From family favourites to strictly-for-grown-ups, here are 20 great Christmas movies and where to find them from the comfort of your couch.
We all love Christmas movies, and we all have our favourite Christmas movies, but maybe you didn’t know a lot of them are available to stream right now from your couch, and you don’t want to leave it up to chance that they MIGHT be shown on TV, or that the next recommended watch MIGHT point one of them out to you.
So we’ve put together this list of the 20 best Christmas movies, ranging from ones that are more for the adults, and others that are suitable for all audiences, and which platform you can find them on. Enjoy!
Bad Santa
Billy Bob Thornton is the career criminal who uses his day job as a Mall Santa to disguise the fact that he’s robbing every mall he’s working for, until he crosses paths with an innocent young boy who slowly starts to melt his heart and turn him into a good guy. Available to watch on NOW TV.
Batman Returns
Yes, it is a Christmas movie! The Penguin attacks during the lighting of Gotham’s giant Christmas tree, and the rest of the action takes place with Batman and Catwoman kissing under mistletoe, when they’re not kicking each other in the face. Available to watch on NOW TV.
Carol
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star in this lush romantic-drama about two women who slowly fall in love with each other after they meet while Christmas shopping. Available to watch on Prime Video.
Die Hard
Of course we had to include Die Hard! Bruce Willis helped to reinvent the action movie as John McClane, out to save his wife on Christmas Eve from a skyscraper full of hi-tech robbers fronted by the impeccable Alan Rickman. Available to watch on NOW TV.
Elf
Will Ferrell plays Buddy the Elf, who discovers that he isn’t an actual Elf like he had been led to believe all of his life, so he leaves the North Pole and heads to New York in search of his real father. Available to watch on Rakuten for €3.99.
The Holiday
Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslett have both suffered some bad break-ups, so they agree to a house swap, with one going to LA, and one to England, and each find new love interests (Jude Law and Jack Black) just in time for the holidays! Available to watch on Netflix, Prime Video, and NOW TV.
Home Alone
Die Hard, but for kids! Macauley Culkin is left home alone by the world’s most forgetful parents, just as a pair of robbers set their sights on his house. Available to watch on Disney+.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas
The good Jim Carrey version (not to be confused with the less-good Benedict Cumberbatch version), he plays the world’s greenest, grumpiest mountain-dwelling neighbour, fighting against an entire town of Christmas-lovers. Available to watch on NOW TV.
Jingle All The Way
Arnie promised to get his son a particular toy for Christmas, but it turns out that the toy is so in-demand that it is turning all parents into raving maniacs just to get their hands on one. Available to watch on NOW TV.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan find themselves in the middle of a murder-mystery, in the middle of Christmas, in the middle of Hollywood. A very funny, very clever whodunnit. Available to watch on Rakuten for €3.99.
Krampus
What happens when your Christmas wish is for bad things to happen to your family? That is when Santa doesn’t come, but Krampus does. Toni Collette and Adam Scott star in this festive horror-comedy with some truly creepy Christmas creatures. Available to watch on Netflix.
Last Christmas
Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke stars as a wannabe actress who works at a year-round Christmas store in London, but when she crosses paths with a handsome stranger, her life slowly begins to take a turn for the better. Available to watch on NOW TV.
Love, Actually
You know this one. An all-star cast, Hugh Grant is the Prime Minister, Emma Thompson makes us all cry when she opens her CD, you know this one! Available to watch on NOW TV.
Miracle on 34th Street
The late, great Richard Attenborough stars as a man who truly he believes he is the actual Santa Claus, in a world that has become too cynical to believe in him anymore. Available to watch on NOW TV.
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Michael Caine stars as Ebenezer Scrooge in this hilarious retelling of the Christmas story, with The Muppets all joining in to help him see the error of his ways. Available to watch on Disney+.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Chevy Chase and the rest of the Griswald family decide to reunite under one roof to celebrate Christmas, and as is often the case when an entire family decides to hang out for days on end, things quickly go wrong. Very, very wrong. Available to watch on Prime Video.
The Night Before
Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie star as three best friends who are trying to get into the most exclusive Christmas party in the city, to celebrate their friendship with one big hurrah before being grown-ups forces them to go their separate ways. Available to watch on Prime Video.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Tim Burton’s animation classic tells the story of Jack Skellington, who leaves Halloween Town and enters Christmas Town, and becomes so enchanted with the place that he tries to abduct Santa. Available to watch on Disney+.
The Santa Clause
Having accidentally scared the previous Santa Claus off his roof, Tim Allen finds that the Santa Clause (with an E!) dictates that he become the next Father Christmas, whether he wants to be or not. Available to watch on Disney+.
Scrooged
Bill Murray stars in this modern(ish) retelling of A Christmas Carol, playing a cold-hearted TV executive who is visited by three ghosts, and as we all know from Ghostbusters, Bill Murray and ghosts don’t mix too well. Available to watch on Prime Video and NOW TV.
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