Movies like The Christmas Carol (1949)
The best movies like The Christmas Carol (1949) are A Christmas Carol (1971), How Sarah Got Her Wings (2015) and A Christmas Carol (1984). If The Christmas Carol hooked you with its fantasy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Shawshank Redemption (1994)8.7/10 from 31,829 votes
- NewestZog (2018)Released 2018
A Christmas Carol (1971)
Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHow Sarah Got Her Wings (2015)
Good Samaritan Sarah Fitzpatrick has a fatal accident just before Christmas, and finds herself in the lobby before the gates of Heaven. Certain that she will be let in, she is shocked to find that her name is not on the reservation list. However, she is granted the chance to return to Earth as an "angel in training" with the requirement to help a soul in need. Sarah has the 12 days before Christmas to secure her place on the list leaving her in the race for her after-life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Christmas Carol (1984)
Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Christmas Carol (2004)
Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAvalon High (2011)
Elaine "Ellie" Harrison has just moved from Minnesota to Annapolis, Maryland while her parents take a year-long sabbatical to continue their medieval studies in nearby Washington D.C. Her new high school, Avalon High, seems like a typical high school with the stereotypical students: Lance the jock, Jennifer the cheerleader, Marco, the bad boy/desperado, and Will, the senior class president, quarterback, and all around good guy. But not everyone at Avalon High is who they appear to be, not even Ellie herself. Eventually, it becomes apparent that Avalon High is a situation where the ancient Arthurian legend is repeating itself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScrooge (1970)
A musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic ghost tale starring Albert Finney.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bridge (2015)
The sweeping tale of Molly Callens and Ryan Kelly, two young students who share a profound friendship their first semester in college, a time that becomes the defining moment of their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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 · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Christmas Carol (2009)
Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Veteran's Christmas (2018)
Captain Grace Garland, a decorated U.S. veteran, returns home after two tours of Search and Rescue in Afghanistan. After being separated from her beloved K9 partner, Grace must rediscover the magic of Christmas. When she finds herself stranded in the town of River’s Crossing a couple weeks before Christmas, the local judge, Joe Peterson, offers her a place to stay on his property and takes it upon himself to show Grace everything she has been missing; Christmas, family, community, and love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngels in the Snow (2015)
The affluent, yet troubled Montgomery family hits the road for a special Christmas in the mountains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)
Feeling forgotten by the children of the world, old St. Nick decides to skip his gift-giving journey and take a vacation. Mrs. Claus and two spunky little elves, Jingle and Jangle, set out to see to where all the season's cheer has disappeared. Aided by a magical snowfall, they reawaken the spirit of Christmas in children's hearts and put Santa back in action.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies 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 · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnowglobe (2007)
A young woman discovers a Christmas-themed dreamworld inside a magical snowglobe. Angela loves Christmas more than anything. However, her family does not share her love for the holiday at all. When she is about to breakdown because of her family, she receives a snowglobe in the mail. When she opens up the snowglobe, she is transported into the world inside, where Christmas is the heart and soul for everyone who lives there. She discovers she can return to her world by going down a small path in the small forest at the edge of the village, and can return whenever she winds up the snowglobe. After a long set of visits to the globe, she accidentally gets trapped inside.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Christmas Carol (1997)
Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Christmas Carol (1938)
Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZog (2018)
Zog is a keen young dragon who wants to learn to fly, roar, and breathe fire, so he studies at the Dragon School. He is desperate to impress his teacher and win a golden star, but he is prone to accidents and he has to be helped by a kind young girl who patches up his bumps and bruises.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bridge Part 2 (2016)
The second-half of the movie picks up in the present day, seven years later, with Ryan returning home from being on the road touring as a professional singer and Molly working at her father's corporation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSofia the First: Once Upon a Princess (2012)
Set in the storybook world of Enchancia, the music-filled movie follows Sofia, an average girl whose life suddenly changes when her mother marries the king and she is whisked off to live in a castle with her mom, new step-father, King Roland II, and step-siblings, Amber and James. Along the way this ordinary girl learns to navigate the extraordinary life of royalty, and in the process makes everyone around her feel special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Bramble House Christmas (2017)
While settling his father’s estate, Finn Conrad becomes suspicious as to why the man left a nurse $100,000. His dad knew her for less than two months before he died. Just before Christmas, Finn wants what to reclaim what he considers his family’s money, going undercover to investigate the bed and breakfast the nurse has recently taken over. When Finn meets Willa, he discovers she’s not a conniving gold digger at all, but a woman in need who put the money to good use. When she discovers his true identity, will it keep Willa from ever trusting him again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Green Mile (1999)
A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRonia: The Robber's Daughter (1984)
Ronia lives happily in her father's castle until she comes across a new playmate, Birk, in the nearby dark forest. The two explore the wilderness, braving dangerous Witchbirds and Rump-Gnomes. But when their families find out Birk and Ronia have been playing together, they forbid them to see each other again. Indeed, their fathers are competing robber chieftains and bitter enemies. Now the two spunky children must try to tear down the barriers that have kept their families apart for so long.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Beautiful Mind (2001)
From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash Jr. experiences it all. As a brilliant but socially awkward mathematician, he made a groundbreaking discovery early in his career and stands on the brink of international acclaim. But as the handsome and arrogant Nash accepts secret work in cryptography, he becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy. His life takes a nightmarish turn and he soon finds himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSummer Storm (2004)
Tobi and Achim, the pride of the local crew club, have been the best of friends for years and are convinced that nothing will ever stand in the way of their friendship. They look forward to the upcoming summer camp and the crew competition. Then the gay team from Berlin arrives and Tobi is totally confused. The evening before the races begin, the storm that breaks out is more than meteorological.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDog Day - Rome (2010)
A woman wakes up after a car accident in a strange world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Monomyth - Patsy (2014)
A very unusual wedding unfolds in front of a woman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
A young woman from the Midwest gets more than she bargained for when she moves to New York to become a writer and ends up as the assistant to the tyrannical, larger-than-life editor-in-chief of a major fashion magazine.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBatman Returns (1992)
The monstrous Penguin, who dwells in the sewers beneath Gotham, joins up with corrupt mayoral candidate Max Shreck to topple the Batman once and for all. But when Shreck's timid assistant Selina Kyle finds out, and Shreck tries to kill her, she's transformed into the sexy Catwoman. She teams up with the Penguin and Shreck to destroy Batman, but sparks fly unexpectedly when she confronts the caped crusader.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDas Boot (1981)
A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Christmas Carol?
The closest matches to The Christmas Carol are A Christmas Carol (1971), How Sarah Got Her Wings (2015) and A Christmas Carol (1984). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Christmas Carol?
Start with A Christmas Carol (1971), the closest match to The Christmas Carol.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Christmas Carol?
The Shawshank Redemption (1994), rated 8.7/10 by 31,829 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Christmas Carol?
Zog (2018) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Christmas Carol?
Yes: A Christmas Carol (1971), How Sarah Got Her Wings (2015) and A Christmas Carol (1984).
How are movies similar to The Christmas Carol chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Christmas Carol, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.