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The best Christmas movies on Hulu right now (December 2024)

We love Hulu because it’s one of the best streaming services around. But this year’s Huludays Christmas movie lineup has a lot of bad films. Christmas with the Kranks, Jingle All of the Way, and I’ll Be Home For Christmas aren’t our idea of holiday standards. We shouldn’t let terrible movies get a pass just because they take place at Christmas.

The good news is that Hulu still has a handful of great Christmas movies that offset the lesser selections. Even the streamer’s new original film, Nutcrackers, falls under the festive season. For anyone who wants to share some holiday cheer with friends and family, or simply to have a good time on your own, these are the best Christmas movies on Hulu right now.

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We’ve also put together guides to the best Christmas movies on Netflix and the best Christmas movies on Amazon Prime. After all, Hulu’s holiday selection is only so big.

Recently added to Hulu

Nutcrackers (2024)

Nutcrackers
53%
5.6/10
pg-13
104m
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Stars
Ben Stiller, Homer Janson, Ulysses Janson
Directed by
David Gordon Green
Watch on Hulu

After rarely taking acting roles in the last few years, Ben Stiller returns to headline Nutcrackers, Hulu’s latest original holiday flick. Mike Maxwell (Stiller) is a single guy who has to take responsibility for his four nephews following the deaths of his sister and her husband.

The nephews — who are all played by real-life brothers Homer, Ulysses, Atlas, and Arlo Janson — are pretty wild to deal with. Few foster families are willing to take them, and Mike can’t have these kids complicating his own life any more than they already have. But it’s Christmastime, and Mike can’t help feeling drawn to his newfound family. Plus, he’s pretty sweet on the boys’ social worker, Gretchen (Linda Cardellini).

It's a Wonderful Knife (2023)

It's a Wonderful Knife
52%
5.2/10
r
87m
Genre
Horror, Comedy
Stars
Jane Widdop, Jess McLeod, Joel McHale
Directed by
Tyler MacIntyre
Watch on Hulu

The title of It’s a Wonderful Knife is clearly a play off of It’s a Wonderful Life. And like that Christmas classic, there’s some alternate world timeline things happening for the main character. In this case, Winnie Carruthers (Jane Widdop) wishes that she was never born one year after losing her best friend, Cara Evans (Hana Huggins), to a masked serial killer, the Angel.

In this new timeline, Winnie’s parents, David (Joel McHale) and Judy (Erin Boyes), don’t know who she is, and her younger brother, Jimmy (Aiden Howard), has already been killed by the Angel. Winnie thinks she knows the identity of the man under the Angel’s mask. But even if she can stop his reign of terror, Winnie may be stuck in a world that she doesn’t belong in.

Die Hard (1988)

Die Hard
72%
8.2/10
r
132m
Genre
Action, Thriller
Stars
Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov
Directed by
John McTiernan
Watch on Hulu

We’ve been singing the virtues of Die Hard as a Christmas movie for years, so it would have been hypocritical to leave it off of this list now that this classic action flick has come home for the holidays. John McClane (Bruce Willis) doesn’t even live in Los Angeles, but he’s come cross-country to win back his estranged wife, Holly Gennaro-McClane (Bonnie Bedelia), during her company’s Christmas party at Nakatomi Plaza.

Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber plays the Grinch in this holiday gathering when he takes Holly and all of the Nakatomi executives hostage alongside his heavily armed men. This forces John to play the lone action hero in a bid to save his wife and the hostages. And while John is extremely resourceful and lucky, even his luck can’t last forever.

The Polar Express (2004)

The Polar Express
61%
6.6/10
g
100m
Genre
Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Stars
Tom Hanks, Leslie Zemeckis, Eddie Deezen
Directed by
Robert Zemeckis
Watch on Hulu

At the time of its release, The Polar Express got a lot of flack for the uncanny valley in the faces of its leading characters. Those were the result of early CGI motion-capture performances. And yet it doesn’t matter, because two decades later, this adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg’s children’s novel has become a holiday classic.

Tom Hanks voices a lot of characters in this film, including the conductor of the Polar Express, a magical train that takes children to meet Santa Claus (Hanks). But first, a boy (Daryl Sabara) and a girl (Nona Gaye) have to help the Polar Express get past some complications along the way.

Elf (2003)

Elf
64%
7.1/10
pg
97m
Genre
Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Stars
Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart
Directed by
Jon Favreau
Watch on Hulu

Jon Favreau’s Elf came out in 2003 and was a big hit at the time, and it remains a Christmas film like no other. Will Ferrell stars as Buddy, a human who was raised among elves at the North Pole after a mishap decades earlier The problem with Buddy is that he’s too much of a human to comfortably live among the elves, and too much of an elf for humans.

Buddy’s biological father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan), has no idea that he has a son. But when Santa (Ed Asner) tells Buddy that he could potentially redeem Walter from the Naughty List, Buddy travels to New York to meet the family that he never had. Buddy also leaves chaos in his wake because of his eccentric persona, which alienates Walter and may keep him from reconciling with his son.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
49%
7.5/10
pg-13
97m
Genre
Comedy
Stars
Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Juliette Lewis
Directed by
Jeremiah S. Chechik
Watch on Hulu

The Griswolds are back in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, but you may not recognize the kids, Rusty (Johnny Galecki) and Audrey (Juliette Lewis), as they were recast for this film. Nevertheless, the early Vacation movies were all about Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and his wife, Ellen (Violent Night‘s Beverly D’Angelo).

Clark’s heart is in the right place as he tries to make Christmas a special occasion for the family. However, Clark’s finances are squeezed by his miserly boss, Frank Shirley (Brian Doyle-Murray), and he’s also stressed out by the unexpected arrival of Ellen’s cousin-in-law, Eddie Johnson (Randy Quaid) and his wife and kids. Clark tries to put a happy face on everything, but even he can only take so much before he snaps.

Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

Miracle on 34th Street
6.6/10
pg
114m
Genre
Fantasy, Drama, Family
Stars
Mara Wilson, Richard Attenborough, Dylan McDermott
Directed by
Les Mayfield
Watch on Hulu

The original Miracle on 34th Street is also on Hulu this holiday season, but the 1994 remake is charming in its own ways. Richard Attenborough stars as Kris Kringle, a man who berates a drunken Cole Department Store Santa shortly before that man disgraces himself in public. Dorey Walker (Elizabeth Perkins) hires Kris to replace the bad Santa, and he does a phenomenal job. The problem is that Kris seems to really believe that he is Santa.

Dorey becomes further disturbed when her daughter, Susan (Mara Wilson), also comes to believe that Kris is Santa. When a rival store gets Kris arrested, Dorey’s boyfriend, Bryan Bedford (Dylan McDermott), is forced to argue in court that Kris really is Santa.

Christmas on the Farm (2021)

Christmas on the Farm
5.1/10
pg
85m
Genre
Romance, Comedy
Stars
Poppy Montgomery, Hugh Sheridan, Darren McMullen
Directed by
Christopher Weekes
Watch on Hulu
New York socialite Emmy Jones (Poppy Montgomery) is on the verge of her big break. Her book about life on an Australian farm has incredible hype. So much so that her publisher, Jeanette (Ellison London), wants to see the farm firsthand during the Christmas season. Bringing her son, Jack (Darren McMullen), along for the ride, they’re eager to get a taste of the rustic, simple life Emmy described. The only problem is, it’s not really Emmy’s life, and she has to pretend like it is through a wild weekend on her deceased mother’s farm.

Holly's Holiday (2012)

Holly's Holiday
pg-13
90m
Genre
Comedy, Romance, Fantasy, TV Movie
Stars
Claire Coffee, Jeff Ward, Ryan McPartlin
Directed by
Jim Fall
Watch on Hulu
Holly Maddux (Claire Coffee) seems to always settle for less, at least when it comes to choosing a partner. She’s got the job, the great home, and all the other amenities of the executive lifestyle, but love still escapes her. That is until the day she fell and hit her head outside the store with the hunky mannequin. When Holly awakes, a handsome gent (Ryan McPartlin) is there to sweep her off her feet. He’s perfect in every way, but as the two get to know each other, Holly learns that her new lover may be too perfect, forcing Holly to choose between picture-perfect days and a more grounded lifestyle.

A Nasty Piece of Work (2019)

A Nasty Piece of Work
6.7/10
90m
Genre
Horror, Thriller, TV Movie
Stars
Julian Sands, Dustin Milligan, Angela Sarafyan
Directed by
Charles Hood
Watch on Hulu
Part of Hulu’s “Into the Dark” TV movie series, A Nasty Piece of Work is a fun little Christmas thriller. When a midlevel corporate worker finds out he’s not getting his Christmas bonus, his boss gives him a chance to earn a promotion instead. But only if he can destroy his professional rival in a battle of wits and violence.

Happiest Season (2020)

Happiest Season
69%
6.6/10
pg-13
102m
Genre
Romance, Comedy
Stars
Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Dan Levy, Aubrey Plaza
Directed by
Clea DuVall
Watch on Hulu
This holiday season Hulu’s serving up an original Christmas movie that’s funny, star-studded, and featuring a lot of the kinds of characters you don’t often find in holiday fare. Kristen Stewart stars as Abby, who’s so devoted to her girlfriend Harper (Mackenzie Davis) that she’s ready to pop the question. But on the way to Harper’s family home for Christmas, Harper drops a bomb — she hasn’t come out to her conservative family yet, meaning Abby’s going to have to play at being something she’s not. At the same time she bends over backward to hide the truth from Harper’s family, Abby has to struggle with her growing doubts about Harper. With a top-notch comedic cast including Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek) as Abby’s best friend, Aubrey Plaza (Agatha All Along) as Harper’s no-nonsense ex-girlfriend, and Alison Brie (Community) as Harper’s older sister, Happiest Season is a perfect holiday rom-com sure to keep you laughing and crying in all the right places.
Happiest Season - Trailer (Official) • A Hulu Original

A Christmas Carol (2019)

A Christmas Carol
7.2/10
r
173m
Genre
Drama, Fantasy
Stars
Guy Pearce, Andy Serkis, Stephen Graham, Tom Hardy
Directed by
Nick Murphy
Watch on Hulu
In this FX take on the Charles Dickens holiday classic, Guy Pearce stars as the iconic Ebenezer Scrooge. For Scrooge, Christmas Eve is just another business day for the miserly tycoon. Retiring to his abode, the foul man gets the fright of his life when three benevolent spirits carry him through a nightlong odyssey, transporting Scrooge in and out of time and space to better understand himself, Christmas, and the meaning of life.
FX’s A Christmas Carol | Official Trailer [HD] | FX

12 Pups of Christmas (2019)

12 Pups of Christmas
4.3/10
90m
Genre
Romance, TV Movie
Stars
Charlotte Sullivan, Donny Boaz, Elizabeth Small
Directed by
Michael Feifer
Watch on Hulu
Martin (Donny Boaz) is having a tough time keeping his business afloat. Specializing in dog GPS locators, he and his new hire, Erin (Charlotte Sullivan), are tasked with finding homes for 12 puppies that were abandoned after a photo shoot. As Martin and Erin band together under pressure, the coworkers begin to discover a blooming love for one another — just in time for the holidays.
12 Pups of Christmas - Official Trailer - MarVista Entertainment

Christmas Crush (2019)

Christmas Crush
4.6/10
87m
Genre
Romance, Comedy, TV Movie
Stars
Cindy Sampson, Robin Dunne, Chris Violette
Directed by
Marita Grabiak
Watch on Hulu
Addie (Cindy Sampson) is all about the holidays, so much so that she concocts a plan to send off a magical Christmas wish to the Kringle powers that be. Her wish: Get her neighbor Sam (Robin Dunne) to fall in love with her. Unfortunately for Addie, her dream backfire, and her other neighbor, Pete (Chris Violette), starts falling for her instead. Recruiting Sam, it’s up to Addie and her crush to fend off Pete’s over-the-top romantic gestures.
Christmas Crush - Official Trailer - MarVista Entertainment
Movie images and data from:
Blair Marnell

Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek Monthly, SYFY Wire, Superhero Hype, Collider, DC Universe, and the official sites for Star Trek and Marvel. He also lends his pop culture expertise to Digital Trends on a variety of TV, movie, and streaming features.

Michael Bizzaco

Michael Bizzaco has been selling, installing, and talking about TVs, soundbars, streaming devices, and all things smart home for the better part of 15 years. He even knows a thing or two about how to fix this stuff when it starts misbehaving (because no tech is perfect!).

Mike has been writing for Digital Trends and several other publications since 2020. Fortunately, he’s still able to write after he got his index finger stuck in a vending machine at the Ramada Inn the summer before fourth grade! From hands-on reviews to best-of roundups, Mike does his best to share his expertise in a friendly and informative way with all readers, and loves staying on top of the latest AV and smart home trends.

When he’s not thanking his father for dislodging his finger from that vile vending machine in New Jersey, Mike enjoys playing guitar, reading, and indulging in horror films with his girlfriend.

Nick Perry

Nick Perry is a freelance writer who bounced from Hollywood to Silicon Beach to pajama pants. His work has been featured on Digital Trends, Good Morning America, Entrepreneur, Mashable, and more media outlets.

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