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Despite the fact that 2020 has felt less like a year than a freaking millennium, the holiday season is finally – yes, finally! – upon us, which means that you finally have a legitimate excuse to watch Christmas movies…and make no mistake, if ever there was a year when you’ve earned the right to watch something that’s filled with good cheer and which pretty much guarantees a happy ending, it’s this one!
We’ve spent some time digging, and we’ve come up with 15 Christmas movies on Netflix that stretch from the 1950s all the way up through 2019, and if for some reason you manage to make it through any one of them without finding a warm glow in your heart, then just go on to the next one. Trust us, with this list of flicks, it won’t be hard for you to have a holly, jolly good time!
RELATED: The 13 Funniest Christmas Movies and Where to Watch Them
'White Christmas' (1954)
Description: Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye play a couple of male vocalists who team up with a sister singing act for a performance in Vermont, only for the guys to meet up with their former commander from their days in World War II. He owns a country inn that’s fallen on hard times, so naturally, the guys convince the gals to help them raise funds to save the inn by putting on a show. Sentimental claptrap? Maybe. A plotline ripe for parody? Absolutely. But it’s also one of the most beloved holiday films in Hollywood history. Watch and be won over.
Cast: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Dean Jagger, Vera-Ellen
Rated: NR
'Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas' (2000)
Description: We don’t know if someone in Hollywood rationalized the making of this live-action adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss animated special by saying, “If the original was 26 minutes long and we make a movie version that’s 104 minutes long, then our version is gonna be four times better!” All we know is that there are a lot of folks out there who’ve made it an annual tradition to watch Jim Carrey provide the Grinch with the back story we never knew we needed, explaining why he wants to steal Christmas before he ultimately finds his long-lost holiday spirit.
Cast: Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen, Christine Baranski, Jeffrey Tambor, Molly Shannon
Rated: PG
'This Christmas' (2007)
Description: Remember the good old days, when you could gather your entire family together and have extended conversations that didn’t eventually devolve into angry discussions about Donald Trump? Neither do we, which is what makes this film ripe for revisiting. Loretta Devine plays the matriarch of a family that’s reuniting for the first time in four years, but the time apart has increased the tensions between them, with various skeletons coming out of the closet, resulting in the fraying of some family bonds. But don’t worry, most of them end up being stronger than ever by the time the credits roll.
Cast: Loretta Devine, Regina King, Chris Brown, Idris Elba, Columbus Short
Rated: PG-13
'A Princess For Christmas' (2011)
Description: Jules is living single in Buffalo, New York when the death of her sister and brother-in-law leads to her becoming the legal guardian of her niece Maddie and nephew Milo. As the holidays approach, the children’s wealthy grandfather, the Duke of Castlebury, invites them to spend the holidays with him, and Jules tags along. While there, she meets the kids’ uncle, Prince Ashton, and sparks fly immediately, as you almost certainly suspected they would, but…what’s this? The Duke doesn’t like Christmas?! Well, let’s just see how the kids feel about that, shall we?
Cast: Roger Moore, Katie McGrath, Sam Heughan, Charlotte Salt, Travis Turner
Rated: NR
'Get Santa' (2014)
Description: Onetime getaway driver Steve Anderson gets paroled from prison just in time for Christmas, but when his son calls him and tells him that he’s found Santa in their shed not long after a news report about reindeer wandering through the streets of London, it becomes evident that being a free man won’t be the only thing special about Steve’s holiday this year. Ironically, Santa ends up in prison himself, the result of trying to rescue his reindeer from police lock-up, and… Well, look, if we haven’t managed to sell you on this quirky flick yet, we’re out of ideas!
Cast: Jim Broadbent, Rafe Spall, Warwick Davis, Kit Connor, Stephen Graham
Rated: PG
'Christmas In The Smokies' (2015)
Description: Yes, the film does take place in the Smoky Mountains, so no false advertising here. Shelby Haygood discovers that her family’s berry farm is in dire financial straits, but rather than panicking, she comes up with a brilliant idea: organize a Christmas concert to help save the farm. She even has the perfect person to serve as headliner – one of the biggest country music stars in the country – but she just has to get past one little hiccup: he’s her ex-boyfriend. Does he let bygones be bygones and sing his heart out to save the day? What do you think?
Cast: Sarah Lancaster, Alan Powell, Barry Corbin, Jill Wagner, Rebecca Koon
Rated: G
'A Bad Mom's Christmas' (2017)
Description: When a comedy pulls in over $180 million at the box office, you know there’s gonna be a sequel, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise to see the creative team behind Bad Moms opting to go in a holiday-centric direction for their second outing. Then again, the concept was perfect for creating an excuse to introduce the Bad Moms’ moms, so once they came up with the idea, of course they ran with it. Is it as good as the original? It is not. Is it still funny, even if you sometimes feel guilty for laughing? Oh, hell, yes.
Cast: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Cheryl Hines, Christine Baranski
Rated: R
'Pottersville' (2017)
Description: If the title of this film sounds familiar but you can’t quite place why, allow us to end the mystery: when George Bailey is shown what his wonderful life would’ve been like if he’d never been born, he discovers that his beloved Bedford Falls has been transformed into…Pottersville. Make no mistake, though: this definitely ain’t It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s about the owner of a general store who puts on a gorilla suit to woo his wife, only to be mistaken for Bigfoot, which leads to a monster-hunting reality show coming to town just in time for the holidays.
Cast: Michael Shannon, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks, Judy Greer, Thomas Lennon
Rated: PG-13
'A Christmas Catch' (2018)
Description: “Nothing spells Christmas like a quest for a jewel thief,” said no one ever, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try something new for the holidays, does it? Detective Mackenzie Bennett is a woman on a mission, and that mission is to hunt down and catch Carson, who’s suspected of committing a diamond heist. To do so, she opts to go undercover, but in so doing – and you saw this coming up Main Street, we’re sure – she not only becomes smitten with him but, indeed, begins to wonder if perhaps he isn’t guilty at all.
Cast: Emily Alatalo, Andrew Bushell, Franco Lo Presti, Lauren Holly, Yanic Truesdale
Rated: NR
'The Christmas Chronicles' (2018)
Description: By now, this film has gotten so much acclaim that not only have you probably already seen it, but you’ve also watched the sequel, which came out a few weeks ago. If so, good for you, and way to be on top of the latest trends. If you haven’t seen this flick about a couple of kids hiding in Santa’s sleigh and accidentally wreaking havoc on the holiday, hop to it, because it’s a ton of fun. And let’s put all our cards on the table: once you’ve discovered that Kurt Russell is playing Santa Claus, everything else is gravy.
Cast: Kurt Russell, Darby Camp, Julian Dennison, Judah Lewis, Goldie Hawn
Rated: PG
'Christmas Survival' (2018)
Description: If you’re in the UK, then you may know this film under a different title, but apparently Surviving Christmas with the Relatives was a bit too wordy for Americans, hence this abbreviated version. The film introduces us to Dan and Miranda, a couple who’ve moved out of London, taken over Miranda’s family farm, and are making it into a bed and breakfast that also sells organic vegetables and goat milk. Alas, it’s a lifestyle that clashes with that of her film-star sister and her agent husband, who show up for the holidays, along with numerous other relative. Cue the chaos.
Cast: Julian Ovenden, Gemma Whelan, Joely Richardson, Michael Landes, Jonas Moore
Rated: TV-MA
'Elliot: The Littlest Reindeer' (2018)
Description: You never really consider the possibility that one of Santa’s magic reindeer might someday opt to retire – and why would you? – but that’s the premise behind this animated film, with Santa having to find a replacement for Blitzen. Given the title, you’d be right to presume that Elliot believes that he’s right for the job, but here’s the problem: Elliot’s a miniature horse. Still, the kid’s got a lot of heart, so…maybe he’s still got a shot? You’ll have to tune in to find out. But truth be told, you should tune in anyway just because of that voice cast.
Voice Cast: Josh Hutcherson, John Cleese, Martin Short, Morena Baccarin, Jeff Dunham
Rated: PG
'Holiday In The Wild' (2019)
Description: When their son heads off to college, Kate Conrad decides to surprise her husband with a second honeymoon to Zambia, only for him to reply by admitting that he’s fallen out of love with her and wants out of the marriage. Rather than letting the trip go to waste, Kate heads to Zambia herself, where she meets Derek Hollistan, a handsome and charming pilot, and ends up helping to save the life of a baby elephant and deciding that maybe her future lies not in New York but, rather, in Zambia, where she decides to spend the holidays.
Cast: Kristin Davis, Rob Lowe, Colin Moss, John Owen Lowe, Fezile Mpela
Rated: PG
'Klaus' (2019)
Description: If this film didn’t catch your eye last Christmas, perhaps that changed when the Academy Awards rolled around: it earned a nomination for Best Animated Feature, the first Netflix film to have that honor bestowed upon it. The flick follows Jesper Johansson, who – despite being the son of the Royal Postmaster General – has managed to flunk out of the postman academy. Assigned to a small, isolated town and informed that he will be cut out of the family fortune if he doesn’t post 6,000 letters in a year, all seems lost until Jesper happens upon a bearded toymaker named Klaus.
Cast: J.K. Simmons, Jason Schwartzman, Joan Cusack, Rashida Jones, Norm Macdonald
Rated: PG
'Let It Snow' (2019)
Description: Based on the young adult novel by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracl —talk about your trifecta of talent! — this flick follows a group of high school students in Laurel, Illinois who find themselves with a pop star in their midst after a heavy snowfall literally stops his train in its tracks. But don’t get too caught up in the interloper’s arrival: there’s plenty of teen angst going on in the locals’ lives even without him. You’ll recognize a lot of the faces and probably some of the plotlines, too, but you’ll find it all still goes down smooth.
Cast: Kiernan Shipka, Isabela Moner, Mitchell Hope, Odeya Rush, Shameik Moore
Rated: PG-13
Will Harris (@NonStopPop) has a longstanding history of doing long-form interviews with random pop culture figures for the A.V. Club, Vulture, and a variety of other outlets, including Variety. He’s currently working on a book with David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. (And don’t call him Shirley.)
