a series of flashbacks, culminating on Christmas Eve. George, convinced the world would be better without him, wishes he’d never been born. The angel arrives just in time, granting George’s wish and allowing him to see firsthand how profoundly he’s affected the world around him. It’s a moving reminder of how much one life can matter.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

The endlessly quotable Christmas classic, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, is a hilarious family comedy that keeps on giving. Even if ridiculous, over-the-top humor isn’t usually your thing, it’s worth watching simply so you’re not left in the movie-quote dust. The Griswold family may be known for their wild vacations, but this time they’re determined to keep things more traditional (though not very simple) by hosting a “good old-fashioned family Christmas.” Naturally, as the in-laws, grandparents, and cousins descend on the house, things nosedive into glorious chaos.

Yet even amid all the kookiness, all Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) really wants is to recapture the feeling he had as a kid, when Christmas still felt magical. And the older you get, the harder that magic is to find. The more Clark tries to force the perfect holiday, the more everything hilariously unravels. 

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

I could probably write a thesis on why The Muppet Christmas Carol is the best Christmas movie ever, or at the very least, why it’s the best film adaptation of A Christmas Carol. For the sake of the word count, let’s say it’s the equivalent of It’s a Wonderful Life for millennials. The movie perfectly balances the spirit of Charles Dickens’ classic novel with a twist that could only come from the magic of Jim Henson’s world. The music is fantastic, the humor is perfect, and the puppets and design are, as expected, outstanding.

The only downside is that the streaming version usually cuts one of the film’s most heartbreaking songs. Pro-Tip: You can still watch the uncut version of The Muppet Christmas Carol on Disney+ by scrolling down to the “Extras” section. It should give you the option to watch the full-length version. Boom! Your heart can again be ripped to shreds with the restored “When Love is Gone.” Oh, and one last thing. Nothing tops Michael Caine’s stone-cold serious performance as Scrooge while acting opposite a cast of silly Muppets. As far as this writer is concerned, every other Christmas movie falls just a little short of this one’s absolute holiday glory.

The Holiday (2006)

I couldn’t not put a rom-com on this list, and I restrained myself to just one. To take you on the logic journey: it was a toss-up between The Holiday, While You Were Sleeping, and Love Actually. The Holiday wins out over Love Actually simply because, although we love watching Love Actually every year, half of its characters are pretty cringey. I could have picked While You Were Sleeping as a close runner-up, but the truth is, I can’t go through Christmas without watching The Holiday, even if it is formulaic. I sometimes skip While You Were Sleeping — sorry, Sandy.

So, The Holiday it is! Written and directed by Nancy Meyers, the film stars Jack Black, Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, and Jude Law. Iris (played by Kate Winslet) is a journalist living in the cozy Cotswolds who is still totally and completely in love with her terrible ex (Rufus Sewell). After finding out that the man who’s been stringing her along for years is engaged, she hops onto a house-swap website and matches with Amanda, a movie-trailer-maker (no, seriously) from LA. Amanda also needs to get away after breaking up with her cheating boyfriend, so the two decide to swap houses over Christmas. Of course, even when you try to escape anything resembling love, it has a funny way of finding you anyway.

Home Alone (1990)

When you watched this one as a kid, Home Alone was laugh-out-loud funny. When you watch it as an adult, the laughter may be toned down a little, but the nostalgia is undoubtedly there. There’s also a much greater appreciation for the moviemaking itself. Nearly every frame is red and green. Really, go back and watch, and you’ll see for yourself. From the script by John Hughes, to direction by Chris Columbus, to production design by John Muto, to the score by John Williams, it’s hard not to appreciate the effort that went into this movie. And despite this one sometimes getting the thumbs down from critics for being too silly (my dad being one of them, hating it purely because “these booby traps would kill anyone” — “Ope, they’d be dead,” he’d say), this film is really just good fun. Don’t take it too seriously. That’s Joe Pesci’s job.

In case you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t seen it, 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is the youngest of five siblings. Often overlooked, he’s at odds with the rest of his family, who pretty much treat him like a pebble in their shoe. But when he accidentally gets left behind while the family heads to France for Christmas, Kevin suddenly has the house to himself — a dream come true. Unfortunately, two crooks are planning to break into all the homes on the street while everyone’s away for the holidays, and their number-one target is the McCallister house. Kevin, who we have to admit is pretty much a genius, comes up with a plan to stop them.

How we picked the best Christmas movies

Because there are so many great Christmas movies out there that fit pretty much any mood you’re in, from cozy classics to musicals to murderous holiday horror to children’s animated favorites, we narrowed our list to include picks across the major subgenres. To reiterate, our only real criterion was that the movie had to be about Christmas or deliver a message of good tidings and cheer, not just be set at Christmastime. Runner-ups for this list include Elf, A Christmas Story, White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, Little Women (either version is excellent), and the aforementioned Love Actually and While You Were Sleeping.

Source: Comingsoon.net