ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more

The best Netflix Christmas movies and shows

Festive things to watch on Netflix this wonderful time of the year.

08 December 2023

In the run up to Christmas, there are three sure-fire ways to get into the spirit: Christmas movies and TV shows, and the best Christmas songs.

Once you’ve heard Wham!’s Last Christmas a few dozen times, it’s time to change the tempo and stick on a Christmas movie.

Netflix has a load of them. But the best Netflix Christmas movies are accompanied by a bunch of stinkers.

A Wedding for Christmas is not going to go down as one of the classic Christmas movies, is it? We’ve dug through more Netflix Originals Christmas movies than we care to count to dig out the very best Christmas movies on the service.

We have some classics to hand here, but our best Netflix Christmas movies and shows list is home to a surprising number of fairly new flicks and shows. And a bunch we think you may have never even seen.

Oh, and as a bonus we recommend the 4K Fireplace for Your Home: Birchwood Edition. This is literally just watching a roaring fire for an hour and nothing else. We kid you not. It’s absolutely brilliant, we swear you can feel genuine warmth coming from it. It even makes the sound of crackles as the logs slowly burn. This is the kind of Netflix content you want. This is what your hard earned money goes towards.

For those who aren't a fan of watching burning logs, the following Netflix Christmas films and shows are for you.

Please note: All of the following are available on Netflix UK - please check in your region for availability.

Best Netflix Christmas movies and shows

Well, these are a lot more fun than we were expecting. Kurt Russell is Santa Claus - who doesn’t ‘ho ho ho’ - is brilliant casting and bringing in Goldie Hawn and Mrs Claus for the sequel is equally inspired. In both movies, In the first movie for the most part it takes place in modern-day America. For the second, the action shifts to the North Pole

29
9
Thanks for voting

This is a beautiful animation about a postman who finds himself in a frosty part of the world where someone who looks remarkably like Santa Claus is hiding out. Directed by Disney vetern Sergio Pablos, and with the voice talent of JK Simmons, this is Netflix getting into the animated business and it’s a lot of Festive fun.

24
6
Thanks for voting

Office Christmas Party is a lot of fun. Jennifer Aniston plays a nasty boss who decides to shut down the office that her brother (TJ Miller) runs. The only way to save the branch is to throw the mother of all Christmas parties and invite a potential investor to woo them. What ensues is everything you expect from the makers of Blades Of Glory and some of the funniest comedians around. It's not perfect, but it's a refreshing, easy festive watch.

13
5
Thanks for voting

It’s a rare thing when the Christmas special of a beloved TV show turns out to be one of the better episodes in the entire series, but that’s precisely what White Christmas is to Black Mirror. Jon Hamm and Rafe Spall play an odd pair holed up in a remote cabin on Christmas Day. To say any more would be akin to us opening all your presents.

6
2
Thanks for voting

The best thing on Netflix about Christmas, bar none. Seriously, this Norwegian show is fantastic, focusing on Johanne who lies to her family about having a boyfriend and decides to go on the dating scene to actually find a suitor. It's a heartwarming show set in the snowy confines of Norway and there are two great seasons of the thing to watch

10
6
Thanks for voting

If you’re a Jim Carrey hater, then nothing we say can make you want to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Ron Howard’s live action take on the beloved Dr Seuss kids’ book sees the rubber faced comic in full gurning, prancing mode. To be fair, it’s the perfect casting for this misanthropic ball of energy, who sets out on a mission to prevent Christmas.

8
5
Thanks for voting

Watching a deranged Charlie Kelly bite off Santa’s ear in an act of revenge for having sex with his mother every December 25 might not give you the warm, fuzzy feeling that It’s a Wonderful Life does, but it will give you a belly full of laughs with its look back at childhood Christmases that weren’t as special as they once thought.

9
6
Thanks for voting

Oh Bill. Are you OK mate? You’ve had a weird life, and this musical Netflix original just makes it even weirder. Miley Cyrus, George Clooney and niche French band Phoenix all guest star in this festive special directed by Sofia Coppola about Bill Murray just being Bill Murray, but at Christmas. Sure it might border on the downright wacky and indulgent, but the Ghostbuster’s Christmas cheer is properly authentic, and you don’t often get to see that these days.

18
16
Thanks for voting

We weren’t expecting much from Falling For Christmas, but the movie which marks a return of Lindsey Lohan to family-based movie fun is more-than watchable. The plot has all the hallmarks of a Hallmark movie: Lohan Sierra Belmont (Lohan) is a self-obsessed heiress who, after a bump to the head, forgets her old life and is ‘saved’ by single dad Jake Russell, played by the amazingly named Chord Overstreet. Much of the action takes place in a ski lodge, which adds to the Christmas appeal and while it gets a little too soppy in places, it mostly works.

5
4
Thanks for voting

If you’re like us, the news that Robin Robin is Aardman Entertainment’s first musical production will come as a surprise. Aren’t they all this bursting with joyful musicality? Robin Robin is a delightfully delicate stop-motion yarn about a small bird raised as a mouse. What’s more, at only 30 minutes long, it doesn’t make a song and dance about its song and dance numbers.

3
2
Thanks for voting

One of the newer Christmas movies and, if you are in the UK the movie title has rather dark connotations, this is a great, strange movie about a toy maker who makes the ultimate toy - a sentient matador doll. This one is a huge amount of fun and packed with heart.

12
12
Thanks for voting

As you have probably guessed, the best Christmas movies aren’t on Netflix. BUT, The Holiday Movies that Made Us is a brilliant look at Elf and The Nightmare Before Christmas, through behind-the-scenes footage and talking head. This is a really great series and there’s a standard Movies That Made Us series as well which is equally great.

6
9
Thanks for voting

With a title so good we can't believe it hasn't been used before, Single All The Way is everything you want in a Christmas movie. It a feel-good film about Peter (Michael Urie) who takes his roommate back to his family for Christmas, asking him to pretend to be his boyfriend so he doesn't look like he's terrible at relationships. What ensues is heat-warming festive fun and it also stars Jennifer Coolidge which automatically gives it an extra star from us.

5
13
Thanks for voting