The Best Christmas Movies On Netflix 2023

With Christmas just around the corner, there’s nothing better than cosying up on the sofa, watching feel-good films with a hot chocotini (or two), to get you in the festive mood. Take refuge from the dark cold nights and binge-watch the best Christmas films on Netflix right now. From romantic classics to brand-new festive themed flicks – we have you covered.  

Best Christmas Films On Netflix 2023

The Holiday

Is this the best Christmas film ever made? We think so. Starring Cameron Diaz and Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Jack Black, this star-studded is split between sunny LA and cosy Surrey, and is wholesome, charming and heart-warmingly romantic. Plus, if you’re a cottagecore fan, the cute Surrey village is a standout performer with bags of charm sprinkled like snow on the narrow roads – and here’s how to visit.

(L to R) Brandy Norwood as Jackie, Madison Validum as Beatrix, Heather Graham as Charlotte in Best. Christmas. Ever! © Scott Everett White/Netflix 2023.

Best. Christmas. Ever!

New for 2023 and starring Heather Graham, Brandy Norwood, Jason Biggs and Matt Cedeño as two couples bought together in the festive season, this Netflix original Christmas film is top of our watchlist. Every Christmas, Jackie (Norwood) sends a boastful holiday newsletter that makes her old college friend Charlotte (Graham) feel like a lump of coal. But when a twist of fate lands Charlotte and her family on Jackie’s doorstep just days before Christmas, Charlotte seizes the opportunity to prove Jackie’s life can’t really be that perfect.

© Netflix

Christmas As Usual

If you’re looking for some fabulous foreign festive films to enjoy this Christmas, Netflix is bringing a brand new Norwegian-Bollywood mash up to the table. It’s a classic concept: a woman brings her boyfriend home for the festive season to meet the parents properly. But let’s take the culture clash up a notch: Thea and her family hail from Norway, while her boyfriend is from India. As Thea strives to make him fit in over the holidays, her family’s life-long traditions are bent this way and that as vibrant Bollywood and ice-cold Norwegian winter merge.

Falling For Christmas. (L to R) Aliana Lohan as Bianca, Lindsay Lohan as Sierra, Chase Ramsey as Terry in Falling For Christmas. Cr. Scott Everett White/Netflix © 2022.

Falling For Christmas

Lindsay Lohan’s first flick as part of her new multi-picture deal with Netflix came out just in time for Christmas 2022. Cheese and Lohan fans, this one’s for you – if you don’t identify with either of those categories, maybe skip this one. Falling for Christmas follows Sierra, a spoiled heiress who bumps her head in a skiing accident, leading her to lose her memory. Discovered in the snow by Jake (Chord Overstreet), a local lodge owner, with no name or address, she stays in his accommodation until her memory returns.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

This festive family-friendly classic has landed on Netflix for Christmas 2023, following Dr Seuss’ notorious people-hating fiend, the Grinch. Annoyed at his noisy neighbours’ festivities, the grouchy Grinch decides to steal Christmas so he can have some piece and quiet, sneaking into the Whos’ homes and stealing their presents, food and decorations. When a young girl named Cindy Lou Who shows him compassion, will it be enough to change his mind?

Haley Lu Richardson as Hadley Sullivan and Ben Hardy as Oliver Jones in Love at First Sight. Rob Baker Ashton/Netflix © 2023

Love At First Sight

New on the scene for 2023, this heartwarming rom-com is backdropped by festive London in the run-up to the big day – so it’s perfect if you’re looking for festive vibes without the stereotypical Christmas cringe. Based on Jennifer E Smith’s best-selling novel The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and produced by the team behind the To All The Boys franchise, we follow Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson) and Oliver (Ben Hardy), two youngsters who serendipitously meet in an airport and sit next to eachother on their flight to London, and slowly fall in love in the process. Narrated by Jameela Jamil, it’s heartwarming and whimsical and, best of all, a humble 90 minutes long.

(L to R) Brady Noon as Wyatt, Jennifer Garner as Jess, Lincoln Alex Sykes and Theodore Brian Sykes as Baby Miles, Ed Helms as Bill and Emma Myers as CC, in Family Switch. Elizabeth Morris/Netflix © 2023.

Family Switch

Another newbie for Christmas 2023, Jennifer Garner returns to body swap comedy almost 20 years after 13 Going On 30 in Family Switch. Here she plays Jess Walker who, along with her husband Bill, is grappling to keep her family connected as their children grow older, more independent and more distant – especially as the festive season hurtles towards them. When a chance encounter with an astrological reader causes the family to wake up to a full body switch, on the morning of the most important day of each of their lives, can the Walkers unite to land a promotion, college interview, record deal and soccer tryout?

Steve Dietl/Netflix

Holidate

Another Netflix original Christmas movie, Holidate was released in 2020, and is a great festive film for rom-com lovers who aren’t always on board with the Christmas cringe. Emma Roberts plays Sloane, a young woman pressured by her family about her non-existent love life during the holidays. Inspired by her wild aunt (Kristen Chenoweth), Sloane agrees to be Australian actor Luke Bracey’s ‘holidate’ – a partner you bring along to family-filled events during the holidays (but without any romance or potential future).

Christmas With You. (L-R) Aimee Garcia as Angelina, Freddie Prinze Jr as Miguel in Christmas With You. Cr. Jessica Kourkounis/Netflix © 2022.

Christmas With You

A newbie in 2022, Christmas With You follows Angelina, a pop star looking to escape her day-to-day life – and it’s available to watch on Netflix for another year this Christmas. When she decides to grant a young fan’s wish in a small New York town, she finds new inspiration to revitalise her career but also, of course, a shot at true love.

Michael Gibson/Netflix

The Christmas Chronicles

An American Christmas comedy directed by Clay Kaytis, with Kurt Russell starring as Santa Claus himself, The Christmas Chronicles is a tale of two siblings, Kate and Teddy Piece, who plan to catch Father Christmas on camera but end up on an unexpected journey filled with plenty of twists and turns along the way. There’s also a second instalment, The Christmas Chronicles 2, so you can binge-watch to your heart’s content.

Netflix

Klaus

Klaus is a Netflix original festive film that was nominated for an Academy Award and won a BAFTA for Best Animated Film – and it’s easy to see why. Klaus is a modern twist on the classic story of Santa Claus, featuring Jesper the selfish postman who works on a lonely island near the Arctic Circle, and who sparks an unlikely friendship with a mysterious toymaker, Klaus. Together they attempt to melt an age-old feud and bring joy to the miserable town of Smeerensburg.

Netflix

The Princess Switch

When it comes to Christmas films on Netflix, though it is as cheesy as the synopsis suggests, The Princess Switch is at the top of our guilty pleasures list. Starring Vanessa Hudgens who plays the role of Stacey (a gifted baker who is trying to make a name for herself) and also her doppelgänger Lady Margaret Delacourt Dutchess of Montenaro. After bumping into each other accidentally, the pair swap lives, with Stacey falling for the irresistible Prince Edward of Belgravia, while the Princess falling for Stacey’s best friend Kevin. What could possibly go wrong? There’s two follow-up films – Switched Again and Romancing the Star – so cosy down and get watching.

(c) Netflix

A Christmas Prince

Taking place in the same universe as The Princess Switch is another Netflix original festive flick, A Christmas Prince (along with its sequels The Royal Wedding and The Royal Baby). The first instalment follows Amber, a budding young journalist who is lucky enough to sent abroad  to Aldovia (a fictional European country qua The Princess Diaries) to get the scoop on a young prince poised to be king.

The Knight Before Christmas (L-R) Josh Whitehouse and Vanessa Hudgens (c) Netflix/Brooke Palmer.

The Knight Before Christmas

Who knew Vanessa Hudgens was the queen of Christmas films? In The Knight Before Christmas, she plays Brooke, a disillusioned teacher who meets Sir Cole, a medieval knight who has been transported to the present day. If you can’t place Sir Cole, you might recognise him from playing a very different role in Prime Video’s 2023 series, Daisy Jones & The Six. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Ilze Kitshoff/Netflix

Holiday In The Wild

A heart-warming Christmas rom-com starring Sex and the City’s Kristen Davis, who is brutally jilted by her husband right before their second honeymoon. Embarking on a solo safari to Africa, Kate finds a potential romance with an elephant conservationist (Rob Lowe). A sunny alternative to the usual festive romance.

Ali Goldstein/Netflix

A Very Murray Christmas

Fans of Bill Murray are in luck, with his variety Christmas show special that features cameos from Sofia Coppola, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Miley Cyrus, George Clooney and many more. Packed with songs and surrealist comedy, the festive film sees Murray meeting the wide range of A-List celebrities while trapped in New York City’s Carlyle Hotel during a winter snowstorm. An alternative option for those who prefer the less-traditional Christmas movies.