Here’s your ultimate guide to cozy, classic and joy-filled holiday movies. Perfect for family movie nights, cozy evenings by the fire, or snow-day marathons.
As December rolls along, nothing captures the spirit of the season quite like gathering around the screen with loved ones for some holiday magic. Preferably paired with mugs of hot chocolate, fuzzy blankets, and warm cookies, a great Christmas movie can inspire belly laughs, soft giggles, and a wonderful sense of tradition.
So after the cookies have been baked, the presents have been wrapped, and the fire has been lit, there’s no better time to relax and watch movies, old and new, with some of your favorite people.
The best way to spread Christmas cheer, after all, is by laughing, connecting with others, and obviously, singing loud for all to hear.
Of course, a proper holiday movie night calls for festive snacks and tinkling lights. Some are planned, some are thrown together in a jiffy. The best thing about them is the company, anyway.
So, in honor of this most wonderful time of year, here are a few cozy, classic, and joy-filled holiday movies. I hope they serve as inspiration for your next movie night.
Timeless Classics
These beloved films have become synonymous with Christmas, and for good reason: they have heart, humor, and a timeless quality that endears them to every generation.
Home Alone (1990)
Home Alone never gets old. It might be up there with the best Christmas movies of all time. A John Hughes masterpiece, it has all the elements of a true classic: nostalgia, heartwarming moments, and a core message that teaches important lessons about life, love, and family.
In the first movie, we meet the McCallisters: a large, loud, wealthy family living in Chicago. As they rush off to the airport for a Christmas vacation in Paris, they leave eight-year-old Kevin behind. Home alone, Kevin must defend his home against a pair of burglars on Christmas Eve.
Home Alone 2 (1992)
In Home Alone 2, we meet the McCallisters two years later, this time at a crowded airport right before Christmas. As the family scatters and regroups before their flight, Kevin mistakenly gets on a plane headed for New York City – while the rest of the McCallisters are headed to sunny Florida.
Now alone once again – and in the Big Apple of all places – Kevin cons his way into a room at the Plaza Hotel and his usual antics ensue. When he finds out that the Sticky Bandits from two years ago are back on the loose, he tries to stop them from robbing an elderly man’s toy store just before Christmas, unraveling a chaotic turn of events.
Home Alone is one of those rare examples where the second movie is just as good as the first. I mean, who has never dreamt of spending Christmas at the Plaza like little Kevin McCallister? It’s still on my wish list!
There are plenty of wonderful classics out there, but it’s not Christmas without Home Alone.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Christmas is not the same without It’s a Wonderful Life. This old classic has plenty of heart and a timeless message: even the smallest life can touch countless others. Watching it reminds you why community, kindness, and hope matter, especially at Christmastime.
We follow George Bailey, a young man with big dreams trapped in a small town, Bedford Falls. As life throws him punches, George starts to wonder if he would have been better off never existing at all. That’s when Clarence, his guiding angel, shows him just how many lives he’s actually touched.
Every scene is filled with warmth, even in black and white: twinkling lights on Main Street, snow falling over rooftops, and the comforting hum of Bedford Falls at Christmas. By the time George realizes the difference one person can make, it’s impossible not to feel a little teary-eyed and inspired.
It’s a Wonderful Life is the kind of film that feels like a hug in December, a gentle reminder that generosity and love are what make life truly remarkable. Watching it is less about the plot and more about the feeling: of belonging, of connection, of what truly matters.
Feel-Good Favorites
You’ve watched these so many times, they’ve become a background comfort viewing while you wrap last-minute gifts.
Elf (2003)
Elf is the ultimate Christmas-movie-binge staple. The beauty of this modern classic is that it delivers both chaos and joy in equal measure.
Buddy, a human raised by elves at the North Pole, shows up in New York City armed with unrestrained enthusiasm, the kind of cheer that wreaks havoc wherever he goes.
From decorating a department store with a sugar-fueled frenzy to navigating the baffling rules of the real world, Buddy’s antics are wonderfully over-the-top and ridiculous. Every interaction, every wild moment lands just right and you can’t help but laugh right along with him.
Buddy’s passion for syrup and his hilarious costume are just pure holiday joy, meant to be passed down through generations.
Surviving Christmas (2004)
A less-known family Christmas movie to watch this December is Surviving Christmas. It features a stellar cast: Ben Affleck, Christina Applegate, James Gandolfini, and Catherine O’Hara.
In this hilarious story, Drew Latham, a wealthy executive, has no close relationships and as Christmas approaches, becomes nostalgic for his childhood home. When he visits the house and finds another family living there, he offers its residents a large sum of money to pretend they are his parents. Soon Drew pushes the couple’s patience to the limit, and when their daughter Alicia shows up, chaos ensues.
For me, a good Christmas movie is not about complex plots or brooding characters. What makes a Christmas movie memorable is something far more intangible: it’s like a magic feeling in your chest you can’t describe. Surviving Christmas hits that sweet spot of ridiculous, hilarious, and heartwarming — the kind of movie you watch once a year and always walk away a little cheerier.
Rom-Coms
What is life without a little romance, huh? And what is Christmas without love? Of course, I had to add a couple romcoms to this list.
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
There are plenty of romantic Christmas movies out there – I’m looking at you, Hallmark – but I’m sticking with the ones I return to most often. One of my absolute favorites is an old Sandra Bullock gem: While You Were Sleeping. There’s just something about Chicago during Christmas that makes the city the perfect backdrop for a cozy holiday classic.
In this sweet love story, a lonely transit worker, Lucy, saves her longtime crush, Peter, from the path of an oncoming train. He falls into a coma, and a misunderstanding leads Peter’s family to assume that Lucy is his fiancée. Things get even more complicated when she finds herself, slowly and then at once, falling for Peter’s sheepish brother, Jack.
While You Were Sleeping has that wonderful nostalgic quality that most movies from the 90’s have. It’s quiet and gentle and all about longing. It’s about falling in love and finding family. It’s for all the hopeless romantics out there.
The Holiday (2006)
Naturally, I had to sneak in a Nancy Meyers classic here, a holiday movie list simply isn’t complete without The Holiday. This modern classic — nearly 20 years old! — is beloved by many, and for very good reason:
Dumped and depressed, English rose Iris agrees to swap homes with the equally unlucky-in-love Californian Amanda. Iris finds herself in a Hollywood mansion while Amanda navigates the lanes of a picture-perfect English village. Soon, both lovelorn ladies bump into local lads who are exactly the kind of romantic pick-me-ups they didn’t know they needed.
As with every Nancy Meyers film, every detail is meticulously considered, and the visuals are stunning. Every house is impeccable, every room enviable. So much so that people have been trying to replicate Iris’ charming English cottage for years! Spoiler: it doesn’t exist in real life, sadly.
You’ve Got Mail (1998)
To complete this romantic Christmas trifecta, I obviously had to include the romcom master herself: Nora Ephron. I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested in a life without You’ve Got Mail.
This beloved classic about a book superstore magnate Joe Fox and an independent bookshop owner Kathleen Kelly, who fall in love in the anonymity of the Internet needs no introduction. It’s a Fall movie and a holiday movie all at once, but truly just a year-round comfort classic.
Hidden Gems & Underrated Picks
For when you’re tired of the usual rotation and want something a bit different and unexpected.
Christmas on the Bayou (2013)
Because I insist on watching the same old movies over and over again, I’ve missed a lot of Lifetime Christmas classics over the years. But there’s one that I love: Christmas on the Bayou.
Now, if you’re a One Tree Hill fan, this is one you won’t want to miss: Hilarie Burton, aka Peyton Sawyer, and Tyler Hilton, aka Chris Keller, are childhood friends who, guess what, through a Christmas miracle, rekindle their romance.
It’s sweet, cheesy, and I love every second of it. It’s a southern holiday story with genuine warmth.
Just Friends (2005)
Just Friends is another hilarious Christmas gem. It’s a laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about a successful music executive who gets stranded back in his New Jersey hometown and is forced to confront the girl who rejected him in high school.
The movie is absurd and chaotic in the most joyful way, and it’s genuinely funny. Just Friends knows exactly what it is, and it commits. It’s wild, hilarious, and one of those Christmas movies that works just as well with family as it does on your thousandth rewatch.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Last but not least — and in contrast to all the hilarious movies I’ve mentioned here — I’m ending this list with a gothic romantic fantasy: Edward Scissorhands.
This Christmas hidden gem, written and directed by Tim Burton, tells the story of Edward, a gentle young man created by an inventor who dies before finishing him. With sharp metal shears for hands, Edward is taken in by a suburban family living in a pristine, tightly wound neighbourhood.
It’s Tim Burton, so of course the production design is impeccable. Edward Scissorhands is sweet and strange and quietly moving, a reminder that embracing your weirdness is often what makes you special in the first place.
So there it is, my ultimate holiday movie marathon list! Hopefully you’ve found something new, something warm, something wild to add to your list.
And if you’re looking for some unique, fun holiday gift ideas, check out this dinner party gift guide!
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I love this list! your decorations look great, the cookies are getting cooked – what more could anyone want out of Christmas!
I always tell ppl that “Just Friends” captured the essence of Christmas in NJ 😂. now I can’t hear that I Swear song without laughing, and of course the “Forgiveness” song.
Haha, love this! Christmas in NJ must be wild. The “Forgiveness” song always gets stuck in my head during the holidays. Wishing you a very happy New Year, Mike! 🎄✨
Happy New Year to you 🙂 can’t wait to see your recipes in 2026!
Thank you, Mike! Looking forward to a year of reading your thoughtful posts