Like many streaming platforms, Prime Video is a genre-spanning hub of movie titles. When the festive season comes around, the Christmas genre reaches the fore with both classic tales and new entries showing up on the home page. The choice can be overwhelming, which isn’t exactly conducive to just sticking something great on and getting back to chomping some Christmas choc on the couch. So, if you’re ho-ho-hoping to find a truly great Christmas movie to watch right now, then we’ve picked out eight of the best on Prime Video just for you.
With a Prime Video subscription, you get a whole lot of movies for free, but there are many more movies on the service available to rent or buy individually – for this list we’ve populated only it with top titles that are included in the price of your subscription. No need to pay extra. There may be Scrooges on our list, but we’re not one of them.
Don't forget we've got more of the best Prime Video movies of the non-Christmas genres, as well as our guide to the best Prime Video shows.
Scrooged (1988)
Runtime: 101 mins
Director: Richard Donner
Age rating: PG-13
First up, an exceptional retelling of the classic Charles Dickens tale, A Christmas Carol, – something there has been an abundance of over the years, admittedly. In Scrooged, Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is a TV exec hellbent on putting on the best Christmas spectacle in order to get great ratings. Entirely driven by greed, he berates his employees, puts pressure on the actors, and channels the real Ebenezer Scrooge vibe to everyone he meets.
That is, until, in true Christmas Carol fashion, he’s visited by the three ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. As a PG-13, the ghosts in this twisted tale are a little bit creepy, especially when you compare them to the likes of A Muppet Christmas Carol on Disney Plus. [Ed's note: well, maybe you didn't find the Muppet Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come creepy…]. That's before we get to Carol Kane’s sadistic fairy as the Ghost of Christmas Present, who is full to the brim with humor and savagery. It’s a truly heart-warming movie that will get you firmly in a festive mood for the holiday season.
The Holiday (2006)
Runtime: 136 mins
Director: Nancy Meyers
Age rating: PG-13
It’s easy to drown in Christmas rom-com choices given how excellent a combination the festive spirit and finding love is. There have been a few standout movies over the years, one of which is the whimsical, funny, and uplifting The Holiday. With an all-star cast including Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jack Black, and Jude Law, it’s rom-com at its finest during the most wonderful time of the year.
Iris (Winslet) is unhappy in love. Hung up on her callous ex-boyfriend, who just so happens to be her coworker, she signs up for a holiday home swap from her cozy cottage in the English countryside. Simultaneously, Amanda (Diaz) is a hotshot movie trailer producer who finds out her boyfriend has cheated on her. So, she signs up too from her mansion in Los Angeles. And thus, an exchange is agreed.
It may not shock you to find that both women find a lot more on their holidays than just the opportunity to get away. As soon as they settle into each other’s lives, they embark on tales of romance, self-discovery, and slowly realizing what’s possible when you just take a break.
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Runtime: 104 mins
Director: Ron Howard
Age rating: PG
Dr. Seuss is the man responsible for bringing the Grinch, aka the Christmas hater, into the world. What better way to explore his dreadful ways from the famed kid’s Christmas book than by watching the 2000 live-action film. The Grinch (Jim Carrey) despises Christmas. Stuck living outside the town of Whoville, he wants to make sure that the festive season is ruined for everyone who lives there, and the best way to do that, he decides, is to steal it.
While the premise is seemingly full of revenge and misery, a little girl called Cindy Lou may well change his mind. Warning: watching this might make your heart grow by three sizes.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Runtime: 130 mins
Director: Frank Capra
Age rating: PG
George Bailey (James Stewart) is a man who sacrifices his own personal gain to help others. But, when it gets to Christmas Eve, he feels let down by life and the hand he’s been dealt, which drives him to consider jumping off a snowy bridge. That is, until an angel visits him to show him exactly what the world would be like without him. What ensues is a demonstration of the impact one man’s generosity can have on so many people’s lives. It’s a Wonderful Life will absolutely leave you feeling warm and fuzzy during the holiday season and hug your loved ones that little bit tighter.
Jack Frost (1998)
Runtime: 101 mins
Director: Troy Miller
Age rating: PG
Once upon a time, there was Jack Frost (Michael Keaton), who lived a wonderful life with his wife and son, Charlie. When tragedy strikes, his son plays the magical harmonica his father gave him with the hopes that there was truth behind what his father said about it bringing him back. In the true magic of Christmas, Jack Frost becomes the snowman that Charlie built outside their home and has one last chance to connect with his son and spend quality time with him.
Jack Frost shows how much fun you can have with a living snowman, let alone the fact it’s actually your dad. Even in the darkest of times, a wry smile across his soft snowy face will warm up your soul.
Daddy’s Home 2 (2015)
Runtime: 96 mins
Director: Sean Anders
Age rating: PG-13
In the sequel to Daddy’s Home, Brad (Will Ferrell) and Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) have figured out the new family dynamic between Brad as the step-dad and Dusty as the biological father of their two kids. To throw in another curve ball to test their new-found friendship, their respective dads are coming to town for Christmas. Those dads are John Lithgow and Mel Gibson to throw even more stellar cast names into the list.
The rivalry reignites all over again, although this time backlit by glittering fairy lights, a descent into a raucous nativity play, and all the foibles of bringing all kinds of family together during the holiday season. As they so rightly put it: more daddies, more problems.
Deck the Halls (2006)
Runtime: 93 mins
Director: John Whitesell
Age rating: PG
Deck the Halls may not have performed too well in the box office upon release, but it’s become a bit of a light-hearted festive staple for many. That is, as long as you take it as a bit of good fun.
Steve (Matthew Broderick) is a traditional Christmas celebrator. Tasteful lights just so, advent calendars strictly adhered to, and all in the name of formal fun. His neighbor Buddy (Danny DeVito), on the other hand, wants to go all out. After realizing his house can’t be seen from space, Buddy sets out on a mission to cover his house with as many lights as possible. With such different minds on the same street they become utterly embroiled in a festive grapple over what Christmas should be. Lots of funny moments and some big cast names fronting it, it’s classic Christmas fun with, much to Buddy’s delight, as many lights as possible.
Your Christmas or Mine? (2022)
Runtime: 95 mins
Director: Jim O’Hanlon
Age rating: PG-13
A positively British flick, Amazon Original Your Christmas or Mine? follows how a young couple’s plans to surprise each other for Christmas goes wrong. It turns out though, it may be just right. James (Asa Butterfield) and Hayley (Cora Kirk) make a last-minute decision to spend Christmas together. Only problem is, they haven’t told each other their plans and so they end up swapping families for the holidays when classic snowy weather has them staying put.
The twisty plot full of whimsy shows James and Hayley what it’s like to live in the other’s shoes and discover a little about themselves at the same time. Full of wonderful British humor, there’s tongue-in-cheek moments and wit a’plenty. Your Christmas or Mine? is clearly considered a top festive movie as it got a sequel on Prime Video in 2023.
