How do we define a Christmas movie? It’s a question that we seemingly relitigate every year around this time, usually by debating whether specific examples qualify. But that cycle has us going in circles. Duking it out over Die Hard‘s Christmas bona fides just isn’t as fun as it used to be.
The issue, as is often the case in any public discourse, is that people argue over Christmas movies without a shared understanding of what that even means. Someone who expects a Christmas movie to have Christmas in the title is never going to see eye-to-eye with someone whose only criterion is they feel like watching that movie whenever the holidays roll around. At that point, we’re hardly even speaking the same language.
But this isn’t something that should be beyond definition. If Hallmark and Netflix can approach Christmas like a genre, then somewhere, deep down, we all know what a real Christmas movie is. We just need a way to test a movie’s Christmasness, place it on the spectrum from certified holiday special to Yuletide wannabe, and decide where to draw the line.
So, I’ve made one. Let’s settle this once and for all, shall we?
The Christmas Movie Test, Explained
I peeked under the hood of Santa’s sleigh and came away with a short, simple questionnaire you can use on any film. Each affirmative response earns it one point out of a maximum of five. Secure a perfect score, and you can be certain you’ve got the genuine article. Anything less than three, and you’re looking at an impostor.
It may seem straightforward, but there are many ways to watch a Christmas movie, and while this test is intended to put this great debate to rest, it wouldn’t be useful if it wasn’t somewhat flexible. If you choose, you can approach this like a hardliner, set narrow definitions, and treat each question as a simple yes or no. Or, you can be a bit more forgiving, and maybe even allow for half-points.
However you choose to play, the five questions any Christmas movie hopeful must face are as follows:
- Is Christmas celebrated?
- Is it set at Christmastime?
- Does it feel Christmasy?
- Does it prominently feature Christmas iconography?
- Is it about the meaning of Christmas?
#1: Is Christmas Celebrated?
The first question isn’t very complicated, though it is where people might be tricked into thinking a regular ol’ movie deserves the Christmas moniker. Is the holiday, at any point, actually celebrated by the characters on screen?
The strictest among you might limit this to actually sitting down for Christmas dinner, convening around the tree to distribute gifts, or any other holiday tradition explicitly defined as such. Others might allow an office’s Christmas party to qualify, even if there’s not much to distinguish it from any other office party aside from Santa hats.
The number of films that can check off this box is remarkably, and deceptively, broad. Many films out there dedicate a section, or even a single scene, to Christmas, especially those that tell their stories over large swaths of time. Some, such as the Harry Potter movies, make it onto some Christmas movie lists. Others, such as Goodfellas, are evidence enough of the need for more criteria than just this. A Christmas scene does not a Christmas movie make.
#2: Is It Set At Christmastime?
Another yardstick that gets thrown around on its own a great deal, based in part on a linguistic technicality. If it’s set at Christmas, doesn’t that make it a Christmas movie, regardless of its content? A weak argument, if you ask me – at least in isolation.
In any case, some guardrails are necessary here. I’d recommend defining Christmastime in the more open, “Christmas season” sense, rather than necessitating the movie be set on December 24 or 25. Though I will always argue that we as a culture should wait until December 1 to start decorating and putting Christmas playlists in regular rotation, the number of people who can hardly wait until Halloween ends before getting festive is impossible to deny.
Additionally, a film’s full story doesn’t have to take place within the bounds of the holiday to qualify, but it must be central to it. It’s a Wonderful Life covers several years and all manner of seasons, but it’s ultimately organized around a particular Christmas Eve. Edward Scissorhands, framed as a story about the origin of snow in California, builds to a Christmas climax. If a film devotes a segment to Christmas and moves on, it’s not deserving of a point here.
#3: Does It Feel Christmasy?
Of all the questions on this test, this is the most up for interpretation, by design. The feelings people associate with this holiday can vary wildly, and all sorts of films can conjure those feelings for them, even if they have no connection to Christmas whatsoever.
It could be something to do with the film’s style or visuals. Greta Gerwig films Little Women with a certain warmth that helps it resonate as Christmasy beyond its specific holiday sequence. For some, an abundance of snow is enough. In the case of The Grand Budapest Hotel (which features winter flurries, gentle pastels, and delicately wrapped confections), the music plays a key role. Alexandre Desplat’s score is inspired by Russian folk music and ends up sounding Christmas-adjacent, carrying the movie with it.
It could also be rooted in something thematic. Any film that explores ideas traditionally associated with Christmas – family and togetherness, hope amid difficulty, or even the trials of loneliness – can feel appropriate for late-December viewing. All those Lord of the Rings marathons are rooted in this. Paddington‘s themes certainly qualify. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which includes a memorable Christmas scene, is steeped in distinctly Christian themes that help it feel relevant to the holiday beyond that.
Conversely, it’s possible to think of this question from the perspective of movies that don’t feel like they’re in the spirit of Christmas. This is where you’d exclude holiday horror movies, such as Black Christmas, which satisfies just about every other requirement except this one. Eyes Wide Shut is often lit by Christmas lights alone, but it doesn’t exactly evoke that Christmas movie feeling.
#4: Does It Prominently Feature Christmas Iconography?
It’s hard to call something a Christmas movie if you’re not actually seeing Christmas on screen, and I mean for more than a few seconds in the background. This holiday is associated with certain imagery, and even if that varies from culture to culture, it will still be identifiable. This time of year is like no other and any self-respecting Christmas movie will make sure it looks that way.
You know what I’m talking about here. Trimmed trees, colored lights, wreaths, candy canes, stockings, reindeer, Saint Nick. Stars, angels, and Jesus in the manger, if we’re being fully traditional. Not every movie needs to be Elf-level filled with imagery, but for any relevant moments, you should know it’s Christmas and not be allowed to forget it.
I’ve used the word “prominently” intentionally, to give those who want it some wiggle room, but scoring a point here should require more than just window dressing. Shane Black famously sets his movies during Christmastime, but to varying degrees. Is Mean Girls‘ “Jingle Bell Rock” dance memorable enough to qualify? That’s up to you.
#5: Is It About The Meaning Of Christmas?
The final question is also, in its way, the ultimate question. If a movie answers yes to this, it almost certainly has scored enough points elsewhere. It’s hard to imagine any movie about Christmas ending up disqualified.
Of course, films that are literally about the holiday and its traditions, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Klaus, count here. This is every Christmas special ever, from A Charlie Brown Christmas to Shrek the Halls. Anything that has a character turn into Santa, like The Santa Clause or How the Grinch Stole Christmas, inevitably becomes about what it means to be Santa.
This is also many of the greatest holiday classics. It’s a Wonderful Life uses the meaning of Christmas to show one good man that his life amounts to more than what appears on a balance sheet. Miracle on 34th Street is mostly about Santa convincing one cynical girl to believe in magic again. Meet Me in St. Louis pairs the holiday with the importance of home.
If you’re a true Christmas movie purist, this final question is the only one that really matters – you expect true commitment from your holiday entertainment. But we need not be that strict. As long as a film satisfies a majority of these criteria, in any combination, it can receive Screen Rant‘s official stamp of approval.
As for Die Hard? That depends on how flexible you want to be. It scores an easy point by being set on Christmas Eve, but it’s neither about the holiday nor particularly in the spirit of it. To cross the necessary threshold, you need to accept the office party as Christmas being celebrated and “Now I have a machine gun, ho-ho-ho” as sufficiently ‘prominent’. If you ask me, I say yes to the latter and no to the former, leaving this action classic just short.
Does your favorite “Christmas movie” make the cut?
