It’s Christmas Eve… the perfect time to curl up on the sofa, make some hot chocolate and watch cheesy rom-coms – all under the guise of celebrating the festive spirit.
With streaming services including Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video releasing a selection of Christmas films for all ages and TV networks also playing festive favourites, you’re guaranteed to find a film you’ll enjoy watching with your loved ones.
From new releases to festive classics, here’s our list of top 10 Christmas films we think you’ll love watching or re-watching this Christmas Eve.
Let us know which film is your favourite in the comment section.
1: The Holiday
The true mark of a fabulous festive film is that you can watch it time and time again and enjoy it just as much as you did the first time. And for many, The Holiday is the festive rom-com of all Christmas rom-coms.
The film sees two women – who are unlucky in love – swap homes in each other’s countries where they each meet a local guy and fall in love.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video/ Netflix / Hulu
2: Last Holiday
After being misdiagnosed, an American small-town supermarket worker quits her job and jets off for a dream holiday in Europe, taking up a residence in a swanky spa town. The film stars Queen Latifah and Gerard Depardieu.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video (rent/ buy)
3: The Christmas Chronicles
Hoping to capture Santa Claus on camera, siblings Kate and Teddy end up embarking on a rollercoaster journey with Saint Nick to save the holiday in time. There’s also The Christmas Chronicles 2 which was released in 2020.
Where to watch: Netflix
4: Love Hard
If you’ve already re-watched all your festive films, why not give this new romantic comedy a try? The 2021 film tells the story of a young woman who travels to her online crush’s hometown for Christmas, but discovers she’s been catfished.
Where to watch: Netflix
5: It’s A Wonderful Life
Often considered one of the best Christmas films ever made, It’s A Wonderful Life is about a family man who’s brought back from the brink of suicide by an angel.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
6: Home Alone
You must have seen this one coming – but for many, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without re-watching Home Alone. It famously took filmmaker John Hughes only nine days to write the first draft of the screenplay for Home Alone.
Where to watch: Disney+
7: The Bishop’s Wife
Struggling to raise money for a new church, Bishop Henry Brougham beseeches heaven for guidance and is visited by someone who claims to be an angel.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
8: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
Jack Skellington, who’s from a town where every day is Halloween, discovers Christmas Town and is immediately enchanted by it… but his obsession with Christmas leads him to abduct Santa Claus.
Where to watch: Disney+
9: Love Actually
Hugh Grant, Emma Thomson, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Kiera Knightley, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighty, Rowan Atkinson and many others star in this festive classic. It’s worth re-watching just for Hugh Grant’s dance scene.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video/ Netflix
10: Die Hard
There’s an ongoing debate about whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas film. It takes place at a Christmas party and there are a number of festive references, but the film was released in summer. Let us know if you think we should count Die Hard as a Christmas film.
Where to watch: Disney+, Amazon Prime (rent/ buy)