The 10 Best Christmas Movies On Netflix, Ranked According To IMDb

Even with recent acclaimed films like The Power of the Dog, The Irishman, and Marriage Story, Netflix hasn’t had a great batting average with their original movies. However, the streaming service is shockingly consistent when it comes to their holiday content.

Subscribers will only find one Christmas classic on the platform, but there are so many really good to great original festive films. Between a unique spin on Santa, a visually stunning Christmas musical, and a hand-drawn soon-to-be classic, there are tons of great Christmas movies waiting to be unearthed on the streaming platform.

10 The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020) – 6.0

After the huge success of the first movie, The Christmas Chronicles 2 brings the magical cheer and Christmas spirit that viewers loved about the original. The movie sees Kate reunite with Santa to help stop Belsnickel, a rogue elf, from canceling Christmas.

Unfortunately, it appears to be a case of diminishing returns, as there was much less fanfare around the sequel and the gags didn’t land half as well as those of its predecessor. But Kurt Russell was born to play Santa, as he still brings so much charisma to the character with his warmth, charisma, gravelly voice, and all-around laid-back vibe.

9 Holidate (2020) – 6.1

Netflix’s roster of original holiday films wouldn’t be complete without a schmaltzy rom-com, and Holidate is that token movie. The 2020 flick follows two single strangers who agree to be each other’s plus-ones to any events they’re invited to all year round, only to end up falling for each other.

The movie was overwhelmingly negatively received by critics because it has a Hallmark Christmas movie feel to it. And despite its reception and lukewarm IMDb score, it’s still one of Netflix’s biggest successes. According to Variety, it was one of the most-watched straight-to-streaming movies of 2020 and was viewed by 68 million households.

8 A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011) – 6.3

When the simple stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle was released back in 2004, nobody would have ever thought that the series would develop so much that it reached 3D festive movies. Though it sounds like a novelty and that they were trying to capitalize on 3D when it was overwhelmingly popular, it actually works and makes for some of the funniest visual gags in the series.

As the series is so invested in irreverent humor and each movie is a very black comedy, the 2011 holiday flick is no different, as it follows the two get entangled in mob feuds and Harold accidentally shoots Santa in the face. The franchise may not even be finished yet, as there could be a Neil Patrick Harris spin-off.

7 Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Story (2020) – 6.5

Another Netflix original movie, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Story is different from most of its contemporaries. Not only is the film a fantasy full of some of the most interesting visual effects in the genre, but it’s a musical too. The story follows a toymaker and his granddaughter who are at war with the toymaker’s evil apprentice.

Jingle Jangle is full of sentient toys and magical inventions. And where most movies’ visual effects are digital these days, there are a surprising amount of mechanical practical effects, which gives off that old-school Christmas movie feeling.

6 Just Another Christmas (2020) – 6.7

There aren’t many foreign Christmas movies that become popular in the US, but this 2020 Brazilian movie is full of great gags and Christmas cheer.

Just Another Christmas is a little derivative of many other movies, most notably Groundhog Day, as it follows a man who hates Christmas getting stuck in a time loop during the festive season. It’s fairly predictable too, as he, of course, learns the true meaning of Christmas while stuck in the loops. But it’s hugely entertaining, and the over-the-top slapstick comedy and time loop hijinks never get old.

5 A Boy Called Christmas (2021) – 6.8

Being less than a month old, A Boy Called Christmas is Netflix’s latest attempt at crafting a classic Christmas movie, and it actually comes pretty close. With origin movies being all the rage right now with the likes of Cruella and Joker, the Netflix movie tells the origin of Father Christmas himself.

As a young boy, Nikolas is sent to search for the legendary village of Elfhelm, and when he eventually finds it, he is inspired to create Christmas Day. It’s a schmaltzy movie with tons of heart, and the scenes in Elfhelm are so colorful and visually stunning.

4 The Christmas Chronicles (2018) – 7.0

When two kids try to capture Santa Claus on tape in The Christmas Chronicles, they get more than they bargained for when they need to help him deliver all of his presents on time. It’s familiar of tons of other Christmas movies, most obviously Elf, but there’s so much to love about this 2018 movie.

Santa is obviously the star of the show in the movie, and he’s depicted unlike ever before, being cool and full of pop culture references — it turns out that Santa is a fan of Star Wars! And the way he gets himself into pickles, like getting arrested, makes for some classic scenes.

3 Shaun The Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas (2021) – 7.4

Almost out of nowhere, just like Puss in Boots being the more successful than the first Shrek movie, Shaun the Sheep started out as a spin-off of the beloved Wallace & Gromit series, but it grew into its own beast. The quirky sheep got its own theatrical movie, it’s a successful TV show, and now, there’s a new Christmas special, which is even better than the film.

The claymation sheep is one of the best Aardman characters, so the new Christmas-based release is a nice surprise for fans, despite the Netflix exclusive only being 30 minutes. Even though it’s more of a short film, as 1982’s The Snowman is classed as a classic Christmas movie despite being 25 minutes, thus The Flight Before Christmas fits the bill too.

2 White Christmas (1954) – 7.6

Of all the decades-old Christmas movies, White Christmas is unfairly overlooked and lives in the shadow of the likes of It’s a Wonderful Life. The movie also has a similar narrative to The Bishop’s Wife, one of the oldest Christmas movies of all time.

In The Bishop’s Wife, the titular character and her husband must raise money to save their church, and in White Christmas, a song-and-dance group and sister act team up to save a failing inn. There’s no movie more full of Christmas cheer than when the luminous and exciting musical numbers are happening in White Christmas.

1 Klaus (2019) – 8.2

Roma, The Irishman, Marriage Story, and any other critically acclaimed and award-nominated movies might be rated highly, but in terms of IMDb scores, Klaus is the best Netflix original movie. Of all the movies exclusive to the platform, it’s amazing that a kids’ Christmas movie is the highest-rated.

It isn’t because Netflix doesn’t have any great original films, but it’s a testament to just how phenomenal Klaus is. The movie follows a postman who is sent to work in the North Pole after proving to be terrible at his job, only to befriend the mysterious titular toymaker. It’s a unique spin on the age-old tale of Father Christmas, it’s hilarious, heartwarming, and the detailed hand-drawn animation is something that is rarely seen these days.