Movies like Secret Santa (2021)
The best movies like Secret Santa (2021) are Ghosts of Christmas Always (2022), 'Tis the Season to be Merry (2021) and A Kiss Before Christmas (2021). If Secret Santa hooked you with its tv movie and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Holdovers (2023)7.6/10 from 2,777 votes
- NewestThe Holdovers (2023)Released 2023
Ghosts of Christmas Always (2022)
Katherine is a Ghost of Christmas Present and she must help one soul, Peter, rediscover his Christmas spirit. But this year has something unusual in store.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this'Tis the Season to be Merry (2021)
Looking for a fresh angle to her book on relationships, Merry heads to snow-covered Vermont. She finds a new perspective and Christmas cheer with charismatic aid worker Chris.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Kiss Before Christmas (2021)
Ethan, always the nice guy, wakes up in a new reality at Christmas. Initially, he is enthralled with his new life but soon realizes that it's not what he thought it would be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHaul Out the Holly (2022)
Emily arrives home, hoping to visit her parents, only to discover that they are leaving on a trip of their own. As she stays at their house for the holidays, their HOA is determined to get Emily to participate in the neighborhood’s many Christmas festivities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Royal Nanny (2022)
Claire is an MI5 agent who goes undercover as the royal nanny. She must overcome the challenges of her assignment, like resisting the charms of Prince Colin, while keeping the family safe at Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Maple Valley Christmas (2022)
Erica is a rancher who has spent her whole life working the family farm with her mother and sister. When Aaron arrives and disrupts her plans, she starts to question what it is she actually wants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas at Castle Hart (2021)
Brooke Bennett goes to Ireland for Christmas to search for her Irish roots. While there, she meets Aiden Hart, Earl of Glaslough. Mistaken for an elite event planner, she’s hired to host his castle’s epic Christmas party.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNext Stop, Christmas (2021)
Angie wonders what her life would be like if she had married a former boyfriend who became a famous sportscaster. She takes the train home to spend Christmas with her family and inexplicably finds herself 10 years in the past. With the advice of the train's enigmatic conductor, Angie has the chance to revisit that Christmas and learn what — and who — is truly important to her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCoyote Creek Christmas (2021)
While throwing a "Christmas Around the World" party at her family's inn, an event planner discovers Christmas magic with a charming father-son duo whose presence brings about tension and joy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Christmas Contest (2021)
Exes Lara and Ben compete in a Christmas contest to win money for the charity of their choosing. The city watches them battle and choose what is more important, victory or love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Nine Kittens of Christmas (2021)
Cat lovers Zachary and Marilee are thrown back together at Christmas when they're tasked with finding homes for a litter of adorable kittens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Merry Christmas Wish (2022)
Janie, a rising marketing executive living in The Big Apple, returns to her hometown of Woodland Falls when her Great-Uncle Randall passes away. Randall has even arranged for his farmhand, Dylan to help at the event, which is being held in the farm’s sprawling barn. Aware that her Manhattan boyfriend is anxious for her to return to the city so the pair can jet off to a previously planned holiday on the beach, Janie begins to feel an unexpected emotional tug about living life in a more authentic, meaningful way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisCatering Christmas (2022)
A fledgling caterer, Molly Frost, is hired by Jean Harrison, the perfectionistic director of the renowned Harrison Foundation, to cater this year’s annual Christmas Gala dinner. Things get complicated when Molly falls for Jean’s nephew, Carson, 30s, a travel photographer with no desire to take over the family’s foundation… until his aunt assigns him to the task of making sure the catered dinner goes perfectly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas at the Drive-In (2022)
Sadie Walker is starting over in her hometown of Chesterfield, New York, following a series of major life disruptions that include leaving her law practice after losing her biggest case and no longer being engaged.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Kindhearted Christmas (2021)
Jamie owns a sightseeing and tour company in the small town of Cooperville, New York. Navigating the holidays with enthusiasm is trickier for Jamie since her husband Matt passed. Matt loved Christmas and found unparalleled joy in giving to others. While reminiscing with family, Jamie realizes the town desperately needs someone with Matt’s genius for thinking of the small gestures that bring genuine happiness to the holidays.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Santa Squad (2020)
Allie, an out of work art teacher, has to accept a job with the Santa Squad to help wealthy widower Gordon and his two precious daughters rediscover the magic of Christmas. As Allie is lifting the holiday spirits of the family with Christmas decorations, cookies and shopping, her kindness is rewarded with the most unexpected of gifts: love!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Christmas Contract (2018)
It’s Jolie’s first time going back home to Louisiana since her devastating break-up with Foster Burke. Seeing him is inevitable as their parents run the town’s annual Christmas Market together, but when she discovers Foster is bringing home a new girlfriend, Jolie cannot bear the thought of going home alone and seeing them together. Her best friend Naomi suggests that Jolie bring her flaky brother, Jack, home for Christmas as he has no plans this year. Jolie, a professional web designer, is hesitant; so, Naomi, a lawyer, creates a Christmas contract to give them both something they want—a buffer for those awkward moments around Jolie’s ex and a website to help sell Jack’s upcoming novel. Unbeknownst to them, the Christmas contract proves to be so much more than what they signed up for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNever Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater (2020)
Single mom Maggie is facing Christmas alone until Lucas crashes into her life and becomes an unexpected house guest. Together they overcome Christmas while finding comfort in their growing bond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas in Evergreen (2017)
Allie, a veterinarian in Evergreen, reluctantly will spend Christmas with her long-distance boyfriend. Bound for the airport, she has engine trouble, and Ryan, headed to Florida with his daughter Zoe, stops to help. Sure they won’t meet again, they ignore their attraction, and part ways. At the diner, Zoe wishes on a snow globe, and a storm seems to grant her wish.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas Under the Stars (2019)
When Nick is fired from his high-powered investment firm at Christmastime, he takes a job at a Christmas tree lot. There, he meets Julie, an astronomy teacher who’s always looked to the stars for hope. As the Christmas spirit washes over him—and he begins falling for Julie—the once self-centered Nick discovers the joy of helping others.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrashing Through the Snow (2021)
Maggie and Sam are crashing Christmas. When he proposes they team up against his sister's perfect Christmas, neither of them are prepared for the blended family challenges that lie ahead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
The Christmas Cure (2017)
A doctor returns home for Christmas to find that her father has decided to retire from his own practice. After reuniting with her high school sweetheart, she wonders if she should stay and take over her father's practice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFixing Up Christmas (2021)
Known as a “fixer” for difficult clients, a talented party planner must help a young CEO plan the Christmas party of the year to dazzle the mayor and save his company. Wil the “fixer” fix something more than just the company?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Christmas Carole (2022)
Carole Mackay is an unashamedly outspoken and wealthy entrepreneur. Her online business selling all things festive has earned her a fortune, as well as the nickname 'Christmas Carole'. But her success hasn't made her a better human being. In fact, it's made her worse. The truth is that Carole is a monumentally mean person. Positively Scrooge-like. And, just like Ebeneezer, she doesn't love Christmas at all. But this Christmas Eve, Carole's past, present and future are about to collide. Will some rather familiar Christmas spirits help her discover the true spirit of Christmas?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Four Christmases (2008)
Brad and Kate have made something of an art form out of avoiding their families during the holidays, but this year their foolproof plan is about go bust -- big time. Stuck at the city airport after all departing flights are canceled, the couple is embarrassed to see their ruse exposed to the world by an overzealous television reporter. Now, Brad and Kate are left with precious little choice other than to swallow their pride and suffer the rounds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Holdovers (2023)
A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJust Friends (2005)
While visiting his hometown during Christmas, a man comes face-to-face with his old high school crush whom he was best friends with – a woman whose rejection of him turned him into a ferocious womanizer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Santa (2003)
You'd better watch out - Willie T. Soke is coming to town, and he doesn't care if you've been naughty or nice. Willie's favorite holiday tradition is to fill his sacks with loot lifted from shopping malls across the country. But this year his plot gets derailed by a wisecracking store detective, a sexy bartender, and a kid who's convinced Willie is the real Santa Claus.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLook Who's Talking Now! (1993)
When high-powered executive Samantha LeBon hatches a scheme to spend a romantic Christmas with her new employee – the unsuspecting, blithesome James – his wife, their kids and their two dogs, Rocks and Daphne, must rescue him before he makes a terrible mistake.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Holiday Boyfriend (2019)
Katie gets dumped right before Christmas and gets on a dating app determined to never spend another Christmas alone! But it will take more than an app and the advice of friends to help this girl find true love. It'll take a Christmas Miracle!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Like Secret Santa and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Secret Santa?
The closest matches to Secret Santa are Ghosts of Christmas Always (2022), 'Tis the Season to be Merry (2021) and A Kiss Before Christmas (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Secret Santa?
Start with Ghosts of Christmas Always (2022), the closest match to Secret Santa.
What is the highest-rated movie like Secret Santa?
The Holdovers (2023), rated 7.6/10 by 2,777 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Secret Santa?
The Holdovers (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Secret Santa?
Yes: Ghosts of Christmas Always (2022), 'Tis the Season to be Merry (2021) and A Kiss Before Christmas (2021).
How are movies similar to Secret Santa chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Secret Santa, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.