We all know how the classic song goes. “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire / Jack Frost nipping at your nose / So much to stream, it would take 90 hours / But on which service? No one knows.”
There is something glorious about the holiday weeks at the end of December, when maybe things are a little less hectic at work, perhaps you get to spend quality time relaxing with your family, and an impulse to bond over nostalgia and tradition takes hold. Then all of that niceness explodes like a turkey fryer in the garage when no one can agree on what to watch, or then, god forbid, where to even find it once there’s any consensus.
What many people don’t understand is that the holidays need decisiveness. Someone well-informed so that, in times like these, they can save Christmas…or at the very least know that no human has ever had a bad time rewatching Elf, and that it is available on Hulu and Max.
And so, I’m offering this simple guide, to kids from 1 to 92: Here is a list of my favorite holiday movies—some classics, some family favorites, and some new entries into the canon that I love—and, most importantly, where you can stream them.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Streaming on Apple TV+
This is the classic of classics when it comes to holiday movies, in my opinion. A Charlie Brown Christmas captures the warm rush that’s indelible during the season but also the harsh chill when wistfulness and its accompanying sadness comes along. Regardless of your spirituality, the gorgeous lessons about the true meaning of the season will stir your soul.
A Christmas Story
Streaming on Max
I spent my entire childhood skipping around with my siblings and cousins quoting the movie—“You’ll shoot your eye out!” “It’s a major award!” Fra-gee-lay!”—while A Christmas Story played on loop for 24 hours starting Christmas Eve on TBS. It is my firm belief that a new generation, who may have cord-cutting parents—should be allowed to do the same.
Elf
Streaming on Hulu and Max
The epic goofiness of Will Ferrell as a giant elf should be distracting. But the pureness and earnestness of Ferrell’s youthful innocence makes the whole thing not only work, but elevates it to the level of maybe the funniest Christmas comedy of the last 25 years.
The Holdovers
Streaming on Prime Video and Apple TV+
Last year’s Oscar contender—Paul Giamatti robbed! Sorry to Cillian Murphy!—instantly became must-see seasonal viewing. Giamatti plays a disgruntled boarding school teacher (one might call him a Scrooge) who is forced to supervise the students who don’t return home over the Christmas. It is poignant, melancholy, relatable, and funny—perfect for those of us who spend the holidays in a perennial state of misty-eyed.
Home Alone
Streaming on Disney+
Whatever hardship it’s been to be named Kevin in a post-Home Alone world—no, you’re definitely the first person to scream “Kevin!” at me like Catherine O’Hara does in the movie—the hilarity of the hijinks in the film far outweigh any annoyance. It’s juvenile and heartfelt in a manner that just works and intangibly feels like Christmas, and it’s got a great soundtrack and score, too.
Hot Frosty
Streaming on Netflix
I still have not recovered from watching this absolute masterpiece of lunacy, a thought experiment that asked “what if Frosty the Snowman was hot” and then became one of the biggest holiday hits on Netflix this year. I delighted in the sheer preposterousness of it all, as I did with the trust that everyone involved in the film had that audiences would just shrug and go along with every successive, ridiculous development. A terrible film that I recommend to everyone I know.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Streaming on Peacock
There are so many versions of Dr. Seuss’ book that have been turned into various movies, TV specials, and stage shows, and there are merits to all of them. (Though you may have to dig to the bottom of the can of Who Hash to find them in a few.) But c’mon. Nothing rivals the original 1966 special.
It’s a Wonderful Life
Streaming on Prime Video
There comes a time in every person’s life when the annual watching of It’s a Wonderful Life ceases being a ritualistic torture on Christmas—all you want to do is have someone help build your new toy, but the grown ups are all over on the couch crying to some black-and-white movie—and you discover the overwhelming emotional power of the film. Finally, it becomes something you forward to, and vow to instill the same torture on your kids with.
Love Actually
Streaming on Prime Video
I don’t find it particularly interesting or provocative when naysayers rail against Love Actually as being saccharin or even problematic. It fills a lot of people with all the joy and optimism they crave over the holidays, especially if they’re feeling sadness themselves. I think it had a huge role in amplifying Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to the indelible holiday anthem it is today. And Emma Thompson wiping her tears with the palm of her hand as Joni Mitchell plays will forever be iconic.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Streaming on Max and Hulu
Few comedies, let alone holiday ones, have ever been so relatable. Chevy Chase’s Clark Griswold is so eager and excited—and eventually desperate—to create the perfect holiday experience for his family that he descends into a certain Christmas-inspired mania that I suspect many parents can identify.
The Preacher’s Wife
Streaming on Prime Video
The Preacher’s Wife is a movie that is an abundance of radiance: Whitney Houston’s charisma and star power matched by Denzel Washington playing an actual angel; her various singing numbers earning multiple standing ovations from my family on the couch; the crackling supporting performances from Jenifer Lewis and Loretta Devine. That you root for a preacher’s wife to commit adultery with a surrogate of God and don’t feel guilty about it? That’s the magic of the holidays.
Single All the Way
Streaming on Netflix
As holiday romantic comedies exploded into its own cottage industry over the last decade, so much discussion has been about representation: Why do you gotta be white, conventionally attractive, and hetero in order to find adorable love underneath the mistletoe? Of the recent attempts to rectify that myopia, Netflix’s Single All the Way, which centers on a gay love triangle at Christmas, is easily the most charming, endearing, and legitimately funny—much of that thanks to a cast that includes Michael Urie, Kathy Najimy, and a reliably iconic Jennifer Coolidge.
Tangerine
Streaming on Hulu and Netflix
The galvanizing first film from writer-director Sean Baker—currently dominating awards season with Anora—Tangerine is an odyssey following two trans sex workers on Christmas Eve as they attempt to track down a cheating pimp while also making it on time to one of their musical performances. Is it a “traditional” holiday film? No, but that’s what makes it so perfect for the season.
