29 Best Christmas Movies to Watch in 2024

As the holiday season sparkles to life, the joy of discovering fresh Christmas movies becomes one of the season’s greatest pleasures. In 2024, filmmakers have delivered a gift box of festive films, offering everything from magical animations to feel-good comedies and swoon-worthy romances. These new releases are designed to bring families together, fill hearts with holiday cheer, and perhaps even create the next wave of beloved seasonal classics.

This year, streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime are making it easier than ever to enjoy the season with a dazzling lineup of Christmas movies. Whether you’re looking for a whimsical escape, a heartwarming family story, or a romantic snowfall-filled getaway, there’s no shortage of options to light up your watchlist.

Dive into the best Christmas movies to watch in 2024, and let the holiday magic take center stage in your living room.

A Christmas Story (1983)

Director: Bob Clark
Starring: Peter Billingsley, W. Lyle Richardson, Melinda Dillon, Ian Petrella
Storyline: Holiday favorite set in 1940s Indiana about Ralphie, a 9-year-old boy who desperately yearns for a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas. Despite protests from his mother that he’ll shoot his eye out, Ralphie persists, unsuccessfully trying to enlist the assistance of both his teacher and Santa Claus. All the while, Ralphie finds himself dealing with the constant taunts of a pair of bullies and trying to not get in the middle of a feud between his mother and father regarding a certain lamp.
Watch On: Max, fuboTV

Home Alone (1990)

Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Catherine O’Hara
Storyline: A mischievous 8-year-old is accidentally left behind in a frenzied rush to the airport for a family holiday in Paris. After learning to fend for himself, the boy has to protect his house against two bumbling burglars who are planning to rob it. And you can enjoy its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Watch On: Disney Plus

Elf (2003)

Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Ed Asner, Bob Newhart
Storyline: Raised as an oversized elf, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter Hobbs, who doesn’t know he exists and is in desperate need of some Christmas spirit.
Watch On: Hulu, Max, Max Amazon Channel

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

Director: Bill Melendez, Phil Roman
Starring: Peter Robbins, Christopher Shea, Tracy Stratford, Sally Dryer
Storyline: Christmastime is here. Happiness and cheer. And for Peanuts fans everywhere, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without this classic holiday delight. Christmas lights may be twinkling red and green, but Charlie Brown has the Yuletide blues. To get in the holiday spirit, he takes Lucy’s advice and directs the Christmas play. And what’s a Christmas play without a Christmas tree? But everyone makes fun of the short, spindly nevergreen Charlie Brown brings back – until the real meaning of Christmas works its magic once again
Watch On: Apple TV Plus, fuboTV, Amazon

[Also Read: 39 Best Christmas Movies for Kids To Watch This Year]

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

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

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 Polar Express (2004)

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Tom Hanks, Michael Jeter, Nona Gaye, Peter Scolari
Storyline: Set on Christmas Eve, it tells the story of a young boy who sees a mysterious train bound for the North Pole stop outside his window and is invited aboard by its conductor. He joins other children as they embark on a journey to visit Santa Claus, who is preparing for Christmas.
Watch On: Hulu, Max, Max Amazon Channel

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

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, Apple TV, Amazon, AMC+, TNT, TBS, tru TV, Tubi TV

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)

Director: Chuck Jones, Ben Washam
Starring: Boris Karloff, June Foray, Thurl Ravenscroft, Dallas McKennon
Storyline: A grumpy hermit hatches a plan to steal Christmas from the Whos of Whoville.
Watch On: Peacock Premium, NBC, USA Network

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 Nativity (2013)

Director: Kasi Lemmons
Starring: Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Tyrese Gibson, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Jacob Latimore, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Nas.
Storyline: In a contemporary adaptation of Langston Hughes’ celebrated play, the holiday musical drama BLACK NATIVITY follows Langston (Jacob Latimore), a street-wise teen from Baltimore raised by a single mother, as he journeys to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives Reverend Cornell and Aretha Cobbs (Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett). Unwilling to live by the imposing Reverend Cobbs’ rules, a frustrated Langston is determined to return home to his mother, Naima (Jennifer Hudson). Langston embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey and along with his new friends, and a little divine intervention, he discovers the true meaning of faith, healing, and family.
Watch On: fuboTV, Freeform, Amazon

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

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

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

[Also Read: 39 Best Christmas Movies for Adults (Where to Stream)]

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Starring: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut
Storyline: Eschewing regional politics in the years leading up to World War II, the film is about two employees at a leathergoods shop in Budapest who can barely stand each other, not realizing they are falling in love as anonymous correspondents through their letters.
Watch On: fuboTV, Max, Max Amazon Channel, Epix Amazon Channel, MGM Plus

Noelle (2019)

Director: Marc Lawrence
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Billy Eichner, Julie Hagerty, Shirley MacLaine
Storyline: Kris Kringle’s daughter, Noelle, sets off on a mission to find and bring back her brother, after he gets cold feet when it’s his turn to take over as Santa.
Watch On: Disney Plus, fuboTV

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

White Christmas (1954)

Director: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger
Storyline: Two talented song-and-dance men team up after the war to become one of the hottest acts in show business. In time they befriend and become romantically involved with the beautiful Haynes sisters who comprise a sister act.
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Director: Brian Henson
Starring: Michael Caine, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson
Storyline: A retelling of the classic Dickens tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, miser extraordinaire. He is held accountable for his dastardly ways during night-time visitations by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
Watch On: Disney Plus

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

The Santa Clause (1994)

Director: John Pasquin
Starring: Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, David Krumholtz, Peter Boyle
Storyline: The first installment in The Santa Clause franchise, it stars Tim Allen as Scott Calvin, an ordinary man who accidentally causes Santa Claus to fall from his roof to his supposed death on Christmas Eve. When he and his young son, Charlie, finish the late St. Nick’s trip and deliveries, they go to the North Pole where Scott learns that he must become the new Santa and convince those he loves that he is indeed Santa Claus.
Watch On: Disney Plus

The Holdovers (2023)

Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston
Storyline: Nobody at Barton Academy likes Paul Hunham – a history teacher who is tired of the world and everyone in it. But when he’s put in charge of students who have nowhere to go over Christmas, Paul faces a new and unprecedented challenge – how to care for students who are living without a happy home to return to. Angus is one of those. Grieving the loss of his father, Angus is a holdover at Barton Academy and is being taken care of by Paul. The pair must learn how to understand each other if they are to survive the Holiday period.
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video

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, Apple TV Channel, Amazon Channel, Roku Premium Channel, Pluto 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

The Family Man (2000)

Director: Brett Ratner
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Téa Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven
Storyline: A fast-lane investment broker, offered the opportunity to see how the other half lives, wakes up to find that his sports car and girlfriend have become a mini-van and wife.
Watch On: Netflix, Peacock Premium, Starz Apple TV Channel

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

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

Fatman (2020)

Director: Eshom NelmsIan Nelms
Starring: Mel Gibson, Walton Goggins, Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Storyline: A rowdy, unorthodox Santa Claus is fighting to save his declining business. Meanwhile, Billy, a neglected and precocious 12 year old, hires a hit man to kill Santa after receiving a lump of coal in his stocking.
Watch On: Peacock

[Also Read: 30 Best Holiday Movies of All Time]