The Christmas season naturally puts us in the mood for cozying up around the TV, snow falling gently outside, fireplace crackling. Of course, with the hundreds of Christmas or Christmas-adjacent movies that come out every year now, it can be tough to settle on exactly which one you're in the mood for: A cinema classic like 1946's It's a Wonderful Life? A laugh-out-loud comedy satirizing the holiday like 1989's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation? A newer Yuletide-set film you may have missed recently like 2023's The Holdovers?
To help guide you, we've listed our picks for the best Christmas movies ever — featuring a grab bag of sentimental classics, adult-oriented comedies, and animated favorites — and details on where you can stream them all.
23. The Santa Clause (1994)
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If the thought of seeing Tim Allen in a Santa suit makes you dream of sugarplums, this is the film for you. The Home Improvement star accidentally kills Santa and has to take his place. It's not It's a Wonderful Life, but it has its moments. Plus, there's Judge Reinhold! —Chris Nashawaty
Where to watch The Santa Clause: Disney+
The Santa Clauseturns30! See the cast of the holiday classic, then and now
22. Klaus (2019)
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How did Santa Claus really get his start? This gorgeously animated Netflix film offers a compelling origin story about a young postman and a toymaker in 19th-century Norway who pair up for each other's benefit to have kids write letters in exchange for toys. We appreciate the creativity behind the storytelling rather than falling back on easy Christmas movie tropes. —Kevin Jacobsen
21. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
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We love a goofy Christmas romp, which is exactly what Christmas in Connecticut is, centering on a food writer (Barbara Stanwyck) who pens a well-read column using a false country-gal persona. Forced by her publisher to cook a real dinner for a returning war hero, she's up a creek without a paddle as hijinks ensue. —K.J.
Where to watch Christmas in Connecticut: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
20. Gremlins (1984)
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Not a Christmas movie, per se, but Joe Dante's mischievous monster-mash comedy is set during the holidays in a snowy Norman Rockwell-esque town. Plus, who didn't want a cuddly little pet like Gizmo waiting under their tree on Christmas morning? That is, assuming you didn't feed it after midnight... —C.N.
19. The Holdovers (2023)
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Like a dusted-off hidden gem from the '70s, Alexander Payne's bittersweet dramedy is all about finding unexpected connections amid difficult circumstances. Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and an Oscar-winning Da'Vine Joy Randolph star as a boarding school teacher, student, and cafeteria manager, respectively, who find themselves leaning on each other during Christmas break, and the result is equal parts hilarious and moving. —K.J.
18. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
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Okay, so it's not the best installment in the Griswold family saga. Still, Christmas Vacation is worth watching alone for Randy Quaid's Cousin Eddie and Chevy Chase's fumbling encounter with a buxom department store salesperson. "I was just blousing...uh, browsing! It's a bit nipply out...I mean, nippy!" —C.N.
17. Scrooged (1988)
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No one does "Bah, humbug" better than Bill Murray's Frank Cross, a heartless TV exec in this darkly comedic retelling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Yes, it's pretty much the same film as 1993's Groundhog Day — jerk becomes a better man on the eve of a national holiday — however, that doesn't stop it from being the perfect prickly antidote to Yuletide sap. —C.N.
16. Die Hard (1988)
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New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) heads to L.A. to see his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and winds up attending the Christmas office party from hell, thanks to Alan Rickman's memorable Teutonic baddie Hans Gruber (who finds a one-man killing machine along with a lump of coal in his stocking!). Who needs "Ho, ho, ho!" when you can have "Yippee ki-yay, motherf---er"? —C.N.
Where to watch Die Hard: Amazon Prime Video
Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? The ultimate EW investigation
15. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
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An older man working as a Macy's department store Santa (Edmund Gwenn) claims to be Kris Kringle, and he convinces innocent kids — and even the most cynical adults — that he's the real deal. There's something undeniably sweet about this perennial classic, despite that, if it were made today, he'd be handcuffed and thrown in the slammer. —C.N.
14. White Christmas (1954)
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Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney deck the halls in this Yuletide classic. Who cares if the movie's as syrupy as a Vermont maple? The Irving Berlin songs are timeless — particularly the gorgeous title tune. —C.N.
13. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
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Tim Burton and Henry Selick may seem more of a natural fit for Halloween than Christmas, but the maestros of the macabre's stop-motion holiday fable crafted pure eye candy. —C.N.
12. Trading Places (1983)
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All right, so maybe this one's not technically a Christmas movie, either. But the sight of a down-and-out Dan Aykroyd in a Santa suit eating a slab of salmon through his grungy cotton-candy beard fills us with the holiday spirit. —C.N.
11. Home Alone (1990)
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Writer John Hughes added heart to Thanksgiving with Planes, Trains and Automobiles. In Home Alone, he takes a less sentimental approach to the holidays with the tale of 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (the adorable Macaulay Culkin), who's left alone by his family only to face down — and outwit — a pair of bungling burglars. Let's be honest, you can enjoy this one any time of the year. —C.N.
Where to watch Home Alone: Disney+
Every Home Alone movie, ranked
10. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
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This made-for-TV Rankin and Bass classic features Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman, telling the eternally sweet story of an outcast with a very shiny nose and an elf who wants to be a dentist. An annual must-see. —C.N.
Where to watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: Amazon Prime Video (to buy)
9. The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)
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Better known as "the movie with Heat Miser." Santa (Mickey Rooney) has a cold and decides to take a year off from his Christmas duties. It's up to a pair of elves (Jingle Bells and Jangle Bells) to save the day. But first, they must get past Heat Miser and Snow Miser — the best Christmas baddies since the Grinch. —C.N.
Where to watch The Year Without a Santa Claus: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
8. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
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The Muppets and Jim Henson's workshop take on Dickens in this fur-and-felt adaptation of A Christmas Carol, with Kermit as Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy as Mrs. Cratchit, and Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge. Who do we petition to get this one aired on TV more often? —C.N.
Where to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol: Disney+
The Muppets sit down with Brett Goldstein to reminisce about making The Muppet Christmas Carol
7. Bad Santa (2003)
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Billy Bob Thornton spikes the eggnog in this bruise-black comedy about a disgusting, drunk department store Santa/con man who's out to rob stores on Christmas Eve with his elf sidekick, Marcus (Tony Cox). Here's one for parents looking for something to pop on after the kids are asleep. —C.N.
6. Love Actually (2003)
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A roundelay of lump-in-your-throat London love during the holiday season from the confectioners behind Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and Notting Hill (1999). You could fill a stocking with all of the terrific moments in the film. But none is better than when a group of kids brings down the house with their rendition of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You." —C.N.
5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
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Forget the over-caffeinated Jim Carrey version or even the 2018 adaptation with Benedict Cumberbatch. Chuck Jones' animated made-for-TV take on the Dr. Seuss classic is the one you want to watch (over and over again). "The Grinch hated Christmas — the whole Christmas season. Now, please don't ask why; no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. Or it could be that his head wasn't screwed on just right. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small." —C.N.
4. Elf (2003)
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The best Christmas flick of the century. Granted, the century hasn't been that long, but still. Will Ferrell is priceless as the oversized elf who ventures far away from the North Pole to search for his father. I have a niece who was so obsessed with this movie that, one December, she made me watch it three times in a row. I didn't mind a bit. —C.N.
3. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
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Some holiday movies just make you feel good when they come on. They wrap you in a comforter of warm, cozy nostalgia. To me, and I'm guessing a lot of you, this is that movie. I could watch those Peanuts kids do their herky-jerky dance on an eternal loop and never get tired of it. Plus, if there was ever a movie that made you want to take home the saddest, leafless tree at the nursery, this is the one. —C.N.
2. A Christmas Story (1983)
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Okay, I know a lot of you who've gotten this far are going to be upset that this isn't No. 1. I love it, too, especially when Ralphie's (Peter Billingsley) pal gets triple-dog-dared into touching his tongue to a frozen metal flagpole. So, please, don't shoot my eye out with an official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot range model air rifle! —C.N.
1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
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I know; big shocker that this is No. 1, right? Well, sometimes movies are considered masterpieces for a reason, and this is one of those times. If you think Frank Capra's holiday staple is feel-good hooey, watch it again. It's funny, heartwarming, profound, and an annual reminder that the holidays are about more than presents, thanks to Jimmy Stewart's turn as George Bailey. If you don't have a sugarplum in your throat by the end credits, you need to come in from the cold. —C.N.
Where to watch It's a Wonderful Life: Amazon Prime Video
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