After months of waiting, Christmastime is here. Now that the presents have been opened and the feast has been devoured, these next few weeks are a great chance to sit down and watch movies on Netflix. From new releases to well-known hits, Netflix offers thousands of movies to keep you occupied for the holidays.
To help narrow your selection, we picked movies on Netflix to watch after Christmas. Some of these films are set during the holiday season. Other films are currently some of the most popular movies on Netflix. Regardless, there should be at least one film on this list that piques your interest.
La La Land (2016)
A new year is a chance for a fresh start. It’s a time to dream big and go after your goals. No film in the last 10 years captures what it’s like to chase a dream more than La La Land, Damien Chazelle’s Oscar-winning musical starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.
Mia (Stone) is a struggling actress who works as a barista to make ends meet. Sebastian wants to make jazz great again, but he’s forced to play Christmas songs at cocktail lounges and I Ran at pool parties. Naturally, these two dreamers gravitate toward one another and fall in love. When life’s challenges worsen, Mia and Sebastian must choose between love for one another or a chance at greatness. La La Land is a bittersweet story about romance and perseverance that you must witness before heading into 2024.
Stream La La Land on Netflix.
Midnight at the Magnolia (2020)
The countdown to New Year’s Eve is on. There’s no requirement about partaking in a New Year’s kiss, however, a midnight kiss between Maggie (Natalie Hall) and Jack (Evan Williams) in Midnight at the Magnolia could be the difference between fame and obscurity. Maggie and Jack are two childhood friends who host a local radio show in Chicago. Their fathers own The Magnolia, a struggling jazz club. The duo frequently hand out dating advice over the air to callers who need help. Due to their innate chemistry and rising popularity, the show has a chance at national syndication.
To secure a big radio deal, Maggie and Jack agree to host a New Year’s Eve show at The Magnolia, where they will each bring their significant others. However, both hosts are dumped, leaving them without a date. Desperate to keep their hopes of syndication alive, Maggie and Jack pretend to be a couple to garner interest and promise to kiss when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve at The Magnolia. However, the charade becomes reality, forcing the pair to reevaluate their friendship.
Stream Midnight at the Magnolia on Netflix.
Maestro (2023)
One of Netflix’s new arrivals in December is Maestro, a biopic about world-renowned composer Leonard Bernstein starring Bradley Cooper. The film focuses on Bernstein’s complicated relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), over 30 years. Cooper steps behind the camera for the second time in his career to direct Maestro from a script he co-wrote with Josh Singer.
A Star Is Born was not a flash in the pan for Cooper as a director. If you have any doubts about Cooper as a filmmaker, they will quickly be erased after watching Maestro. With two films on his résumé, Cooper is a fearless and ambitious director with a clear vision of what he wants to depict on-screen and how he wants to frame it. Make no mistake, Cooper will direct films for the rest of his career.
Stream Maestro on Netflix.
Leave the World Behind (2023)
There’s always one Netflix movie that captures the attention of theinternet at the end of the year. In 2018, it was Bird Box. In 2021, it was Don’t Look Up. There’s a chance Sam Esmail’s Leave the World Behind becomes the next divisive film to dominate pop culture over the holiday break.
Based on Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel, Leave the World Behind stars Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke as Amanda and Clay Sandford, a married couple who retreat to a Long Island rental house with her two children for a vacation. That night, two strangers, G.H. Scott (Mahershala Ali) and Ruth Scott (Myha’la), show up and claim they own the house. The Scotts also bring news of a blackout in New York City, which explains why the Sandfords’ technological devices have not been working. To avoid spoilers, we’ll leave it at that because this film takes off in directions you’ll never predict.
Stream Leave the World Behind on Netflix.
Holidate (2020)
Are you the person who never brings a plus-one to a major event? Are you judged when arriving at someone’s house without a significant other? If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, you’ll appreciate Holidate, Netflix’s rom-com starring Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey.
Sloane (Roberts) and Jackson (Bracey) are the “single friends” at every holiday. From Christmas and New Year’s to Valentine’s Day and Thanksgiving, Sloane and Jackson are tired of being looked down upon by others for being alone. After a chance meeting, Jackson proposes that he and Sloane should date around the holidays to avoid the awkwardness when they’re around other people. Their first holiday is New Year’s Eve, and due to the arrangement’s success, the duo links up for future holidays during the year. Everything is easy until someone gets feelings.
Stream Holidate on Netflix.
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