New Christmas movies to stream on Netflix, Disney+ and Binge
Santa Claus is coming to a television near you with a veritable feast of festive fare this year. Make sure you leave time for some of the all-time festive favourites.
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Deck the halls and crack open the mince pies, there’s a feast of new Christmas movies out, as studios have gone on a commissioning frenzy to make sure after the year we’ve had, this is the best festive viewing season, ever.
Pleasingly, they — mostly — adhere to Christmas movie rules and are corny, cliched and feature lots of snow, royalty, love and knitwear, which is as it should be.
From Liz Hurley’s Father Christmas Is Back and Keira Knightley’s Silent Night to Vanessa Hudgens’ Princess Switch 3, we take a look at 10 new Christmas movies – and five classics.
Father Christmas Is Back
An all-star cast including Elizabeth Hurley, John Cleese, Kelsey Grammer and Kris Marshall feature in this British comedy, about the dysfunctional Christmas family’s reunion. It has instantly joined the “so bad it’s good Christmas film” genre.
Netflix
Love Hard
Romcom Love Hard, starring Nina Dobrev and Jimmy O. Yang, centres around Natalie, who leaves the big city to return to her small town for the holidays (we’ve never seen this storyline before) and gets catfished, with “hilarious” results. Ho, ho, ho.
Netflix
Home Sweet Home Alone
If you think Disney + is having a laugh by rebooting 1990’s Home Alone for its streaming service, then you might be right. The reviews haven’t been kind to this return to the premise which made into a young Macauley Culkin a household name but if slapstick Christmas carnage is your thing you might enjoy this. Stars Archie Yates of JoJo Rabbit fame, Ellie Kemper and Rob Delaney.
Disney +
The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star
Vanessa Hudgens stars with Vanessa Hudgens and Vanessa Hudgens in a streamlined casting process, for the third instalment of the festive franchise which has fast become a Christmas viewing tradition. The Princess Switch 3: Romancing The Star is ridiculous fun as the trio try to track down a stolen relic.
Netflix
Silent Night
A Christmas film with a dark twist, comes in the form of the comedy horror Silent Night, starring Keira Knightley, Lucy Punch, Lily-Rose Depp, Trudie Styler and Matthew Goode. It’s a long way from Love Actually or Downton Abbey. Cheers to the end of the world and all that.
Amazon Prime
A Boy Called Christmas
For a lovely family film experience, Maggie Smith, Henry Lawfull, Kristen Wiig and Jim Broadbent come together in the lavish adaptation of Matt Haig’s novel A Boy Called Christmas. The story follows a young Nikolas finding his future calling. It’s enough to melt even the most humbug of hearts.
Netflix
Robin Robin
This lovely animated short film is from the brilliant Aardman team. The story follows a robin who thinks he’s a mouse and features excellent voice-overs from Richard E. Grant and Gillian Anderson.
Netflix
A Castle For Christmas
Brooke Shields rolls out the big cheese in this absolute classic festive flick, A Castle for Christmas. It does what it says on the tin and contains all the essential holiday ingredients, including tartan, castles and royalty.
Netflix
8-Bit Christmas
For a nostalgia-packed Christmas feast, Neil Patrick Harris narrates this retro 1980s family film about 10-year-old Jake, who goes on a quest to get the Christmas gift of his generation - a Nintendo. This one is as much for the parents as the kids.
BINGE
Single All The Way
This gay romcom starring Michael Urie and Philemon Chambers, has all the tropes, including a snowy American town, holiday knitwear and a turn from Jennifer Coolidge as Aunt Sandy.
Netflix
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And five classics
It’s A Wonderful Life, 1946
Some 75 years on, nobody has come close to beating Frank Capra’s beautiful, life-affirming movie with Jimmy Stewart.
The Muppet Christmas Carol, 1992
Even Charles Dickens would approve of the pleasing Muppet adaptation of his classic tale, starring Michael Caine as Scrooge.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, 1989
Unbelievably, Chevy Chase’s Christmas flick hasn’t been cancelled yet, so give the un-PC movie a re-run while you can.
Love Actually, 2003
We all love a sugar-overload at Christmas and Richard Curtis’ Love Actually is tradition. Emma Thompson’s heartbreak still gets us, every time.
The Polar Express, 2004
Don’t lose your ticket – it’s a Christmas requirement you climb aboard this Tom Hanks’ extravaganza, every December.
NB: Die Hard is not included on this list, because it is not a Christmas movie.
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