Ali Plumb's 5 Best 21st Century Christmas Movies
There is no other “genre” - if you can call it a genre, and for the sake of argument let’s say you can - as controversial as “the Christmas film”. Okay, maybe “superhero movie” (see here), sure, but that's for another day.
The fact that I very nearly got into a scrap with myself over the definition of the thing straight out of the gate almost says it all, so to put the matter to rest, let’s say it is a genre, and that to be “a Christmas film“ a movie must do a few key things.
- Make you feel Christmassy
- Be set around Christmas time
- Contain a reasonable amount of Christmas trappings (trees, festive songs, parties, bad jokes, someone saying “Ho ho ho”).
This means Die Hard is a Christmas film. Come at me, one and all, I can take it!
Every year the conversation rolls around once more: what’s the best Christmas film ever? To my eyes - much like the “Is Die Hard a Christmas film?” perennial - it’s one that’s been done to death, and the answer is ultimately one of personal preference, depending on what happens to make you laugh, cry and feel all “jingle belly” (my term) when the holly and the ivy are both full grown.
Nostalgia plays a huge part, so whatever you grew up watching, full of goodwill to all men and hopefully surrounded by presents, will likely be what’s closest to your heart, be it It’s A Wonderful Life, Miracle On 34th Street or one of the near infinite number of Christmas Carols (The Muppet one is my personal favourite, 30 years old this year by the way).
So a slightly more interesting angle is this: what’s the best Christmas film from the 21st century? I’ve asked (and answered) a version of this question many times over the past couple of years, hopping through genres like horror, feel-good, teen, indie and more, but now, at the tailend of 2022, it’s time for an appraisal of all festive filmmaking in the past two decades (and a bit) and so here below is my utterly ridiculous and entirely inflammatory list.
Oh, and honourable mentions to the following:
- Iron Man 3 / The Nice Guys / Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (kinda Christmas movies but mainly not)
- Krampus / Rare Exports / Anna And The Apocalypse (horror-tinged entries that won’t be to most people’s tastes but definitely deserve a shout-out)
- Four Christmases / Christmas with the Kranks / The Night Before (not what I’d call funny but definitely have their loud and passionate defenders).
Oh and Carol, which just makes me cry that little too much to make it onto this list, but let it be said that it’s beautiful and undoubtedly a great piece of filmmaking.
But less of the hat tips and more of the actual list. And again: there will be arguments - but what’s more Christmassy than that, eh?
Still wondering what else to watch?
Radio 1's film critic Ali Plumb has put together his top 21st century films and there is something for everyone's mood.
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5. Christmas Chronicles (2018)
What can I say? I love Kurt Russell. Kurt Russell as a cantankerous (at times) Santa Claus? I’m there with bells on.
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4. The Holiday (2006) / Love Actually (2003) / Nativity! (2009) / Last Christmas (2019)
This is a total cop-out, lumping together four different Brit-flick feel-good rom-commy Christmas capers, but I seem to be watching them alternately on rotation annually and just didn’t want to leave any out. Word to the wise men, by the way: The Holiday and Love Actually are both surprisingly long, coming in at over two hours 15 mins each. You have been warned.
3. Arthur Christmas (2011)
Perhaps the most underappreciated entry on this list, Arthur Christmas is a delightful yuletide gift stuffed with the most incredible names - James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent,Eva Longoria, Laura Linney, even Michael Palin - with McAvoy playing Arthur, Santa’s clumsy son, in this family-friendly Aardman animation that honestly gets better every time I watch it.
2. Elf (2003)
Will Ferrell’s finest hour? Okay, hour and 37 minutes? Die-hard Anchorman fans may disagree, but to my mind Ferrell has never been funnier or more charming than when he played Buddy The Elf. The Peter Dinklage scene still sleighs - ho ho - and the singing at the end always gets me. Then there’s “SANTA’S COMING!”, Buddy congratulating the New York cafe for reportedly brewing the world’s best cup of coffee - “You did it!” - Buddy leaping at the tree, Buddy eating sweets with his spaghetti, Buddy… You get the idea. It’s brilliant. No shock there.
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1. Klaus (2019)
Klaus may only have been with us for a few years but already has become a firm family favourite for those who are in the know up and down the country. My love for this beautifully animated reimagining of Father Christmas’s “origin story” - so to speak - and his unlikely friendship with a seemingly workshy postman has reached such colossal levels that it’s now up there with the likes of the Paddingtons, Kubo And The Two Strings and Get Out (an odd mix, but bear with me) in being one of my very, very favourite films of this century full stop. I’ve even spoken to its director, Sergio Pablos, for a very special episode of my movies and TV podcast BBC Radio 1’s Screen Time, in order to ask the man behind it all a thousand incredibly earnest questions. Do listen if you’re intrigued, it’s genuinely fascinating. And if you’ve not seen the film before, watch it this year and regret nothing. If you have seen this film before, watch it again and also regret nothing.
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