The moment Christmas became a bankable movie genre, a debate was born over what qualifies as a true "Christmas movie." While obvious festive classics are typical viewing around this time of year with friends or family, there's always that one uncle who wants an excuse to watch a Shane Black action flick or a loner teenager trying to sneak in Tim Burton's twisted vision of the holidays.
Everyone has a different definition of what a Christmas movie is, and if you're looking for movie recommendations that don't hit the cheesy holiday genre too hard, then you're in luck! Highlighting the best of those in between, Collider celebrates the season with some of the most fun non-traditional Christmas movies that warm our hearts.
Meet Me in St Louis (1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis follows the Smith family from 1903 to 1904’s World’s Fair by dividing chapters of their life into seasons, with each vignette showcasing a different tale in the family’s dynamic. Because the film’s climax includes Judy Garland’s famous premiere of the song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” the film could almost be grouped into Christmas canon. But the majority of the film’s short stories take place during the summer and fall, from a sunbathed (and iconic) trolley ride to a harrowing Halloween sequence that stands out much more than the Christmas scenes — Garland’s voice notwithstanding. Containing the perfect dash of sweet Christmas cheer without being sickeningly festive, Meet Me in St. Louis is a perfect classic to watch year-round.
Gremlins (1984)
One subgenre under the Christmas cinema umbrella is the holiday horror flick. Although Anna and the Apocalypse, Black Christmas, and Krampus could all fit the bill, the best of these bordering the moderate Christmas movie is Gremlins. Perhaps the most carol-soaked film on this list, the very premise of Gremlins concerns a present gone amok. The holiday season is just another bit of modern civilization for the creatures to wreck and satirize, whether it be destroying a Christmas tree or mimicking carolers. The gleeful destruction of and mocking of western civilization becomes especially poignant during December. Plus, Phoebe Cates gives one of the funniest monologues of all time about why she hates Christmas, which is just another reason why the holiday setting of Gremlins works.
Die Hard (1988)
If you clicked on this article, you knew this would be here. Who doesn’t love Die Hard? The action flick takes some notes (and its title) from screenwriter Shane Black, who will have later entries on this list. Similar to Lethal Weapon and his other movies, Die Hard highlights the disgruntled solitude of its main character by contrasting him with holiday revelry. Outside the fact that he literally saves Christmas, John McClane (played by Bruce Willis in career-defining role) and company have riffs on the season for jokes about Santa Claus and Clement Clarke Moore: “Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.”
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
While plenty of the movies on this list explore loneliness surrounding Christmas, none so directly appeals to the outsider mentality than Edward Scissorhands from the filmmaking king of the loners himself, Tim Burton. While the first two acts of the film take place during brightly lit sunny days in an idyllic American town, the film’s climax isolates Edward (Johnny Depp) from the townspeople and turns the landscape cold and unwelcoming. Of this list’s movies, Edward Scissorhands uses the Christmas themes of spirituality, family, and love the least, focusing its aesthetic and a bit of what goodwill toward men really looks like. But through the eyes of both Edward and his only friend Kim (Winona Ryder), Edward Scissorhands still remains appealing at this time of year to fulfill a niche — the sort-of-Christmas movie for those people who truly don’t like Christmas for pointing out how apart it makes them.
Batman Returns (1992)
Burton returned to the Christmas well for another film about crazy outsiders with unique (albeit pale as a standard) outsiders trying to break into the arms of acceptance around Christmas. Whether stepped on by civilization literally, as Danny Devito’s Penguin is (or figuratively), as is the case for Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman — or being worshiped by it but never being a part of, as Michael Keaton’s Batman does. The oddballs have no place basking at society’s hearth. Gotham’s mistreatment of their weirdos becomes amplified under the Christmas tree, as does the Penguin and Batman’s surreal otherness. Batman Returns keeps Christmas at the back of its audience’s mind as a reminder that the less fortunate may just be outside your frosted window.
Little Women (1994)
While Greta Gerwig’s version is currently more fashionable, this Little Women better demonstrates, best of any on this list, how to use the sentimentality of Christmas as a sprinkle rather than a main dish. Because the story uses a Meet Me in St. Louis-like vignette structure, the festive scenes nearly split the film in half, giving the characters moments to reflect upon all that has happened to them, and unite one more time before everything in their life changes. Christmas obviously aids reflection, but Little Women goes further by acknowledging its power to mark time and remind us that the new beginnings for what we desire means harsh endings for that which we have.
You've Got Mail (1998)
If you haven’t picked up a pattern yet for this Collider list, it should be noted how the sort-of-Christmas movies often revel in making their protagonist someone who doesn’t have two friends to rub together and make a party. The protagonists of Nora Ephron’s directorial opus You’ve Got Mail — inspired by the charming 1940 Ernst Lubitsch film starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, The Shop Around the Corner — may be a gem to celebrate with family and friends, but the narrative uses sequences set around the holidays to showcase how hollow their individual partnerships seem. There’s a terrible feeling of looking out at the snowy landscape and wishing that someone special was there. Although its holiday scenes are merely a garnish, You’ve Got Mail is one of the greatest romantic comedies about longing and love that will may make you want to go full Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) and eat it as the main course this season — much to a disgruntled Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan), of course.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
None use the color palette, the lighting, and the textures of Christmas as well as Stanley Kubrick in the dreamy scenes of Eyes Wide Shut. Because so much of the thematic focus of the film is on how our subconscious reveals our inner reality, creating a Kafkaesque vision of New York City for Tom Cruise’s befuddled doctor to flash his credentials in, is an essential device in the film’s festive appeal. Kubrick litters every scene with Christmas lights and sparkling decorations that create the effect of making the viewer feel as if anything could be around the corner in this cold dreamy environment. While this is definitely a strong contender for the best film on this list, think twice before putting it on during the holidays as moments between Cruise and his character’s wife (Nicole Kidman) may bring up some awkward conversations between you and your partner. Our advice? Best not to be near any open fires.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Although the Christmas section of this film runs a mere three minutes and 22 seconds, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has been afflicted with the A Christmas Story effect — a plethora of television reruns and “Harry Potter weekends” have ensured the whole series become a classic Watchathon during the holidays. When compared to others in the Potter franchise and its number of holiday-heavy scenes, this film in particular uses the setting particularly well as Harry discovers he has a new family to celebrate with while the arrival of a mysterious gift picks at his desire for his old one.
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Although there are only a few holiday decorations and only one carol (“Christmastime Is Here” sung by the Peanuts gang) in the film, Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums is an ideal modern Christmas movie. While pre-Home Alone films may have focused more on the idea of Christmas as a spiritual renewal of faith (see It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, or any of the many adaptations of A Christmas Carol), the modern Christmas movie is more likely to deal with all those annoying people you love barging into your house and demanding eggnog. The Royal Tenenbaums executes this precisely by showcasing how a family’s individual issues can intersect, overlap, and resolve through coming together and hashing things out. Additionally, the score is littered with sleigh bells and choral riffs, so that the secret Anderson fan putting it on in the background definitely won’t break anyone’s cheer.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Unlike the general aura of Christmas that permeates most of these movies, director Steven Spielberg uses the holiday in Catch Me If You Can as a scalpel, putting a button on how much protagonist Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo Dicaprio) is cut off from a normal life by literally having him look in on a holiday setting that would make Norman Rockwell puke. The film also makes a plotpoint out of annual Christmas Eve phone calls between Abagnale and Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) as the former evades capture by the latter, highlighting their cat-and-mouse obsession with one another as their only source of comfort around this time of year. Their ideal Christmas present isn’t even evasion or capture, but the thrill of the continuing chase. A stunning employment by Spielberg makes this an amazing sort-of-Christmas staple.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
This list would have been incomplete without at least a couple entries from action writer/director Shane Black, the master of sort-of-Christmas cheer. Almost all of his films feature at least a hint of the holidays, from the tree light-lit action of Lethal Weapon to the very brief shot of a donation collecting Santa Claus in The Nice Guys. The comedy detective story of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a prime example of how Black utilizes Christmas to tie a film together. The red and green parties, garish debauchery, and snowy excess of the season overwhelm the main characters (played by Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer doing some of their best work) in the dirt brown snow of the town they live in. It also adds a new toy for the comedy, which reminds audiences that comfort and joy surround this hyperviolence.
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Black and RDJ return to the holidays again for our second superhero entry. This time, Black focuses on Christmas as a way to showcase Tony Stark’s loneliness. Since the season is all about spending time with the people one loves, the Avenger's isolation stands out. His failings in Christmas traditions, namely giving gifts and spending time with loved ones, demonstrate his failures as a person. The visual clutter of the season helps place us in the headspace of an anxiety-stricken Tony Stark as he tries to literally make it home for Christmas with Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) and save the world along the way. Iron Man 3 is a masterclass in how a sprinkle of snow and Christmas lights can either help to make a season bright, or remind us of the darkness of shadows.