The 15 best Christmas films you’ve never seen before (and where to stream them)

Woman watching tv and eating popcorn on Christmas Eve

Credit: Getty

Under Her Eye


The 15 best Christmas films you’ve never seen before (and where to stream them)

By Kayleigh Dray

3 years ago

2 min read

Fancy watching something new and brilliant this festive season? Look this way… 

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, which usually means we settle down to watch something we’ve already seen before, maybe even a hundred times over. Something like, say, Love Actually, The Holiday or Home Alone. Elf often features highly on people’s lists of best ever Christmas movies, as does The Nightmare Before Christmas and How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

If people are really trying to be different, they might cite something like Gremlins, When Harry Met Sally or Die Hard as their favourite festive flick – and then there’s all the modern classics that pop up on Netflix each year, too (Falling For Christmas and The Princess Switch are the ones currently living rent-free in this writer’s head).

If you’re in the mood for something different this December, though, don’t worry. We’ve picked out the 15 best Christmas films you’ve likely never seen before – or, at the very least, may have seen once a million years ago or so.

Better still? They’re all available to stream now!

Happy (or perhaps we ought to say merry) viewing…

Moonstruck

Everything Cher touches turns to gold, and you better believe the same is true of Moonstruck – which, incidentally, features one of the greatest movie makeover scenes of all time.

In this underrated gem, Cher stars as the widowed Loretta, who decides she wants to remarry and settle down with Johnny, a nice, steady and overwhelmingly dull man. But when later she meets his passionate and moody brother, Ronny, she soon finds her heart being pulled in another direction…

You can stream Moonstruck on Prime Video.

Tangerine

In this critically acclaimed film, a sex worker joins forces with her best friend when she learns that her boyfriend/pimp cheated on her while she was in jail. Their mission: to find him and teach him and his new lover a lesson. And, sure, it doesn’t sound like traditional Christmas fare, but trust us on this one: it’s an old-fashioned festive comedy at heart.

You can stream Tangerine on Prime Video.

Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker

The very first collaboration between Shonda Rhimes-led production company Shondaland and Netflix, this documentary follows film and stage star Debbie Allen and her Los Angeles dance studio as they prepare for their annual holiday presentation, Hot Chocolate Nutcracker. And, yes, you better believe that it’s been branded an inspiring and heartfelt watch by all those who’ve seen it.

You can stream Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker on Netflix.

The Shop Around the Corner

If you love You’ve Got Mail, then you’re guaranteed to love The Shop Around The Corner. After all, it’s the very same critically acclaimed story that inspired the Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks favourite!

Set in snowy Budapest, the charming black-and-white film tells the tale of Klara and Alfred, two warring gift shop employees who absolutely hate one another. Surprise surprise, though, they soon find themselves unknowingly falling in love through the post as each other’s anonymous pen pal – but can their fledgling festive romance ever hope to survive the truth?

You can rent The Shop Around the Corner on Prime Video.

Klaus

Klaus on Netflix

Credit: Netflix

This award-winning animated film sees a selfish postman dispatched to a frozen town in the North Pole, where he joins forces with a reclusive toymaker and delivers joy to a cold, dark town that desperately needs it.

You can stream Klaus on Netflix.

Twas The Fight Before Christmas

Ever watched a film with a whopping 100% ‘fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes? Then you’ll know that this documentary film – which follows Jeremy Morris, aka the man who winds up in court over his extravagant Christmas decorations – will deliver nothing but sheer excellence from start to finish.

You can stream Twas The Fight Before Christmas on Apple TV+.

Carol

Based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Price of Salt, this deeply satisfying romance spins a story of forbidden love when Rooney Mara’s young photographer falls hard for Cate Blanchett’s eponymous beauty, who is struggling through a rough divorce.

You can stream Carol on Prime Video.

LA Confidential

There’s absolutely nothing festive about this Academy Award-winning tale of scandal, murder and conspiracy, but this noir – set at Christmastime, scored by Bing Crosby and featuring Kim Basinger in a white fur-trimmed cloak – ticks too many Christmassy boxes to be left off this list.

You can stream LA Confidential on Disney+.

Anna And The Apocalypse

Anna And The Apocalypse still

Credit: Blazing Griffin / Orion Pictures

Anna And The Apocalypse is a raucous Christmas musical about a gory zombie rampage in a small Scottish town and the motley crew of kids squaring off against this army of the undead. Which, on paper, doesn’t sound like the most festive film ever – but trust us when we say it’s a lot of fun!

You can stream Anna And The Apocalypse on Prime Video.

Tokyo Godfathers

Boasting a whopping 91% ‘fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this animated tragicomedy – set in modern-day Tokyo – sees three homeless people’s lives changed forever when they discover a baby girl at a garbage dump on Christmas Eve.

You can stream Tokyo Godfathers on Prime Video.

Krampus

If you grew up with Goosebumps and Point Horror books littering your room (as this writer did), then Krampus is the festive horror for you. Boasting an all-star cast, it sees a stressed-out family unwittingly unleash the wrath of Santa’s “shadow”, a demon who comes “to punish” them for their lack of holiday spirit. Will they ever escape his wrath?

You can stream Krampus on Netflix.

White Reindeer

When her husband is brutally murdered, Suzanne is forced to find a way to put her life back together again – which makes for a strange, sad Christmas season, true, but a courageous and radiant one, too.

You can rent White Reindeer on Apple TV+.

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Story

Jingle Jangle on Netflix

Credit: Netflix

Netflix is filled to the brim with modern Christmas classics, but Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Story is perhaps the most underrated – which is a shame, as it’s absolutely brilliant. A musical adventure, it tells the story of legendary toymaker Jeronicus Jangle, who teams up with his bright and inventive granddaughter, Journey, when an ex-apprentice steals his most prized creation of all.

You can stream Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Story on Netflix.

Last Holiday

Starring Queen Latifah, this feel-good Christmas movie sees our introverted heroine quit her job and fly to the swanky ski resort she’s always dreamed of visiting when she is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Cue plenty of heartwarming (and hilarious) hijinks.

You can stream Last Holiday on Prime Video.

Meet Me In St Louis

The very same film that Carrie Bradshaw settles down to watch one snowy NYE in the Sex And The City movie – and gives up on halfway through – this magical MGM musical relates the story of a year in the life of four sisters living in (you guessed it) St Louis. And, yes, you better believe that Judy Garland sings the iconic Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, which means it’s an instant festive classic. Albeit an instant festive classic that, y’know, very few millennials and Gen Z-ers have actually seen…

You can stream Meet Me In St Louis on Prime Video.

Images: Netflix; Getty; Orion Pictures

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