Best Underrated Christmas Movies (2026)
December 18, 2021 | Film Chop
Christmas is almost upon us and with it comes a plethora of holiday movies, decorations, and music to spread the Christmas spirit. However, as much as we all love the Christmas classics such as A Christmas Story, Home Alone, and Elf, sometimes we crave a fresh movie to watch for the holiday. A movie that has similar quality and tone to the classics, but a whole new storyline. In this blog post, we have compiled the 10 most underrated Christmas movies that you can add to your holiday movie watchlist.
10 Most Underrated Christmas Movies
10. The Best Man Holiday
The Best Man Holiday is a sequel to The Best Man, which was released in 1999. Both movies created by Malcolm D. Lee, The Best Man movies have an ensemble cast of Morris Chestnut, Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Regina Hall, and Terrance Howard. The Best Man holiday is about college friends who reunite after 15 years over the Christmas holidays and discover just how easy it is for long-forgotten relationships to be reignited. The movie is full of comedy as well as drama and for fans of the cast, it’s easily enjoyable.
Where To Watch The Best Man Holiday
9. The Preacher’s Wife
The Preacher’s Wife is a remake of The Bishop’s Wife from 1947, which was based on a novel with the same name. Originally, the story was about an angel who is sent to help a Bishop and his wife raise money for a church. In The Preacher’s Wife, the story is about an angel who is supposed to help a pastor over his midlife crisis, but gets distracted by the cleric’s lovely young wife. Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston’s dynamic chemistry on-screen together and Houston’s powerful singing voice make The Preacher’s Wife a Christmas movie to remember.
Where To Watch The Preacher’s Wife
8. The Family Man
Nicolas Cage is one of the most entertaining actors of the current era. He can give performances that range from lovable hero to a deranged criminal. In The Family Man, Cage plays the former. The movie is about a fast-lane investment broker who gets the chance to see how the other half lives when he wakes up to find that his sports car and girlfriend have become a mini-van and wife. The Family Man has a crowd-pleasing story with an emotional core that can win over most audiences.
Where To Watch The Family Man
7. The Christmas Chronicles
We’ve seen Tim Allen as Santa Claus and now Kurt Russell takes up the mantle in The Christmas Chronicles. The movie tells the story of sister and brother, Kate and Teddy Pierce, whose Christmas Eve plan to catch Santa Claus on camera turns into an unexpected journey that most kids could only dream about. Russell gives an endearing performance as Santa and the movie captures the right balance between cheesy and heartfelt. The Christmas Chronicles puts a fresh spin on a Christmas story and Santa Claus in general.
Where To Watch The Christmas Chronicles
6. Little Women
This romantic drama is not inherently a Christmas movie, but the focus on family and the events that take place around Christmas makes it an excellent movie choice to watch around the holidays. Little Women, which was originally a novel, has been adapted into a movie three times with the most recent adaptation directed by Greta Gerwig in 2019. The movie is about Jo March as she reflects back on her life and tells the beloved story of the March sisters – four young women, each determined to live life on her own terms. Gerwig creates a deeper look into the characters and has stellar performances from Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, and Timothée Chalamet.
Where To Watch Little Women
5. The Holiday
Similar to Little Women, The Holiday is not inherently a Christmas movie. Instead, it is a movie that takes place around the holiday season. The Holiday is a romantic comedy that follows two women who are looking to escape their guy problems and swap homes in each other’s countries. With a score from Hans Zimmer and a cast of Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Jude Law, and Cameron Diaz, The Holiday creates an experience beyond any generic romance movie.
Where To Watch The Holiday
4. Get Santa
Santa Claus, in many ways, is the figurehead of Christmas and it’s no surprise that many beloved Christmas movies center around the jolly old man. Get Santa is a movie about Santa and it tells a fresh story that is both hilarious and full of Christmas magic. The movie follows a father and son who team up to save Christmas once they discover that Santa Claus crashed his sleigh and is on the run from the police. Get Santa is entertaining, family-friendly, and worth watching for the unusual premise alone.
Where To Watch Get Santa For Free
3. The Man Who Invented Christmas
We’ve all heard of A Christmas Carol, one of the most famous and influential stories of all time. Well, The Man Who Invented Christmas puts a unique spin on the typical Scrooge narrative and gives us a look into the man behind it, Charles Dickens. The movie tells the story of how Charles Dickens came up with and developed the idea of A Christmas Carol. Although the film is not entirely historically accurate, there are enough accurate details to give viewers a general idea of Dickens’s backstory. The Man Who Invented Christmas is one of the best underrated Christmas movies, as well as an educational film to watch if you want to learn more about arguably the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.
Where To Watch The Man Who Invented Christmas
2. Arthur Christmas
A popular trend with stories centering around Santa Claus is to instead shift the focus on Santa’s family. Arthur Christmas is an animation that focuses on Santa Claus’s children. The animation is about Santa’s clumsy son Arthur who sets out on a mission with Grandsanta to give out a present they misplaced to a young girl in less than two hours. Arthur Christmas is a compelling addition to the Santa Claus lore, where the mantle of Santa is passed down in a family from generation to generation. It also has enthralling characters that are easy to fall in love with.
Where To Watch Arthur’s Christmas
1. Klaus
Klaus tops our list of underrated Christmas movies because it tells a unique new story that has beautiful animation. Klaus brings a comedic adventure that also has a valuable message: A simple act of kindness always sparks another. The animation is about a new postman who befriends a toy-maker when their gifts melt an age-old feud and accidentally brings about the genesis of Santa Claus. Klaus is a recent Christmas release that is weird, complex, and a modern Christmas classic.
Where To Watch Klaus
Different Christmas Movies To Add To Your Watchlist
Christmas is a time where traditions and family are celebrated. Many people like to watch the same movies every year to get into the Christmas spirit. However, even though traditions are important, it’s also sometimes fun to switch things up and watch new movies that you haven’t seen before. We hope these 10 movies give you a new perspective of Christmas and an interesting break from your typical Christmas movie list.
Frequently Asked Questions About Underrated Christmas Movies
What are some underrated Christmas movies that aren’t classics like Home Alone or Elf?
Some great underrated Christmas movies include The Best Man Holiday, The Preacher’s Wife, Christmas with the Kranks, While You Were Sleeping, The Family Stone, The Holiday, Love Actually, Jingle All the Way, Mixed Nuts, and Ernest Saves Christmas. These films offer holiday themes with fresh storylines beyond the traditional classics.
Where can I watch underrated Christmas movies?
Most underrated Christmas movies are available on popular streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+. Some classic underrated films may also be available on free services like Tubi, Pluto TV, or for rental on Amazon, Google Play, or Apple TV.
Are there any non-traditional Christmas movies worth watching?
Yes! Non-traditional Christmas movies like Die Hard, Gremlins, Batman Returns, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang have gained cult status as holiday films. They may not be traditional Christmas movies but they’re set during the holiday season and have become seasonal favorites for many viewers.
What makes a Christmas movie underrated?
An underrated Christmas movie is typically a quality holiday film that didn’t receive the recognition or popularity it deserved upon release. These movies often feature great storytelling, memorable performances, and genuine holiday spirit but were overshadowed by bigger blockbusters or traditional classics like It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story.
Why These Christmas Movies Often Get Overlooked
The holiday movie landscape is dominated by a handful of classics that get replayed every year — It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Home Alone, Elf. These are great films, but familiarity can breed a kind of seasonal fatigue. You know every line, every beat. The movies below have all the heart, humor, and holiday spirit of those classics but haven’t been elevated to the same cultural status — often because they were released by smaller studios, featured ensemble casts rather than one mega-star, or appealed to more niche audiences. They deserve a permanent spot in your rotation.
What makes an underrated Christmas movie? Usually it’s a combination of modest box office returns (not a reflection of quality), limited theatrical distribution, or simply being released in the wrong year. Many of the best Christmas films were passion projects that found their audiences slowly on streaming. This list celebrates those films.
Honorable Mentions: More Underrated Christmas Gems
Klaus (2019)
Netflix’s animated film Klaus is quietly one of the most original Christmas movies in decades. It tells a revisionist origin story of Santa Claus through the lens of a selfish postman assigned to a remote island. The hand-drawn 2D animation (with subtle 3D lighting) is breathtaking, and the story earns every emotional beat it reaches for. Klaus won the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature and yet remains criminally underseen outside of Netflix subscribers. If you haven’t watched it, fix that immediately.
Where to Watch: Netflix
Scrooged (1988)
Bill Murray’s dark comedy take on A Christmas Carol is one of the sharpest holiday films ever made. Murray plays Frank Cross, a callous TV executive who gets visited by three ghosts. The humor is mean-edged in a way that most Christmas movies avoid, and the film’s climax remains one of the most heartfelt in the genre. It’s aged better than most 80s comedies.
Where to Watch: Paramount Plus, Tubi
The Holiday (2006)
Nancy Meyers’ The Holiday is a comfort film elevated by four perfectly cast leads: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jack Black, and Jude Law. Two women swap homes over the holidays and both fall in love with local men. The film is warm, funny, and impeccably produced — Meyers’ homes alone are worth the watch. It has a devoted cult following and consistently lands on “best Christmas rom-com” lists but rarely tops them.
Where to Watch: Netflix, Prime Video
Jack Frost (1998)
Yes, the premise is absurd: a father dies in a car accident and comes back as a snowman. But Michael Keaton’s performance as the reincarnated dad brings surprising warmth to the material, and the film handles grief with more sincerity than you’d expect from a movie where the dad is a snowman. It’s a legitimate tearjerker dressed up in family-friendly clothes.
Where to Watch: Prime Video (rental)
Arthur Christmas (2011)
Aardman’s animated film about Santa Claus’s anxious youngest son is one of the most overlooked Christmas movies of the 2010s. It takes the Santa mythology seriously, building an entire operational infrastructure around global gift delivery, then constructs a heartfelt story about a child who almost gets forgotten. The film is visually inventive and genuinely funny for both kids and adults.
Where to Watch: Netflix
How to Build the Ultimate Underrated Christmas Movie Marathon
The trick to a great Christmas movie marathon is pacing. You want variety in tone — don’t stack four heart-wrenching films back to back. Here’s a sample marathon built from this list and the honorable mentions above:
- Start light: The Christmas Chronicles (family-friendly, sets the holiday mood)
- Get emotional: Klaus or Jack Frost (the tearjerker slot)
- Go classic-comedy: Scrooged or The Family Man
- Finish warm: The Preacher’s Wife or The Holiday
For a single-night watching experience, pair The Best Man Holiday with Girls Trip (holiday theme, similar ensemble energy) for a back-to-back that will have you laughing and crying within 30 minutes of each other.
Frequently Asked Questions: Underrated Christmas Movies
What is the most underrated Christmas movie of all time?
Klaus (2019) is arguably the most underrated Christmas movie of the modern era. The Netflix animated film received widespread critical acclaim, won multiple awards including the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature, but remains significantly less watched than it deserves. Among live-action films, The Preacher’s Wife (1996) starring Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston is one of the most overlooked Christmas classics — its combination of angelic fantasy, gospel music, and genuine emotion puts it on par with the most beloved holiday films.
Are there any underrated Christmas horror movies?
Yes — the Christmas horror subgenre has several underrated entries. Krampus (2015) blends family comedy with genuine scares in a story about the demonic figure who punishes disbelieving children. Black Christmas (1974, the original) is a genuinely terrifying slasher that predates Halloween. Rare Exports: A Finnish Christmas Tale (2010) is a darkly funny Finnish film about archaeologists who unearth the real, monstrous Santa Claus.
What are some underrated Christmas movies for adults?
Adults looking for Christmas movies with more mature themes should check out: The Family Man (Nicolas Cage’s midlife-crisis Christmas story), Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick’s surreal holiday-set psychological thriller), Bad Santa (Billy Bob Thornton’s darkly comedic take on the season), Scrooged (Bill Murray’s irreverent A Christmas Carol), and The Holdovers (2023 — a recent addition that follows a curmudgeonly prep school teacher stuck on campus over the holidays).
What is the highest-rated Christmas movie on Rotten Tomatoes?
Among widely-seen Christmas films, It’s a Wonderful Life holds a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. More recently, Klaus (2019) earned a 96% score. A Christmas Story sits at 89%. Among newer releases, The Holdovers (2023) earned 96% and is widely considered one of the best Christmas films in decades.
What are the best underrated Christmas movies on Netflix?
Netflix has several underrated Christmas originals worth watching: Klaus is a standout animated film that rivals Pixar’s best work. A Christmas Prince trilogy has become a beloved guilty pleasure. The Christmas Chronicles (and its sequel) with Kurt Russell as Santa are genuinely enjoyable family films. Holiday in the Wild and Christmas on the Square (featuring Dolly Parton) are crowd-pleasers that rarely make top lists but consistently entertain.
What’s the difference between a Christmas movie and a holiday movie?
A Christmas movie is specifically set around the Christmas holiday and typically involves themes of family, gift-giving, Santa Claus, or Christian religious traditions. A holiday movie is broader — it encompasses any film set during the holiday season (Thanksgiving through New Year’s), which could include Hanukkah-centric stories like Eight Crazy Nights or general winter celebration films. The debate about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie hinges on this distinction: it’s set at Christmas but isn’t really “about” Christmas.