Movies like The Christmas Bus (1972)
The best movies like The Christmas Bus (1972) are With Love, Christmas (2017), A Gift Wrapped Christmas (2015) and Dutch (1991). If The Christmas Bus hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLucy Shimmers and the Prince of Peace (2020)8.4/10 from 385 votes
- NewestGoodbye June (2025)Released 2025
With Love, Christmas (2017)
Advertising execs Melanie Welsh and Donovan Goodwin disagree on a cellphone Christmas commercial they’re pitching. He says his sleek design will win over the client but she knows it lacks holiday spirit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Gift Wrapped Christmas (2015)
Personal shopper Gwen's newest client, Charlie, is a high-rolling, workaholic, single father. When Gwen meets his 8-year-old son, Owen, during a package drop, she is saddened to see just how little time Charlie spends with him. Determined to get Charlie to appreciate his family, Gwen makes it her Christmas mission to get him into the festive spirit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDutch (1991)
To get to know his girlfriend's son, a man volunteers to pick him up from a prep school... only to learn that her son's not the nicest kid.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLucy Shimmers and the Prince of Peace (2020)
Second chances start when a hardened criminal crosses paths with a precocious little girl who is helped by an angel to change hearts during the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiracle on 34th Street (1947)
Kris Kringle, seemingly the embodiment of Santa Claus, is asked to portray the jolly old fellow at Macy's following his performance in the Thanksgiving Day parade. His portrayal is so complete that many begin to question if he truly is Santa Claus, while others question his sanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Smurfs: A Christmas Carol (2011)
When Grouchy Smurf behaves badly to everyone and refuses to celebrate Christmas, the Smurfs of Christmas Past, Present and Future teach him to appreciate Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas on the Bayou (2013)
When successful New York marketing executive Katherine discovers her workaholic ways are taking a toll on her eight-year-old son, Zac, she decides to spend Christmas with him and her mother, Lilly in her home town on the bayou. When Caleb tries to rekindle a childhood romance and convince her to move back home, Katherine is torn between the bright lights of the big city and the quiet, gentler rhythms of her Southern roots. Only a Christmas miracle orchestrated by Papa Noel can steer her heart to her true home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree Wise Men and a Baby (2022)
Three brothers get the surprise of their lives when they are forced to work together to care for a baby over the holidays. As they slowly get the hang of things, they find themselves on unexpected journeys of self-discovery and begin to rebuild their relationships as brothers, as well as the damaged romantic and professional relationships in their respective lives…all while rediscovering their love of Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArthur Christmas (2011)
For hundreds of years, the Claus family has delegated the title "Santa" to a chosen few of its members, which can be passed down upon retirement. Each Christmas, Santa and his vast army of highly trained elves produce gifts and distribute them around the world in a one-night high-tech operation. However, when one of 600 million children to receive a gift from Santa on Christmas Eve is missed, it is deemed ‘acceptable’ to all but one—Arthur Claus, the current Santa’s misfit son deemed ineligible for the title, who executes an unauthorised rookie mission to get the last present halfway around the globe before dawn on Christmas morning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011)
Teddy Duncan's middle-class family embarks on a road trip from their home in Denver to visit Mrs. Duncans Parents, the Blankenhoopers, in Palm Springs. When they find themselves stranded between Denver and Utah, they try to hitch a ride to Las Vegas with a seemingly normal older couple in a station wagon from Roswell, New Mexico. It turns out that the couple believes they are the victims of alien abduction. The Duncan's must resort to purchasing a clunker Yugo to get to Utah, have their luggage stolen in Las Vegas, and survive a zany Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Blankenhooper.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Christmas Shoes (2002)
Two separate stories mesh - in the first, a young music teacher, Maggie Andrews, begins dying of a heart condition and her son Nathan tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for her before she dies. In the second, lawyer Robert Layton and his wife Kate are slowly drifting apart and the matter comes to a head during Christmas when Kate takes over for Maggie for the school choir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNoelle (2019)
Kris Kringle's daughter, Noelle, sets off on a mission to find and bring back her brother, after he gets cold feet when it's his turn to take over as Santa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodbye June (2025)
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScarecrow (1973)
Two drifters bum around, visit earthy women and discuss opening a car wash in Pittsburgh.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Simpsons: O C'mon All Ye Faithful (2024)
The residents of Springfield search for Christmas cheer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Godwink Christmas: Second Chance, First Love (2020)
After 15 years, Pat moves home from Hawaii with his two sons and through a series of coincidences, or Godwinks, ends up stuck in traffic next to his high school sweetheart, Margie, at Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024)
The Herdman kids are undeniably the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, steal, cheat, bully and overall terrorize their small community. But this Christmas, they're taking over their local church Pageant – and they just might unwittingly teach a shocked little town the true meaning of Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI'll Be Home for Christmas (1998)
Estranged from his father, college student Jake is lured home to New York for Christmas with the promise of receiving a classic Porsche as a gift. When the bullying football team dumps him in the desert in a Santa suit, Jake is left without identification or money to help him make the journey. Meanwhile, his girlfriend, Allie, does not know where he is, and accepts a cross-country ride from Jake's rival, Eddie.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Madea Christmas (2013)
Madea dispenses her unique form of holiday spirit on rural town when she's coaxed into helping a friend pay her daughter a surprise visit in the country for Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Christmas Bus?
The closest matches to The Christmas Bus are With Love, Christmas (2017), A Gift Wrapped Christmas (2015) and Dutch (1991). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Christmas Bus?
Start with With Love, Christmas (2017), the closest match to The Christmas Bus.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Christmas Bus?
Lucy Shimmers and the Prince of Peace (2020), rated 8.4/10 by 385 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Christmas Bus?
Goodbye June (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Christmas Bus?
Yes: With Love, Christmas (2017), A Gift Wrapped Christmas (2015) and Dutch (1991).
How are movies similar to The Christmas Bus chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Christmas Bus, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.