With Thanksgiving over, Christmas is just around the corner and it’s the perfect time to find the best holiday movie for you!
November coming to a close and Mariah Carey is defrosted from her Christmas cryostasis, which means it’s finally the perfect time to start searching for new Christmas movies to enjoy! However, not everyone is interested in just a shot of Christmas straight to the chest. Sometimes you need your Christmas in a different form, like action or comedy. Which is why we’ve collected some of the best Christmas films of a few different genres to try out instead!
Action: Violent Night
This Christmas action film starring David Harbour is one I saw in theaters and I cannot endorse it enough. Everyone who has ever tried to argue that Die Hard is a Christmas movie (it’s not, I’m sorry) absolutely needs to go find this movie immediately and watch it with a group. This movie, following a disillusioned Santa squaring off with kidnappers, was a complete surprise. With great action and funny dialogue, this movie really attempts to make Christmas kickass and they honestly kind of convinced me.
You can watch it now on Amazon Prime Video.
Horror: Await Further Instructions
If there’s one movie that can help convince you it’s safer to spend Christmas alone than it is to risk spending it with family, it’s @AwaitFI. 🎄
Watch it now on @netflix! pic.twitter.com/QApoJN5FCo
— Dark Sky Films (@darkskyfilms) December 15, 2020
On Christmas Day, a family finds themselves trapped inside their house with only a strange message on their TV: Stay Indoors and Await Further Instructions. Await Further Instructions is a psychologically intense and gripping horror film that’s guaranteed to mix it up this holiday if you’re looking for something new. I won’t go into any further details, as this story deserves to be watched with minimal knowledge going in, but buyer beware: it does have gore.
You can watch it for free now on Tubi or with an Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Comedy: Home Alone
Listen, I understand that everyone knows Home Alone, so I do not need to further sell you on Home Alone. That being said, I would still like to reaffirm that it is, in my opinion, the best Christmas comedy. Kevin McCallister is an absolutely killer protagonist because, unlike most Christmas movies, he is not in this game for the spirit of love and joy; he is in it for violence and revenge. From the jump, Kevin McCallister is too smart for his own good, and the universe, nevertheless, attempts to kick him while he’s down. However, that is assuming the universe is more powerful than Kevin McCallister (it isn’t).
Home Alone is a movie that dares to ask the question, What if we just let a child do cartoon violence to two adult men and it somehow didn’t kill them?, for that reason, I think it deserves its flowers.
You can watch Home Alone now on Disney+ and Hulu.
Rom-Com: About A Boy
This is a movie near and dear to my heart, as I grew up watching it with my own family. 2002’s About A Boy follows a guy named Will (Hugh Grant), who got rich off of writing a famous Christmas song and decides to start attending single-parent meetings while pretending to be a dad to hook up with women. However, he soon finds himself entangled with the life of a 12-year-old boy named Marcus (Nicholas Hoult). The two quickly find themselves bonding and Will decides to teach Marcus how to be a cool kid.
This movie is incredibly charming and will get you right in the gut. More than a rom-com, this is also a touching coming-of-age story for both Will and Marcus, who realize they need not be so alone. Basically? It’s a Christmas balm to the soul.
You can watch it now on Starz, as well as Amazon Prime and Hulu.
Musical: The Muppet Christmas Carol
I understand that this could be potentially controversial. However, do you wanna argue with the Muppets? National Treasures, The Muppets? I thought not. In all seriousness though, The Muppet Christmas Carol is not only the best adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, but it is just a good musical. The music fits the setting, the actors kill it (how can you be upset about Michael Caine?), and it truly captures the spirit of the story in a way that most non-musical adaptations have failed. Also, not to beat a dead horse, but do other Christmas musicals have Kermit the Frog in a little hat? I thought not.
You can watch it now on Disney+ or Hulu.
Bonus Round!
Weird!: Holiday in Handcuffs
#TBT ‘Holiday In Handcuffs’ pic. Can’t believe it’s on every year.. This Sunday on ABCFamily..#XmasTime pic.twitter.com/GZhE58gYB1
— Mario Lopez (@mariolopezviva) December 5, 2013
Off the bat, it must be understood, that this movie isn’t necessarily quality. Released in 2007, Holiday in Handcuffs was marketed as a TV movie from then ABC Family (now Freeform), about a woman played by Melissa Joan Hart, who is determined to not look like a failure to her family. Thus, she decides the way to resolve this is by coming home with a boyfriend by any means necessary, including kidnapping.
In any other universe, this movie would be a psychological thriller—in a similar vein to The Santa Clause or, frankly, Fatal Attraction—about a man who is being held against his will with no hope except allowing himself to love this woman; the kind of dark stuff you’d watch and then need a long shower about it. However, this is ABC Family, and so, it is instead a rom-com that gives you nauseating anxiety. This is not a movie meant to be watched seriously or alone, otherwise, you will give yourself a hernia. So, if you’re ever in the mood for a strange TV movie to watch with your friends, might I recommend Holiday in Handcuffs?
You can watch it now on Hulu or Amazon Prime Video. However, you can also wait until it appears on TV because Freeform will not let us forget it so easily.
