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

Home Alone has been considered a Christmas tradition since the moment Macaulay Culkin slapped his cheeks and yelled at the top of his lungs all the way back in 1990, but seeing the John Hughes-written and Chris Columbus-directed picture develop into a franchise of straight-to-video/dvd glorified holiday specials has given the franchise the proverbial “mixed bag” of good and bad filmmaking. In this edition of Ranked, we’re looking at all 6 Home Alone movies (yes there have been 6) and judging them in terms of quality, enjoyability, critical reception and public perception to rank each from worst to best.

Have a favourite Home Alone movie? Let us know in the comments, and follow The Film Magazine on Twitter.

6. Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House (2002)

The fourth entry to the franchise is nothing short of a disaster.

A clear cash grab intended to capitalise on the burgeoning DVD market, this Rod Daniel (K-9) straight-to-TV feature recasts the iconic roles of Kevin McCallister (once played by Macaulay Culkin) and Marv (originally Daniel Stern) and, as if that wasn’t sacrilegious enough, takes the concept to an entirely different level of absurd. Seriously, if you thought a child defending his house from fully grown men via a series of booby traps was absurd, wait ’til you get a load of this…

In Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House, Kevin McCallister must ignore the instructions of his parents and rescue a crown prince from his old foe Marv and Marv’s wife Vera.

It truly is as bad as it seems…

5. Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012)

Home Alone 5 (The Holiday Heist) thankfully didn’t regurgitate the great characters from the first Home Alone in some lame attempt to gather an audience, but much like our previous entry did seem like a film written before the Home Alone branding was ever slapped on it.

In many ways another sorry attempt to grab cash from willing and hopeful consumers, rather than a fitting tribute or loving extension to the Home Alone franchise, The Holiday Heist did actually offer brief glimmers of being something more than that of the franchise’s previous incarnation, notably upping the casting quality to include the legendary Ed Asner (albeit in a cameo) and A Clockwork Orange actor Malcolm McDowell.

The movie was directed by Peter Hewitt, the man who helmed Bill & Ted’s Bogus Adventure just a year after the original Home Alone was released and later directed the absurd British children’s comedy Thunderpants (2002), his work on The Holiday Heist at least attempting to replicate some of the feeling of the first few movies, albeit quite poorly.

Recommended for you: I’m a 90s Kid and I Watched Home Alone for the First Time This Year

Written and produced by the king of 80s movies, John Hughes, Home Alone holds a special place in a lot of our hearts and is a must watch around the festive season each and every year.

Thirty years after Macaulay Culkin shot to superstardom as lonely eight year old child Kevin McCallister, we at The Film Magazine are looking back at the original movie’s very best moments for this Top List of the 10 Best Home Alone Moments.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter for updates on more articles like this one.

10. Headcount Mishap

Chaos has hit the McCallister household when, due to a power outage in the middle of the night, none of the alarm clocks in the house go off – cue the line “We overslept!” From Mr and Mrs McCallister. 

As the fourteen family children pile into the airport transport mini vans, a nosey neighbour comes over to see what all the fuss is about. As he is in the back of the mini van, he clambers over all the seats and starts rummaging through the family’s bags. Megan, the oldest McCallister child, is asked to do a “head count” and miscounts the nosey neighbour as Kevin, who is actually curled up in bed unaware of the madness going on around him.

Thinking that everyone is present and accounted for, the family leave for their vacation, resulting in Kevin being (you guessed it) left home alone.

9. Gus Gives Parental Advice

After an attempt to get on a last minute flight home from Paris, Kate McCallister (Catherine O’Hara) finds herself in Scranton, Pennsylvania and her only ride home is to join a Polka tour who have kindly offered to drop her off in Chicago. 

Gus “The Polka King of the Midwest” Polinski, played by the wonderful John Candy, keeps Kate company as they make their long journey back to the Windy City. In the back of their tour van, Gus gives Kate some much needed comfort in justifying her mistake of leaving Kevin behind and confirms to her that she is a good mother. 

Between two parents, Catherine O’Hara and John Candy share a beautiful moment of comfort and kindness. 

*Slap face in shock*

I know, I know. In my defence, for the first three years of my life I exclusively watched Beauty and The Beast (1991) and then I started reading.

So, to get myself into the Christmas spirit, I thought I’d sit down with the film that gets the biggest ‘oh my god, what? Are you joking? Seriously?’ response when I say ‘I haven’t seen [insert name of iconic film here]’.

For the two of you who don’t know, Home Alone is the story of Kevin McCallister – played by a youthful, pre-drugs Macaulay Culkin – who is left ‘home alone’ when his family go on a Christmas vacation to Paris. ‘When I grow up and get married, I’m living alone’ – yes Kevin I’m with you on that one. When he wakes up to find his family gone, he thinks a Christmas miracle has happened – cue montage of what we all should do when we are home alone: eat ice cream and watch movies (although as an adult I would not jump on the bed because I paid for that mattress). Now, because it’s the holidays, burglars are taking the opportunity to rob all the houses of the rich people that abandon their homes for warmer climates. Top Tip: don’t tell a stranger you are going away for the holidays because they will rob you. Kevin therefore has to defend his house from an evil duo who have tagged themselves as “The Wet Bandits”, which leads to a slapstick series of booby-traps that did make me laugh out loud.

My first and most important question that isn’t answered while watching this film is… (fear not, this is not going to one of those pieces that says, ‘How could parents forget a child?’, because I am able to suspend my disbelief about that)… ‘Why is everyone so horrible to Kevin?’

There is no back story to suggest that he’s a bad kid, he just wants someone to help him pack and to eat the pizza that has been ordered for him. Seriously, I’m not surprised Kevin was happy his family disappeared. If Buzz was my brother I’d be like, “great he’s gone, thank you baby Jesus”.

Another major thing that I want to pick out that annoyed me was “the Kevin scream”. My whole life I had assumed that Kevin’s scream was because of the people robbing his house or at the realisation that he had been left by his family. But alas, the scream is because he has put aftershave on his cheeks. Kevin has not shaved therefore he hasn’t opened his pores therefore it would not hurt that much! I feel cheated by the poster of the movie.

Despite my nit-picking, Home Alone is a great film and a really enjoyable movie experience. It has truly given me more cultural capital than my undergraduate degree. No longer will I have to false laugh at ‘Merry Christmas you filthy animal’ and I now understand my pub quiz team name “The Wet Bandits”. Now that I finally understand these things, the influence and reach of this movie is clear, and I understand why people are so shocked that I am alive and had never seen it.

Recommended for you: Home Alone Movies Ranked

I usually find that movies from the early 90’s feel really dated. However, this isn’t the case with Home Alone. It is funny and relatable. It’s like Kevin invented the Vlogger morning routine video, and him asking if the toothbrush is approved by the American dental association is exactly the kind of question people ask me in my retail job. Most importantly, Kevin’s fake party is better than most real parties I have ever been to. As I noted, the defending the house sequences are genuinely funny and silly in the best way.

The ending of this film is also so heart-warming – how have I never seen this? Kevin is so happy to have his family back, another Christmas miracle. The moral I took from this movie is: love your family. Even if they are not nice people and literally forget about you. Also, isn’t there another Home Alone where they forget Kevin again? I guess I’ll have to wait to see whether I should give up on this family. But Kevin… I love you. You are my spirit animal- ‘a lovely cheese pizza just for me’.

Now to finally watch Die Hard for the first time…

1. Always use a step ladder if you can’t reach to put the star on the top of the tree.

The sofa is not a proper springboard.

2. Never leave the tree lights on near your grumpy house cat.

You never know when your furry friend might be down to the last of his nine lives.

3. Not all presents are gender neutral.

While girls can like cars and boys can like Barbie dolls, and some grown men do like to dress up in women’s underwear, not all do! And it’s not really the best thing to get your Dad either!

4. Your true family are those who are there when you need them – not necessarily those you are related to.

5. Sometimes it’s best to stick to what you are good at, and leave Christmas to Santa and the Elves.

Don’t worry Jack, we’ll come back to you for Halloween.

6. All’s fair in love and war, and the pursuit of this year’s hottest Christmas present. 

7. Always buy your Christmas tree from a shop.

And if you insist on dragging your family out into the countryside with you to go and steal one, make you sure take a chainsaw or an axe or something it cut it down with!

8. Never leave your Christmas shopping until Christmas Eve!

Whilst it is a story line of many a Christmas film or sitcom Christmas special, leaving your shopping until Christmas Eve is never a good idea and results in anger and disappointment.

9. Always triple check the headcount before getting on a flight to another continent.

Because who knows what kind of mayhem will be wreaked in your absence.

10. Eat, drink and be merry! Spend the festive season with those nearest and dearest to you. Help those less fortunate and be thankful for everything and everyone you have.

Merry Christmas from all of us here at The Film Magazine!

By Kat Lawson