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

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Director: Jeremiah Chechik
Screenwriter: John Hughes
Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverley D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nicholas Guest

Throughout the past few decades, Christmas has become its own genre of cinema. This wonderful time of year has spawned many great films, often full of warmth and romance, and giving audiences that special feel-good feeling. From the incredible It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) with its tender story and heartfelt message that’s able to move anybody to tears, to the ever popular Love Actually (2003) that still has an affect on viewers at this time of year with a lust for romance and passion, Christmas films are perfect for evoking a sense of togetherness at “the most wonderful time of the year”. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, however, doesn’t tick any of these boxes. Romantic, passionate and tender are not words that can be associated with this outrageously funny comedy, yet somehow it’s that very reason that makes Christmas Vacation stand out as one of the classic, if underappreciated, films of the festive season.

The film stars Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold, a hardworking family man who rather haphazardly begins to organize his family’s Christmas. From ridiculously oversized trees, to covering the exterior of his house with over 25,000 fairy lights, there’s no denying Clark’s passion and excitement for the festive season, which makes a change from the pessimistic protagonist usually found in films set during this time of the year. The chaos ensuing at the Griswold residents is enough to alarm nosy neighbours Margo (a young Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Todd (Nicholas Guest), who grow more irritated with Clark’s antics. As Christmas day approaches, more and more Griswold relatives begin to arrive for the celebrations, including Clark’s wife Ellen’s redneck cousin Catherine (Miriam Flynn) and her husband Eddie (a hilarious Randy Quaid), who in particular add fuel to the proverbial fire at the Griswold residence. On top of that, Clark becomes distracted when he realizes he still hasn’t received his Christmas bonus despite being a loyal company man, which acts as the catalyst that finally pushes him over the edge.

Christmas Vacation is an endlessly watchable, farcical comedy much in the same vein as the previous Vacation instalments, elevated by its brilliant leading man Chevy Chase – every second he is on screen, it feels as if a laugh out loud moment is inevitable.

Clark grows more and more frustrated with the series of events occurring, and Chase demonstrates this hilariously through his over-exaggerated facial expressions. In particular, there is a moment where he explodes with aggravation, with Chase executing a hysterical rant that demonstrates just how great an actor he is when on top form – it’s perhaps such a good line reading it’s iconic in its own right.

Whilst James Stewart’s George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life is a fragile, vulnerable family man who feels worthless because of how he has been treated by his employer, Clark is simply annoyed at his employer because he hasn’t been given his bonus so that he can build a swimming pool for his loved ones. It’s this kind of simplistic reasoning for Clark’s madness that is so brilliant, because although it seems greedy and selfish, it’s extremely relatable for millions of people, and fits with the ridiculous tone of the film. Ellen (Beverley D’Angelo) has some shining moments as she attempts to be the voice of reason, but there’s no doubt the supporting MVP is cousin Eddie, who was so popular during the film’s release that Randy Quaid led the spin-off Christmas Vacation 2. He is dynamite in every scene, unpredictable in his actions with seemingly no idea too outlandish for what he might do next.

The script from beloved filmmaker John Hughes is great at encapsulating the chaotic nature of the story. It’s by no means a script that has any real depth but it does provide enough situational comedy that you can forgive the clunky, disorganised moments of the film. The only intent Christmas Vacation has is to make audiences laugh.

Jon Favreau’s Elf (2003) often gets the plaudits as the definitive festive comedy, but Christmas Vacation blows it out of the water for sheer hilarity and exuberance, with the script never letting up the chaos for a single second, even when the laughs don’t hit. Chechik’s direction features nothing technically brilliant or even flashy, but is effective at ensuring audiences know exactly what they need to be laughing at. During parts of the film, it’s not the actual event that has occurred that is funny, but the reaction from one of the great ensemble of characters, and Chechik establishes this very well.

Overall, if you’re looking for an energetic, outrageous comedy to sink your teeth into this festive season, look no further than Christmas Vacation. Chevy Chase is in top form as the chaotic Clark Griswold, with a host of brilliant supporting characters that provide laugh after laugh throughout the film’s relatively short runtime. The script is sharp at times (with some hilarious lines) and the direction allows the disaster to unfold seamlessly. Don’t expect the romance or passion of Love Actually, or the heart and warmth of It’s A Wonderful Life, but do be prepared to laugh non-stop at this highly entertaining farce.

18/24

Written by Bradley Weir

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