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The best Christmas movies to watch on Netflix
They are as reliable as twinkling shop windows, the city’s Christmas trees or Mariah Carey’s festive hit. Each year, Christmas movies and especially TV holiday programs are making their big comeback and taking over our screens starting in November, bringing with them a wave of eggnog and tartan blankets. Numéro has selected the best Netflix movies to watch, while avoiding the overdose.
By Violaine Schütz,
and Alexandre Chevarin.
My Secret Santa with the star of Virgin River
Netflix sees the big picture and brings together stars from two hit series in a single Christmas movie – the irresistible Alexandra Breckenridge from Virgin River and Ryan Eggold from New Amsterdam. While all the usual clichés ingredients are there, the plot does manage to break new ground. The story follows a single mother and former rock band singer, who tries to land a job to pay for her daughter’s ski lessons. Disguised as a man, she ends up working as a Santa Claus at a ski resort. Things quickly become complicated when the boss’s son falls for both her… and Santa, who gives him precious pieces of advice.
My Secret Santa (2025) by Mike Rohl, available on Netflix.
Champagne Problems with Minka Kelly
As usual, Netflix has released plenty of Christmas films for the holiday season, including A Merry Little Ex-Mas starring Alicia Silverstone and Jingle Bell Heist. But our favorite so far is Champagne Problems, which unfolds like an episode of Emily in Paris. Its charm lies primarily in its cast. The lead role is played by the irresistible Minka Kelly (Euphoria, A New Life in Ransom Canyon).
The latter portrays a young American executive sent to Paris by her company to acquire a prestigious champagne house before Christmas. But in a bookstore, she falls for a handsome Frenchman, who turns out to be the heir of the firm. Light and sparkling, like a glass of champagne, the film revels in romcom stereotypes, but it is impossible to resist the flirty scenes at the Tuileries Christmas market, or in a charming Parisian bookstore.
Champagne Problems (2025) by Mark Steven Johnson, available on Netflix.
Our Little Secret, a Netflix Christmas movie starring Lindsay Lohan
After the charming Netflix releases Irish Wish (2024) and Falling for Christmas (2022), American actress Lindsay Lohan is back once again on the streaming giant’s platform. In Our Little Secret (2024), the star dives back into the romcom genre as a young woman named Avery. She stars alongside Ian Harding (Ford v Ferrari) and Kristin Chenoweth known for her role in Wicked on Broadway – in this festive film.
Her mission? Win over her future in-laws, whom she is meeting for the first time during the holiday season. A gathering that’s bound to be awkward, since her ex has also been invited to the family reunion… Will the former lovers rekindle their flame? Find out on Netflix.
Our Little Secret (2024) by Stephen Herek, available on Netflix.
Best. Christmas. Ever! with Brandy
Netflix is overflowing with Christmas features, and there is one for everyone. From a snowman turned human (Hot Frosty) to Chad Michael Murray playing a stripper in The Merry Gentlemen, not to forget a hunt for concert tickets (Meet Me Next Christmas). Among the latest additions to the platform is the feel-good comedy titled Best. Christmas. Ever!.
The pitch? A twist of fate brings together the very different families of two college friends for Christmas. Jealousy, rivalry, lifestyle clashes… All quickly swept aside by the warm sentimentality that makes Christmas films so appealing. The real draw here is the cast, made up of familiar faces from the big and small screen, and even from the music charts. Singer and actress Brandy, actor Jason Biggs (American Pie), and actress Heather Graham (Twin Peaks, Boogie Nights).
Best. Christmas. Ever! (2023) by Mary Lambert, available on Netflix.
Father Christmas Is Back with Elizabeth Hurley
There are several good reasons to love Father Christmas Is Back, one of Netflix’s holiday season releases from 2021. First, for Elizabeth Hurley, still as radiant as she was in the 1990s on the red carpet in her infamous, sexy Versace dress, and for John Cleese (Monty Python). But also for its touching and funny story about four very different sisters whose estranged father reappears to stir up trouble in their magnificent ancestral manor.
Father Christmas Is Back (2021) by Philippe Martinez and Mick Davis, available on Netflix.
Love Hard starring Nina Dobrev
In Love Hard (2021), we follow the misadventures of Natalie, played by Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries), a Los Angeles journalist used to disastrous romantic dates. She decides to travel across the country to spend Christmas with Josh, the man of her dreams whom she met on a dating app. Once there, Natalie realizes that Josh – shy and overshadowed by his overachieving brother – has been using someone else’s identity. While the budding friendship between Natalie and Josh may initially raise doubts, this romcom is firmly rooted in today’s dating experiences and ultimately defies the genre’s clichés with an unexpected twist.
Love Hard (2021) by Hernán Jiménez, available on Netflix.
Single All the Way with Jennifer Coolidge
Among mischievous family gatherings, a boyfriend with a double-life, and a charming best friend, Single All the Way (2021) brings together all the key ingredients of a heartwarming gay Christmas romcom. This Netflix production is both funny and moving. Peter, a recently single man, decides to lie to his family.
Why? Because he can’t bear the thought of showing up for the holidays alone. So he comes up with a brilliant idea – inviting his best friend, Nick, to act as his boyfriend. A convenient lie that gradually blurs the line between pretense and genuine feelings. The cast also features the excellent Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus) in the role of a delightfully eccentric aunt.
Single All the Way (2021) by Michael Mayer, available on Netflix.
A Castle for Christmas with Brooke Shields
The 1980s icon Brooke Shields, Drew Barrymore making a cameo, a majestic old castle, a group of friends who love to knit, soapy Christmas carols, and a grumpy, yet sexy duke… A Castle for Christmas, available on Netflix since 2021, is as festive and endearing as it can get. The story follows an American writer going through a rough patch, who decides to buy a castle in Scotland, only to fall for its owner. The plot is far from groundbreaking, but the film goes down as smoothly as a good mulled wine.
A Castle for Christmas (2021) by Mary Lambert, available on Netflix.
Holidate starring Emma Roberts
How do you adapt a Christmas film to match the Tinder era? In the modern romantic comedy Holidate (2020), Sloane (the irresistible Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey) both hate the big festive events that everyone else seems to love. But after meeting at a disastrous Christmas event, the two singletons agree to be each other’s “holidates”, or platonic plus-ones, for all upcoming holidays. Naturally, their feelings grow less and less platonic, much to the viewer’s delight.
Holidate (2020) by John Whitesell, available on Netflix.
Happiest Season with Kristen Stewart
Netflix and other platforms are often criticized for the soapy nature of their holiday films. Happiest Season (2020) breaks that mold by offering a queer take on the festive season. The film follows a couple, portrayed by the talented Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis, as they navigate a pivotal moment in their relationship.
One of them plans to propose during the family’s Christmas dinner. But she soon discovers that her partner hasn’t yet come out to her conservative parents. A series of emotional twists and turns then comes up…
Happiest Season (2020) by Clea DuVall, available on Netflix.
A Very Murray Christmas starring Miley Cyrus
Directed by Sofia Coppola, A Very Murray Christmas features a down-and-out Bill Murray playing his own role. As a snowstorm shuts down New York, he panics over the lack of celebrity guests for his Christmas TV special. Burlesque and peppered with musical interludes, the film’s appeal lies in its impressive lineup of guests. That include Miley Cyrus, Chris Rock, George Clooney and Rashida Jones. The highlight? A surprise performance by Phoenix in a restaurant.
A Very Murray Christmas (2015) by Sofia Coppola, available on Netflix.
