5 Perfect films for Christmas
Last updated: November 10, 2025
Christmas television is a wonderful time. But finding something worth watching isn't always easy. But some films work year after year. These five have earned their place as proper Christmas classics, and they'll save your evening when you need them to.
Love Actually
Hugh Grant's memorable dance through Downing Street has become a defining image of this film, which continues to draw audiences every December. The narrative interweaves roughly fifteen storylines – a widower bonding with his stepson, a writer seeking solace in France, a woman discovering her husband's infidelity through a misplaced gift. Is it sentimental? Undoubtedly. Does it stretch believability that a bride wouldn't notice being extensively filmed throughout her wedding?
Gremlins
This movie is such a fun mix of cute and chaotic. It starts off with this adorable little creature called Gizmo and just three easy rules to follow – and of course, they all get broken. Then all hell breaks loose. Suddenly these crazy little monsters are running around trashing everything. One even blows up in a microwave. And it’s all happening at Christmas. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but somehow it totally does.
Home Alone
A kid gets left behind and lives out every child's fantasy of having the house to yourself, then has to fight off two burglars with paint cans and blowtorches. The traps are ridiculous—those guys would be dead, not just hurt—but watching Joe Pesci step on baubles and get smacked with an iron never gets old. It's actually quite sweet when Kevin misses his family.
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
It's a lot off people who haven't seen this film. Dustin Hoffman's running a toy shop that's alive or magic or something, and he's ancient. When he tries to hand it over to Natalie Portman, everything goes wrong. It's bright, odd and got that whole "believe in yourself" thing going on. Not groundbreaking, but if you've watched everything else a million times and fancy something different, it'll do the job.
The Polar Express
Tom Hanks is basically everyone in this film and the animation freaked people out because the eyes looked dead. But when you get past that, it's actually good. Some kid who's stopped believing in Santa gets dragged onto this mysterious train heading north. There's hot chocolate, singing, and a bell that only rings if you believe. Sounds soppy written down, but when you're full of Christmas dinner and half asleep on the sofa, it hits differently.
