'Tis the season to start firing up some holiday film fare because this year there are a lot of solid streaming choices for Christmas movie fans to sift through. Netflix subscribers in particular are in for some tinselly treats as the service has started putting out more and more holly jolly originals — most of them starring celebs you will definitely recognize from your favorite TV shows — to keep pace with the cable networks who've become celebrated for their yuletide collections, like Hallmark and Freeform.
In addition to Netflix original films, the streaming giant also has a lots of other festive favorites, so here's a look at the best of what Netflix has to offer this winter.
The Christmas Prince
Okay, okay, so the whole 'ordinary girl meets handsome prince and falls in love' thing is a little stale, but when you sprinkle a little holiday cheer on top, things get pretty festive. Starring Rose McIver and Ben Lamb, A Christmas Prince is a love story for the blogging age. As a bonus, you can now also watch the sequel to this film, The Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding, which sheds some light no the royal couple's happily ever after.
The Holiday Calendar
Another new holiday rom-com that's worthy of your time is this cozy tale of a struggling photographer (played by Kat Graham) who receives an old advent calendar that seems to be predicting her future, including a budding love affair. D'aw. As a bonus, it also stars This Is Us' Ron Cephas Jones, so you just know you're going to catch feels from his performance alone.
The Princess Switch
Ah yes, the classic life swap between someone with gobs of privilege who just wants to experience the humdrum of ordinary life and an ambitious normie who just wants to take a week off to play dress up as royalty. Fun times. The Christmas Switch features Vanessa Hudgens doing double duty as two look-alike distant relatives who trade lives, and while the film is as predictable as it sounds, it's total comfort food. (Literally, there's also a hefty amount of baking involved in this movie).
The Christmas Chronicles
The Christmas Chronicles has got all the ingredients for some wholesome holiday cheer: a salty Santa Claus (Kurt Russell) who likes to boogie, a gaggle of tiny elves that do the floss, and some curious kids who'll have to help them all save Christmas. So prepare for Santa to have a whole new bag when this movie drops on Thursday, Nov. 22.
Christmas Inheritance
This holiday film might be made of cheese, but it's still pretty fun to watch as the hot mess daughter of a high-powered CEO has to get her act together if she wants her chance at advancement. But she discovers that the small town she's sent on an errand to brings out a more thoughtful side of herself than she'd ever known before.
Love Actually
Few films conjure up so many emotions just by mentioning the title, but Love Actually does that and more. The film features an array of different people whose love life challenges are much more gutting than your average hokey holiday fare — from the guy who's secretly in love with his best friend's wife, to the woman whose husband has eyes for his secretary, to the woman who has a chance with the man of her dreams but has to sacrifice that connection to help a loved one in need, there are a lot of gut punches to enjoy in this movie. And while not everyone will get the happiest ending, the Christmas spirit is definitely strong with this one.
White Christmas
This classic Christmas movie centers on a quartet of talented performers — played by Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen — who team up to help save the day for a sweet little country inn from financial ruin. It's quite a show.
The Nutcracker
When it comes to holiday ballets, nothing even comes close to The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky's seminal work about little Marie and her showdown with the Mouse King. George Balanchine's 1993 live-action adaptation, starring Jessica Lynne Cohen and Macaulay Culkin captures all of the magical ingredients of the stage versions that have defined childhoods for generations — from the Sweet Sugar Plum Fairy to the Nutcracker's daring effort to save our heroine from evil, giant mice, this is a wintertime fantasy story for the ages.
Mariah Carey's Merriest Christmas
This musical Christmas special, which first debuted on Hallmark in 2015, features Mariah Carey doing what Mariah Carey does best: singing her many sweet, joyful Christmas ballads and talking about how much she loves the holiday. If you can get past the weird spliced-in Santa stuck in traffic storyline, this is a fun one to hum along to. (Note: If you're really into bringing MC along this season, her 2017 animated Christmas movie All I Want for Christmas Is You is available on Amazon Prime).
A Very Murray Christmas
Another celebrity sing-along special that hits all the right notes is Bill Murray's A Very Murray Christmas, which features the legendary actor whose attempts to put on a live Christmas special are thwarted by the snow. He then meets up with a slew of his fellow A-listers in Hollywood, who join him in a series of iconic musical numbers built for the season. It's a whole lot different than the last Christmas movie he starred in, of coursed (that'd be Scrooged, which is available on Starz), but the fever dream styling of the film is still pretty familiar.
Photos: 15 Holiday TV Specials '90s Kids Will Remember
Photo: NickelodeonFor a long time Netflix was hands-down the best streaming platform. But these days, competition is mounting. Amazon is producing more and more fantastic shows every month and upcoming services Disney+, as well as Apple TV Plus, could change your streaming habits for good.
But, for now at least, Netflix is still our favourite place to catch up on all of the best movies and TV shows. Sure that may be a bold claim, but there are many reasons why Netflix takes the top spot. Including its (mostly) intuitive interface, original series and films, offline modes, huge catalogue of movies and, most importantly, the fact it's constantly updated week-on-week (and sometimes even daily) with the best entertainment on the planet.
We've found that every single day Netflix adds at least a movie or two. Every week at least three or four of those are worth a watch. And for us that's what sets Netflix apart from Amazon Prime. Amazon may have a great back catalogue and some good movies added now and again, but it also has a really big back catalogue of rubbish titles – and we wouldn't want you settling for that.
May is already off to a fantastic start on Netflix. Dystopian science-fiction-slash-thriller Snowpiercer landed, starring good ol' Captain America (Chris Evans), as well as laugh-out-loud comedy 21 Jump Street, and another sci-fi thriller to sink your teeth into: The Girl With All the Gifts.
This week we've got an equally varied line-up on offer with Stanley Kubrick's epic Spartacus, and the super watchable and always funny British comedy Shaun of the Dead.
What's new on Netflix in May?
We've got a movie for every taste this month.
There's the dystopian science-fiction-slash-thriller movie Snowpiercer, starring good ol' Captain America (Chris Evans), the laugh-out-loud comedy 21 Jump Street or there's sci-fi horror flick The Girl With All the Gifts to sink your teeth into. Metroid other m wii u iso download.
This week that stellar line-up is joined by Stanley Kubrick's truly epic Spartacus, as well as Edgar Wright's brilliantly British comedy Shaun of the Dead.
Image Credit: Netflix
It's nothing short of life-changing that Netflix delivers fresh movies to your home every day. But what this constant stream of great flicks also means is that many of us spend a lot of time scrolling through anything and everything the service has to offer.
And, as many of us are all too aware, often the dilemma of so much great stuff to choose from (which is known as ‘decision fatigue’ in psychology circles) leaves us feeling fed up – it's Netflix analysis paralysis, and it isn't pretty.
In an attempt to put an end to this indecisive cycle of doom once and for all, we’ve created this extensive list to the best movies that Netflix UK has to offer you right now. That's right. No more endless scrolling and no more movie-induced anxiety that you've made the wrong choice.
We'll be updating this cinematic hall of fame at least once a week, so be sure to keep it bookmarked so you can find out what's hot and ready to be watched on Netflix in the UK right now.
If you’ve been signed up to Netflix for a while now, you’ll be well aware there are lots of mediocre movie choices. But if you only have time for the best of the best, don't waste those all too precious minutes searching through the site's extensive and exhausting back catalogue. Instead, delve straight into this guide.
To make your life easier (and enable your worrying Netflix addiction), we’ve divided more than 40 movie recommendations up into categories that we're sure will suit every taste. We’ve got indie and horror through to kids and documentaries.
And make sure you keep checking back. Unlike Netflix's TV output, which seems to stay on the streaming platform for longer, movies on the streaming site tend to appear and disappear quickly. Enjoy!
- If you are a TV fan, then check out our best shows on Netflix feature.
- Into your animation? Check out our best animated shows on Netflix feature
- Check out what the rivals are up to with the best movies on Amazon Prime
- Best Netflix sci-fi movies: fantastic films to stream on Netflix and Amazon now
- Best horror movies: scary films to stream right now
- Wanting to watch from abroad? Then you need the best Netflix VPN