From Little Women to It's a Wonderful Life, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and AppleTV Plus spill with festive treats. Have yourself a merry little Christmas with our top picks
Lady Bird director Greta Gerwig gives Louisa May Alcott's pleasantly rural and classically American tale a modern, non-linear twist.
Returning to those contagiously creative March sisters Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Amy (Florence Pugh), March (Emma Watson) and Beth (Eliza Scanlen) in 19th-century Massachusetts, the film straddles different time periods. It mostly tracks Jo, an aspiring author: jumping between her adolescence and her adulthood. Also stars Timothée Chalamet as Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee March, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.
Photo: Sony Pictures Television
It’s as inevitable as tinsel and presents: another take on A Christmas Carol. This new version stars Deadpool charmer Ryan Reynolds and the always-funny Will Ferrell. Spirited bears a certain resemblance to the 80s Bill Murray comedy Scrooged, but with musical numbers written by the Oscar-winning Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land).
The misanthropic Ebenezer in this case is marketing man Clint Briggs (Reynolds), visited by Christmases Past (Sunita Mani), Present (Ferrell) and Yet To Come (Tracy Morgan). The spirits are part of a scheme to improve the worst examples of humanity. Clint is considered irredeemable – he even tries to negotiate with the spirits – but Present is determined to change his way of life.
Photo: Apple
For a time, Lindsay Lohan was one of the brightest young stars in Hollywood. Her film career began with a twinning performance in The Parent Trap before proceeding into the noughties with Freaky Friday and Mean Girls. Now, she’s made a surprising return to the screen in Falling For Christmas, a new piece of festive silliness.
Lohan plays Sierra, the daughter of a wealthy hotel magnate, who only enjoys the greatest luxuries in life. But after her influencer boyfriend proposes during a skiing holiday, Sierra accidentally falls off a mountain and bumps her head – causing amnesia. She’s saved by a dashing B&B owner (Chord Overstreet), who tries to help her remember who she is.
Photo: Netflix
It’s strange to see the baby-faced Asa Butterfield playing an actual adult, considering his time on Sex Education and his many years as a child actor. (Yes, alright, he is 25 in real life, but still.) Shifting from Netflix to Prime Video, Butterfield stars in this feel-good Christmas treat from Trying director Jim O’Hanlon.
James (Butterfield) and Hayley (Cora Kirke) are besotted with each other, and they hate having to separate for the holidays. He's travelling to Kemble in Gloucestershire and she's going to Macclesfield in Cheshire. But in a shared impulsive moment at the station, they both switch trains to each other’s destinations as a surprise. As they meet their partner’s families, big secrets begin to unravel. Also stars Harriet Walter, Daniel Mays, and Mark Heap.
Photo: Havas Group
Being single any day of the year can be tough (as well as wonderful, let’s not forget), but it’s even tougher during the various 'big days'. Valentine’s Day, obviously; birthdays; New Year's Eve…
And for the recently single Peter (Michael Urie) in Single All the Way, it’s Christmas he dreads the most – mainly because his family is desperate for him to find someone. After a prospective relationship falls through, he decides to take his best friend Nick (Philemon Chambers) back home instead. But after Peter's mother attempts to set him up with other men, his family realise he has a deeper connection with Nick. Jennifer Coolidge stars.
Photo: Netflix
Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis star as Abby and Harper, a loving couple on the road to marriage – Abby's even planning to propose on Christmas Day. But when they decide to spend Christmas at Harper’s family home, Harper drops an awkward bombshell: she hasn’t come out to her family yet. The couple have to spend the holidays pretending that, actually, they’re just friends…
Photo: eOne
Like Mariah Carey and The Pogues and Shakin’ Stevens, George Michael is vital for the Christmas playlists. And in the 2019 Emma Thompson-scripted film Last Christmas, Michael's songs power the soundtrack.
Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke trades her armour and dragons for a depressing Elf costume. Here she plays the 26-year-old Kate, an assistant at an all-year Christmas shop in Covent Garden. She’s fallen on hard times: couch-surfing, avoiding friends and family, never maintaining a relationship. But then she meets Tom (Henry Golding), a strapping young man who seems to suddenly appear and disappear without explanation.
Photo: NBCUniversal
Two women are having a difficult festive season, and decide to do something about it. A tale of cross-continental heartbreak and festive happy coincidences, The Holiday is one of Nancy Meyers' (The Parent Trap, Something's Gotta Give) crowning moments. Forget the plot, and enjoy the unashamedly soft performances of Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jack Black and Jude Law for a holiday escape to remember.
Photo: Columbia Pictures
As there are many versions of A Christmas Carol, why not brush up on the real history of Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens here), and the inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge? Featuring Christopher Plummer and Jonathan Pryce, The Man Who Invented Christmas takes a meta-trip down memory lane.
Photo: Thunderbird Releasing
Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge is one of the most inspired castings in film history, made all the more perfect with the presence of Muppets. Charles Dickens’ classic Christmas story has been adapted, remade, and revamped so many times that a Muppet version was welcome. But would Kermit and Miss Piggy have predicted its success as a universal Christmas favourite? Maybe not, but the silly musical numbers and hilarious puppetry make it a must-watch for this holiday season.
Photo: Jim Henson Productions, Inc.
Before Tim Burton decided to specialise in unworthy Hollywood remakes, he was an amusingly dark force in cinema. He made disturbing fairytales like Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, creating strange worlds with a loving yet spiky embrace. Although it was the stop-motion animator Henry Selick who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, you can feel Burton’s pulsing influence in its character and décor. It's a scarier take on the hopeful holiday season.
Photo: Disney
Of all the times Will Ferrell has made us laugh, one of the most memorable has to be with his spaghetti breakfast as Buddy Hobbs, the human who has lived his life as one of Santa's elves. Jon Favreau's comedy is endlessly quotable and Zooey Deschanel cements her likability as Jovie, an unfestive elf trapped in the all-too-familiar world of retail.
Photo: Warner Bros.
There are plenty of lessons to learn in Walt Disney's animated storytelling this festive season, but Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas perfects the triptych of tales with a magical Christmas spirit. Donald Duck, Goofy and Mickey and Minnie each live their own Christmases and learn the importance of patience, optimism and generosity with influences from age-old stories and a hopefulness that you just won't find elsewhere.
Photo: Disney
A film cherished for its traditional Christmas spirit, Miracle on 34th Street actually has a sparkling history that precedes it. Based on the 1947 film of the same name (which won three Academy Awards), the 1994 story was another victory we owe to John Hughes. Beloved faces young and old come together, as Richard Attenborough and Mara Wilson (Matilda) learn the true meaning of Christmas together.
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox
Kurt Russell gets his big black boots as Santa Claus, facing a couple of meddling kids on Christmas Eve to save the holiday season in The Christmas Chronicles. There's a familiar face from Big Little Lies, and a straight-talking Father Christmas to keep things fresh.
Photo: Netflix
Netflix makes its foray into hand-drawn animation with the festive Original feature Klaus. An all-star voice cast (Jason Schwartzman, JK Simmons, Rashida Jones) tell the story of an unlikely postman working with Father Christmas himself, in beautifully vivid detail.
Photo: Netflix
Based on the 1985 book of the same name, The Polar Express hit the big screen in 2004 courtesy of Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future). Tom Hanks plays a grand total of six roles in the magical film retelling the journey of a young boy who takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole.
Photo: Warner Bros.
Who would have thought that the pair behind the TV series Home Improvement could pull together a film series like the Santa Clause trilogy? Tim Allen stars as Scott Calvin, an ordinary man who ends up having to fill the biggest boots in the business. The suit fits all too well, and the North Pole truly sparkles.
Photo: Disney
Does it still need an introduction? It wouldn't be Christmas without it. And while other films come and go, there's always a place in our hearts for Home Alone – written and produced by The Breakfast Club director John Hughes. There's nothing quite like the moment Kevin McCallister realises the freedom he has.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
Hollywood heavyweights come together for a glittering, blinding comedy in Deck the Halls, an exceptionally good-looking Christmas film. The star of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Matthew Broderick is joined by none other than Danny DeVito and Kristin Chenoweth as well as Charlotte York Goldenblatt herself – actor Kristin Davis from Sex and the City. The dark side of decorating comes out in a seriously silly buddy comedy.
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox
British filmmaker Debbie Isitt pioneered a directing style that favoured improvisation over rigid script work. Nativity! remains one of her most acclaimed films, starring Martin Freeman and Ashley Jensen (Extras). Freeman comfortably dusts off his festive comic chops as a heartbroken teacher who is somehow going to have to direct the Nativity play.
Photo: E1 Entertainment
Italian American film director Frank Capra changed the face of Hollywood in the 1930s with titles including It Happened One Night and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Today, It's A Wonderful Life remains one of our greatest Christmas classics and one of the greatest films ever made, full stop. (This runs contrary to its initial reception in 1946, which was somewhat muted.) Even Capra screened the film for his family every Christmas.
Photo: Paramount
It would have been rude not to, really.
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