It’s the hap-happiest season of all. We bring nature inside as we adorn our living spaces with seasonally appropriate trees, and we light up the longer nights with bright and colourful lights. Music from generations long since passed is re-played and re-contextualised, and centuries old iconography is re-evaluated and repurposed.

There’ll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and carolling out in the snow. If we’ve been good, we’ll receive gifts (thanks Santa!), and if we’re lucky we’ll eat so much food we can barely move. Almost certainly, we’ll watch a movie. From the Netflix Originals of the current era to the silver screen classics of wartime Hollywood, Christmastime movie watching doesn’t discriminate based on picture quality, colour or the lack thereof, acting powerhouses or barely trained actors – if it works, it works. And if it’s good, we’ll hold onto it forever.

In this Movie List from The Film Magazine, we’ve scoured the annals of Christmas movie history to bring you the very best of the best to watch this holiday season. These films are Christmas classics and beloved cult hits, some culturally significant and others often overlooked. These films are seasonal treats; two advent calendars worth of movie magic from the big-wigs in Hollywood and beyond.

Short films (those with a runtime of under one hour) will not be included here, nor will films that cross multiple seasons but feel like Christmas movies – sorry You’ve Got Mail and Bridget Jones’s Diary. Debatable Christmas movies like Gremlins have also been omitted because of their inclusion in our alternative list “10 Excellent Non-Christmas Films Set at Christmas“. Seasonal classic The Apartment has also been disqualified on the grounds that it covers Christmas and beyond, and is arguably more of a new year’s movie.

These are 50 Unmissable Christmas Movies as chosen by The Film Magazine team members. Entries by Mark Carnochan, Kieran Judge, Martha Lane, Sam Sewell-Peterson and Joseph Wade.

Follow @thefilmagazine on X (Twitter).

1. Remember the Night (1940)

Golden Era stars Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray (who would go on to star in The Apartment) spark an unlikely romance when Stanwyck’s Lee Leander steals a bracelet from a jewellery store and MacMurray’s John “Jack” Sargent is assigned to prosecute her over the Christmas holidays.

One of the era’s many beloved studio romantic comedies, Remember the Night features all the elements that would come to define the genre while encompassing some screwball comedy and classic transatlantic accents. The tagline read “When good boy meets bad girl they remember the night”, and it’s likely you’ll remember this seasonal treat too. JW

2. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Few things signal classic Hollywood Christmases like Jimmy Stewart, and 6 years before arguably his most memorable performance in the iconic Frank Capra Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life, he starred in a seasonal favourite that was just as beloved by critics, The Shop Around the Corner.

This holiday romance from Ernst Lubitsch (who also directed Heaven Can Wait) sees Stewart’s Alfred fall in love with his pen pal who, unbeknownst to him, is the colleague he most despises at his gift store job – You’ve Got Mail has got nothing on this. With some hearty moments and all of the circumstantial comedy of the best movies of the era, The Shop Around the Corner will make you laugh and fill your heart in that special way that only the best Christmas movies can. JW

3. Holiday Inn (1942)

Early sound pictures were revolutionised by famed tap dancer Fred Astaire, and by 1942 he was a certified movie musical megastar. In Mark Sandrich’s seasonal musical Holiday Inn, he teams with would-be Christmas icon and man with a voice as sooth as silk, Bing Crosby. The result is one of the most iconic and influential Christmas movies ever made.

The film’s outdated attitude towards race are cringe-inducing and inexcusable in a 21st century context (there’s a whole sequence featuring blackface), but its other dated sensibilities shine bright amongst more modern and commercial Christmas films; its wholesome aura, classic dance scenes, and era-defining songs making for an unmissable experience. To top it all, Bing Crosby sings “White Christmas” for the first time in this film, cementing it in history as a seasonal classic. JW

4. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Widely acknowledged as one of the holiday season’s best-ever films, Vincente Minnelli (An American in Paris) illuminates his would-be wife Judy Garland in arguably her most established performance, bringing Christmas cheer to all without sacrificing any of the harsh realities facing the American people in the first half of the 20th century.

Featuring the original (and arguably the best) rendition of Christmas classic “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, and being anchored by some heartbreaking story elements, Meet Me In St. Louis maintains its power and relevance 80 years on. It offers a Christmas movie that will forever mark the height of its sub-genre, as well as the two filmmaking careers (of Minnelli and Garland) that helped to define the era. JW

Recommended for you: There’s No Place Like St. Louis at Christmas

5. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Remember the Night star Barbara Stanwyck is once again front and centre for a Golden Era Hollywood Christmas movie, this time playing a city magazine editor whose lies about being a perfect housewife are put to the test when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her house.

This is screwball comedy with all the spirit of the festive season is as romantic as it is funny, and prominently features the shadows of World War II to gift the film a unique emotionality that has ensured it is rewatched year on year. JW

Growing up as a wee boy who wanted to make films in Scotland was not easy. Though the state of Scottish cinema is much healthier today, making the decision to study film after leaving high school in 2015 was not as easy as you would think. At the time, as far as mainstream Scottish films would go, Sunshine on Leith and Brave were pretty much it. At least that’s what I, a cinema-obsessed seventeen-year-old, was led to believe.

Luckily for me, it was that summer in between leaving high school and entering college that I would discover the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF). Attending live Q&As, meeting the likes of Haskell Wexler, Seamus McGarvey and Ewan McGregor (who, not only had I grown up with, but was the star of the greatest Scottish film ever made, in my eyes) and seeing films with hundreds of others in attendance, was like something I had never experienced before. I knew right away that I needed more of it. Two weeks every summer where I could breathe, eat and sleep movies – how on earth had I gone my whole life without realising that an entire world of cinema was right on my doorstep? 

The Edinburgh International Film Festival introduced me to films from all around the world, brilliant pieces that I may have never seen if not for the festival. More importantly, it showed me that Scottish films were being made, and it also gave me a place to see them. Over the years I would discover such delights as John McPhail’s Anna and the Apocalypse, Ninian Doff’s Get Duked and Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun. 

Aside from cementing my choice to study film, both EIFF and its home the Edinburgh Filmhouse did so much for me as far as film education and my own career in film go; EIFF introduced me to one of the very first international films I saw (The 400 Blows), sparked my interest in film programming and hosting Q&As, screened films I had directed and acted in, allowed me to share a room with brilliant filmmakers and actors such as John Landis, Joe Dante, Oliver Stone, Kevin Bacon and Richard E. Grant. Furthermore, these institutions allowed me to see classics on the big screen for the very first time – movies like The Seventh Seal, The Exorcist, There Will Be Blood, A Nightmare on Elm Street, 2001: A Space Odyssey – as well as providing a venue for new found favourites such as Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Bait, Uncut Gems, Spencer and Licorice Pizza. 

With all that EIFF and Filmhouse introduced me to, you can only imagine the devastation I felt on the morning of the 6th of October 2022 when I heard the news that both EIFF and Filmhouse had ceased trading immediately. How could two things that mean so much to me simply just stop? There wasn’t even a chance to say goodbye…

The history of both institutions, but specifically Edinburgh International Film Festival, is astonishing. It is the longest continually running film festival in the world, beginning in 1947 and running until this year. It is a landmark that keeps Scotland on the map, a cultural landstone that has helped Edinburgh remain famous as a city renowned for its art and culture. The influence that the Edinburgh International Film Festival has had on film culture not only in Scotland but the world over is undeniable, bringing filmmakers such as Orson Welles, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, Kathryn Bigelow and Bong Joon-Ho to the capital and introducing films like Jour de fête, Pather Panchali, Wild Strawberries, Easy Rider, Alien, Blade Runner, E.T. and Reservoir Dogs to the UK and the world. John Huston once said “I rarely go to film festivals. The only one as such that’s worth a damn is Edinburgh. My god, it’s unique”. It was always easy to see why.

I am not the only one affected by the news. Many filmmakers have come out in support of both institutions. Edgar Wright tweeted “The @edfilmfest was the first festival to ever show a film of mine and I have had so much support and great screenings with the amazing @Filmhouse cinemas since, so this is a terrible blow. My heart goes out to those who love film and have lost jobs. Hoping for a resolution soon”. French Animator Sylvian Chomet stated in an interview that the closures were “a bitter disappointment for the city of Edinburgh and its wonderful people.” Before a screening of Aftersun at the London Film Festival, Charlotte Wells made a tribute to both EIFF and the Filmhouse in saying “These are spaces that mean a great deal to me, it’s where I saw my 1st film, it’s where this, my first feature, played. I wouldn’t be standing here without them”. Further filmmakers such as Mark Jenkin and Mark Cousins have also voiced their disappointment, with Cousins himself writing an article for The Guardian on the matter.

Many others have taken the news as a call to arms, organising groups designed to help save the Filmhouse, hosting candlelit vigils outside of Edinburgh Filmhouse, and starting a petition that now has over 20,000 signatures. Furthermore, the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she would engage with Edinburgh city councils and the financing entity Creative Scotland to determine any paths forward to salvage the institutions.

The outpouring of support is a good sign and certainly shows that many do care about both the Filmhouse and EIFF, but whilst the Filmhouse remains closed the threat remains. Not only to the Filmhouse but to cinema in general. Earlier this year Cineworld Group plc announced that they were filing for bankruptcy, putting Cineworld, Picturehouse Cinemas and Regal Cinemas all at risk. Thankfully all three remain trading to this day, but in the year 2022 there is a very clear and very real threat to what we have long understood to be cinema.

Martin Scorsese recently denounced what he calls the “focus on numbers” in the film world, calling it “repulsive” and “insulting”. This is a world that runs on money and so the money that a film and a cinema makes is important. If one type of movie makes a lot of money then Hollywood bankrolls more of that kind of movie – if it doesn’t, then so long hopeful cinematic universe. Moreover, cinemas rely on films making a lot of money; more people buying tickets and memberships mean that the cinemas are earning money, and the cinemas earning money means they can afford the cost to run the cinema itself, and being able to do that allows the cinema to show more movies, and so on and so forth. 

It is this focus on figures that leads Scorsese to believe that “cinema is devalued, demeaned, belittled from all sides, not necessarily the business side but certainly the art”.

Look back at the past twenty-one years of the worldwide box office. Every year the top 5 (and sometimes even more than that) are not only major blockbusters but major blockbusters almost exclusively designed for audiences 12 and under. Harry Potter, Shrek, Lord of the Rings, Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, Toy Story, Marvel. These are all very much films in which audiences of all ages can attend, but are designed for children to beg their parents to go see, doubling the tickets sold and money made in one foul swoop. 

To the outside, this change clearly works. Movies are making more money than ever, the ten highest-grossing movies of all time is constantly changing, the U.S. domestic box office recorded its highest ever earnings only four years ago. That’s all great, but only certain types of movies are making that much money. 

Imagine if Jackson Pollock’s paintings were selling for the highest amount so Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso decided to paint only in the style of Pollock. You’d tire of seeing the same thing, and these other artists wouldn’t stand out for their originality. As a culture, as a society, we’d be left without these great artists and the uniqueness of their work, we’d be lesser as a whole. 

Occasionally you’ll get smaller and more unique films making good money at the box office, such as Everything Everywhere All At Once or Get Out, but the gap in overall gross between films like these and films like, say, Thor: Love and Thunder is astonishing. Before 2000, films like Saving Private Ryan, The Fugitive, A Few Good Men, Pretty Woman, Ghost, Rain Man were all top ten highest-grossing films of their respective years. They feel like they are a million miles away. Would they possibly be in the same position today?

The current era isn’t without quality filmmaking either. There are brilliant films out there that go practically unnoticed at the box office, films like You Were Never Really Here, Dope, Blindspotting, The Vast of Night, Never Look Away. These are the kinds of films that are most likely to screen at a place like the Edinburgh Filmhouse or the Edinburgh International Film Festival. 

Film is an art form, not a commodity. Not everyone is going to like the same moving pictures and that is fine, but there needs to be a variety. Such places that you could find variety were Filmhouse and EIFF. With that being said we must support independent cinemas, cherish their unique approaches and the independent films they often showcase; these are the few places that offer what you will not experience anywhere else in the world, the institutions that support and celebrate the work that makes up the majority but is seen by the minority.

The future of both Filmhouse and Edinburgh International Film Festival are uncertain, but if they are given the second life they deserve then we must hold them near and dear to our hearts and support them however we can.

Regardless of what happens, this wee boy from Scotland will be forever indebted to both EIFF and the Filmhouse, as both institutions played a major role in the movie fanatic I am today; widening my movie palette, strengthening my passion for cinema, providing me with numerous opportunities that I never would have had otherwise and, most importantly of all, helping me to realise that a life in the movies was possible where I was from and not just a pipe dream. Thank you Filmhouse and thank you Edinburgh Film Festival.

The Road Dance (2021)
Director: Richie Adams
Screenwriter: Richie Adams
Starring: Hermione Corfield, Will Fletcher, Mark Gatiss

When thinking of the best cinematic output by country, very few look to Scotland. Cinephiles often go to familiar favourites such as France, Germany and Japan, each with a history of releasing truly outstanding cinema, each with a long list of certified masterpieces to their name. When looking for something fresh, unique or even just fun, Scotland is not the first place to come to mind. Even when looking at the best British films, Scottish films make up only a tiny percentage, the small handful of films deemed worthy of making the cut being the predictable (yet worthy) selections of Trainspotting and a randomly generated Bill Forsyth picture. Yet, over the past 5 years or so, Scotland has steadily released its fair share of underrated gems – films like John McPhail’s Anna and the Apocalypse, Ninian Doff’s Get Duked!, and Michael Caton-Jones’ Our Ladies. With the country’s latest release, The Road Dance (an adaptation of John MacKay’s book of the same name), Scotland heads back to a more traditional form of on-screen storytelling than the films released in recent years, offering something in the same vein as the nation’s undisputed earliest classic, Whisky Galore! (1949).

Opening up with shots of the beautiful scenery of Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, The Road Dance is immediately eye-catching, Scotland living up to its beautiful reputation and Petra Korner capturing it with aplomb. It becomes apparent soon after that the film’s cinematography is not the only breathtaking aspect of The Road Dance, with its striking period appropriate costumes and sets providing equally gorgeous imagery.

Once the protagonist of the story Kirsty (Hermione Corfield) is introduced, a lot of information is thrown at the screen about her character. Thankfully, in spite of the volume of information being told in such a short period of time, it never feels like too much and it does set up a knowable and likeable lead. Kirsty is a young bookworm dreaming of a life out of the gender expectations of both the time and her island, specifically dreaming of escape to the United States of America. It’s nothing revolutionary so far as characters go, but the way in which the screenplay engages with Kirsty’s interests is very well done, and her prospective romance with love interest Murdo (Will Fletcher) is one too sweet to not leave you invested in their relationship from very early on.

When Murdo and the rest of the young men on the island are sent to fight in the First World War, the island comes together for a befitting send off for the young lads: a road dance. From here, cracks in Kirsty’s idealised and hopeful perspective begin to emerge.

Unfortunately, Kirsty is barely developed beyond the first act information dump, and the weight of her trauma goes on to feel distant and unworthy of the emotional gravitas afforded to it. Things happen rapidly or not at all – Kirsty becomes isolated incredibly quickly yet we’re hardly given a reason as to why, or even a reason to care.

This issue is only highlighted further by Hermione Corfield’s portrayal, which unfortunately is unable to reach the depths of the emotional trauma her character is going through, and thus fails to keep us engaged and invested in the film’s more testing and drawn out moments.

This is, of course, an aspect of the picture that lands on the shoulders of writer-director Richie Adams, whose screenplay seems absent of thought regarding the truth behind how any given person may actually react in the situations presented, and the performance of his lead therefore feels poorly guided from page to screen.

But The Road Dance isn’t a bad experience, only a frustrating one…

There is so much good peppered throughout The Road Dance – not least the film’s central romance and the on-screen chemistry that clearly elevates these sections and the individual performances of both Corfield and Fletcher. The war is effectively portrayed too, with Adams showing off the better of his skills when presenting the war effort of those on the island and later battle scenes. There is a genuinely interesting core of a community at the heart of Adams’ screenplay too, with The Road Dance never failing to feel real, lived in – some side characters getting particularly memorable arcs.

But ultimately, Richie Adams’ The Road Dance won’t be remembered as fondly as the high class Scottish features of recent years, the absence of character progression and the way some of the real-life issues are dealt with in a menial manner making for a frustrating experience, albeit one with excellent visuals, accurate costumes and memorable set design.

10/24

The Prom (2020)
Director: Ryan Murphy
Screenwriters: Bob Martin, Chad Beguelin
Starring: Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Andrew Rannells, Jo Ellen Pellman, Ariana DeBose

With the popularity of productions such as La La Land and The Greatest Showman, as well as smaller films like Anna and the Apocalypse and Sing Street, the movie musical has seen something of a resurgence over the past five years or so. Looking to take advantage of the genre’s popularity, Netflix have adapted the critically acclaimed Broadway musical “The Prom”, with the creator of ‘Glee’, Ryan Murphy, and two of the original writers, Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin, each on board to head what the streaming service are hoping is its next big hit. With an incredibly talented mix of musical actors (both on stage and on screen), and the talent of those working on the film behind the scenes, Netflix’s The Prom promised a great modern musical but ultimately offers something far less enthusing, the film failing to excel in ways that cover up its deficits. 

The Prom follows four Broadway actors – Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Streep), Barry Glickman (James Corden), Angie Dickinson (Nicole Kidman) and Trent Oliver (Andrew Rannells) – who travel to the conservative town of Edgewater, Indiana, to help Emma Nolan (Jo Ellen Pellman), a student banned from taking her girlfriend Alyssa Greene (Ariana Debose) to her high school prom. 

A running pitfall of The Prom is in its exploitation of stereotypes. The film makes a point to portray stereotypes both through their inaccuracies and their truths. Well… it certainly tries to anyway. Presenting small town America as the most ignorant type of conservative breeding grounds whilst also portraying Corden’s character Barry through the “show queen” stereotype of Gay men, The Prom more often than not avoids the commentary necessary for such stereotyping to hold a message or any value to the overall plot (or our overall enjoyment).

Although Corden’s “show queen” personality is very much at the forefront of Barry’s character, he is the one who undergoes the most enjoyable evolution and arguably becomes the very best part of the film. Corden delivers a surprisingly charismatic performance and shines in a number of scenes, releasing himself from the shackles of his reputation as a divisive figure to offer a pleasant surprise at the head of this film.

Among the other key castmates is Meryl Streep, who offers a good and watchable but hardly unmissable performance as Dee Dee, while the film’s other major drawing point Nicole Kidman is slotted into a role in which her talents are stifled. When it comes to Kidman’s character and that of Andrew Rannells’ Trent, there seems to be little reason as to why either need to be in the movie, with both failing to add to the story bar two horrible musical numbers (“The Acceptance Song” and “Zazz”). Ellen Pellman and Ariana DeBose simply do not get the screen time needed to leave much of an impression.

The blame regarding this and The Prom’s wider failures must fall on the shoulders of the screenwriters. Although both men wrote the original musical, their lack of experience writing feature length films is clear here, with a large majority of the film’s issues coming from the script itself. With exposition riddled dialogue (Dee Dee Allen’s character intro literally comes from a reporter saying “Dee Dee, you’re a broadway star!” to which she responds “yes I am!”), one dimensional characters and terrible shifts in tone, The Prom is not short of screenwriting sins, but perhaps its biggest is that Emma (Pellman) – the character around whom the entire story revolves – is nothing more than a side character, The Prom cheating prospective fans out of a genuine emotional arc. Instead, we are forced to follow four self-obsessed broadway stars whose emotional character progressions are either non-existent or practically plucked out of thin air. 

Although the majority of the film’s issues come from the screenplay, Ryan Murphy’s direction only works to magnify them. His terrible direction of the actors – his only direction towards Pellman seeming to be “Smile!” – doubled with Martin and Beguelin’s terrible writing creates a deadly mix that, if it hadn’t been for the popular cast people will undoubtedly be excited to see, could have sunk the entire film.

That isn’t to say that the trio deserve no praise whatsoever, as The Prom does actually present a fun, energetic and infectious atmosphere, something the stage play developed a reputation for. The scale and spectacle of the song and dance routines is nothing short of impressive, while most of the soundtrack is simply wonderful, and likely to stick in your head for weeks. The production and costume design play vital roles in furthering these achievements, solidifying The Prom as a beautiful film to look at. There is no doubt that the work in this regard will enter this latest high budget Netflix offering into the conversation regarding awards recognition, and may make it a frontrunner in the production design and costume design categories at the 2021 Oscars.

In these ways, The Prom excels, but no matter how deep you dig, how far you search or how objectively you do or do not look at it, this fun, fast-paced, large in scale musical with a number of notable performances is ultimately far from a critical darling, and will likely be more The Greatest Showman than La La Land, landing in the realm of audience favourite instead of Best Picture contender. It is simply too difficult to be swept away, and immersion is the key to the success of all movie musicals.

12/24

Often, such horror movies prove to be a terrific investment for those interested in terror and thrills, in new cinematic techniques or how films are put together, and in this list we at The Film Magazine will be offering a selection of 10 of the Best Horror Movies Not in the English Language to hopefully inspire and frighten the horror enthusiasts among us, exploring some of the very best of horror cinema in the contemporary era and ranking them from ten to one based on their artistic merits, critical receptions, standings amongst horror aficionados and audience perception.

Make sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments at the end of this article, and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with our latest and greatest releases.

10. The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)

Brought to you by the off-kilter creative mind of Takashi Miike, whose more well known horror Audition just missed out on a place on this list, The Happiness of the Katakuris is a brilliantly bonkers musical-comedy-horror from Japan that is proof of its director’s incomparable qualities as a filmmaker.

Beating out John McPhail’s Anna and the Apocalypse (a brilliantly underrated high-school/zombie/Christmas-movie/musical from Scotland) as the first ever Zombie-Musical hybrid, this clash of genres is enough to entice anyone to watch it, but Miike’s sense of humour truly helps to create a unique farce that you will likely never forget.

9. Pulse (2001)

Released in 2001, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse is one of a small group of Y2K/internet paranoia films released around the turn of the millennium – films like Fear Dot Com, The Net and Hackers were other examples of films that did not celebrate the technological advancements of their time but instead seemed to fear them. Pulse is the best of the bunch.

Pulse tells the story of an ever-shrinking Tokyo, where day after day more and more people begin to mysteriously disappear, seemingly to the inside of their computers. Although the story revolves around the fear that the world will figuratively be sucked into the web (a story still relevant in one way or another even in 2020), Pulse succeeds in the fact that it does not feel like it is coming from a place of paranoia but instead that it uses our societal paranoia to create a story. Kurosawa then uses this story to create a slow burn horror filled to the brim with eerie imagery. This is one that is bound to send chills down your spine.