I contemplated doing my personal ‘Top 10 Holiday Films’ blog this year but now time has started to run thin on the Christmas season and festivities have gotten in the way and I just didn’t feel like I could dedicate the time and thought to compiling such a personally big list like that on such short notice. So, today I decided to still dedicate the blog to the holiday season on this Christmas week and shine a light on (and perhaps suggest) some newer and lesser mentioned Holiday films that have came out over the last few years and are floating on streaming services right now or are at the least available to rent to Prime. This list will not include films like ‘The Christmas Chronicles’, ‘Violent Night’, ‘Klaus’, and ‘Krampus’ because although they are all newer films and good to great Holiday films, I feel like those titles specifically have been given a proper due and are still being talked about and recirculated during the season, on their ways to being Holiday hits to some folks. So, without further ado let’s get into it.
Fatman- Mel Gibson’s 2020 take on old Cris Cringle kind of fell under the radar upon its release. Not sure if that had to partially do with a lockdown and everything going on that year or what, but regardless, it was a pretty good time. An action-packed tale featuring a more grizzled, rugged, whiskey drinking Santa who’s fallen on hard times and is forced into a partnership of sorts with the US military to help make ends meet, and if that’s not bad enough, he’s being tracked down by an assassin hired by a spoiled, rich, insufferable 12-year-old after he received coal in his stocking. A fun, tongue in cheek, badass Santa action flick that’s as soaked in blood as it is the Holiday spirit. Available to watch on Peacock or rent on Prime Video.
A Boy Called Christmas- a fun and whimsical 2021 Santa origin story told and acted out as a fairy tale being told to a group of children on Christmas Eve by their estranged great aunt. This Santa story is different because it focuses on Nikolas (Santa’s) childhood years and doesn’t shy away from the bleak nature and outlook of the era and the time it places you in. In fact, it soaks you in it and it’s Nikolas’s heart and belief of something better that brings the hope and happiness back to the people of his village as he develops a relationship with the elves (along with his mouse friend, Miika) and becomes Jolly St. Nick. A tale full of magic and heart that surprisingly fell a bit under the radar and best of all, it’s good for the whole family to enjoy. Available to watch on Netflix now.
El Camino Christmas- This one isn’t entirely soaked in Christmas like some of the other titles on the list but that’s okay and doesn’t mean it isn’t a Christmas film either. It’s more so its own story though that is set within the Christmas season. The story follows a young guy attempting to track down his estranged father that he’s never met, and his search leads him to a small desert town of El Camino, NV. He has a run-in with the dirty cop in town and ends up barricaded in a liquor store with 5 strangers in a standoff with the town’s police on Christmas Eve. Kind of a who’s who of actors in this flick though. Tim Allen plays the troubled town drunk, Dak Shepard plays a dim-witted deputy of the law, Kurtwood Smith aka Red Foreman plays the sheriff, and Jessica Alba plays a pregnant news reporter. A pretty fun, modern holiday film that mixes the western, action, and comedy genres and is available to watch now on Netflix.
The Nativity Story- If you’re looking for a more religious toned, “reason for the season” Holiday film, then look no further than 2006’s ‘The Nativity Story’. This is the oldest film on this list, but it still feels worthy to put on here because I don’t know if there’s necessarily been a better film adaptation of the biblical ‘Jesus’s birth’ story than this one. The story follows Mary and Joseph during the time before Jesus’s birth and their journey to Bethlehem for the Roman Census where Mary ends up giving birth to Jesus in a manger. The story also goes shortly over the time after Jesus’s birth when King Herod attempted to track down the savior and they had to flee Bethlehem. Told more so as a biblical epic than a traditional “Holiday movie”, this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea when they settle in for a Christmas movie, but it is one of the realest and most honest to the Bible film adaptations of the First Christmas so it’s worthy of the list. Available to rent on Prime Video.
Merry Little Batman- Merry Little Batman is a 2023 animated film following Batman’s son ‘Damien Wayne’ as he attempts to stop Christmas present stealing burglars who invade his home on Christmas Eve when Bruce and Alfred are away. Damien wants to prove to his dad that he’s worthy of the utility belt that he gifted to him for Christmas just to take it away again and goes on a mission to find the capers and get his belt back. Hijinks ensue and Damien almost inadvertently ruins Christmas for all of Gotham in the process, running into classic Batman villains like Joker, Penguin, Poison Ivy, and Bane along the way. Bruce and Damien both learn their personal lessons, but can they reunite and stop the Christmas crashing criminals before it’s too late? This movie was a ton of fun and a must watch for any Batman fan during the holiday season. The animation is that 2010’s Cartoon Network style animation so that’s a little strange at first but wasn’t near enough to ruin the experience for me and this will likely grace my Christmas movie list for years to come. Available to watch now on Prime Video.
Silent Night- Silent Night is a 2023 action thriller Christmas film by John Woo, not to be confused with the 2021 Christmas horror film of the same name. In this film, a man’s son is killed on Christmas Eve in an accidental crossfire incident between 2 rivaling gangs. The broken father who lost his voice from a bullet to the throat in the incident becomes overly obsessed with vengeance, sacrificing his relationship in the process, and plans his revenge on the gang members on the next year’s Christmas Eve. This movie is interesting because there’s minimal dialogue, the main character can’t speak, and most the other characters don’t say much at all either. Not that it’s a “silent film” by any means, there’s plenty of noise, but this story relies more on pulling you into the action sequences and the raw emotion and pain of the main character than it does dialogue. Again, won’t be everyone’s cup of tea when they think “Christmas movie time”, but it’s a very different and fresh kind of movie that fell under the radar and deserves a nod for its efforts. Available to watch on Stars or to rent on Prime Video.
Dear Santa- a brand new 2024 Jack Black led Christmas comedy film from the Farrelly brothers (the guys behind Dumb & Dumber and countless comedy films). The story follows a dyslexic 12-year-old boy who writes Santa as his family is struggling during the Christmas season. Only problem is, given his dyslexia, he accidentally sends the letter to Satan who comes to him instead and promises him 3 wishes of whatever his heart desires in exchange for something very near and dear to him in return. I feel like this movie got unnecessary amounts of hate from critics and overly uptight folk alike this season. Of course it’s going to be a bit offensive to some, but that’s kind of a given even just hearing the plot of the film and there are certainly your raunchy and childish moments of humor in here that we’ve come to expect from a Jack Black or Farrelly Brothers project, yet at its core this movie has a whole lot of heart and ends on a very positive note fully engulfed in the spirit of Christmas. I feel like if this one had come out 15-20 years earlier it may have even been a hit, but now it’s going to fall to the wayside for many most likely. If it sounds of any interest to you though, it’s available to watch on Paramount+ or rent on Prime Video so I say give it a shot.
That’s all for now folks! I hope everyone has had a wonderful Holiday Season up to this point and that you have a great Christmas and/or Hannukah to come. I’ll be back soon with a lot of my horror movie, pro wrestling, and NFL end of the year/season awards and much more content to talk about in 2025! Thank you all for taking any amount of time that you have this year to stop for a moment and read my blogs, every view and like and share and follow counts and you all truly mean a lot to me and what I’m doing here on this page. So thank you, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and I’ll be back to vent to you all again soon!
