It’s never too early to start your Christmas movie marathons.
OK, that’s not true. People shouldn’t be watching Christmas movies in April. But November is fair game! There still might be a few people who throw a side-eye at you for diving deep into the Christmas canon right after putting away the Halloween decorations but there’s an easy fix – find holiday movies that toe the seasonal line.
Save the big guns like “Home Alone,” “Love, Actually,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Christmas Vacation,” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” for December. There’s plenty of other movies that can scratch the holiday itch for you to take up November watching.
These are the Christmas films we feel are marked safe to binge in November.
The Holiday
This might be the hardest sell for Christmas movies to watch in November just because it’s such a top-of-mind film for the holidays. But of all the iconic, upper echelon Christmas movies out there “The Holiday” deserves just a bit more credit and the best way to show it is by starting to watch this one earlier and earlier.
Sure, Jack Black and Kate Winslet have the romantic chemistry of two rocks but Christmas movies are about vibes way more than they are story half the time, and “The Holiday” has good vibes in abundance.
“The Holiday” is streaming on Prime Video.
Harry Potter Franchise
The “Harry Potter” franchise might only dedicate 3-5 minutes of screentime per movie to showing Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy around the holidays, but try to find a person to argue they don’t consider them Christmas movies.
Sure, some of it likely has to do with the bulk of the series being featured during Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas but that’s enough. If you’re ready to dip a toe in the festive waters already but aren’t ready for The Grinch, spend the month rewatching Harry and company fight off Voldemort.
The “Harry Potter” franchise is streaming on Max and Peacock.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The War on Christmas is tired, the war for whether or not “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is a Halloween or Christmas movie is wired. Why not split the difference and just watch it in November? The film follows Jack Skellington, a prominent citizen of Halloween Town, who finds a grove with doors to other holiday-themed worlds and becomes obsessed with the idea of Christmas.
The movie checks multiple holidays off the list which definitely marks it safe for viewing in November.
“The Nightmare Before Christmas” is streaming on Disney+.
Elf
There are some people who confidently admit to watching “Elf” throughout the year. It’s one of those films that made the leap from holiday comfort movie to general comfort movie. Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf is one of the most likable characters ever to grace the big screen and November is more than close enough to the holidays to queue up the comedy without judgement from your peers.
“Elf” is streaming on Max.
You’ve Got Mail
A lot of people claim “You’ve Got Mail” is one of the great holiday movies. Those people aren’t wrong. The film checks all the vibes and boxes for a good autumn-into-winter film. It follows Meg Ryan’s struggling bookshop owner feuding with Tom Hanks’ corporate bookstore owner that moved in across the street all while the two anonymously begin to fall for each other online.
Little Women
“Little Women” is absolutely a Christmas movie best watched at the beginning of your holiday film binge. A lot of the film is a bit melancholic so best to get that started early and end with lighter fair but it also hammers home the real reason for the season – time with family.
“Little Women” is streaming on Hulu.
Stuck in Love
“Stuck in Love” is bookened by two Thanksgivings with a smattering of Christmas in the middle which is more than enough to give a holiday vibe while being anything but. The film follows a family of writers all dealing with their own budding and dying love lives. The cast is stacked with names like Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connolly, Nat Wolff, Lily Collins and Logan Lerman.
“Stuck in Love” is an almost ludicrously under appreciated romantic comedy and if categorizing it as an “almost Christmas” movie gets more eyes on it that’s a good thing.
“Stuck in Love” is streaming on Prime Video and Fubo.
