The 25 Best Christmas Movies of 2022
'Tis the season...to stay in with one of these heartwarming flicks.
The weather is shifting, our coats are coming out of storage, and holiday drinks have hit the cafés. It's officially time to make holiday plans, which includes taking a look at the 157 (!) new Christmas movies that are set to premiere this year. Networks and streamers including Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+, Lifetime, and the Hallmark Channel have announced their Christmas movie lineups, which range from holiday rom-coms and spirited musical movies to the return of beloved franchises and childhood idols. Since you probably can't drop everything in your life to binge through the entire selection (though we wish we could), here are the 25 Christmas films you must check out this year.
'Falling for Christmas'
Lindsay Lohan (!) stars as a spoiled hotel heiress who gets into a wintery accident right after getting engaged to her influencer boyfriend. Now suffering from total amnesia, she's rescued by a charming single dad and bed and breakfast owner (played by Glee alum Chord Overstreet), who lets her stay with him and his precocious daughter in the days before Christmas.
Premiere date: November 10
How to watch: Netflix
'The Dog Days of Christmas'
While she's home for the holidays, nonprofit career woman Annie (Georgia Flood) decides to help three stray dogs get adopted. When she runs into the local veterinarian, her old high school debate partner Dylan (Ezekiel Simat), they band together to save the local animal rescue and romance ensues.
Premiere date: November 11
How to watch: Lifetime
'The Royal Nanny'
For anyone who ever wondered if Mary Poppins could run a small country, this film follows a British spy who goes undercover as the royal nanny to Prince Colin's children. In her new role, she has to corral the prince's rowdy children, while keeping the family safe and dodging Colin's charms.
Premiere date: November 12
How to watch: The Hallmark Channel on Peacock
'A Christmas Story Christmas'
Ralphie (Peter Billingsley), the once-rambunctious 11-year-old, is now a 51-year-old aspiring novelist and father in this sequel to the 1983 Christmas classic. Set in 1973, the new installment sees Ralph try to give his wife (Erinn Hayes) and two kids (River Drosche and Julianna Layne the kind of old-fashioned Christmas his own dad gave him.
Premiere date: November 17
How to watch: HBO Max
'Christmas With You'
Freddie Prinze Jr. stars in this twist on the "city girl goes to the suburbs" film, which follows a pop star named Angelina (Aimee Garcia) who decides to make a fan's wish come true with a Christmas visit. When she gets snowed in by a winter storm, her stay with her young fan Christina (Deja Monique Cruz) and Christina's hot father Michael (Prinze Jr.) helps Angelina rediscover the holiday spirit.
Premiere date: November 17
How to watch: Netflix
'Sweet Navidad'
Carmen (Camila Banus) works at a local café with her sister Pilar (Melissa Marty), and dreams of owning her own Puerto Rican-influenced bakery. When local hotel owner Victor Flores (David Fumero) invites Carmen to apply to be the pastry chef for his hotel’s grand holiday gala, she has to work with chef Jax (Mark Hapka) to curate the perfect holiday menu. Will the two opposites create the ultimate feast and fall in love? (Of course they will.)
Premiere date: November 17
How to watch: Lifetime
'Spirited'
Every year has a couple of A Christmas Carol re-imaginings, and this musical starring Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell is told from the ghosts' side of the story. Each year a miserable soul is selected to receive some ghostly guidance, but when social media influencer Clint Briggs (Reynolds) is selected, he's worse than the Ghost of Christmas Present (Ferrell) has ever faced.
Premiere date: November 18
How to watch: Apple TV+
The Noel Diary
A more sentimental selection among this year's favorites, this film based on Richard Paul Evan’s New York Times bestselling novel stars This Is Us' Justin Hartley as Jacob, an author who hasn't been home since his mother kicked him out at age 16. When he receives a call from a lawyer informing him of his mother's death, Jacob returns home to settle her estate and try and reconcile his own past. Along the way, he meets a mysterious woman named Rachel (Barrett Doss), who's searching for her birth mother.
Premiere date: November 24
How to watch: Netflix
'A Christmas Mystery'
This adorable mystery takes place in Pleasant Falls, Oregon, which has experienced a century of prosperity and peace since a strip of Santa's magical jingle bells were discovered in town. Now, just days before Christmas, the bells have gone missing. When her best friend's dad is accused of the theft, an amateur sleuth (Violet McGraw) and her friends have to find the bells and restore the Christmas magic to the town.
Premiere date: November 24
How to watch: HBO Max
'A Royal Corgi Christmas'
When the reluctant Crown Prince Edmond returns home just before Christmas, he brings a gift for his mother the Queen: a mischievous, untrained Corgi named 'Mistletoe.' After several doggy messes, Edmond brings in an American trainer named Cecily, who demands that he take an active part in the daily training sessions. Sparks fly as the two work together with two serious deadlines hanging over their heads: Mistletoe's presentation at the annual Christmas ball, and Edmond's upcoming accession to the throne.
Premiere date: November 25
How to watch: Hallmark Channel
'#Xmas'
This flick takes the common fake dating trope a step further. When Christmas-loving Jen (Claire Bowen) gets the chance to enter a brand's design contest, she decides to enter as a family influencer, with the help of her best friend Max (Brant Daugherty) and her baby nephew. After she's selected as a finalist, she has to decide whether to tell the truth or keep using her "perfect" family.
Premiere date: November 25
How to watch: Hallmark Channel
'The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special'
Marvel's funniest hero team will get their own holiday adventure this year. When Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) is still gloomy after the events of Avengers: Endgame and Gamora's (Zoe Saldaña) exit from the team, the Guardians travel to Earth to celebrate the Terran holiday and bring him the ultimate Christmas gift (including an appearance from the legendary Kevin Bacon).
Premiere date: November 25
How to watch: Disney+
'The Hip Hop Nutcracker'
Ten years after this update on the classic ballet began touring, Disney+ is bringing a movie musical adaptation to the small screen. Comprised of a cast of faces from the Step Up franchise, the story takes place on the night of the annual New Year's Eve Block Party, following Maria-Clara (Caché Melvin) as she embarks on an adventure to bring her Mom and Pop (Allison Holker Boss and Stephen “tWitch” Boss) back together.
Premiere date: November 25
How to watch: Disney+
'Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas'
Every holiday should begin with a bit of Dolly Parton. The movie musical will star the country legend as she works behind-the-scenes on a network-TV holiday special, and gets visited by Three Wise Mountain Men, who remind her that the "real magic of Christmas lies in the hearts of the children we all once were." Her hit songs "9 to 5" and "I Will Always Love You" are included in the special, as well as musical guests like Jimmy Fallon, Willie Nelson, and Parton’s goddaughter, Miley Cyrus.
Premiere date: December 1
How to watch: NBC
'Hotel for the Holidays'
In this holiday rom-com, high-end hotel manager Georgia (Riverdale's Madelaine Petsch) sees her work and personal lives intertwine as she gets into a love triangle with charming chef Luke (Aladdin's Mena Massoud) and one of the guests, a sophisticated former prince (Max Lloyd-Jones).
Premiere date: December 2
How to watch: Amazon Freevee
'Scrooge: A Christmas Carol'
This animated adaptation updates the classic carol with a "supernatural, time-traveling, musical" style. Luke Evans voices Scrooge, leading a stacked voice cast including Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, and Jonathan Pryce.
Premiere date: December 2
How to watch: Netflix
'Violent Night'
If your ultimate Christmas flick is Die Hard or Bad Santa, there's a new irreverent tale to check out. Jim Hopper himself, David Harbour, plays a vicious version of Santa Claus who encounters a family being held hostage by a team of mercenaries on Christmas Eve, and is forced to take matters into his own hands.
Premiere date: December 2
How to watch: In theaters
'A New Orleans Noel'
Grace (Keshia Knight Pulliam) and Anthony (Brad James) are old friends who went to college to study architecture together, but their lives took them on completely separate paths. When they're both hired to work together on the home of New Orleans praline icon Loretta Brown (Patti LaBelle), they find themselves stuck working together at Christmas and butting heads in this enemies-to-lovers rom com.
Premiere date: December 3
How to watch: Lifetime
'Merry Textmas'
A technical mishap brings app developer Gaby (Ariana Ron Pedrique) and graphic designer Alex (Rodrigo Massa) together for an Oaxacan holiday. When the stranger is accidentally added to Gaby's family group chat, her well-meaning family secretly invites him along for their traditional Christmas in Oaxaca, where Alex gets back in touch with his Mexican roots and the couple slowly realize they're each other's perfect match.
Premiere date: December 4
How to watch: Lifetime
'Something From Tiffany's'
A blue box from Tiffany's may hold the perfect Christmas gift, but what happens when the contents get mixed up. Rachel and Gary (Zoey Deutch and Ray Nicholson) are a couple that aren't ready for commitment, while Ethan and Vanessa (Kendrick Smith Sampson and Shay Mitchell) are ready to go to the next step. When Gary and Ethan's gifts get mixed up, a series of twists and unexpected discoveries lead the quartet where they're truly meant to be.
Premiere date: December 9
How to watch: Prime Video
'Record Breaking Christmas'
This "city girl comes to a small town" story stars Leah (Michelle Argyis), an adjudicator for the World Record Bureau, who's forced to investigate a town's plans to break multiple holiday world records right before Christmas. If an entire town being in cahoots doesn't sound adorable enough, she also begins to fall for the town doctor, Devan Bancroft (Andrew Bushell).
Premiere date: December 15
How to watch: Lifetime
'A Christmas to Treasure'
The passing of a dear old neighbor brings six estranged friends back to their hometown for one final holiday treasure hunt, as sparks fly between Austin Craig (Taylor Frey) and his former best friend Everett Matthews (Kyle Dean Massey).
Premiere date: December 16
How to watch: Lifetime
'Holiday Heritage'
This year, Hallmark is expanding its holiday content by releasing its first ever Kwanzaa movie. The family saga follows Ella, who returns to to her hometown to mend fences with her fractured family. She encourages her family to celebrate Christmas and Kwanzaa and to heal their past wounds before it's too late, with the help of her ex-boyfriend Griffin.
Premiere date: December 16
How to watch: Hallmark Channel
'The Holiday Dating Guide'
Maria Menounos plays a dating coach whose guide to modern dating is ready for publication, but her publisher Jack won't proceed with the deal without knowing that her dating advice actually works. Before he can say no, Abigale promises to prove that the rules work by using them herself and making a man fall for her by Christmas Eve, in 12 days. Her mission takes a turn when she meets Michael Ryan (Brent Bailey), and learns to expect the unexpected.
Premiere date: December 17
How to watch: Lifetime
'Hanukkah on Rye'
A matchmaker sets up Molly (Jane the Virgin's Yael Grobglas) and Jacob (The Flash's Jeremy Jordan), but their romance is tested when they realize that they are competing deli owners. Maybe a Hannukkah miracle can keep together?
Premiere date: December 18
How to watch: Hallmark Channel
