Whether it be spending time with the family, feasting on delectable treats or attending a yuletide church service, there’s really no shortage of activities this Christmas season. Cosying up on the sofa and watching your favourite Christmas movies with your loved ones is another must
From classic dramas such as It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) to action flicks like Die Hard (1988), the Christmas genre is jam packed with every type of movie imaginable, catering to audiences of all age groups.
[See more: Top 6 unconventional Christmas movies]
With Christmas just around the corner, now is the perfect time to start thinking about which Christmas movies to catch in the cinema and on Netflix, Amazon Prime and other streaming services.
Below, you’ll find an eclectic mix of Christmas and non-Christmas films that’s sure to make your holiday season all the more enjoyable.
Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025)
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang
Runtime: 197 minutes
Release: 18 December 2026 (Macao and Hong Kong)
As the third movie in the long-running science fiction franchise, Avatar: Fire and Ash continues the story of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his family of blue-skinned humanoid aliens known as the Na’vi.
Whereas the last film was centered around the Sully clan’s conflict with the humans and interactions with the amiable water tribe, Fire and Ash explores the darker side of the Na’vis. This time around, the Sully family find themselves pitted against the fire-worshipping Na’vi tribe known as the Ash People who are in collaboration with the humans.
[See more: Here are five of the world’s weirdest Christmas traditions]
Expectations for the third Avatar movie are naturally sky high, especially since the first two films are among the highest-grossing films of all time. Early reactions from preview screenings suggest that director James Cameron has captured lightning in a bottle for a third time.
“[Ash and Fire] proves once again that James Cameron can and will always deliver the ultimate cinematic, pushing visuals and emotion to new heights and redefining what a true blockbuster feels like,” wrote film critic Sean Taijpour. “It’s bold, immersive, and driven by sheer ambition.”
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
Director: Charles Edward Sellier Jr.
Starring: Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero
Runtime: 82 minutes
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) is the perfect example of an unconventional Christmas film that’s best kept as far away from children as possible. Instead of the typical old and jolly Santa depicted in more family-friendly offerings, viewers are treated to a younger Santa who wields an axe and goes on a killing spree.
The disturbed Santa in question is 18-year old Billy Chapman (Robert Brian Wilson) who was left traumatised as a child after his parents were murdered by a criminal dressed up as Father Christmas. Although Chapman attempts to live a normal life, a series of events ends up triggering his mental breakdown that turns him into a deranged killer Santa.
[See more: Mark your calendar: sports to watch over the Christmas break 2025]
Given the incongruity between the slasher genre and Christmas, Silent Night, Deadly Night understandably attracted strong criticism, with film reviewer Gene Siskel, calling it a “contemptible” film whose profit was “blood money.”
Despite the negative publicity, this Christmas film gained a strong cult following, spawning five sequels and remakes. A second remake is scheduled for release on 12 December, introducing a new generation of audiences to this twisted Christmas tale.
Last Christmas (2019)
Director: Paul Feig
Starring: Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh
Runtime: 103 minutes
Loosely inspired by the George Michael song of the same name, Last Christmas is a romcom that follows Kate (Emilia Clarke), a young London native who is trying to establish herself as a singer, all the while struggling with work and personal issues.
Kate’s life begins to take a turn for the better after a chance encounter with a charismatic, but mysterious man named Tom (Henry Golding), whom she gradually develops feelings for.
[See more: The Tap Seac Christmas Market opens on 16 December]
On paper, Last Christmas sounds like a hackneyed, feel-good Christmas movie where the mismatched, but picture perfect couple ultimately end up together, living a life of blissful matrimony. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Without entering into spoiler territory, the film has a twist that will make unsuspecting audiences reevaluate everything that came before.
Fans of George Michael’s music are also advised to check out the film, as it pays tribute to the late UK singer’s music, featuring classics such as “Heal The Pain” and “Praying for Time,” along with the previously unreleased track “This Is How (We Want You to Get High).”
Love Actually (2003)
Director: Richard Curtis
Starring: Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson
Runtime: 135 minutes
Love Actually (2003) is the quintessential Christmas romcom. It takes the six degrees of separation – the idea that everyone on earth is interconnected through six people or less – and runs with it, weaving nine love stories into one neat package.
The stories all begin a few weeks prior to Christmas, covering a wide range of romantic relationships. One features a design agency director named Harry (Alan Rickman) who attempts to hide his affair with his secretary Mia (Heike Makatsch) from his wife Karen (Emma Thompson).
[See more: Ralph Lauren Christmas: Why this nostalgic decor trend is replacing beige minimalism in 2025]
Meanwhile, another story has Karen’s brother, David (Hugh Grant), who also happens to be the newly-elected Prime Minister of the UK, finding himself falling head over heels for his catering manager, Natalie (Martine McCutcheon). Another touching plot thread belongs to Billy Mack (Billy Nighy), a singer who comes to realise the value of his relationship with his manager, Joe (Gregor Fisher).
If you’re curious about what happens to some of the characters after the events of the movie, a 15-minute promotional sequel called Red Nose Day Actually was released in 2017, following the lives of many of the key players 13 years after the first film.
Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
Director: Satoshi Kon
Starring: Toru Emori, Yoshiaki Umegaki, Aya Okamoto
Runtime: 92 minutes
Japanese anime director, Satoshi Kon, directed only four films before his untimely death at the age of 46. However, each of his features, including Tokyo Godfathers, is now regarded as a masterclass in storytelling and animation.
Unlike Kon’s other movies, Tokyo Godfathers features less surreal and psychological elements, instead focusing on a realistic story of three homeless people in Tokyo attempting to locate the parents of an abandoned baby girl during Christmas Eve.
[See more: How the Christmas spirit at a hospital bedside brought Katy Weatherly home to Macao]
Over the course of the film, viewers learn more about the background of the three homeless individuals – Gin, a drunkard, Hana, a transwoman, and Miyuki, a young teen runaway.
Tokyo Godfathers’ serious themes and subject matter makes it more suitable for an adult audience. Having said that, its storyline perfectly aligns with the spirit of Christmas, as the journey to find the baby’s parents touches on ideas of selflessness, forgiveness and hope.
Scrooged (1988)
Director: Richard Donner
Starring: Billy Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe
Runtime: 100 minutes
Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol has been adapted numerous times since it was first published in 1843. The classic tale of the miserly businessman Scrooge who turns a new leaf after meeting four ghosts is one that filmmakers simply can’t seem to stop revisiting.
Rather than a straightforward adaptation, Scrooged attempts to breathe new life to the age-old story by relocating the story to 1980s New York. Instead of Scrooge, there is Frank Cross, the mean-spirited and ruthless head of a TV studio who is busy adapting a live, televised version of A Christmas Carol.
[See more: A UK vicar ruined Christmas for children by telling them Santa isn’t real]
Critical reception towards Scrooged was mixed, with one of the most scathing reviews coming from renowned critic Roger Ebert, who said it was “one of the most disquieting, unsettling films to come along in quite some time.”
Despite this, the Bill Murray vehicle has solidified its status as a modern-day classic Christmas movie, earning Christmas reruns in cinemas and TV.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Steve Martin, John Candy
Runtime: 92 minutes
While technically a Thanksgiving film, Planes, Trains and Automobiles could very easily qualify for a Christmas movie, thanks to its winter setting and themes about home, holiday, forgiveness and thankfulness.
Pairing comedy legends Steve Martin and John Candy, the film follows Neal (Martin), an uptight advertising executive who is desperate to make it back in time for his family’s Thanksgiving gathering in Chicago from New York.
[See more: All I want for Christmas is snow: Santa’s ‘hometown’ hit by climate change]
Unfortunately, various delays and mishaps result in Neil having to travel home with Del (Candy), a gregarious shower curtain ring salesman whom he can’t stand. What ensues is a tale of two mismatched men who learn to appreciate each other’s friendship in spite of initial tensions.
Although the film is largely family-friendly, parents who are intending to watch it with their kids should have a mute button handy. There is one infamous scene in which Martin’s character has a breakdown at a car rental counter, causing him to utter the f-word a total of 19 times in the span of one minute.
