To quote a notorious line from a James Bond movie, “Christmas comes but once a year.” Since that’s the case, you better have something fun planned, or the holidays can quickly turn sour. You could watch a football game or go to the movie theater, but why bother with all that hassle when Netflix is just sitting right there?
The streamer has plenty of movies available, especially Christmas-themed ones. But the following list doesn’t include such recent films as Hot Frosty or The Merry Gentlemen. Instead, these five movies are all guaranteed crowd-pleasers, even if they don’t explicitly involve the holiday.
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Carry-On (2024)
Sometimes, you need to get your action on during Christmas. To heck with those cheesy rom-coms and family movies: I want to see stuff get blown up real good. Well, Netflix has you covered this year as the streamer just made the perfect action-thriller that will satisfy all those die-hard Die Hard fans: Carry-On.
In this tense thriller, young TSA officer Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) has a lot on his mind. His co-worker and girlfriend, Nora (Sofia Carson), is pregnant. He doesn’t much like his thankless job. And this Christmas, he has a passenger who has one specific request: turn a blind eye as a suspicious package, which is most likely a bomb, is loaded onto a boarding plane. If he doesn’t do as he’s told, Nora will be killed.
That’s quite a predicament, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone except my grade school bully. (Because honestly, to heck with him, too.) It’s also a great setup for an action movie, which the director, Jaume Collet-Serra, milks for all it’s worth. Egerton is a fine everyman hero, and Jason Bateman makes a surprisingly scary villain.
Carry-On is streaming on Netflix.
The Miracle Club (2023)
Some say Christmas is the time of miracles. If that’s the case, then it’s only appropriate to watch The Miracle Club right about now. Haven’t heard of it? The movie received a muted release here in the U.S. and is now known for Maggie Smith’s final screen role. The film, though, is a low-key charmer, with a cast that also includes Kathy Bates, Laura Linney, and Stephen Rea.
Lily (Smith), Eileen (Bates), and Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) form a band called the Miracles to win a musical contest held by the Catholic Church. The prize? A trip to Lourdes, a Catholic shrine in France. Each woman has their own reason for wanting to take the trip. For Lily, it’s always been her dream to go there, while Eileen hopes the trip might cure the lump in her breast. Dolly has a mute son, so she’s banking on the location’s saintly designation to somehow make him speak again.
It’s all an excuse for the women to travel together, reveal intimate secrets no one else knows, and learn valuable life lessons along the way. The Miracle Club doesn’t offer any surprises, but it does have several talented actresses sporting thick Irish accents and plenty of middle-aged attitude. Best of all is, of course, Smith, who was one of the great insult queens to have lived. With one withering look and curt drop of a phrase, she could make a grown man cry. She will be missed.
The Miracle Club is streaming on Netflix.
Single All the Way (2021)
This list had to include one unabashedly cheesy Christmas movie, and Single All the Way is it. Why? Well, it hits all the sweet spots. A hackneyed story about two best friends who realize they love each other? Check? A scenic small New England town in which the love story takes place? Check. Scene-stealing turns from older female character actors like Kathy Najimy, Schitt’s Creek‘s Jennifer Robertson, and the indomitable Jennifer Coolidge? Check. It’s sugary fluff, but what else would you want to watch around Christmas? Schindler’s List?
When Peter, a stressed-out Los Angeles social media strategist, finds out his boyfriend is actually married, he decides to go back to his family’s snow-covered home in New Hampshire. He takes his best friend, Nick, along with him, and as his family tries to set him up with the local hunk, Peter realizes he has romantic feelings for his longtime bestie. Will he work up the courage to take a chance on Nick? Or will he lose his nerve and go back to L.A. with someone he doesn’t really love?
Single All the Way is streaming on Netflix.
The Prince of Egypt (1998)
I have no idea why, but when Christmas rolls around each year, I get the urge to watch an animated movie or two. The Prince of Egypt is always at the top of my list. For starters, it’s a gorgeously animated movie that tells the story of Mosesand how he was given up by his mother for a better life and raised by an adopted family who just so happens to be the rulers of Egypt. It’s also a Biblical tale that isn’t preachy, and prioritizes the unforgettable story of how Moses heard the voice of God and led his followers to salvation.
In addition, the voice cast is impressive, with Val Kilmer as Moses, Conclave‘s Ralph Fiennes as his vengeful adopted brother Rameses, Michelle Pfeiffer as Moses’s wife Tzipporah, Sandra Bullock as Miriam, Patrick Stewart as Seti, Wicked‘s Jeff Goldblum as Aaron, and many more. Finally, The Prince of Egypt boasts an epic score by Hans Zimmer and an Oscar-nominated tune, When You Believe. Come for the animated locusts and plagues, stay for the still-impressive parting of the Red Sea.
The Prince of Egypt is streaming on Netflix.
Bridesmaids (2011)
Bridesmaids has nothing to do with Christmas; I don’t think there’s single snowflake, Santa Claus hat, or mention of the holiday. But damn, it’s a funny movie, and sometimes, you need to laugh. And Christmas calls for laughter since it can be a pretty stressful time of the year.
If you haven’t seen Bridesmaids yet, here’s the 411: Annie (Kristen Wiig) isn’t having the best time in her life. Her bakery closed down, she’s living with a brother and sister who may or may not be sleeping together, she has a dead-end job at a jewelry store, and her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph) is about to get married. You’d think that last one would be cause for joy, but all it does for Annie is remind her that her life sucks compared with that of Lillian’s rich new friend, Helen (Rose Byrne).
Bridesmaids’ laughs largely stem from Annie’s attempt to outdo her new rival and impress her fellow bridesmaids, Megan (Melissa McCarthy), Rita (Wendy McLendon-Covey), and Becca (Ellie Kemper). To highlight just one joke in Bridesmaids is a fool’s errand as there are just too many of them; instead, just watch the above sequence set on a plane when Annie mixes a sleeping pill with alcohol. That alone should get you through the holiday.
Bridesmaids is streaming on Netflix.
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