Netflix’s Christmas movie selection isn’t quite as robust as the famous Hallmark Channel Christmas movies (yet), but you can still get your fill of snowfalls, hot cocoa, and Santa magic on demand. Check out this selection of classic Christmas movies and Netflix Originals, and plan out your holiday spirit binge-watch.
1. A Castle for Christmas
Brooke Shields and Carey Elwes have a charming meet-cute over the purchase of a gorgeous Scottish castle in this new-this-year Netflix Christmas movie.
2. Single All the Way
This new holiday movie rom-com stars a slew of comedy favorites (Michael Urie, Jennifer Coolidge, Jennifer Robertson, Kathy Najimy, and Barry Bostwick) as Urie’s character convinces his best friend to pretend they’re in a relationship together for the holidays to avoid his family’s pressure to find a mate.
3. Jack Whitehall: Christmas With My Father
Comedian Jack Whitehall’s Christmas comedy special revolves around his legendarily crochety father—and includes cameos from the Queer Eye gang and a full cast trying to get his dad into the holiday spirit.
4. Alien Xmas
Want just a little kid-friendly dose of the holiday spirit? Try this charming short animated Christmas special, where Grinchy aliens are bent on stealing all the presents—and a young elf’s act of kindness helps save the day.
5. Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square
Who doesn’t love Dolly Parton? This super-schmaltzy Christmas musical features the country legend as an angel who’s trying to get the town Scrooge (played by Christine Baranski) to have a heart.
6. White Christmas
One of the most classic of all classic Christmas movies, this 1954 movie is a true holiday season must-watch. It’s appropriate for the whole family—if you can tear the kids away from the animated movies—and offers the kind of Christmas spirit that’s hard to recreate.
7. Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Packed with big names and featuring songs by John Legend, this beautiful, playful Christmas movie follows a young girl on a mission to help her toymaking grandfather recover his greatest creation. The songs (and dance numbers) will play over and over in your head, and adults and kids alike will love the heartfelt story. For a joyful Christmas movie that feels fresh and creative, look no further.
8. Klaus
This delightful animated Christmas movie follows a spoiled postmaster to his new station in a distant, unpleasant outpost, where he meets a certain woodsman with a fluffy white beard and a penchant for making toys. As a new retelling of the story of Santa Claus, this film is creative and interesting, with enough touching moments and heartwarming scenes to make any grinch smile. This Christmas movie was nominated for an Academy Award.
9. The Knight Before Christmas
This addition to Netflix’s growing collection of romantic Christmas movies (competing with the Hallmark Channel’s Christmas programming) tells the story of a medieval knight magically transported to modern-day Ohio, where a disillusioned teacher is preparing for a loveless holiday season. Predictably, PG-rated romantic antics ensue, but that doesn’t make this cheesy flick any less worthy of a watch.
10. Holiday Rush
A successful radio DJ (and recent widower) is ready to celebrate the holidays with his four spoiled children—until he loses his job and has to cut back during the season of giving. This family-focused movie has a heartfelt, encouraging message about what really matters during the holiday season.
11. A Very Murray Christmas
Bill Murray brings some famous faces—George Clooney, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, and Maya Rudolph, to name a few—together in this musical comedy special. You’ll enjoy seeing your favorite stars sing Christmas classics like “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” and “Silent Night.”
12. The Holiday Calendar
Yet another of Netflix’s sappy romantic Christmas movies, this one follows an aspiring photographer stuck in her small town in a dead-end job. An antique Advent calendar passed down from her grandmother arrives just in time to point her toward love—and a more fulfilling career.
13. Fireplace for Your Home
Sure, it’s not a Christmas movie in the traditional sense, but there’s nothing more festive than a roaring fire. If you don’t have a fireplace (or the energy to build a fire in your fireplace), filling your space with coziness is as simple as turning on this almost-movie. It even has realistic crackles and pops—play your favorite Christmas music along with it, and you’ve got a picture-perfect evening. The only downside is that the run-time is an hour, so if you want hours of fire-front coziness, you’ll have to restart the video a few times. (P.S. Watch the trailer—it’s worth it!)
14. Holiday in the Wild
For a slightly atypical Christmas movie, watch this film about a woman who sends her son off to college and plans a second honeymoon for herself and her husband—only to go on the trip alone after her husband announces his plans to leave her. While on safari, the former vet rediscovers her love for animals and ends up staying longer than expected on an elephant sanctuary, where she channels a powerful message for elephant conservation (and meets a dashing man—played by Rob Lowe—of course).
15. A Christmas Prince
As Netflix’s first foray into the Christmas rom-com world, this sweet, goofy movie set a trend that the streaming service is continuing to follow, with a sequel produced the following year and a third movie released in 2019. The movie itself is reminiscent of Hallmark or Lifetime Christmas romantic comedies—a budding journalist sneaks into the castle to get the scoop for an article on a dashing, playboy prince. Romance ensues, of course.
16. The Princess Switch
Vanessa Hudgens stars as a pair of doppelgangers, Parent Trap–style, in this sweet holiday movie that combines mistaken identity, baking, royal romance, and more. If you’ve already watched every Hallmark Christmas movie available, this is the next best thing.
17. The Christmas Chronicles
A Netflix Original Film from 2018, this live-action, kid-friendly movie follows a pair of siblings as they embark on an all-night adventure with Mr. Claus himself to save Christmas. With Kurt Russell as Santa Claus, adorable elves, reindeer, and plenty of other classic Christmas elements thrown in, this movie will make kids and adults alike laugh—and there’s a recent sequel, too.
