Looking for the best Netflix Christmas movies and TV? There’s nothing to put you in the holiday spirit like a properly festive film. And while we all have our favorite Xmas classics (Scrooged, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Jingle All The Way), one thing Netflix is especially great at is delivering new original Christmas favorites every year. And it’s a Christmas miracle - because 2020 seems to have brought us more than ever.
As with most genres, there’s more to discover on Netflix than you probably realize. So, in the Christmas spirit of giving, we’ve done the hard work and dug though the festive movies and TV shows to find the best ones to watch this year.
Whether you’re looking for the perfect movie to stream on Christmas Eve, or you plan on spending the entirety of December curled up indoors on a festive film binge (really, what better way is there to spend December 2020?), here are the best Christmas movies and TV shows to watch on Netflix Middle East right now.
Merry NetfliXmas, one and all…
Best Christmas Movies on Netflix Middle East
The Claus Family
Jules hates celebrating the holidays after his father passed away on Christmas Eve, but after his grandfather falls ill, he suddenly learns about his family’s magical legacy. Realizing that he is part of the ‘Claus’ family, Jules must take the shoes – or sledge of his grandfather and ultimately save Christmas before it is too late.
A Boy Called Christmas
A young boy named Nikolas goes on an adventure to the white north searching for his father. A fresh new take on the story of Father Christmas, this fantasy film about finding hope stars some of the best actors in Hollywood including Jim Broadbent, Sally Hawkins, Maggie Smith and Kristen Wiig.
Single All the Way
While trying to avoid his family’s judgement about his marital status, Peter asks his best friend Nick to join him for the holidays and pretend they’re in a relationship. Expecting things to go well, Nick’s mother sets him up with a personal trainer that completely messes up their plan.
A California Christmas: City Lights
A sequel to the 2020 holiday film, the movie continues the story of Callie and Joseph a year after they declared their love for each other. Both of them are now running a dairy farm and winery, but the increasing demand for Joseph’s work in the city and other family obligations will put their relationship to the test.
Last Christmas
This romantic comedy tells the story of Christmas store worker that forms a relationship with a man during the holidays. Inspired by famous Christmas song, the movie explores the lives to the two people who fall in love during the holidays and clueless about the outcome that it may bring.
The Holiday
Two women living on opposite sides of the world arrange a home exchange to help them move on from recent heartbreaks just in time for the holiday season. While both women try to enjoy living a single life, they both unexpectedly fall in love with the local men which could possibly change their lives.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
This tale delivers winter whimsy by the truckload. A brand new spectacle for 2020, this musical adventure deserves to be seen on the biggest TV available, and with the best sound system you can find.
Boasting original songs by John Legend, Usher, and more, the family film tells the story of the legendary inventor and toymaker Jeronicus Jangle (played by Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker). When his trusted apprentice (Keegan-Michael Key) steals one of his unique creations, it’s up to his smart granddaughter – and some inventions wizardry, naturally – to save the day. File this under future family favorites, and expect to watch it every December.
Dolly Parton’s Christmas On The Square (2020)
When you look up the phrase “camp as Christmas” in the dictionary, the page has got to be nothing but a full-page color poster for this exact film. Not only does the iconic Dolly Parton lend her acting talents to this downhome treat as a literal angel, but the just-released musical also features 14 original songs with music and lyrics by Dolly herself, too. When a Scrooge-style woman threatens to ruin Christmas for her small hometown, it’s up to family, love - and Dolly - to warm her cold heart. Don your sparkliest, tinsel lined cowboy boots and have yourself a Dolly holiday.
The Christmas Chronicles (2018)
If the idea of Kurt Russell as a super cool Santa sounds like fun to you (it should do, because it is) then The Christmas Chronicles makes for perfect Christmas streaming fodder. The comedy sees Santa accidentally get interrupted by two kids on his Christmas Eve deliveries - and crashes his sleigh, losing his presents in the process, before embarking on an adventure with the children to save Christmas. It comes with Christmas pedigree too, as it’s directed by Home Alone and Harry Potter helmer Chris Columbus.
The Christmas Chronicles: Part 2 (2020)
Make it a double bill this year with the new The Christmas Chronicles sequel, in which Goldie Hawn joins the action-packed adventure, too, as Mrs Claus. Set two years since the kids saved Christmas (sorry, spoilers), they’re now slightly older teens - and with their new Christmas plans spending the holidays as a recently blended family not filling them with holiday joy, they find themselves on a mission to save the North Pole, this time, instead. If you didn’t already consider Kurt and Goldie Hollywood’s golden couple, just wait until you see them in full Christmas costume.
Holidate (2020)
The art of the Christmas romcom is a delicate one - get it right and it can make for the most time-tested favorite Christmas films. Following in the footsteps of beloved favourites like The Holiday and Love Actually in mixing the festive with the flirtatious is Holidate, starring Emma Roberts as a woman who enters into a fake-dating arrangement with another singleton to bring along to family holidays. You can probably guess what happens next… but that’s all part of the fun.
The Princess Switch (2018)
There’s something undeniably joyful about movies where one actor plays all the leads (see: The Parent Trap, The Nutty Professor, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me). In the Princess Switch, High School Musical alum Vanessa Hudgens takes the lead(s), in a Prince And The Pauper-inspired story of a princess who bumps into her doppelgänger, a baker, and they decide to switch places so the royal can experience, a “normal” life. Quaint Christmas markets, opulently decorated palaces and lurve ensues, and we can’t get enough…
The Princess Switch: Switched Again (2020)
...Which is lucky. Because if you liked two princess lookalikes - what about three? The newly released sequel to The Princess Switch has Vanessa Hudgens playing a third character: the evil cousin, Lady Fiona, a sort of Made in Chelsea-esque party girl villian with her own nefarious schemes and surrounded by more Christmas decor than you can fill a palace with. Is it cheesy? Yes. Is it loads of fun? Also yes.
Klaus (2019)
This Christmas movie marked Netflix’s first ever Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature, as well as winning the BAFTA for Best Animated Film. It’s no surprise why: the Scandivian-set Santa Claus origin story, starring Jason Schwartzman voicing the lead as postman who builds an unlikely friendship with the eponymous toymaker Klaus, combines beautiful hand-drawn animation and a timeless story. The result is a modern Christmas classic.
A Very Murray Christmas (2015)
The Christmas special is as much a time-honored tradition as decorating the tree to Slade, or considering packing up and starting a new life in a distant country the morning after the Christmas party. In this one, BIll Murray plays himself, hosting a Christmas special that gets cancelled due to a snowstorm, and goes on to find shelter in a bar. If you don’t fancy the annual Christmas special of your favorite sitcom, stick this on instead. Though it’s not a huge statement to make, we can guarantee it’ll be better.
Office Christmas Party (2016)
When his uptight CEO sister threatens to shut down his branch, the branch manager throws an epic Christmas party in order to land a big client and save the day, but the party gets way out of hand...
Four Christmases (2008)
When upscale, happily unmarried San Francisco couple Kate and Brad (Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn) find themselves socked in by fog on Christmas morning, their exotic vacation plans morph into the family-centric holiday.
The Grinch (2018)
The Grinch grows increasingly annoyed with the ever-growing festive cheer that engulfs the village of Whoville. So, he teams up with his dog to ruin the festive spirit by being a spoilsport.
Elf (2003)
Few holiday movies have withstood the test of time better than Will Ferrel’s Elf. After discovering he is a human, Buddy, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole sets out to New York to find his real father but the big apple proves to be quite different from Santa’s workshop. He eventually finds his Scrooge-like father and cynical eight-year-old stepbrother and tries to show them the true meaning of Christmas.
The Holiday (2006)
In the mood for holiday romance? Watch The Holiday, starring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz looking to escape heartbreak during the Christmas season. They agree to swap homes in each other’s countries where both meet local guys and begin to fall in love.
Love Actually (2003)
Considered as one of the best holiday season movies of all time, Love Actually follows eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives, family and friends in loosely interrelated tales that take place in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The movie features tales of romance, heartbreak, family and holiday cheer.
New Year’s Eve (2011)
Featuring a star studded ensemble cast, New Year’s Eve interweaves the lives of several couples and single people racing around the Big Apple to find love, peace and happiness before the clock rings in the New Year.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Based on the popular children’s book, this movie tells the tale of a green, revenge-seeking Grinch who plans to ruin Christmas for all of the citizens of the town. This Ron Howard-directed flick features Jim Carrey as the grumpy Grinch determined to spoil Christmas of a small village, by stealing all gifts and decorations as the villagers sleep on Christmas Eve.
Mariah Carey’s Merriest Christmas (2015)
When the world is faced with a holiday cheer crisis, the North Pole knows only one person who can solve it: Santa's great friend, Mariah Carey.
What’s Christmas without Mariah Carey serenading us with her renditions of holiday favorites? Catch her all-star holiday celebration featuring special guests and a celebrity reading of "The Night Before Christmas."
Mean Girls (2004)
Mean Girls isn’t technically a Christmas film but it does have Jingle Bells. The movie follows Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) as she joins high school after twelve years of being home schooled. Cady starts out as a misfit and is convinced by two friends to exact revenge on the most popular and mean girl in school.
Best Christmas TV Shows on Netflix Middle East
Holiday Home Makeover with Mr Christmas
Benjamin Bradley, best known as Mr. Christmas, is a veteran in the interior design industry with a healthy obsession with the holiday season. For Mr. Christmas, the holidays are all about celebrating love, life, family and friends through meaningful traditions. In the new Netflix series Holiday Home Makeover with Mr. Christmas, Bradley takes you behind the scenes as he puts his design expertise and vast Christmas collection to good use.
Equipped with lights, garlands, and enough tinsel to blanket the North Pole, he and his team of elves work around the clock to bring holiday cheer to families and communities deserving of a home makeover for the most joyous time of year. Mr. Christmas invites viewers along for the ride to kick off the holiday season and get inspired to take their own home decorating and traditions to the next level.
Sugar Rush: Christmas
It’s the present worth waiting for - Sugar Rush Christmas is here! Over six Christmas-themed episodes, the judges help decide which teams should walk away with the $10,000 prize. Sugar Rush Christmas is produced by Magical Elves.
Dash & Lily
A whirlwind Holiday romance builds as cynical Dash and optimistic Lily trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations all across New York City, finding they have more in common with each other than they would have expected.
Merry Happy Whatever
Set during the happy but hectic days before and after Christmas, Merry Happy Whatever follows Don Quinn, a strong-willed patriarch from Philadelphia doing his best to balance the stress of the holidays with the demands of his close-knit but eclectic family -- and his family doing their best to manage him. But when youngest daughter Emmy arrives home from L.A. with a new boyfriend, struggling musician Matt, Don’s belief that “there’s the Quinn way… and the wrong way" is put to the test.
Nailed It! Holiday!
Hosted by Nicole Byer and Jacques Torres, this holiday-themed competition sees home bakers with a terrible track record take a shot at recreating edible holiday masterpieces for a $10,000 prize. It’s part competition, part hot mess.
