You could start this year’s holiday season by watching Christmas Vacation for the millionth time, or you could try something else. And there are many fresh alternatives to consider. There are dozens of brand-new holiday films available this year on streaming services like HBO Max, Netflix, Paramount+, and others. Hallmark Channel alone has released almost 40 of them. Additionally, television networks are known to go all out for holiday-themed specials during the broadcast season.
This year’s greatest new Christmas movies include sequels to old favorites, the usual cheesy-yet-charming basic cable originals, and even a documentary about the universal experience of playing Santa Claus. We also have a list of the finest Christmas movies and where you can stream them, so don’t worry if you’re only looking for the old standbys.
And if you’d rather see when and where you can watch every Christmas movie and special, then head on over to our Ultimate Guide to Christmas Movies and Specials. It’s much more extensive than Santa’s list of good and bad children.
New Christmas Movies
Falling for Christmas (Netflix)
Simply knowing that Falling for Christmas is a Lindsay Lohan Christmas movie and is available on Netflix is enough to make your mind up. Yes, she plays a spoiled heiress to her father’s Aspen resort business, and yes, she does get amnesia, and yes, she does fall in love with a local lodge-keeper, if that isn’t enough to pique your interest. It’s a perfect illustration of how to enjoy a holiday film not for its story but for its spectacle (or lack thereof). As expected, it’s a fun and corny experience that doesn’t break the mold.
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A Christmas Story Christmas (HBO Max)
Whether we like them or not, sequels and remakes of beloved Christmas films consistently perform well at the box office. In this 1970s-set sequel, grown-up Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) reunites with his childhood buddies and struggles to offer his own family the same type of beautiful Christmas that his father did for him.
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While this reboot has received mixed reviews (including from our very own Matt Jacobs), it does an excellent job of tapping into the warm and fuzzy feeling of yesteryear.
READ MORE: Christmas Release Movies on Amazon Prime in 2022!
Santa Camp (HBO Max)
There are plenty of other stories that can be told in a Christmas film besides those of a baker, an innkeeper, or a candlemaker all struggling to keep their respective businesses afloat in a small town. Santa Camp is a documentary that follows an annual gathering of aspiring Santas as they welcome their first diverse Santas and empower Mrs. Clauses.
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is a great example of a documentary that succeeds in capturing the Christmas spirit. The ending of this uplifting film may leave you feeling like your heart could burst with joy.
Spirited (Nov. 18, Apple Tv+)
A retelling of “A Christmas Carol”? It’s the Ghost of Christmas Present doing the soul-searching this time, all because of this special Scrooge. The most well-known actors from this year’s crop of Christmas films can be found in Spirited (sorry, Lacey Chabert), with Will Ferrell playing the spirit who represents Christmas and Ryan Reynolds donning the costume of the grumpy human who is meant to transform. A musical, did we forget to mention that?
READ MORE: Complete Guidelines of Traditional Ways to Celebrate Christmas!
New Christmas Movies Coming Soon
Three Wise Men and a Baby (Nov. 19, 8/7c Hallmark)
Bringing together three of Hallmark’s biggest performers, Three Wise Men and a Baby can be compared to a superhero team like The Avengers. Yes, there will be diaper jokes in this holiday film starring Andrew Walker (My Family Christmas Tree), Tyler Hynes (Unexpected Christmas), and Paul Campbell (Christmas by Starlight) as three guys who end themselves taking care of a newborn. As the saying goes, “it’s against the law to not have a stinking diaper joke in movies like this.”
Santa Bootcamp (Nov. 19, 8/7c Lifetime)
Emily Kinney (The Walking Dead) stars in this film directed by Melissa Joan Hart as an event planner tasked with organizing a lavish Christmas gala for a mall magnate. On her quest to find the ideal Santa, she enrolls in Santa Bootcamp, where she meets an instructor (the fabulous Rita Moreno) who, surprise!
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, gets her excited about celebrating Christmas once more. Does she develop feelings for the dashing shopping center tycoon as well? Positively, you bet your sweet butterscotch.
The Guardians of the Galaxy (Nov. 25, Disney+)
Like, what the heck? It’s true that Disney+ is testing out a holiday special based on the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, despite (or perhaps because of) the infamous The Star Wars Holiday Special. Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) go in search of a special Christmas present for Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) after he is forced to miss the holiday. Kevin Bacon may be part of their plot.
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12 Days of Christmas Eve
Spencer Grammer plays Kelsey Grammer’s daughter in this Lifetime film, and Kelsey plays a workaholic businessman whose personal and family relationships have suffered. After a car crash changes his life forever, Santa lets him redo Christmas Eve twelve times so he can make amends with his loved ones and finally grasp the holiday’s true meaning.
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Haul Out the Holly (Nov. 26, 8/7c Hallmark)
Like cats and broken tree ornaments, Christmas and Lacey Chabert go hand in hand, and this year’s Chabert offering is a silly romantic comedy about a woman who stays at her parent’s house while they’re away and discovers that the neighborhood has strict rules about how it should be decorated for the holidays, and she had better follow them or face the consequences. A smaller Nutcracker won’t do the trick for her!
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Mickey Saves Christmas (Nov. 27, 7/6c Abc; Nov. 28, Disney+)
Stop-motion animated films, popularised by Rankin/Bass with such classics as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, are now an annual tradition for many families. I guess Disney took that as a challenge and came up with its own stop-motion Christmas movie called Mickey Saves Christmas.
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The tried-and-true formula is followed: someone ruins Christmas (good job, Pluto) and the heroes must rush to fix things before the holiday ends.
READ MORE: Development of the American Christmas: How to Celebrate Christmas in the United States?
A Hollywood Christmas (HBO Max, Dec. 1)
Let’s make a Christmas movie about making a Christmas movie, shall we? A Christmas Movie Christmas is one example of a meta film, but I think there has to be more of them. Here, a director (Jessika Van) working on a Christmas film has many of those familiar cinematic cliches emerge in real life. In a word, yes.
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Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas (Dec. 1, 8/7c NBC)
It features Dolly Parton. At this point, you should be able to watch it without any further explanation. But here it is if you insist on knowing: Dolly and her crew are in the middle of filming a holiday musical special for a major network (mo’ meta!), and in between massive musical numbers and production mayhem, she is counseled by three wise, presumed bearded mountain men about her life.
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Hotel for the Holidays (Dec. 2, Freevee)
The age-old tale of a family spending Christmas in a hotel. The Riverdale star Madelaine Petsch finds herself in a love triangle with the hotel’s charming chef and a guest who happens to be royalty during the Winterfest season at the hotel. Go with the prince, please! You should avoid any man who perpetually exudes an odor reminiscent of melted cheese. Thanks to Amazon’s free video streaming service, Freevee, you can watch this one for free.
It’s a Wonderful Binge (Dec. 9, Hulu)
Looking to get on Santa’s bad side because you’re sick of all the sugary holiday cheer? Watch this Hulu original film, which is a continuation of the slapstick comedy hit. One’s tendency to binge. Another parody of The Purge, It’s a Wonderful Binge features a holiday celebration in which all drugs and alcohol are legal for one day only. A little bit of lighting on those trees would be nice.
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Something From Tiffany’s (Dec. 9, Amazon Prime Video)
This year’s most popular Christmas film on Prime Video follows the tried-and-true “whoops, my engagement ring for my girlfriend got switched with another guy’s gift, and now his girlfriend has the ring, so I need to get it back from her, but maybe I should just fall in love with her instead” plot. Very empathetic.
Snow Day (Dec. 16, Paramount+)
Another retelling, continuation, or remake of a holiday classic is like receiving socks for Christmas: not exactly what you wanted, but something you’ll wear nonetheless. This musical reimagining of the original 2000 film depicts a group of young people making the most of their day off from school after an unusually heavy snowfall.
Mariah Carey Merry Christmas to All (Dec. 20, 8/7c Cbs and Paramount+)
Mariah Carey is the closest thing we have to a modern Queen of Christmas thanks to a handful of timeless holiday songs. In this music-focused special, she performs at Madison Square Garden. She will perform “All I Want for Christmas Is You” because CBS does not want an actual riot on its hands.
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Call the Midwife Holiday Special (Dec. 25, 9/8c PBS)
Even on the holidays, midwives are on call to deliver babies. With ten previous Christmas specials under its belt and eleventh on the way this year, the PBS series has been more reliable for Christmas cheer than Santa Claus himself – I’m STILL waiting for that pony, guy.
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After the sad train accident that occurred previously in this episode, the midwives are overjoyed to see a familiar face among their new patients.
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