For as much as I enjoy watching great Christmas movies, my annual cinematic traditions might be a little different from yours. For instance, my personal favorite Christmas movie is Die Hard, which is widely regarded as the greatest action movie of all time but only considered by some (save star Bruce Willis himself) to be a genuine holiday film even though it takes place on Christmas Eve.
As far as I am concerned, that is the only requirement necessary to determine if a film is worthy of holiday viewing, and furthermore, I believe movies that do not depend on seasonal tropes or even involve the holiday as a main focal point are some of the most entertaining Christmas movies ever. Perhaps you might find yourself adopting a new tradition when you take a look at these movies (most of which are available on some of the best streaming services to subscribe to) that are anything but traditional but still deserve to be considered Christmas movies for one reason or another.
The Holiday (2006)
Director: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black
What it’s about: Looking to get away from their respective romantic troubles for the holidays, an L.A. movie trailer editor and an English journalist agree to trade homes.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: Also one of the best movies on Amazon Prime at the moment, The Holiday is one of the best romantic-comedy movies that just barely pays any reference to the fact that it is set during the Christmas season.
How to watch The Holiday
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Director: Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan
What it’s about: After accidentally walking into a detective movie audition and winning the role, a thief is sent to L.A. to shadow a private investigator for research.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: The modern film noir classic Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – inspired by Brett Halliday’s novel Bodies Are Where You Find Them – is one of several films on this list of “sort of” Christmas movies from filmmaker Shane Black.
How to watch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Inside (2007)
Director: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Starring: Alysson Paradis, Béatrice Dalle
What it’s about: A pregnant widow becomes embroiled in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a mysterious woman who has broken into her home on Christmas Eve.
Why it's one of the best Christmas Horror Movies: One of the most brutal entries to the French New Extremity movement, Inside should also be recognized as a holiday classic as it involves a woman who wants to give herself the ultimate holiday gift (the main character’s unborn child) by any means necessary.
How to watch Inside
Die Hard (1988)
Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
What it’s about: New York cop John McClane must single-handedly take on a gang of deadly European thieves when they take over an L.A. high-rise on the night of his estranged wife’s company Christmas party.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: If you disregard the violence, excessive language, and brief nudity, we can easily settle the debate over Die Hard being a Christmas movie by its use of classic holiday tunes, romance, and concluding “snowfall.”
How to watch Die Hard
The Ice Harvest (2005)
Director: Harold Ramis
Starring: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen
What it’s about: Looking to run away with a beautiful strip club manager after embezzling millions from a local mobster, Kansas lawyer Charlie Arglist’s unusual holiday plans get ruined by his partner in crime, his drinking buddy, and some suspicious cops.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: Another crime thriller about a man whose plan to spend Christmas Eve with the woman he loves is interrupted by violence is the underrated dark comedy, The Ice Harvest.
How to watch The Ice Harvest
Shazam! (2019)
Director: David F. Sandberg
Starring: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Mark Strong
What it’s about: A teenager looks for help from his superhero-obsessed foster brother when he is granted powers that temporarily turn him into a grown-up costumed vigilante.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: One of a few great superhero movies set around Christmas is the equally funny and exciting Shazam!, which ends with an exhilarating battle at a public holiday celebration.
How to watch Shazam!
Love Actually (2003)
Director: Richard Curtis
Starring: Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney
What it’s about: A collection of interwoven love stories set in London around Christmastime.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: Despite some subject matter that feels more suited for Valentine’s Day, Love Actually is a charming anthology-style rom-com that has become a holiday season tradition for many (save some of its own cast members, however).
How to watch Love Actually
Just Friends (2005)
Director: Roger Kumble
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Chris Klein
What it’s about: A music executive is forced to re-confront his unrequited love for his childhood friend while visiting his hometown.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: Just Friends is another rom-com that happens to take place during Christmas but takes advantage of its holiday setting in many key moments, such as when a vengeful Samantha James turns a decorative display into an elaborate death trap for a group of carolers.
How to watch Just Friends
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman
What it’s about: A man’s curious participation in a bizarre and erotic masquerade ends up putting him and his family in danger.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: No Stanely Kubrick movie screams holiday cheer quite like his final film, Eyes Wide Shut, considering how its inciting incident takes place at a Christmas party and William and Alice Harford are seen holiday shopping with their daughter near the end.
How to watch Eyes Wide Shut
- Stream Eyes Wide Shut on Paramount+
- Rent or buy Eyes Wide Shut on Amazon
- Buy Eyes Wide Shut on Blu-ray on Amazon
Batman Returns (1992)
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer
What it’s about: Bruce Wayne struggles to focus on investigating a bird-like politician when he finds himself falling for a woman who dresses like a cat at night.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: One of the most unique live-action Batman movies, Batman Returns, is full of seasonal references – including Batman and Catwoman’s “kiss” under the mistletoe, Penguin releasing his goons in a giant green box with a red bow, and the snow that always covers Gotham City.
How to watch Batman Returns
- Stream Batman Returns on Max
- Rent or buy Batman Returns on Amazon
- Buy Batman Returns on Blu-ray on Amazon
Black Christmas (1974)
Director: Bob Clark
Starring: Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder
What it’s about: A group of college students spending their winter break in a sorority house are stalked by a murderous stranger.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: One of the first and most definitive Christmas horror movies, Black Christmas, comes from a filmmaker who certainly knows a thing or two about the holiday as he would later helm A Christmas Story.
How to watch Black Christmas
- Stream Black Christmas on Amazon Prime
- Stream Black Christmas on Tubi
- Stream Black Christmas on Peacock
- Buy Black Christmas on Blu-ray on Amazon
Gremlins (1984)
Director: Joe Dante
Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates
What it’s about: A young man accidentally breaks three important rules that come with his new Christmas gift – a unique, furry creature called a Mogwai – putting his entire town in danger.
Why it's one of the best Christmas Horror Movies: From executive producer Steven Spielberg and writer Chris Columbus, Gremlins may be PG but it is a pretty terrifying and funny creature feature with more green and red than some Christmas lovers may be able to handle.
How to watch Gremlins
Home Alone (1992)
Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O’Hara
What it’s about: A 10-year-old must single-handedly protect his home from a pair of thieves he is accidentally abandoned by his vacationing family around the holidays.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: Home Alone (which bears a plot eerily similar to Die Hard) is an undisputed Christmas classic, despite a plot that does not necessarily require its holiday setting, as the McCallisters could have taken their Paris vacation in the summer, for instance.
How to watch Home Alone
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Director: Frank Capra
Starring: Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Henry Travers
What it’s about: On one disastrous Christmas Eve, a businessman and family man is shown by his guardian angel an alternate reality in which he had never been born.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: It’s a Wonderful Life is another cinematic Christmas tradition that has no real practical use for its holiday setting but it does make its timeless themes of self-worth especially powerful.
How to watch It’s a Wonderful Life
- Stream It’s a Wonderful Life on Amazon Prime
- Stream It’s a Wonderful Life on Plex
- Buy It’s a Wonderful Life on Blu-ray on Amazon
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Director: Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle
What it’s about: Tony Stark suffers an identity crisis around Christmastime as he takes on his most threatening enemy yet.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: Even Disney+ agrees that Iron Man 3 is a Christmas movie, as evidenced by Stark becoming stuck in a more wintry setting and, of course, Shane Black at the helm.
How to watch Iron Man 3
Lethal Weapon (1987)
Director: Richard Donner
Starring: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover
What it’s about: Thrown together as partners, a veteran LA detective and a younger loose cannon set aside their differences to catch a gang of drug smugglers in time for Christmas.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: Written by Shane Black, Lethal Weapon is a buddy cop movie favorite that, like Die Hard, producer Joel Silver fought to assure it would become a Christmas movie classic.
How to watch Lethal Weapon
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
Director: Renny Harlin
Starring: Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson
What it’s about: When her past as a government assassin begins to surface, an amnesia-stricken suburban mother teams up with a detective to fight off her old enemies.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: Written by Shane Black, The Long Kiss Goodnight is another action thriller that checks plenty of Christmas movie boxes, such as a holiday parade and a main character suffering an identity crisis around the season, much like It’s A Wonderful Life and Iron Man 3.
How to watch The Long Kiss Goodnight
- Stream The Long Kiss Goodnight on Paramount+
- Rent or buy The Long Kiss Goodnight on Amazon
- Buy The Long Kiss Goodnight on Blu-ray on Amazon
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Director: Henry Sellick
Starring: Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara
What it’s about: After discovering a world engulfed by the spirit of Christmas, a man from a world engulfed by the spirit of Halloween tries to introduce its traditions to his fellow citizens, inadvertently threatening the sanctity of the season.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: From producer Tim Burton, stop-motion classic The Nightmare Before Christmas is an undeniable holiday classic that is also a perfect horror movie for kids to watch on Halloween… or any time of the year.
How to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Stream The Nightmare Before Christmas on Disney+
- Rent or buy The Nightmare Before Christmas on Amazon
- Buy The Nightmare Before Christmas on Blu-ray on Amazon
The Ref (1994)
Director: Ted Demme
Starring: Denis Leary, Judy Davis, Kevin Spacey
What it’s about: Abandoned by his partner during a Christmas Eve crime spree, a burglar randomly takes a married couple hostage in their home, acting as the reluctant moderator to their incessant bickering.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: Released in March, The Ref is the kind of Christmas movie that trades joyful spirits for bitter cynicism, while managing to be boldly hilarious all the way through.
How to watch The Ref
Trading Places (1983)
Director: John Landis
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Lee Curtis
What it’s about: A stockbroker and a poor street hustler take a walk in each other’s shoes, unwittingly being used as pawns in a wager between two billionaire brothers.
Why it is a great non-traditional Christmas movie: One of the best riches-to-rags movies (which also counts as a rags-to-riches movie) is Trading Places, which reaches the peak of its holiday appeal when Dan Aykroyd’s Louis Winthorpe eats a stolen fish through his dirty Santa beard in front of disgusted city bus passengers.
How to watch Trading Places
Unless you still have your reservations over whether or not you can confidently call these films Christmas movies, perhaps you have some refreshing prospects to add to your traditional holiday viewing. To that I say, you are welcome and Happy Holidays!
