Christmas! It’s the time of year when families reunite, true love wins and magic is real — at least in movies. Christmas movies are an entire genre at this point, ranging from the good to the bad and the truly bizarre. But even the ones that leave us squinting at the screen in disbelief are bearable when you watch them between December 1 and 25. Nay, not just bearable — good, even great!
To help spread Christmas cheer, here are the best Christmas movies that are streaming right now on Prime Video. Because any movie about a single parent who’s too busy for love and/or a reluctant bachelor who learns to embrace the joys of family; a reclusive hottie who slowly opens up to the perky main character; big city guys or girls retreating to the countryside to get away from the stress of it all; and miracles performed by men with a passing resemblance to Santa are just what the holiday season calls for.
The Holiday
Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz play two women who agree to swap houses for Christmas to spend the holidays on the other side of the world from their relationship problems — and, of course, unexpectedly fall in love with someone new. Iris (Winslet) visits LA where she meets the charming Myles (Jack Black) and strikes up a unique friendship with Arthur, a legendary screenwriter from the Golden Age of Cinema. Amanda (Diaz) understandably falls for Iris’ brother Graham (Jude Law). The Holiday is one of the comfiest and most heartwarming movies you’ll ever watch, Christmas or not.
It Takes a Christmas Village
When ongoing construction threatens to put the Hawkin’s Bay local stores out of business, the town’s plucky mayor decides to throw a Christmas market to boost sales. “If we can’t bring people to Main Street, then we’ll bring Main Street to the people,” she says triumphantly. But getting the reclusive Darcy Hawkins to agree to host the market at his family’s old mill is her biggest problem, reigniting family feuds and sparking new romances in the process in It Takes a Christmas Village.
The Grinch
Who else grew up believing the Grinch was a conniving and cold-hearted villain only to realise as an adult that he’s painfully relatable and kinda onto something? Let’s look at the facts: the Grinch was run out of town by bullies who see Christmas as an opportunity to buy each other expensive gifts that are quickly discarded. He thinks Christmas should be about spending time with friends and family, and rallies against materialistic values. Sure, he takes it too far and almost ruins Christmas for the entire town, but he was on the right track.
Christmas Next Door
In Christmas Next Door, Jessie Metcalfe plays Eric Randall, a lifelong bachelor who writes lifestyle books for single men and who’s unexpectedly left with his niece and nephew for the holidays. He turns to his neighbour April for help and, together with the two plucky pre-teens, she convinces Eric about the magic of Christmas and family.
Almost Christmas
A dysfunctional family comes together for Christmas for the first time after their mum died, and the only gift their dad asks for is for everyone to get along. Understandably, this doesn’t happen at first. Starring Danny Glover, Gabrielle Union and Jessie T. Usher, Almost Christmas is a fun and festive romp about a family who are all battling their own secrets and trying to make it through a five day holiday without screaming at their family. Relatable!
Snowmance
Respectfully, this movie is bonkers. As the name suggests, Snowmance is about a snowman who comes to life and starts a romance with the single, lovelorn lady who built him. What the snowman can’t account for, because he’s a snowman, is that his new girlfriend’s best friend has secretly been in love with her since they were children. At one point, the best friend and the snowman have a snowball fight that has horrifying implications for what the snowman is willing to do to his friends and family to win a girl’s affection. That’s all the spoilers you’ll get for this one! You’ll have to watch to find out how this love triangle ends.
See where Prime Video takes you. Start your 30-day free trial today.
