39 Best Christmas Movies for Adults (Where to Stream)
The holiday season isn’t just for twinkling lights and cheerful jingles—it’s also a time to dive into movies that capture the deeper, more nuanced sides of this magical season. While classics like A Christmas Story or The Polar Express light up childhood memories, there’s an entirely different category of Christmas films designed for adults. These movies balance the holiday spirit with humor, romance, and raw emotion, offering a refreshing take on what it means to celebrate as grown-ups.
From bittersweet dramas to laugh-out-loud comedies, the best Christmas movies for adults explore love, family dynamics, and even a bit of holiday chaos. Titles like The Holiday and Bad Santa stand out for their clever storytelling and relatable themes, proving that Christmas movies can be just as meaningful, even with a touch of irreverence or complexity.
Whether you’re in the mood to laugh, cry, or simply enjoy a cozy night in, this list of adult-focused holiday films will leave you feeling festive in the most relatable way.
Bad Santa (2003)
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Brett Kelly, Lauren Tom, John Ritter, Bernie Mac
Storyline: A miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid.
Watch On: Paramount Plus, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, Pluto TV
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Age rating: PG
Director: Frank Capra
Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Ward Bond, Frank Faylen, Gloria Grahame
Storyline: An angel visits a frustrated businessman to show him what life would look like if he never existed.The classic Christmas film is based on the short story The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern, which was inspired by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. It is helmed by Frank Capra and stars James Stewart.
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Freevee, Xumo Play
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Director: Henry Selick
Starring: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens, Ken Page, Ed Ivory
Storyline: The film follows the misadventures of Jack Skellington, Halloweentown’s beloved pumpkin king, who has become bored with the same annual routine of frightening people in the “real world.” When Jack accidentally stumbles on Christmastown, all bright colors and warm spirits, he gets a new lease on life — he plots to bring Christmas under his control by kidnapping Santa Claus and taking over the role. But Jack soon discovers even the best-laid plans of mice and skeleton men can go seriously awry.
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Disney+
{Also Read: 100 Best Christmas Movies of All Time]
Black Christmas (1974)
Director: Bob Clark
Starring: Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, Keir Dullea, John Saxon
Storyline: As winter break begins, a group of sorority sisters, including Jess (Olivia Hussey) and the often inebriated Barb (Margot Kidder), begin to receive anonymous, lascivious phone calls. Initially, Barb eggs the caller on, but stops when he responds threateningly. Soon, Barb’s friend Clare (Lynne Griffin) goes missing from the sorority house, and a local adolescent girl is murdered, leading the girls to suspect a serial killer is on the loose. But no one realizes just how near the culprit is. So, for more Christmas carnage, check out the 2006 adaptation and the 2019 version.
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, AMC+, Fandor, Shudder, Screambox, Night Flight Plus, The Roku Channel, Tubi TV, Crackle
Die Hard (1988)
Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
Storyline: A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, FuboTV, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+, TNT, TBS, tru TV, Tubi TV
Scrooged (1988)
Director: Richard Donner
Starring: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover
Storyline: A selfish, cynical television executive is haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Paramount Plus, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, Pluto TV
The Ref (1994)
Director: Ted Demme
Starring: Denis Leary, Judy Davis, Kevin Spacey, Glynis Johns, Raymond J. Barry
Storyline: The plot centers on a burglar who, while evading capture from the police, is forced to take a bickering, dysfunctional family hostage on Christmas Eve. The burglar finds himself having to act as a de facto marriage counselor, or “referee”, between the squabbling husband and wife, a situation that becomes more complicated when the husband’s relatives drop by for Christmas dinner.
Watch On: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Diane Ladd
Storyline: Based on Hughes’s short story, “Christmas ’59”, published in National Lampoon, the film tells the story of Clark Griswold’s efforts to have a good old-fashioned family Christmas as they take a hilarious turn for the worse.
Watch On: Hulu, Max, Max Amazon Channel
The Holiday (2006)
Director: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Eli Wallach, Edward Burns, Rufus Sewell
Storyline: Two women, one from the United States and one from the United Kingdom, swap homes at Christmas time after bad breakups with their boyfriends. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, NBC
A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011)
Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Starring: John Cho, Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris, Danneel Ackles
Storyline: Six years have elapsed since Guantanamo Bay, leaving Harold and Kumar estranged from one another with very different families, friends and lives. But when Kumar arrives on Harold’s doorstep during the holiday season with a mysterious package in hand, he inadvertently burns down Harold’s father-in-law’s beloved Christmas tree. To fix the problem, Harold and Kumar embark on a mission through New York City to find the perfect Christmas tree, once again stumbling into trouble at every single turn.
Watch On: Tubi TV, Amazon Prime Video
Gremlins (1984)
Director: Joe Dante
Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Frances Lee McCain
Storyline: A young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.
Watch On: Max, Max Amazon Channel
The Night Before (2015)
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie, Jillian Bell, Lizzy Caplan, Jillian Bell, Mindy Kaling, Michael Shannon
Storyline: Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Isaac (Seth Rogen), and Chris (Anthony Mackie) have been friends since childhood, and for a decade, their yearly Christmas Eve reunion has been an annual night of debauchery and hilarity. Now that they’re entering adulthood, the tradition is ending, and to make it as memorable as possible, they set out to find the Nutcracka Ball–the Holy Grail of Christmas parties.
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon, Starz Apple TV Channel, Starz Roku Premium Channel, Starz, Starz Amazon Channel, Xumo Play
Office Christmas Party (2016)
Director: Will Speck, Josh Gordon
Starring: Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, T.J. Miller, Jillian Bell, Vanessa Bayer, Courtney B. Vance, Rob Corddry, Sam Richardson, Randall Park, Kate McKinnon, and Jennifer Aniston.
Storyline: When Carol Vanstone, CEO of the technology company Zenotek, expresses her intention to close the Chicago branch, run by her brother Clay, he and his co-workers organize a Christmas party in an effort to impress a potential client and save their jobs. But the party gets out of control…
Watch On: TNT, TBS, tru TV
Trading Places (1983)
Director: John Landis
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche
Storyline: Upper-crust executive Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and down-and-out hustler Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) are the subjects of a bet by successful brokers Mortimer (Don Ameche) and Randolph Duke (Ralph Bellamy). An employee of the Dukes, Winthorpe is framed by the brothers for a crime he didn’t commit, with the siblings then installing the street-smart Valentine in his position. When Winthorpe and Valentine uncover the scheme, they set out to turn the tables on the Dukes.
Watch On: Paramount Plus, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel , Paramount+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC+
A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)
Director: Scott Moore, Jon Lucas
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Cheryl Hines, Christine Baranski, Susan Sarandon
Storyline: Amy, Kiki and Carla – three under-appreciated and over-burdened women – rebel against the challenges and expectations of the Super Bowl for mothers: Christmas. And if creating a more perfect holiday for their families wasn’t hard enough, they have to do all of that while hosting and entertaining their own mothers.
Watch On: Netflix
Violent Night (2022)
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Starring: David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Beverly D’Angelo
Storyline: When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus (David Harbour, Black Widow, Stranger Things series) is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint.
Watch On: Starz Apple TV Channel, Starz Roku Premium Channel, Starz, Starz Amazon Channel
Love Actually (2003)
Director: Richard Curtis
Starring: Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Martine McCutcheon, Bill Nighy, Rowan Atkinson
Storyline: The film delves into different aspects of love as shown through 10 separate stories involving a variety of individuals, many of whom are interlinked as the plot progresses. The story begins five weeks before Christmas and is played out in a weekly countdown until the holiday, followed by an epilogue that takes place in the New Year.
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Starz Apple TV
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
Director: Jalmari Helander
Starring: Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Per Christian Ellefsen, Tommi Korpela, Rauno Juvonen, Ilmari Järvenpää, Peeter Jakobi, Jonathan Hutchings, Risto Salmi
Storyline: Young Pietari lives with his reindeer-herding father in arctic Finland. On the eve of Christmas, a nearby excavation makes a frightening discovery and an evil Santa Claus is unleashed…
Watch On: Peacock Premium, AMC+, Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp, Peacock Premium Plus, Tubi TV, Freevee
Almost Christmas (2016)
Director: David E. Talbert
Starring: Kimberly Elise, Danny Glover, John Michael Higgins, Romany Malco, Mo’Nique, J.B. Smoove, Gabrielle Union, David E. Talbert, Donnie Simpson
Storyline: Walter Meyer (Danny Glover) is a retired mechanic who lost the love of his life almost a year ago. For the holidays, he invites his now grown children and their families to his house (where they all grew up) for a traditional celebration. Walter soon realizes that if his bickering children and the rest of the family can spend five days together under the same roof, it will truly be a Christmas miracle.
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu
Krampus (2015)
Director: Michael Dougherty
Starring: Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Emjay Anthony, Stefania LaVie Owen, Krista Stadler, Lolo Owen, Queenie Samuel, Maverick Flack, Sage Hunefeld
Storyline: In the film, a dysfunctional family squabbling causes a young boy (Max) to lose his festive spirit. Doing so unleashes the wrath of Krampus, a fearsome, horned demonic beast in ancient European folklore who punishes naughty children at Christmas time. As Krampus lays siege to the neighborhood, the family must band together to save one another from a monstrous fate.
Watch On: Max, Max Amazon Channel, Peacock Premium
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005)
Director: Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen
Storyline: A private investigator, a struggling actress and a thief posing as an actor must band together to solve a murder shrouded in mystery. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan, the comedy thriller is partially based on Brett Halliday’s 1941 novel, Bodies Are Where You Find Them.
Watch On: Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Video
Four Christmases (2008)
Director: Seth Gordon
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Jon Favreau, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight Yoakam, Tim McGraw, Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Voight, Sissy Spacek
Storyline: Brad and Kate have made something of an art form out of avoiding their families during the holidays, but this year their foolproof plan is about go bust — big time. Stuck at the city airport after all departing flights are canceled, the couple is embarrassed to see their ruse exposed to the world by an overzealous television reporter. Now, Brad and Kate are left with precious little choice other than to swallow their pride and suffer the rounds.
Watch On: Hulu, Max, Max Amazon Channel
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Peter Boyle, Glynis Johns, Jack Warden
Storyline: A transit worker pulls commuter Peter off railway tracks after he’s mugged, but—while he’s in a coma—his family mistakenly thinks she’s Peter’s fiancée, and she doesn’t correct them. Things get more complicated when she falls for his brother, who’s not quite sure that she’s who she claims to be.
Watch On: Disney Plus, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel, The Roku Channel
Carol (2015)
Director: Todd Haynes
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson, Jake Lacy, Kyle Chandler
Storyline: Aspiring photographer Therese spots the beautiful, elegant Carol perusing the doll displays in a 1950s Manhattan department store. The two women develop a fast bond that becomes a love with complicated consequences.
Watch On: Netflix, fuboTV, Paramount+ with Showtime, Apple TV Channel , Amazon Channel, Roku Premium Channel
The Apartment (1960)
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Edie Adams
Storyline: The film follows an insurance clerk (Lemmon) who, in hopes of climbing the corporate ladder, allows his superiors to use his Upper West Side apartment to conduct their extramarital affairs. He becomes attracted to an elevator operator (MacLaine) in his office building, unaware that she is having an affair with the head of personnel (MacMurray).
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Freevee
Better Watch Out (2016)
Director: Chris Peckover
Starring: Olivia DeJonge, Levi Miller, Ed Oxenbould, Aleks Mikic, Dacre Montgomery, Patrick Warburton, Virginia Madsen
Storyline: Ashley travels to the suburban home of the Lerners to baby-sit their 12-year-old son Luke at Christmastime. She must soon defend herself and the young boy when unwelcome intruders announce their arrival.
Watch On: Peacock Premium, The Roku Channel, Tubi TV, Crackle, Pluto TV
Spirited (2022)
Director: Sean Anders
Starring: Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, Octavia Spencer, Sunita Mani, Patrick Page, Marlow Barkley, Tracy Morgan
Storyline: In the film, The Ghost of Christmas Present is nearing retirement, which would mean a return to Earth. He sets his sights on an “unredeemable” man named Clint Briggs, who ends up helping the Ghost come to terms with his own past.
Watch On: Apple TV Plus, Amazon
Falling for Christmas (2022)
Director: Janeen Damian
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Chord Overstreet, George Young, Jack Wagner, Olivia Perez
Storyline: A young, newly engaged heiress has a skiing accident in the days before Christmas. After she is diagnosed with amnesia, she finds herself in the care of the handsome cabin owner and his daughter.
Watch On: Netflix
[Also Read: 30 Best Holiday Movies of All Time]
In Bruges (2008)
Director: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clémence Poésy, Jérémie Renier
Storyline: London based hit men Ray and Ken are told by their boss Harry Waters to lie low in Bruges, Belgium for up to two weeks following their latest hit, which resulted in the death of an innocent bystander. Harry will be in touch with further instructions. While they wait for Harry’s call, Ken, following Harry’s advice, takes in the sights of the medieval city with great appreciation. But the charms of Bruges are lost on the simpler Ray, who is already despondent over the innocent death, especially as it was his first job. Things change for Ray when he meets Chloe, part of a film crew shooting a movie starring an American dwarf named Jimmy. When Harry’s instructions arrive, Ken, for whom the job is directed, isn’t sure if he can carry out the new job, especially as he has gained a new appreciation of life from his stay in the fairytale Bruges. While Ken waits for the inevitable arrival into Bruges of an angry Harry, who feels he must clean up matters on his own, Ray is dealing with his own problems, not only with Harry, but with a Canadian couple and a half-blind thief named Eirik. Ray hopes he can count on both Chloe and Ken to help him carve out a new life for himself. In the end, Harry, involved in an incident with Jimmy, may have to keep to his own principles.
Watch On: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video
Last Christmas (2019)
Director: Paul Feig
Starring: Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Emma Thompson
Storyline: Kate is a young woman who has a habit of making bad decisions, and her last date with disaster occurs after she accepts work as Santa’s elf for a department store. However, after she meets Tom there, her life takes a new turn.
Watch On: Max, Max Amazon Channel
Jingle All the Way (1996)
Director: Brian LevantStars
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman
Storyline: Howard Langston, a mattress salesman, is constantly busy at his job, and he also constantly disappoints his son, Jamie. After he misses Jamie’s karate exposition, he tries hard to come up with a way to make it up to him. He says that all he wants for Christmas is a Turbo Man action figure. Unfortunately for Howard, it is Christmas Eve, and every store is sold out. Now Howard must travel all over town and compete with everybody else including a mailman named Myron Larabee to find one, and to make it to the Holiday Wintertainment Parade, which will feature Turbo Man.
Watch On: Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu
Deck The Halls (2006)
Director: John Whitesell
Starring: Danny DeVito, Matthew Broderick, Kristin Davis, Kristin Chenoweth
Storyline: Determined to unseat Steve Finch’s reign as the town’s holiday season king, Buddy Hall plasters his house with so many decorative lights that it’ll be visible from space! When their wives bond, and their kids follow suit, the two men only escalate their rivalry – and their decorating.
Watch On: Hulu, Paramount+, Starz, Apple TV, Amazon Channel, Roku Premium Channel, Pluto TV
Hot Frosty (2024)
Director: Jerry Ciccoritti
Starring: Lacey Chabert, Dustin Milligan, Katy Mixon Greer, Lauren Holly, Chrishell Stause, Joe Lo Truglio, Craig Robinson
Storyline: When a young widow’s magic scarf brings a dashing snowman to life, can he help her rediscover romance, laughter and holiday cheer before he melts away?
Watch On: Netflix
Fred Claus (2007)
The Family Stone (2005)
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Starring: Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Jessica Parker, Claire Danes
Storyline: An uptight, liberal businesswoman accompanies her boyfriend to his eccentric and outgoing family’s annual Christmas celebration and finds that she’s a fish out of water in their free-spirited way of life.
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, fuboTV, Tubi TV
Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
Director: Joe Roth
Starring: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, Julie Gonzalo, René Lavan
Storyline: When their only daughter Blair leaves the family nest, Luther and Nora Krank decide to book an island cruise to beat the yuletide blues and just skip the holidays. But their decision to boycott tradition has the whole neighborhood in an uproar, and when Blair calls on Christmas Eve to announce a surprise visit with her new fiancée, the Kranks have just twelve hours to perform a miracle and pull themselves and their neighbors together to throw the best celebration ever!
Watch On: Hulu, fuboTV, AMC+, Freevee
The Lodge (2019)
Director: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Starring: Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, Alicia Silverstone, Richard Armitage
Storyline: A soon-to-be-stepmom is snowed in with her fiance’s two children at a remote holiday village. Just as relations finally begin to thaw between the trio, strange and frightening events threaten to summon psychological demons from her strict religious childhood.
Watch On: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, Marie Richardson
Storyline: The plot centers on a doctor (Tom Cruise) who is shocked when his wife (Nicole Kidman) reveals that she had contemplated having an affair 12 months earlier. He then embarks on a night-long adventure, during which he infiltrates a masked orgy of an unnamed secret society.
Watch On: fuboTV, Paramount+, Apple TV
Why Him? (2016)
Director: John Hamburg
Starring: James Franco, Bryan Cranston, Megan Mullally, Zoey Deutch, Cedric the Entertainer, Griffin Gluck, Keegan-Michael Key
Storyline: Over the holidays, Ned, an overprotective but loving dad and his family visit his daughter at Stanford, where he meets his biggest nightmare: her well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley millionaire boyfriend, Laird. The rivalry develops,and Ned’s panic level goes through the roof when he finds himself lost in this glamorous high-tech world and learns that Laird is about to pop the question.
Watch On: Hulu, fuboTV
Our Little Secret (2024)
Director: Stephen Herek
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Ian Harding, Tim Meadows, Jon Rudnitsky, Henry Czerny, Judy Reyes, Chris Parnell, Kristin Chenoweth
Storyline: After discovering their significant others are siblings, two resentful exes must spend Christmas under one roof while hiding their romantic history.
Watch On: Netflix
[Also Read: 39 Best Christmas Movies for Kids To Watch This Year]
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