Movies like Christmas Eve (1947)
The best movies like Christmas Eve (1947) are Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas (2018), It Runs in the Family (2003) and Three Wise Men and a Baby (2022). If Christmas Eve hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedIt's a Wonderful Life (1946)8.3/10 from 5,158 votes
- NewestTHE SANTAPHOBES and their flatmate (2025)Released 2025
Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas (2018)
As Bright Fields preps for its Mistletoe Ball, a broken ornament leads Zoe to a family secret, while Gaby finds herself at the mercy of new boss Mia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt Runs in the Family (2003)
This is the story of a dysfunctional New York family, and their attempts to reconcile
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
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 · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDon't Think Twice (2016)
An improv group deals with several crises, including the loss of their lease and one member hitting the big time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Half (2024)
Renn Wheeland returns home to Cleveland for his mother's funeral. Once there, he forges new relationships while healing old ones, before confronting his problems and trying to face his grief.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChloe and Theo (2015)
A young woman, Chloe, living by her wits on the streets of New York City, has a chance meeting with a wise Inuit Eskimo, Theo, who was sent to New York by his elders to provide a message to the people of the world – We either change our destructive was or be destroyed by them. Chloe, who has been searching for something to believe in, becomes inspired by Theo and , with the help of a kind lawyer, Monica, the three of them present Theo’s story to the United Nations in hopes of creating a better future for all of us.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMadea Goes to Jail - The Play (2006)
Madea returns in another hilarious story in which she gets sent to the big house. But regardless of the circumstances, she gives her trademark advice and wisdom to her friends and family as they learn the importance of letting go, moving on, and forgiveness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlmost Christmas (2016)
A dysfunctional family gathers together for their first Christmas since the death of their matriarch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFeel the Beat (2020)
After failing to make it on Broadway, April returns to her hometown and reluctantly begins training a misfit group of young dancers for a competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAuntie Mame (1958)
Mame Dennis, a progressive and independent woman of the 1920s, is left to care for her nephew Patrick after his wealthy father dies. Conflict ensues when the executor of the father's estate objects to the aunt's lifestyle and tries to force her to send Patrick to prep school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWild Oats (2016)
Everything changes for Eva when she receives an insurance settlement check accidentally made out for $5,000,000 instead of the expected $50,000. She and her best friend take the money and head out for the adventure of a lifetime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSometimes Always Never (2019)
Alan is a stylish tailor with moves as sharp as his suits. He has spent years searching tirelessly for his missing son Michael who stormed out over a game of Scrabble. With a body to identify and his family torn apart, Alan must repair the relationship with his youngest son and solve the mystery of an online player who he thinks could be Michael, so he can finally move on and reunite his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFoster (2011)
Looking to adopt a child and unable to conceive a child of their own, the Morrisons' lives are turned upside down when a seven-year-old boy unexpectedly shows up on their doorstep.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Happiest Millionaire (1967)
A happy and unbelievably lucky young Irish immigrant, John Lawless, lands a job as the butler of an unconventional millionaire, Biddle. His daughter, Cordelia Drexel Biddle, tires of the unusual antics of her father--especially since the nice young men around town all fear him. Wouldn't you fear a father-in-law that keeps alligators for pets and teaches boxing at his daily Bible classes?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
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 · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMerry Christmas, Drake & Josh (2008)
Step brothers Drake and Josh must give a foster family the best Christmas ever or face years in jail for a Christmas party gone wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisDolly Parton's Christmas on the Square (2020)
A rich and nasty woman returns to her hometown to evict everyone but discovers the true meaning of Christmas thanks to the local townsfolk – and an actual angel. Features 14 original songs with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994)
Fred is cast as Ebenezer Scrooge in a stage adaption of the classic Christmas story, but is acting a bit stingy in real life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 12 Days of Christmas Eve (2022)
When Brian Conway, a successful businessman whose family relationships have suffered, gets in a car accident on Christmas Eve, Santa gives him twelve chances to redo the day and repair the relationships in his life, including with his daughter Michelle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrink and Be Merry (2025)
At a struggling New York dive bar in the days leading up to Christmas 2019, Chet, a beleaguered bartender in a state of extended arrested development, must balance caring for his misanthropic, aging regulars — who have nowhere else to go, and rely on him for far more than pouring drinks — with his naive desires to muster some Christmas spirit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
THE SANTAPHOBES and their flatmate (2025)
Two flatmates are preparing to commence a Christmas revolution like no other! Are you ready?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Weihnachtsüberraschungen (2025)
Nurse Nora is looking forward to her first Christmas vacation in years and wants to spend it quietly and relaxed with her mother Ellen. She doesn't really mind that her brother Moritz, formerly Maike, isn't coming, as she has always felt inferior to him. But then not only Moritz turns up, Grandma Lore also changes her plans and, to make matters worse, they are joined by their widowed neighbor Rolf and his detestable son Bent, as well as their daughter Katja and grandson Fritz, due to a faulty heating system.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
The Holiday (2006)
Two women, one American and one British, swap homes at Christmastime following bad breakups. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIt's a Wonderful Life (1946)
George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFalling in Love at Christmas (2021)
Miranda and Paul, two business rivals who playfully despise each other, work together on a holiday gift-giving app, and unexpected feelings develop for one another.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Święta inaczej (2022)
Fed up with forced cheer, twelve-dish feasts and predictable gifts, one person rejects the usual Christmas ritual and flees to the unknown, finally doing what they truly desire instead of what they must. This holiday, nothing will be the same: the world turns upside down and even the wildest dreams may come true.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Christmas Cupcakes (2018)
When their family bakery may have to close its doors right before Christmas, rival sisters Kim and Gina must team up in a national baking competition to win the grand prize. Thrown into a world of fierce competitors and a ticking clock, it will take a Christmas miracle to save the bakery, though they may discover a prize much larger than they had hoped for.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
8 Women (2002)
Eight women gather to celebrate Christmas in a snowbound cottage, only to find the family patriarch dead with a knife in his back. Trapped in the house, every woman becomes a suspect, each having her own motive and secret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhile You Were Sleeping (1995)
A transit worker pulls commuter Peter off railway tracks after he's mugged, but—while he's in a coma—his family mistakenly thinks she's Peter's fiancée, and she doesn't correct them. Things get more complicated when she falls for his brother, who's not quite sure that she's who she claims to be.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Christmas Eve?
The closest matches to Christmas Eve are Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas (2018), It Runs in the Family (2003) and Three Wise Men and a Baby (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Christmas Eve?
Start with Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas (2018), the closest match to Christmas Eve.
What is the highest-rated movie like Christmas Eve?
It's a Wonderful Life (1946), rated 8.3/10 by 5,158 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Christmas Eve?
THE SANTAPHOBES and their flatmate (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Christmas Eve?
Yes: Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas (2018), It Runs in the Family (2003) and Three Wise Men and a Baby (2022).
How are movies similar to Christmas Eve chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Christmas Eve, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.