17 best Christmas movies on Netflix to watch this year

Jingle Bell Heist is shaping up to be the best of Netflix’s 2025 Christmas movies – it’s a fun, romantic comedy with a surprisingly smart heist plot.

The story centers on Sophia and Nick, who decide to rob a large London department store on Christmas Eve. As they work on the heist, a romantic connection unexpectedly develops between them.

Like most Christmas movies, the plot of Jingle Bell Heist is predictable, but it does include a surprising twist that feels like something out of a regular heist film.

While critics weren’t overly impressed, that’s true of many Christmas movies. Like other beloved holiday films, The Holiday has become a yearly tradition for viewers who enjoy its heartwarming story.

In Nancy Meyers’s heartwarming film, Amanda and Iris, both recently heartbroken, decide to trade homes for the holidays. Unexpectedly, they each find a new romance – Amanda with Graham and Iris with Miles.

Sure, The Holiday doesn’t win anything for originality, but you’ll be won over all the same.

Klaus is, without a doubt, the best Christmas movie Netflix has ever made, and we stand by that! It offers a fresh take on the Santa Claus story, following a pampered postman who unexpectedly becomes friends with a lonely toymaker living on a remote island.

Blending the delightfully strange and darkly funny style of The Nightmare Before Christmas with beautiful 2D animation, Klaus is easily one of the best Christmas films made in recent years.

Unlike any other Christmas movie you’ll find, Anna and the Apocalypse brilliantly combines musicals, a high school romance, and zombie horror into one amazing film.

The quiet town of Little Haven is thrown into chaos when a zombie outbreak happens on Christmas Eve. Anna, played brilliantly by Ella Hunt, and her friends must battle their way to the local school, hoping to reunite with their families.

When Anna and the Apocalypse came out in 2017, everyone said it was like La La Land mixed with Shaun of the Dead, and honestly, that’s a perfect way to describe it! It’s got fantastic songs, actually creepy scares, and somehow, it’s still a really fun, festive movie. I absolutely loved it!

I think The Holdovers is genuinely one of the best Christmas movies out there – not just on Netflix, but period! It doesn’t immediately feel like a traditional Christmas movie, but trust me, it’s fantastic.

The film centers on a curmudgeonly teacher (played brilliantly by Paul Giamatti) at a boarding school who reluctantly oversees a small group of students with no family plans for Christmas. During this time, he unexpectedly forms a bond with one of them, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa, in a standout first film role).

While The Holdovers deals with heavier themes than many typical Christmas films, it’s a movie you shouldn’t skip.

Of all the new Christmas movies Netflix released in 2024, we especially enjoyed Our Little Secret (we’re not huge fans of Hot Frosty, though). We admit, we have a soft spot for Lindsay Lohan romantic comedies!

The movie has a familiar premise: Lindsay Lohan plays Avery, who has to spend Christmas with her ex-boyfriend, Logan (Ian Harding), because their new partners are siblings – Cameron (Jon Rudnitsky) and Cassie (Katie Baker). It’s a pretty awkward situation!

This funny movie brings back some familiar faces from Mean Girls, reuniting Lindsay Lohan with Tim Meadows. Plus, the incredibly talented Kristin Chenoweth is in it – it’s hard to find anything to not love!

Released in the early 2000s, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a beloved and comforting holiday movie. Based on Dr. Seuss’s classic 1957 book, the film stars Jim Carrey in a wildly funny and energetic performance, and is full of outlandish costumes and hairstyles as the Grinch discovers the true spirit of Christmas.

Ron Howard’s movie tells the story of the Grinch, who gets increasingly annoyed by the cheerful Christmas celebrations in Whoville. Living alone, he decides to stop the festivities, but a young girl named Cindy Lou may be able to help him see things differently.

The 2018 animation, The Grinch, is also available to watch on Netflix if you want a double-bill.

With a fantastic 89% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, Love Hard is a classic cozy Netflix Christmas rom-com – perfect for watching under a blanket!

Nina Dobrev, known for her role in The Vampire Diaries, stars as Natalie, a blogger who writes about dating in Los Angeles. Despite offering advice to others, she’s having trouble finding love herself. On a friend’s advice, she starts looking for dates outside of her city and connects with someone online. She decides to spontaneously visit him in New York during the Christmas holidays.

I was totally shocked to find out that the guy Devi’s been talking to, Josh, isn’t who he appears to be! I mean, she thought she was chatting with Darren Barnet from Never Have I Ever, but it turns out it’s Jimmy O’Yang from Silicon Valley playing the role – a complete surprise! He’s not the handsome guy in the pictures at all, but a pretty nerdy dude.

If you don’t enjoy Love Actually, feel free to check out another Christmas film. But for those who do, the movie is now available on Netflix for your holiday viewing!

You probably already know the gist, but the movie follows ten different stories as people get ready for Christmas. While not every story is cheerful, the movie generally has a warm and festive feeling (and includes a satisfying resolution for Emma Thompson’s character!).

If you don’t enjoy this movie, it probably won’t win you over, but don’t worry – there are plenty of other Christmas films to choose from!

Justin Hartley, known for his role in This Is Us, leads this charming Christmas romantic comedy. While it follows many familiar tropes of the genre, it’s full of heartwarming holiday spirit.

The story centers around Jacob, a successful and attractive novelist, who receives news of his mother’s passing from a lawyer. While sorting out her estate, he meets Rachel (Barrett Doss), a woman searching for her birth mother – Jacob’s former nanny. She asks for his help, and as they work together, a close relationship develops.

With a heartwarming Christmas romance at its core, The Noel Diary is a story about facing past hurts and finding yourself.

Lindsay Lohan shines in Falling for Christmas, a delightfully cheesy and romantic new Netflix holiday movie. It’s exactly the kind of heartwarming escape you’d hope for.

Lindsay Lohan plays Sierra, a wealthy hotel owner’s daughter who loses her memory after a ski accident, leaving her unsure of her identity and past.

I’m already hooked on this movie! It’s about a woman who loses her memory, and thankfully, she’s rescued by Jake, the owner of a ski lodge – and he’s super cute, by the way, played by Chord Overstreet from Glee! Not only does he help her piece together what happened, but he also makes her question everything she thought she knew. I can’t wait to see how their story unfolds!

Released in 2020, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey is considered one of Netflix’s best original Christmas movies, and it’s notable not only for being a heartwarming holiday film but also for its positive impact on diversity and representation within the genre.

Okay, so this Christmas musical is about an old inventor who’s kind of fallen on hard times. But his granddaughter? She’s full of energy and helps him rediscover his spark! It’s a really upbeat and quick-moving story, and honestly, I can already tell it’s gonna be one of those I watch every single Christmas.

I get so excited every year for a new Shaun the Sheep adventure, but this one started off a bit scary! Shaun and the flock were trying to find bigger stockings for Christmas, and they ended up raiding a farmhouse. Things went wrong really quickly, and poor Timmy went missing! It was a really worrying situation, and I was on the edge of my seat hoping they’d find him.

Everyone loves Shaun the Sheep, and this short film is just 30 minutes long – perfect for a cozy night in, even if you’ve indulged in a little too much eggnog! You won’t have to stay up late to enjoy it.

I still can’t believe how popular A Christmas Prince was when it came out in 2017! It was such a surprise hit, and I heard stories about people seriously getting obsessed – one person apparently watched it every day for almost three weeks! It’s become a bit of a legend.

This classic story follows a reporter who goes undercover to learn about a prince, but unexpectedly falls in love with him. It was such a hit that it spawned two sequels, The Royal Wedding and The Royal Baby, creating a complete trilogy for viewers to enjoy.

Netflix consistently delivers popular original Christmas movies. If you don’t enjoy A Christmas Prince, The Princess Switch, featuring Vanessa Hudgens playing two characters, might be more your style.

This movie is a lighthearted and charming story, similar to The Prince and the Pauper, where a princess and a regular girl who looks just like her trade places.

If you enjoyed the first movie, the sequel, Switched Again, delivers the same fun. And the third film, Romancing the Star, is a delightful combination of a Christmas romance and a thrilling heist – it really has everything!

It’s surprising it took until 2018 for someone to cast Kurt Russell as Santa Claus, but we’re glad The Christmas Chronicles finally did it.

This movie quickly establishes itself as a top-notch portrayal of Santa Claus. While it uses a familiar Christmas story – children working to save the holiday – it embraces its own silliness and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

As does the sequel, which is also available to watch right now.

Netflix’s 2021 film, Single All the Way (which earned a four-star rating from us), is a two-hour comedy filled with romantic complications, family drama, and characters who are hilariously unaware of what’s happening around them. It’s sure to make you laugh!

The movie has a few awkward scenes – but what Christmas movie doesn’t? – and we especially loved that it focuses on a love story between two people of the same sex.