Universal-Pictures
Heat Up Your Holidays With the 42 Most Romantic Christmas Movies of All Time
Christmas is a magical time, but often a lonely one. Put them together, and what you've got is that wistful, bittersweet feeling that makes the holiday season the perfect setting for cinematic romance. Over the years, Hollywood has offered audiences all kinds of ways to fall in love at the movies on Christmas, whether it’s through the intervention of a handsome angel, a fateful trip home for the holidays, a serendipitous Christmas party or just pure holiday magic. Here’s a round-up of the all-time most romantic Christmas movies (keep in mind: for the sake of this list, we're looking almost exclusively at theatrically released feature films) to be enjoyed with a loved one under the mistletoe… or Bridget Jones-style, with a bottle of wine and penguin pajamas.
Romantic Christmas movies
1. The Holiday (2006)
Nancy Meyers’ sparkling champagne flute of a film sees two strangers from different sides of the Atlantic, English columnist Iris (Kate Winslet) and Los Angeles movie-trailer producer Amanda (Cameron Diaz), spontaneously swap houses for Christmas to escape their respective ex-boyfriends. Their heartbreaks are soothed by unexpected visitors–Iris’ gorgeous brother Graham (Jude Law) shows up at her English cottage, and a charming Los Angeles film composer (Jack Black) helps Iris move on. Since it’s a Nancy Meyers film, love isn’t limited to the characters; you’ll also fall in love with the perfect houses.
Related: The 100+ Best Christmas Movies to Watch This Holiday Season
2. Love Actually (2003)
There is simply no Christmas film stuffed with more love stories than Richard Curtis’ ensemble comedy Love Actually, which chronicles up to a dozen romances, depending on how you count. (Here’s a chart.) There’s something in here for everyone, whether it’s HughGrant’s Prime Minister-in-love dance or Keira Knightley’s secret admirer (Andrew Lincoln) confessing his feelings with cue cards.
3. Carol (2015)
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4. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Director Vincente Minnelli fell in love with leading lady Judy Garland while making this enchanting musical, which follows four seasons in the life of a well-to-do Victorian-era family. The film is best remembered for its Christmas scenes, which include a picturesque holiday ball, a sweet proposal in the snow, and Garland’s heartbreaking performance of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” in which her character Esther contemplates what it might mean to move across the country from her new fiancée.
5. White Christmas (1954)
Two professional song-and-dance teams—a struggling sister act (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen) and a modestly famous pair of WWII buddies (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye)—find themselves in Vermont for a Christmas performance, where they try to drum up an audience and hopefully, some snow. One couple falls in love immediately, but the romance between their prickly other halves is hard-won—and worth the wait.
6. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
In this classic romantic comedy, New York City journalist Elizabeth Lane (the always-slightly-subversive Barbara Stanwyck) writes a proto-Martha Stewart, an entirely made-up column about her idyllic country life as a Connecticut homemaker. When her publisher asks her to host dinner for a returning war hero (Dennis Morgan), Elizabeth quickly throws together a fake version of her written life… then falls in love with the man she’s supposed to be fooling.
7. Holiday (1938)
The holiday in the title is the vacation kind, and this movie takes place over New Year’s, but George Cukor’s playful and sophisticated comedy is all about the romantic possibilities of the Christmas season. Cary Grant plays Johnny Case, a self-starter who comes to stay with his new fiancée’s wealthy family for New Year’s and finds a kindred spirit in her quirky sister Susan (Katharine Hepburn). If you’ve ever been the black sheep in your family (or dated them), this one’s for you.
8. Last Holiday (2006)
Queen Latifah redefines “happy holidays” in this wish-fulfillment comedy, about an aspiring chef named Georgia who finds out just before Christmas that she has three weeks to live. Rather than fight with her HMO to cover an operation, Georgia quits her job and dedicates herself to fine dining, spa treatments, skydiving, and spontaneous romance (with LL Cool J!) in the picturesque Czech city Karlovy Vary.
9. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
It’s impossible to pinpoint one moment when the friendship between Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) turns romantic, but their first shared Christmas in New York City certainly brings them closer—and spending the next Christmas alone pushes Harry into his unforgettable New Year’s declaration of love. (“I love that you get cold when it's seventy-one degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich…”)
10. Elf (2003)
The best-case scenario for a Christmas romance is that it brings some childlike wonder back into your life. And there’s no better ambassador for childlike wonder than Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell), who wins over cynical store clerk Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) with singing, ice skating and the world’s best cup of coffee.
Related: 35 Elf Quotes That Are Sure to Spread Christmas Cheer
11. Holiday Inn (1942)
The song “White Christmas” was written for this musical, about a love quadrangle between a singer (Bing Crosby), a dancer (Fred Astaire), and two female performers (Virginia Dale and Marjorie Reynolds) that unfolds at a club that’s only open on holidays. The film is full of classic Irving Berlin love songs and swoon-worthy dancing. It also has a number performed in blackface, hence the iTunes warning; if you watch the unedited version, be prepared to skip over Lincoln’s birthday. Alternately, watch the filmed Broadway musical from 2017, which adds several Berlin songs and omits the “Abraham” number altogether.
12-13. The Preacher’s Wife (1996) and The Bishop’s Wife (1948)
A charismatic angel (Cary Grant) comes to Earth to aid a struggling clergyman (David Niven) at Christmas—but nearly derails everything by falling in love with his wife (Loretta Young)—in The Bishop's Wife, director Henry Koster’s Best Picture-nominated 1947 comedy. Penny Marshall’s musical update, The Preacher's Wife, stars Whitney Houston in the title role and Denzel Washington, one of the few actors who can step effortlessly into Grant’s shoes, as the angel. Featuring a wonderful supporting cast (Loretta Devine, Jenifer Lewis and Gregory Hines, along with Courtney B. Vance as the preacher) and a bestselling gospel soundtrack, it’s an equally worthy holiday watch.
14. Little Women (2019)
Christmas in New England plays a pivotal role in Greta Gerwig’s bold, brilliant adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel. The March sisters (Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen) all have their own love stories, and each one somehow manages to involve their dreamboat neighbor Laurie (Timothée Chalamet).
Related: Nearly 40 Years Later, We Still Love A Christmas Story—But Where Is the Cast Now?
15. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Everyone remembers the last half hour of Frank Capra’s emotional drama (the sequence in which James Stewart’s George Bailey experiences a world in which he was never born), but watching the sweet, sincere romance unfold between young George and his lifelong friend Mary (Donna Reed) makes that final Christmas-tree scene so much more poignant.
16. Just Another Christmas (2020)
Husband and father Jorge (Leandro Hassum) has always hated the obligations and commercialism of Christmas, which also happens to be his birthday. Then he develops a strange form of amnesia where every Christmas, he loses his memory of the entire previous year. While living half a lifetime’s worth of Christmases back to back, Jorge learns to value the season—and the patient wife (Elisa Pinheiro) he’s in danger of losing.