Movies like Dear Santa (2011)
The best movies like Dear Santa (2011) are Finding Mrs. Claus (2012), Secret Santa (2003) and A Boyfriend for Christmas (2004). If Dear Santa hooked you with its family and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Noel Diary (2022)6.3/10 from 414 votes
- NewestThe More the Merrier (2025)Released 2025
Finding Mrs. Claus (2012)
When Mrs. Claus feels neglected by her less than attentive husband, she goes to Las Vegas to help a little girl with her Christmas wish. But when Santa finds out and follows her to Sin City to make amends, he puts Christmas at risk when things don't go quite as he planned.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisSecret Santa (2003)
Newspaper reporter Rebecca Chandler, who feels she got no fair chance to prove her worth in her thee years career, looks forward to a Hawaian holiday with her fiancé Ryan, but instead of a ring he brings her- walking orders, he found better. So she accepts again to be the bachelor on duty in the Christmas season, and write the annual romantic non-news feel good-story, once more about the elusive Secret Santa in small-town Hamden, where the Christmas spirit it said to last all year. Bad luck follows her from Indianapolis: her car breaks down, she can only get lodgings in a home for the elderly without Internet, and nobody wants to help her unmask the secret Santa. Soon she guesses it must be the only rich philanthropist, but the popular Mr. John Martin Carter doesn't grant her an interview and isn't tricked either, in fact meets her at the worst repeatedly without her knowing him...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & romance
A Boyfriend for Christmas (2004)
Holly Grant has learned a long time ago not to rely on Santa Claus leaving Mr. Right in her Christmas stocking. But Holly is in for a surprise when a handsome man arrives on her doorstep with a twinkle in his eye and Yuletide tree in tow.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Star for Christmas (2013)
The only thing that is working in Cassie's world is her small town business. Her Christmas Cupcakery is a huge success, but her love life is a mess. Cassie's whole universe is turned upside down when she falls in love with a co-worker who is revealed to be the famous and notoriously troubled actor Alex Gray. There's no denying that Alex and Cassie are in love, but can their relationship survive the pressure of Hollywood and the holidays?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisOn the 2nd Day of Christmas (1997)
Trish and her six-year-old niece, Patsy, make their living by picking pockets. But when they try to take advantage of holiday shoppers with fat wallets, they run into a little snag - a department store security guard named Bert catches them in the act. The store owner wants them arrested, but decides to wait until Christmas is over. To ensure they don't make a run for it, he entrusts their care to Bert. With jail on the horizon, Trish and Patsy are scared for their future. But as the holiday nears its end, it looks as though a budding romance might just save them after all.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & romance
A Firehouse Christmas (2016)
With Christmas approaching, life appears to be good for Tom, an ex-Olympic hockey star, and his girlfriend, Jenny, a firefighter -- at least until Mary, a former Olympic figure skater, Tom's soon-to-be ex-wife and the author of a book of tips on relationships, is convinced that appearing to be still happy with Tom will help sell her book. Tom's strong desire to spend the holidays with his and Mary's daughter provides a test of true love and, ultimately, reveals who the true heroes are.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Lucky Christmas (2011)
Lucky Christmas is the story of Holly Ceroni, a single mom trying to get back on her feet, but who is crushed to learn her winning lottery ticket is in the glove compartment of her recently stolen car. Mike Ronowski, the construction worker behind Holly's missing property, goes along with a master plan to befriend Holly and coerce her into giving him half of her winnings. Mike unexpectedly falls in love with Holly and learns there are more important things in life than quick money in time for the holidays.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Nanny for Christmas (2010)
Ally is a smart young career woman who needs a new job. Samantha is a busy Beverly Hills advertising executive/mom whose too-well-mannered kids need some fun in their lives. And Danny Donner is the tough-guy owner of a chocolate company who wants a major ad campaign immediately. Could it all somehow lead to the Christmas that changes everyone's lives forever?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & family
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Most Wonderful Time of the Year (2008)
Five-time Emmy nominee and Golden Globe winner Henry Winkler stars in The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, the story of what happens when you open your heart to the power of Christmas. Disenchanted single mom Jennifer Cullen (Brooke Burns) is a Scroogette when it comes to anything Christmas. In fact, even her six-year-old son, Brian, is having trouble believing in Santa Claus. But when her Uncle Ralph (Henry Winkler) visits and brings a fellow passenger from his flight named Morgan Derby (Warren Christie), Jennifer s dubious heart awakens to the possibility that perhaps Christmas really does hold miracles. It s uplifting and laugh-packed and a story that will inspire the whole family to believe.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Noel Diary (2022)
Cleaning out his childhood home at Christmas, a novelist meets a woman searching for her birth mother. Will an old diary unlock their pasts — and hearts?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas in the City (2013)
With the threat of having to close her father's candy store, Wendy and her six-year-old daughter Grace travel to the big city in hopes of making extra holiday cash to save the store. When she's offered a job in the toy department of Wolmans, the city's biggest department store, Wendy can't wait! Her excitement doesn't last long when the store's manager, Teanna, destroys the Christmas spirit throughout the store and replaces Santa with a hunky male underwear model surrounded by elfin "babes." What Teanna is unaware of is that she has in fact sacked the real Santa. Unaware of his real "Santa" status, Wendy reaches out to the old man but it seems even he has given up hope. With her daughter losing faith in the holiday, Wendy realizes she must bring the true meaning of Christmas back to Wolmans before it is too late.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
SnoozefestMovies like thisLet It Snow (2013)
A resort executive is sent to a newly purchased lodge in Maine with instructions to turn it in to an ultra-modern resort, and finds a charming, successful lodge loaded with holiday spirit. Will she stick with her boss’s plans to tear everything down or find a way to save what she has come to love? Stars Candace Cameron-Bure and Alan Thicke.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas Island (2023)
When a snowstorm diverts Kate's first private flight bound for Switzerland, to Christmas Island in Nova Scotia, she must team up with an air traffic controller to secure her dream job as the family's pilot.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Three Wise Women (2010)
After a young girl witnesses her father having an affair, she declares she will never love anybody ever again. As a result, her guardian angel is forced to abandon her. Later, when she grows to be a miserable woman, her angel is given a second chance to save her from a life of sadness. To accomplish his goal, he travels through time to recruit the woman's past and future selves to help her reconcile with her father and change her direction in life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & romance
Once Upon A Christmas (2000)
The daughter of Santa Claus vows to transform a single father and his spoiled children to prove that the spirit of Christmas exists.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & comedy
The More the Merrier (2025)
An overwhelmed doctor is left to look after and care for three very pregnant women by herself during a storm on Christmas Eve, until she is joined by an intriguing colleague.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
The Mistletoe Promise (2016)
A chance meeting between two strangers who share a disdain for Christmas results in The Mistletoe Promise, a pact to help them navigate their holiday complications - together. But as they spend more time with each other and experience the magic of Christmas the phony couple discovers there may be more to their contract than business.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Golden Christmas (2009)
After a magical summer together, a nine-year-old boy whispers his heart into the ear of a best friend. With a loyal, golden dog by their side, the boy and girl bury a time capsule of keepsakes and then go their separate ways. Years later, looking for a fresh start, a man and woman each return to the place they felt most at home as a child. But a comedic case of unknown identity has them competing for the same childhood memories and Christmas escapades ensue. For the sake of their happiness, they must discover their common past before they turn each other's lives completely upside down. Can a golden dog lead them home?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & romance
SnoozefestMovies like this12 Days of Christmas Eve (2004)
Calvin Carter, a successful business executive, has it all, but neglects those closest to him. On Christmas Eve, all that changes when the sign on his office building falls on him. He awakes in a hospital bed, attended to by Angie, a nurse who soon lets him know he has 12 days (12 chances) to get his act together and achieve the "perfect" Christmas Eve. If he doesn't, there will be dire consequences.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & comedy
Christmas in Wonderland (2007)
Three kids and their Dad move from L.A to Edmonton. When they go shopping at West Edmonton Mall they find counterfeit cash. They inadvertently help catch the crooks, and later make a discovery about Santa
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies 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: Fans watch both · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Christmas List (1997)
Perfume saleslady Melody Parris feels like her life is in neutral. Her stick-in-the mud boyfriend won't commit and she gets passed over for a promotion at the store where she works. She decides to make a Christmas list. After it's deposited in Santa's mailbox at the store, she starts getting everything she wanted, but it doesn't always turn out as she expected.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & romance
Mom's Christmas Boyfriend (2023)
Single mom Emma always puts others first, particularly her ten-year-old daughter Lily, who she adopted on her own. But when the precocious Lily wins a contest to have her Christmas wish granted, Emma’s life gets turned upside down…because Lily’s Christmas wish is for Emma to finally find true love!
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & romance
Trading Christmas (2011)
Emily misses her daughter Heather, who is attending college in Boston. Since her father died, Heather is sensitive to her mom’s dependence on long-standing holiday traditions. This Christmas, Heather has planned a trip to Phoenix with her boyfriend, but tells her mother she is staying on campus to study. After Emily arranges a house-swap with Charles, an English professor from Boston who wants Washington State’s solitude in order to finish his novel, Emily hops on a flight to Boston to surprise Heather for Christmas. Unaware of the house swap, Emily’s best friend, Faith walks in on Charles at Emily’s house and in Boston, Ray, Charles’ brother responds to a 911 call only to find Emily at Charles’ condo. Will Christmas travel calamities lead to cross-country romances? Or have there been one too many surprises already?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family
A Holiday to Remember (1995)
Compassionate holiday romancer with Connie Sellecca as a divorced mother who takes young daughter Asia Vieira to her small South Carolina hometown in order to start a new life. Once there, Connie has trouble getting ready for Christmas as Randy Travis, her former boyfriend comes calling, and a runaway boy and social worker take up a lot of her and her daughter's attention. With Rue McClanahan, Don McManus. Based on Kathleen Creighton's "A Christmas Love.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Last Chance for Christmas (2015)
When Prancer injures his hoof Santa’s stable hand, John, must find a fill in to ensure Christmas deliveries go off without a hitch. His mission gets complicated when he discovers that Frankie, the perfect substitute reindeer, belongs to a precocious 8-year-old girl and her mother Annie. As he races to get Frankie up to the North Pole, he realizes that he’s actually falling in love with Annie and has to find a way to win her over and save Christmas at the same time.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Horses of McBride (2012)
When Nicki finds two horses stranded deep in the Rocky Mountain snow, she makes it her mission to find a way to get them to safety. With no other options, she picks up a shovel and starts to dig out the mile-long path, inspiring her father, Matt, and the rest of the community to join together and save the horses in the spirit of Christmas.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Defending Santa (2013)
Kris Kringle, aka Santa Claus, goes on trial for mental competency in Small Town U.S.A.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & family
Angels in the Snow (2015)
The affluent, yet troubled Montgomery family hits the road for a special Christmas in the mountains.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Accidental Christmas (2007)
Separated after 15 years of marriage, Vicki and Jason are set up by their two teenage children to spend a Christmas vacation together on the beach. But their family vacation is further complicated when Vicki's boss and Jason's gorgeous assistant show up. As Jason spends more time with Vicki, it becomes clear that this marriage is far from over, and he decides to propose to her all over again. It will take a lot of luck, plenty of love and a little dose of magic to bring this family back together again.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & romance
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Dear Santa?
The closest matches to Dear Santa are Finding Mrs. Claus (2012), Secret Santa (2003) and A Boyfriend for Christmas (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Dear Santa?
People who watched Dear Santa most often go on to Finding Mrs. Claus (2012), Secret Santa (2003) and A Boyfriend for Christmas (2004).
What is the highest-rated movie like Dear Santa?
The Noel Diary (2022), rated 6.3/10 by 414 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Dear Santa?
The More the Merrier (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Dear Santa?
Yes: Finding Mrs. Claus (2012), Secret Santa (2003) and A Boyfriend for Christmas (2004).
How are movies similar to Dear Santa chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Dear Santa, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.