Netflix leads the charge each year, serving up everything from delightfully cheesy romcoms like The Holiday and Love Actually to modern classics such as Klaus.
Meanwhile, Prime Video mixes timeless classics like It’s a Wonderful Life with charming hidden gems such as Merry Little Batman.
So, whether you’re in the mood for cosy comforts or a new discovery, RadioTimes.com has pulled together the very best Christmas films across Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video to keep you thoroughly entertained this festive season.
1) The Holdovers
The film is both hilarious and extremely touching, offering a bit more of a melancholic Christmas film experience than some other festive films but is nonetheless, an excellent pick.
Watch The Holdovers now on Netflix
2) That Christmas
Similarly to Love Actually, it tells the interlocking stories of various families and friends in the run-up to Christmas Day, with an A-list cast of British actors providing the voices. It's also a lot more suitable for children than his earlier film – a sweet and charming tale suitable for the whole family.
Watch That Christmas now on Netflix
3) Nativity!
A spirited film perfect for younger audiences, the cast of children more than match the big names in the cast.
Watch Nativity! now on Netflix
4) Jingle Bell Heist
Watch Jingle Bell Heist now on Netflix
5) Hot Frosty
Unabashedly silly but also rather sweet, it taps into many of the tropes of the cheesy Christmas movie – but with a game cast and some great jokes it manages to stand out from the crowd.
Watch Hot Frosty now on Netflix
6) Last Christmas
Focusing on the romance between an employee at a Christmas-themed shop (Emilia Clarke) and a man who seems too good to be true (Henry Golding), it's certainly an imperfect film. It's a little twee, rife with clichés. and a late twist received a certain amount of ridicule at the time of the film's release in 2019. But if you're looking for a slice of festive cheese, it will go down well with a glass of mulled wine.
Watch Last Christmas now on Netflix
7) Violent Night
What follows is an entertaining bloodbath that might not necessarily bring festive cheer for all audiences, but Harbour’s big, bold and ultimately heartwarming performance anchors the film and provides plenty of laughs along the way.
Watch Violent Night now on Netflix
8) Our Little Secret
They’ve each found new partners, but it turns out those partners are siblings — which leads to an awkward festive holiday that sees Avery and Logan desperately trying to keep their history a secret from the new family. The contrived set-up is mined for some amusing gags, ensuring this is a cut above most made-for-streaming seasonal fare.
Watch Our Little Secret now on Netflix
9) Klaus
Schwartzman plays Jesper, a hapless student postman who is stationed in the miserable, selfish Arctic town of Smeerensburg as a punishment for being the worst person at his Academy, with his life changing when he comes across a brilliant but reclusive toymaker known as Klaus.
Watch Klaus now on Netflix
10) The Christmas Chronicles
It follows a pair of siblings whose plan to capture Santa Claus on camera one Christmas Eve goes horribly awry – leading them to form an alliance with the big man and his elves in order to save Christmas. It was followed by a sequel on 2020, which is also worth a watch.
Watch The Christmas Chronicles now on Netflix
11) Robin Robin
The robin in question has been raised by a family of mice, and has only recently become aware that she is rather different from her relatives, so she sets out on a daring adventure to steal a star and prove that she, too, can be a good mouse. The impressive voice cast includes Richard E Grant, Gillian Anderson and Adeel Akhtar.
Watch Robin Robin now on Netflix
12) Single All the Way
Single All the Way follows bachelor Peter (Michael Urie), whose plans to bring his boyfriend home for Christmas are derailed when he discovers that his new man is actually someone else’s husband.
Watch Single All the Way now on Netflix
13) Falling for Christmas
After she is diagnosed with amnesia, she finds herself in the care of handsome cabin owner Jake (Chord Overstreet) and his daughter. Queue a will-they-won't-they storyline to keep you guessing and a fair share of heartwarming romance.
Watch Falling for Christmas now on Netflix
14) Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
In Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, we follow the story of Jeronicus Jangle, an eccentric inventor who loses his passion for life after a personal tragedy. It takes a visit from his granddaughter, a creative young girl called Journey, to once again spark his enthusiasm – but it might be too late to thwart a dastardly scheme by his former apprentice-turned-rival.
Watch Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey now on Netflix
15) Love Hard
Dating apps and catfishing plague this LA writer's fledging romance and when Natalie (Dobrev) finds out that she's been speaking to an entirely different person than she thought – after having travelled 3,000 miles to surprise him for the holidays – hope is almost lost.
Watch Love Hard now on Netflix
16) The Noel Diary
Instead, he discovers a diary that holds secrets to the past and also to Rachel (Barrett Doss) – an intriguing young woman on a mission of her own. Together, they embark on a journey to confront their pasts and discover a future that's totally unexpected.
Watch The Noel Diary now on Netflix
17) The Princess Switch
The identity-swapping premise is rather simple but it doesn't mean it gets any less interesting to watch. In the first film, we follow Margaret, Duchess of Montenaro, who, one week prior to Christmas, switches places with Stacy, a Chicago 'commoner' who looks exactly like her.
As for the other two movies, there's ascensions to the throne, romance and fun in store, which is the perfect kind of film trilogy to get stuck into at Christmas time.
Watch The Princess Switch now on Netflix
18) Christmas with You
In this Christmas movie, pop star Angelina (Aimee Garcia) escapes to grant a young fan's wish in small town New York even though she's suffering with career burnout. She not only finds the inspiration to revitalise her career, but also a shot at true love.
Watch Christmas with You now on Netflix
19) I Believe in Santa
The film follows Lisa (Christina Moore) and her new romantic flame Tom (John Ducey). All is going well in their blissful five months of dating until Lisa learns that Tom is actually obsessed with her least favourite holiday of the year.
Watch I Believe in Santa now on Netflix
20) Scrooge: A Christmas Carol
This time round, though, this newly released Netflix film updates the famous 1970 Leslie Bricusse-composed musical with reimagined songs.
Rounding out the cast is Fra Fee as Harry Huffam, Giles Terera as Tom Jenkins, Trevor Dion Nicholas as 'Present', James Cosmo as Mr Fezziwig and Jonathan Pryce as Jacob Marley.
Watch Scrooge: A Christmas Carol now on Netflix
21) Holidate
We follow them as they go from being platonic plus-ones to fighting their very real (and growing) feelings towards each other. Not only does it have a touch of raunch to it, the film also includes a good slate of festive songs that will leave you humming along long after watching.
Watch Holidate now on Netflix
22) A Castle for Christmas
To escape a scandal, a best-selling author journeys to Scotland where she falls in love with a castle – and faces off with the grumpy duke who owns it.
Watch A Castle for Christmas now on Netflix
23) Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker
In this Shonda Rhimes docufilm, we learn more about Debbie Allen's (Grey's Anatomy) career and follow her group of dance students as they prepare for Allen's annual Hot Chocolate Nutcracker.
It's a behind-the-scenes look at Allen's own dancing school, but also provides crucial insight into a career and dance style that is usually vastly underrepresented.
1) Home Alone
The film has spawned a number of sequels over the years, which are also all available to view on Disney Plus, although in our opinion only the most immediate of those follow-ups, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, is especially worth your time.
Watch Home Alone now on Disney+
2) Die Hard
Of course, the film stars Bruce Willis as John McClane, a New York detective who unexpectedly finds himself up against an army of terrorists while visiting his wife's Christmas Eve party in an LA skyscraper. Willis's central performance – which includes a string of memorable lines – has gone down in action movie history, while few villains are more iconic than Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber.
Watch Die Hard now on Disney+
3) The Muppet Christmas Carol
This fresh, brilliantly chaotic take on the iconic tale coupled with an assortment of terrific original songs – including Thankful Heart and It Feels Like Christmas – make this perhaps the definitive film version of the novella, a movie that can't fail to put you in a great festive mood.
Watch The Muppet Christmas Carol now on Disney+
4) A Christmas Carol
Jim Carrey stars in multiple roles as Ebenezer Scrooge and all three of the visiting spirits, while there are also key roles for Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins and Robin Wright, among others. How much it works for you will largely depend on how keen you are on the technology used, but the story itself is performed well and told faithfully.
Watch A Christmas Carol now on Disney+
5) The Nightmare Before Christmas
The stop-motion musical fantasy tells of Jack Skellington, the disillusioned Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, who one day stumbles upon a portal to Christmas Town and becomes devoted to bringing Yuletide to his own home, even kidnapping Santa Claus (or Sandy Claws). Although it leans into its Halloweeny themes, there are more than enough Christmassy images and ideas to qualify it for a festive watch.
Watch The Nightmare Before Christmas now on Disney+
6) Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas
It consists of three short films – Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas, A Very Goofy Christmas and Mickey and Minnie's Gift of the Magi – and if that's not enough for you, you can find a further five stories in the 2004 follow-up Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas.
Watch Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas now on Disney+
7) The Santa Clause
Although initially startled at the prospect, he slowly grows into his new role and rediscovers a Christmas spirt that he'd long been missing. It was followed by two sequels – The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause – in 2002 and 2006, which are also both streaming on Disney+.
Watch The Santa Clause now on Disney+
8) How the Grinch Stole Christmas
It follows the infamous grouch as he does his worst to ruin the festive period for the Christmas-loving residents of Whoville, who he despises. However he is soon befriended by a 6-year-old local girl named Cindy Lou (Taylor Momsen ) who tries to get him to change course.
Watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas now on Disney+
9) Miracle on 34th Street
Both films are set in New York City and see Kris Kringle – who had been working as a department store Santa – put on trial due after doubts are raised as to whether he could possibly be the real Santa Claus, much to the distress of the young girl he has befriended.
Watch Miracle on 34th Street now on Disney+
10) Noelle
The starry supporting cast also includes Bill Hader, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Billy Eichner, Julie Hagerty and Shirley MacLaine.
Watch Noelle now on Disney+
11) The Family Stone
While their relationship seems to be going swimmingly when in the city, when they visit family in a small New England town, that's when things start to go awry.
Watch The Family Stone now on Disney+
12) Le Pupille
Set at Christmastime during the Second World War, it follows Serafina, a young outcast at a strict Catholic orphanage who is always getting in trouble, and is soon excited by the delivery of a large cake.
Watch Le Pupille now on Disney+
1) It's a Wonderful Life
The film stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, a frustrated businessman who is rescued from his suicidal state by a guardian angel, who shows him just how many people his life has touched and just how valued he is, despite his own thwarted ambitions for his life and career.
Watch It's a Wonderful Life now on Prime Video
A musical version starring Albert Finney in the lead role of Ebenezer Scrooge – with Alec Guinness and Roy Kinnear among the other big names in the cast – its reviews are perhaps fairly middling compared to some of the very best adaptations of this story, but it's still well worth watching if you're looking for another take on the source material.
Watch Scrooge now on Prime Video
3) Love Actually
There's heartbreak, blossoming romance and plenty of festive feels – but we'd expect no less from the mind of Richard Curtis, who is otherwise known for Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and the more recent That Christmas.
Watch Love Actually now on Prime Video
Interestingly, there was a remake of the film in 1996 titled The Preacher's Wife, with Denzel Washington in the role of Dudley and parts for Courtney B Vance and Whitney Houston as the preacher and his wife.
Watch The Bishop's Wife now on Prime Video
5) The Holiday
The film sees Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz star as two women living in England and the US respectively who swap homes for the festive period in a bid to cast aside their relationship woes – only to each find themselves falling for local guys played by Jack Black and Jude Law.
Watch The Holiday now on Prime Video
They soon realise that the wealthy benefactor who had allowed them to move to this property – the titular Mr Blunden (Laurence Naismith) – has actually been dead for decades, and afterwards find themselves introduced to two friendly ghost children who enlist them on a mission that requires them to travel back in time. It's a classic Christmas ghost story that's suitable for the whole family.
Watch The Amazing Mr Blunden now on Prime Video
7) The Man Who Invented Christmas
Rather than serving as a no-nonsense biopic, the film also has an element of fantasy to it as Dickens interacts with imagined versions of his new creations, with Christopher Plummer starring as Scrooge and even some appearances from the various ghosts.
This 1980s slasher got a brand new remake this year – so it's a good time to check out the original. Highly controversial upon its release, the film follows a young boy who is scarred by a traumatic encounter that involves a man wearing a Santa costume brutally murdering his parents.
Watch Silent Night, Deadly Night now on Prime Video
9) Small Things Like These
Based on Claire Keegan's novella of the same name, it's built around a superb performance from Cillian Murphy as Bill Furlong, a kind but taciturn coal merchant in County Wexford who is faced with a tough choice in the run up to Christmas after he encounters a traumatised young girl locked in the coal shed at a local convent.
Watch Small Things Like These now on Prime Video
Very different in tone from director Bob Clark's other Christmas movie – the festive slasher Black Christmas – the somewhat episodic narrative includes many images that have become iconic for American viewers, including Ralphie's tongue getting stuck to a frozen flagpole.
Watch A Christmas Story now on Prime Video
11) Merry Little Batman
It follows Bruce Wayne's son Damian (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) when he's left home alone on Christmas Eve and takes it upon himself to become 'Little Batman'' in order to protect Gotham City from a bunch of supervillains – including the Joker – who are intent on ruining the Christmas spirit.
Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
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