| Marisa LaScala |
For some families, the Christmas season begins the minute the Thanksgiving plates are cleared — and some start even earlier. That means the time is about right to start planning on the Christmas movie marathon and figuring out which ones will make your to-watch list this year. (Just remember that, after making the list, you have to check it twice!)
But while Christmas is a nostalgic time, and tradition dictates you watch your favorites year after year, there are some new Christmas movies for 2023 vying for a spot in your schedule. Whether you’re looking for a funny Christmas movie, a Christmas rom-com, a Christmas movie to watch with the kids or — gasp — even a Christmas horror movie, these are the ones you could check out.
Some have big names in them, like Eddie Murphy or Melissa McCarthy. Others will be available to stream right away, then there are a few that require a trip to the theater. Some are “naughty,” others are “nice.” All of them will give you a dose of Christmas cheer.
More From Good Housekeeping
Looking for more great Christmas movies? Check out these Good Housekeeping guides:
Lifetime Christmas Movies 2023 | Hallmark Christmas Movies 2023 | The Best Christmas Movies of All-Time
The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday
Anyone who enjoyed 2022’s The Bad Guys will be excited to learn that there’s more adventures to be had with Mr. Wolf, Mr. Shark, Mr. Snake, Mr. Piranha and Ms. Tarantula. This 25-minute special takes place before they had their big change of heart and decided to go good, during a time when they thought Christmas was the perfect opportunity to plan their break-ins. But when they holiday is threatened, will they actually try to save Christmas instead? It comes to Netflix on November 30.
Best. Christmas. Ever!
This Netflix movie is for anyone who’s had holiday envy — which is basically everyone. Heather Graham and Brandy Norwood star as Charlotte and Jackie, two friends from college. From the sound of her holiday letters, Jackie’s life seems perfect — and Charlotte is feeling the nip of the green-eyed monster about it. When the who families decide to spend the holidays together at Jackie’s house, Charlotte is determined to prove that Jackie’s life isn’t what it seems — and may ruin Christmas in the process.
Candy Cane Lane
Eddie Murphy stars in this Amazon original, based around a classic Christmas-movie trope: the mad desire to have the best decorations on the block. This time, in order to win the neighborhood contest for best-dressed house, a dad signs a deal with an elf that he doesn’t quite understand. Later, he’s shocked to realize that he may have signed his life away (literally), and the elf is prepared to use the magic of the 12 Days of Christmas to make sure he honors his bargain. It comes to Prime Video on November 30.
A Christmas Frequency
For those in the mood for love this holiday season, this movie follows a radio host named Brooke (Denise Richards) and her assistant, Kenzie (Ansley Gordon). When Brooke’s marriage collapses, the show’s ratings go down, so Kenzie comes up with a plan to boost audience numbers by setting Brooke up on a series of on-air blind dates. But when Brooke stars favoring a guy Kenzie had her eye on for herself, things get complicated.
The Claus Family 3
If your family enjoyed the Netflix-by-way-of-Belgium imports The Claus Family and The Claus Family 2, now there’s a third installment. The franchise begins when a holiday-hating teen learns that he is, in fact, related to the big man in the North Pole. In this one, the yearly gift delivery goes awry, and the kids have to help out Grandpa Noël before it’s too late.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever
Fans of the Wimpy Kid book series — and what kid isn’t? — can watch a new, full-length animated adaptation of Greg Heffley’s misfortunes. This time, Greg’s holiday takes a turn for the worse when he gets snowed in with his family over vacation, and he has to learn how to survive the cabin fever. It comes to Disney+ on December 8.
Dashing Through the Snow
In this Disney+ original, Christmas-hating dad named Eddie (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) and his holiday-loving daughter are together on Christmas Eve — and, if that weren’t bad enough, a man crashes through their chimney claiming to be “Nicholas Sinterklaas” (Lil Rel Howery). Nick swears that bad people are after his Naughty and Nice lists, but can he convince Eddie he deserves their help — and maybe get Eddie to start believing in holiday magic again?
EXmas
Ali (Leighton Meester) and Graham (Robbie Amell) are ex-fiancés in this Freevee original, and, while Ali doesn’t really miss Graham, she does miss spending time with his family. When Graham says he can’t go home for Christmas, Ali makes a plan to spend the holiday with his folks instead — and when Graham unexpectedly shows up, Ali refuses to leave. It becomes a test of wills to see who stays and who goes.
Family Switch
It’s time for a good, old-fashioned, family-body-switching comedy! This Netflix movie, directed by Charlie’s Angels‘s McG, stars Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms, Emma Myers and Brady Noon as a family feeling overwhelmed in the run-up to Christmas. Of course, that disconnected vibe activates some magic from an astrologer, and they wake up to find that parents and children have swapped bodies on a day that they all have big, important plans, like a college interview or a shot at a promotion. It’s based on the book Bedtime For Mommy by Amy Krouse-Rosenthal, and it comes to Netflix November 30.
Genie
Melissa McCarthy plays the titular genie, and in this Peacock movie she’s summoned by Bernard (Paapa Essiedu), a man who’s lost his job and is on the verge of losing his family as well. Ostensibly, the wishes can help him get his life back on track — but it might be more fun just watching the genie’s fish-out-of-water antics instead. The movie was written by Richard Curtis, who wrote and directed another Christmas classic, Love, Actually.
How the Gringo Stole Christmas
Meet-the-parents movies are another staple sub-genre of Christmas movies. In this one, George Lopez plays a father who’s shocked when his daughter brings her boyfriend home for Christmas — and he’s white. It’ll be in theaters, on demand and on digital on December 1.
It’s a Wonderful Knife
Every year, there’s another entry into the Christmas horror subgenre. This year’s is a gruesome take on It’s a Wonderful Life: A girl defeats a serial killer that was plaguing her hometown on Christmas, only to find that, the next year, everyone has moved on but her. When she wonders if everyone would be better off if she’d never been born, she’s whisked into a reality where she doesn’t exist — and the killer is still on the loose. It’s in theaters now, but it’ll come to Shudder on December 1.
Merry Little Batman
Super heroes need a little Christmas cheer, too — and so do their kids. In this full-length animated movie, when Batman is off fighting crime on Christmas Eve, his son — Damian Wayne — uncovers a plot by Gotham villains to steal Christmas. Damian has to find out if he can handle some crime-fighting on his own. Mike Roth of Regular Show directs, and the animation is done in his zany style. It comes to Prime Video on December 8.
The Naughty Nine
Move over, Ocean’s 11 — here comes The Naughty Nine. When a group of naughty kids realize that Santa (Danny Glover!) didn’t bring them anything for Christmas, they plan a heist to take their presents by force. It’s on Disney+, but premiered on The Disney Channel on November 22 and will also have encore showings there.
Silent Night
The Christmas movie for people who don’t like Christmas movies — this one is a gory revenge thriller with nary a Santa or elf in sight. When a man (played by Joel Kinnaman) watches his son murdered on Christmas Eve, he goes after the gang that did the killing. The gimmick? They try to stay true to the “silent” part of the title, and most of the movie is without dialogue. The movie was directed by action legend John Woo, who also made Face/Off, Hard Target and Mission:Impossible 2. But to see it, you have to head to theaters — this one is not yet available for streaming.
The Velveteen Rabbit
For the young ones, this 40-minute special might be just what they need. It tells the classic tale of a stuffed rabbit that wants to become real through a mix of live-action and animation, and it has a voice cast full of favorites like Helena Bonham-Carter, Nicola Coughlan, Alex Lawther, Paterson Joseph, Clive Rowe and Bethany Antonia.