The 16 Best New Christmas Movies Of 2021

As legendary author Sophie Brown, Brooke Shields hightails it to Scotland for a holiday film that costars Cary Elwes (Stranger Things) and Andi Osho (I May Destroy You). Featuring all the festive accoutrement you want in a film titled A Castle for Christmas—snowy horseback rides, red tartan plaid kilts, twinkling Christmas trees—this Netflix offering, which follows Sophie on her quest to own the castle and bag a duke—delivers big time on the warm and fuzzy feelings.

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Although this holiday tale saw its premiere in the United Kingdom last year, it landed on this side of the Atlantic only this month and is finally available to stream. Gift is actually the sequel to A Street Cat Named Bob, the best seller-based story of a struggling busker whose angel comes in the form of an orange tabby cat. Another crowd-pleaser, it tells the story of what happens when evil animal welfare agents threaten to take Bob away.



 

From director Robin Givens, A Jenkins Family Christmas stars Regina Taylor as Baneatta Jenkins, the family matriarch whose loved ones are gathering for the first Christmas after burying her husband. Straddling tradition with a new normal and unburied secrets, Baneatta wrestles with being true to herself, her family, and her faith. This BET+ drama is infused with comedy, great performances, and a gospel-heavy soundtrack—a perfect recipe for delivering all the feels this holiday season.

It was a time when Europe’s “The Final Countdown” dominated the airwaves, the skating rink was The Social Scene, and a little video game system by the name of Nintendo sat at the top of kid’s Christmas list. Such is the setting for Michael Dowse’s 8-Bit Christmas. Narrated by Neil Patrick Harris, this nostalgic gem from the director of Take Me Home Tonight and What If streams on HBO Max, and we can’t help but think of it as A Christmas Story for kids of the late ’80s.

Don’t close out Netflix just yet; there’s more to be devoured. Grumpy Christmas is a sequel to the Mexican family comedy Un Padre No Tan Padre, in which prickly Don Servando must cope with his hippie son. This time, the family heads to the beach to spend the holiday with relentless Aunt Alicia, who becomes enemy number one for Servando.

If the Netflix gods are so kind as to grace us with dozens of holiday-themed rom-coms this year, then so be it. We will watch every one with a hot toddy in hand. Here, we have Nina Dobrev as Natalia, a gorgeous Los Angeles journalist who somehow can’t find a proper plus one. Until she meets Tag (Darren Barnet from Never Have I Ever) on a dating app. Feeling spontaneous, Natalia flies to Lake Placid for Christmas to surprise Tag, where she learns that she's been catfished by the dorky (but maybe actually quite sweet?) Josh.

Last year, Happiest Season made headlines as a mainstream queer Christmas movie with an all-star cast led by Kristen Stewart. One first tends to beget other firsts, and now we're getting Under the Christmas Tree, the very first lesbian holiday romance to air on Lifetime.

For the nostalgic holiday movie lover, this year’s lineup includes a thoughtful and family-friendly origin story about Father Christmas, courtesy of Netflix. A fable bookended by narration from the amazing Maggie Smith, the tale follows a boy named Nikolas, along with his chatty mouse and magical reindeer friends, on an adventure that culminates in the discovery of Elfhelm and, in turn, Christmas. Kristen Wiig, Jim Broadbent, and Joel Fry round out the cast.

Netflix gifts Nollywood to the American masses with this holiday offering: a hilarious comedy about three sons who dash out to find wives before the Christmas holiday, thus satisfying what might be their mother’s final wish. Set in Lagos and directed by Kunle Afolayan, the film stars Nigerian movie heavyweights Mercy Johnson, Efa Iwara, Kunle Remi, and Abayomi Alvin, as well as the late Rachael Oniga who plays the titular matriarch.

A TIFF-featured director, Camille Griffin, makes her feature directorial debut with a darker take on the holiday movie—one that is, according to her, a tale that “investigates the lengths” we are all prepared to go to when protecting the ones we love. Starring Keira Knightley, Lily-Rose Depp, Matthew Goode, and several more familiar faces, the apocalyptic dark comedy unfurls as family and friends navigate the stresses of the Christmas holiday—and also their final day on earth.

Don’t act like you don’t appreciate a good holiday pun. This heartwarming tale is about a single guy whose relationship status reaches “It’s beyond complicated” after a successful blind date with his mom’s trainer forces him to rethink the “just friends” relationship with his best bud. Don’t miss it, or yule be sorry.

A single-set A24 film shot in lower Manhattan, The Humans brings together some of the biggest names in Hollywood—Beanie Feldstein, Amy Schumer, Richard Jenkins, and Steven Yeun, to name a few—for Steven Karam’s adaptation of his Tony Award-winning play. Gathering for a Blake family Thanksgiving, the crew find themselves dining in a drafty prewar duplex with things that go bump in the night. But as they soon find out, nothing is a frightening as the truths we don’t want to face.

Rounding out the trilogy, The Princess Switch 3 sees Vanessa Hudgens further her royal Montenaro adventures on Netflix. This time, the romantic drama adds a heist plot to its holiday shenanigans. When the Star of Peace goes missing, Queen Margaret and Stacy enlist the help of the queen’s “unseemly” cousin, Fiona—all played by Hudgens herself—to hatch a plan for stealing it back.

Premiering at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and then funneling its way through the film festival circuit, this queer Muslim holiday short film is 11 minutes that just beg for the full-length feature treatment. About Noor, a Pakistani Muslim woman who brings her Puerto Rican partner home for the holidays, this delightful watch comes from director Fawzia Mirza and writer-producer Kausar Mohammed. Soak up all the trailer has to offer for now, and keep an eye out for soon-to-come streaming availability.

The Scrooges over at NBC (no disrespect) canceled the musical series Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist with its finale narrative hanging off a cliff, but thankfully, the angels over at The Roku Channel are resurrecting the series in holiday movie form, complete with its entire brilliant cast: Jane Levy, Alex Newell, Skylar Astin, John Clarence Stewart, et cetera. Set on her first holiday—spoiler alert!—without her father, the movie picks up where Season 2 left off and promises a holiday as magical as if Mitch had never left.

This article originally appeared in Harper's BAZAAR US