by JENNA SERVIZZI - January 15, 2021 - From the classics to modern day fairytales, check out this list of some Netflix's best holiday movies to bring you a little cheer and comfort during the wintry season.
Let It Snow (2019)
Cast: Kiernan Shipka (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Mitchell Hope (Descendants), Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man Homecoming), and more
Rated PG-13
Let It Snow follows three different friendship duos as they navigate through the holiday season. A guy in love with his best friend, two sister-like friends at odds over a guy, and a Christmas skeptic who runs into a celebrity on a train. A small town gets hit by a snow storm in this movie set in the holiday season that changes everything for these friends. This funny and heart-warming film is an ingenious example of real friendship and of what teenagers might experience from jealousy to fights with friends. It might be fictional, but Let It Snow is about as real as a holiday movie can get.
White Christmas (1954)
Cast: Bing Crosby (Holiday Inn), Danny Kaye (The Danny Kaye Show), Vera-Ellen (Call Me Madam), and more
Not Rated
White Christmas is about as classic as you can get when it comes to holiday movies and it has something for everyone whether you’re a fan of musicals with a little drama or old-fashioned comedies. Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) are retired World War II veterans turned musical and performing icons. A trip to Florida introduces the duo to the Haynes sisters (Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney) who become their travel partners on a holiday trip to Vermont following a slight mishap involving an angry Florida landlord. Upon arriving at the ski lodge in Vermont the quartet meet a former Major General (Dean Jagger) who is down on his luck. Together, Wallace and Davis embark on a journey filled with dramatic dance numbers and a romantic scheme to bring life back into the little Vermont lodge.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Cast: Jim Carrey (Dumb and Dumber), Taylor Momsen (Gossip Girl), Christine Baranski (Mamma Mia), and more
Rated PG
In a town brimming with Christmas cheer and a reclusive Grinch (Jim Carrey), what could possibly go wrong? One little girl’s (Taylor Momsen) well-intended invitation to the fearsome inhabitant of the mountain that overlooks the town of Whoville sparks the beginning of a wild and wacky Christmas celebration. In a disastrous turn of events fueled by past incidents accompanied by continual mocking, the Grinch plots and schemes to steal Christmas from the Whos he seems to loathe. But he soon realizes that maybe Christmas is a little bit more than what he thinks. It’s a modern classic about the power of friendship and understanding that things aren’t always what they seem.
The Princess Switch & The Princess Switch: Switched Again (2018/2020)
Cast: Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical), Sam Palladio (Nashville), Nick Sagar (Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments), and more
Rated PG
A Chicago baker competing at a baking contest in Belgravia and the Duchess of Montenaro who is set to marry the Prince of Belgravia (both played by Vanessa Hudgens) may seem like they have nothing in common but strikingly similar appearances might change it all. A plot just before the royal wedding changes the fate of these two strangers. New relationships and friendships are formed over the course of the first movie. The second movie follows Stacey and Margaret as they adjust to their new lives which are threatened with upheaval at the arrival of the Duchess’ cousin who is known for her wild side. When nothing seems to be going right a little love and a little switching make it all seem okay.
A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish (2019)
Cast: Laura Marano (Austin & Ally), Gregg Sulkin (Wizards of Waverly Place), Isabella Gomez (One Day at a Time), and more
Rated PG
This holiday twist on a classic fairytale is magical and is one of several retellings of Cinderella. Kat Decker (Laura Marano) is working as a performing elf at Santa’s village when she meets the hot new Santa (Gregg Sulkin). The only problem? They wouldn’t recognize each other out of costume. The story has all of the most recognizable elements of Cinderella complete with the wicked step-family and an extravagant celebration. Kat’s dreams are on the line as her stepmother plots to sabotage her opportunity to finally meet the person under the Santa costume. But a little belief and maybe a song or two can make Christmas wishes come true.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)
Cast: Forest Whitaker (Black Panther), Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele), Anika Noni Rose (The Princess and the Frog), and more
Rated PG
This holiday film is all about rediscovering a long lost joy. An ingenious toymaker, Jeronicus Jangle (Forest Whitaker), suffers a treacherous betrayal at the hands of his apprentice Gustafson (Keegan-Michael Key) and his world falls apart. Years later a bright young girl full of light and belief steps into his dark, gloomy world. A colorful, musical adventure to recover a stolen invention brings together a team of unlikely heroes set on bringing the magic back to a hardened old man. This movie is a wonderful and whimsical representation about believing not only in the magic of the world, but in yourself as well.
The Holiday Calendar (2018)
Cast: Kat Graham (The Vampire Diaries), Quincy Brown (Star), Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us), and more
Rated PG
The Holiday Calendar follows Abby, an aspiring photographer (Kay Graham), on a Christmas adventure with a magical antique advent calendar. She thinks she’s going crazy when the calendar appears to predict the events happening in her love life. But when her relationship goes south she starts to doubt the magic behind the calendar, until she realizes that maybe she had it wrong all along. Heartbreak and an argument with her best friend (Quincy Jones) leads to a downward spiral, but a school charity auction helps her to realize her dream and proves that Christmas miracles just might be real.
A Christmas Prince (2017)
Cast: Rose McIver (iZombie), Ben Lamb (Divergent), Theo Delaney (Once Upon a Time in London), and more
Rated PG
A seemingly elusive prince (Ben Lamb) who is rumored to be abdicating the throne leads journalist-hopeful Amber Moore (Rose McIver) to the small country of Aldovia. But when things take a turn, Amber takes drastic measures to stay in the castle and do some detective investigation into the royal family. Her undercover work leads to the discovery of one of the family’s biggest secrets that could turn everything upside down. Throw a scheming, devious cousin and a scorned, past lover into the mix and who knows what will happen. A Christmas Prince is accompanied by two other films; A Christmas Prince: Royal Wedding and A Christmas Prince: Royal Baby.
Holidate (2020)
Cast: Emma Roberts (Scream Queens), Luke Bracey (Hacksaw Ridge), Kristin Chenoweth (Descendants), and more
Rated R
Holidate is not your traditional romantic holiday movie, but is a year-long adventure that takes place over the course of numerous different holidays from a wild New Year’s Eve party to an explosive Fourth of July party. Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey) are constantly subject to terrible dates on holidays, and Christmas is no exception. A run-in at the mall leads to an agreement between the two that leads to a series of wild encounters. With Sloane’s meddling family and Jackson’s nosey best friend, there’s no telling where the two will end up by next Christmas. Holidate is comedic and heartwarming and proves that holiday dates don’t have to go wrong.