Movies like Christmas in the Spotlight (2024)
The best movies like Christmas in the Spotlight (2024) are Grounded for Christmas (2019), Secret Millionaire (2018) and A Godwink Christmas: Meant For Love (2019). If Christmas in the Spotlight hooked you with its romance and tv movie, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedStardust (2007)7.3/10 from 4,658 votes
- NewestMenorah in the Middle (2022)Released 2022
Grounded for Christmas (2019)
When a winter storm hits Cleveland and grounds flights, the nearby hotels quickly fill up with stranded travelers. Nina, a pilot, reluctantly agrees to let her arrogant but charming fellow pilot, Brady, stay at her nearby parents' home. But when they discover her family is hosting a tree trimming party that night and that her ex will be there, Brady pretends to be her boyfriend to help her out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSecret Millionaire (2018)
When a bored millionaire (Steve Lund) is mistaken for a parking attendant by a beautiful girl (Siobhan Williams) who is protesting against his family’s intention of closing a local park, he uses the misunderstanding to get to know her better.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Godwink Christmas: Meant For Love (2019)
Multiple coincidences and a chance meeting bring together Alice and Jack, two strangers from very different family backgrounds, for an unexpected Christmastime courtship filled with personal revelations, misread signals, and a very real health scare that will either destroy or strengthen the budding romance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMr. 365 (2018)
When workaholic reality TV producer Sophie starts working on a holiday-season show about Will, a wildly sexy guy who celebrates Christmas every day of the year, she finds herself falling for her mysterious, unlikely new star, renewing her long-lost faith in Xmas in the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoinsettias for Christmas (2018)
It’s just weeks before Christmas when Ellie gets a call to return home to help her father on the family’s poinsettia farm. The family business is on the line to deliver tens of thousands of plants for the town’s annual parade. The problem is — the poinsettias have yet to turn red! As Ellie searches for the solution, she is reminded of where her heart truly lies as she falls in love with both her roots and a local botanist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn to Christmas Creek (2018)
As Christmas approaches, Amelia Hughes, a career-focused Chicago app developer lacking in holiday spirit, returns to her small hometown of Christmas Creek to rediscover the meaning of Christmas. There, she reunites with her childhood best friend Mike and her estranged uncle Harry, whose mysterious rift with Amelia’s father divided her family during the holiday season when she was a child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove at First Bark (2017)
Portland interior designer Julia Galvins (Jana Kramer) adopts a dog and seeks the help of expert and handsome dog trainer Owen Michaels (Kevin McGarry). When she is hired to design a nursery and a “puppery,” as well as plan a puppy shower fund-raiser for a pregnant client and her pregnant dog, Julia asks Owen’s advice, and their friendship just might turn into something more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas at Dollywood (2019)
Event planner Rachel lands her biggest job yet – Dollywood's 30th Smoky Mountain Christmas celebration, where she’s teamed with operations director Luke to plan an event as glamorous as Dolly Parton herself. Sparks fly, but it takes matchmaking by Dolly to help them find their way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Winter Princess (2019)
When Carly, secretly a princess, plans Snowden Peak’s Snow Ball with Jesse, their attraction is undeniable. In planning the event, the two make the gala a fundraiser to help infuse much needed resources into the resort. But without a celebrity draw, investors aren’t interested, and Snowden Peak is put up for sale. Will Carly allow her royal identity to be exposed to save the resort?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Date Chronicles (2017)
Leigh runs the website "Bad Date Chronicles," which allows people to anonymously post horrible date experiences. When rival blogger Conner becomes the subject of one of her posts, they agree to date each other to see which one is the "bad dater."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll of My Heart: Inn Love (2017)
Brian and Jenny are preparing for the grand opening of their bed and breakfast, Emily's Country Inn, when a big storm hits Buck County. Brian agrees to go back to Wall Street to boost their funds, while Jenny scrambles to keep the opening on track.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSame Time, Next Christmas (2019)
Olivia Anderson is a successful young woman who met her childhood sweetheart during her family’s annual Christmas visit to Hawaii. After being separated by distance and years, the two reunite at the same Hawaiian resort years later, and the old chemistry between them flares up anew—but circumstances conspire to keep them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWedding Bells (2016)
Nick and Molly, commitment-phobic and busy professionals with little in common, are asked to be the best man and maid of honor at the wedding of their mutual friends, Amy and Jamie.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoyal Matchmaker (2018)
A struggling NYC matchmaker is hired by a king to find his son a suitable wife in time for a national celebration. As the clock ticks towards her deadline, the matchmaker finds him the perfect wife -- only to realize that she’s fallen in love with him!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrigadoon (1954)
Americans Jeff and Tommy, hunting in Scotland, stumble upon a village - Brigadoon. They soon learn that the town appears once every 100 years in order to preserve its peace and special beauty. The citizens go to bed at night and when they wake up, it's 100 years later. Tommy falls in love with a beautiful young woman, Fiona, and is torn between staying or going back to his hectic life in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas Magic (2011)
Carrie Bishop, a successful event planner in New York City, is left unconscious after a car accident. In order to "pass over" to Heaven, she must help Scott Walker and his daughter Abby save their restaurant and find their Christmas spirit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSafe Haven (2013)
A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTwisted (2018)
Kara and Tyler are close to marriage when Tyler’s dangerous ex-girlfriend returns from rehab, and is adamant on winning him back, pulling Kara into a twisted game of cat and mouse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSalsa (1988)
Fatherless barrio Puerto Rican Rico is a menial car mechanic by day, but lives for the nights, when he dances and dates hot dancing girls, cockily convinced the title of Salsa king in fancy nightclub La Luna's upcoming contest is to be his. He encourages his best friend, courteous gentleman Ken, to date his sister Margarita so he gets a free hand with her flirtatious classmate Lola. The reigning salsa queen Luna's interest in Rico as dance-partner threatens his on-off relationship with Vicki. More jealous trouble follows when Ken and Margarita fall in true love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStardust (2007)
In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm. His journey takes him into a world beyond his wildest dreams and reveals his true identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMenorah in the Middle (2022)
Sarah is headed back to her hometown for Hanukkah with news of her engagement. Upon returning she finds out that her father had a heart attack and things have gotten out of hand.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Making of a Male Model (1983)
Kay Dillon, a successful modeling agent, meets the young and handsome ranch hand Tyler Burnett in Nevada. She can't help but notice his incredible good looks and invites him to move to New York and start working for her as a male model. Burnett accepts the invitation and goes to New York to start his modeling career. But Tyler longs for more in life: a woman to love and his own ranch. Can he remain the biggest male model in the industry, and still get his heart's desires? Is Kay the woman to give all that to him?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Christmas Encore (2017)
A struggling actress is cast in her last off (off) Broadway show - a modern take on “A Christmas Carol” - before giving up her dream and moving home. Instead, she finds romance with her director and a renewed passion for her craft and the city. But when the historic theater loses its lease and the show is set to fold, she and her cast mates are need of a Christmas miracle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Mistletoe Inn (2017)
When aspiring romance novelist Kim Rossi is unceremoniously dumped by her soon-to-be-published romance novelist boyfriend, Kim takes stock and decides to take a leap. She signs up for a romance writing retreat at a quaint Vermont Inn shortly before Christmas, where a top romance novelist is scheduled to attend and read the work of one lucky writer. Shortly after arriving, she crosses paths with Zeke, whom she initially finds to be intrusive and, naturally, ends up being her assignment partner. Worse yet, her ex is also at the retreat. Despite these bumps in the road, Kim steps outside her comfort zone and plunges into the writing exercises, surprising herself. Equally unexpected is the attraction that seems to be building between her and Zeke that promises to take her down a road she never imagined traveling. Based on the book by Richard Paul Evans.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilent Night, Lonely Night (1969)
Over the Christmas holidays in a small New England college town, a man and a woman share a brief interlude. He is there to visit his wife, who is a mental patient at the university, and she is there visiting her son, who is a student, after discovering her husband's infidelity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
La Collectionneuse (1967)
Bombastic, womanising art dealer Adrien and his painter friend Daniel go on holiday at a 17th-century villa on the Riviera. But their idyll is disturbed by the presence of the bohemian Haydée, accused of being a 'collector' of men.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHogfather (2007)
It's the night before Hogswatch, usually a time of joy on Discworld, but there are suspicious going-on and the criminal underworld is abuzz. The beloved Hogfather - the jolly bearer of glee and pork-related gifts for children everywhere - has vanished. Suddenly, Discworld's entire mythical system is under threat. The fate of this magical time rests in the hands of a very motley group: A band of wizards headed up by a mystical university president named Mustrum Ridcully (Joss Ackland), a loyal manservant called Albert (David Jason), a level-headed governess called Susan Sto Heilt (Michelle Dockery), and her grandfather, who happens to be - Death (Marnix van den Broeke).
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJoyeux Noel (2005)
France, 1914, during World War I. On Christmas Eve, an extraordinary event takes place in the bloody no man's land that the French and the Scots dispute with the Germans…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSesame Street: Elmo Saves Christmas (1996)
Can there be such a thing as too much Christmas? Find out... when a magical Christmas wish is granted and Elmo gets to see what the world would be like if every day were Christmas! You'll enjoy lots of songs and holiday cheer with Elmo and his new friend Lightning, the reindeer, and discover for yourself why Christmas is best kept to one day a year!
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Notting Hill (1999)
London bookstore owner William Thacker's quiet life turns upside down when a chance encounter with famous actress Anna Scott sparks an unlikely romance challenged by their vastly different worlds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Christmas in the Spotlight?
The closest matches to Christmas in the Spotlight are Grounded for Christmas (2019), Secret Millionaire (2018) and A Godwink Christmas: Meant For Love (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Christmas in the Spotlight?
Start with Grounded for Christmas (2019), the closest match to Christmas in the Spotlight.
What is the highest-rated movie like Christmas in the Spotlight?
Stardust (2007), rated 7.3/10 by 4,658 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Christmas in the Spotlight?
Menorah in the Middle (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Christmas in the Spotlight?
Yes: Grounded for Christmas (2019), Secret Millionaire (2018) and A Godwink Christmas: Meant For Love (2019).
How are movies similar to Christmas in the Spotlight chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Christmas in the Spotlight, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.