2024 Holiday Film Guide
Nothing encapsulates the spirit of the holiday season more than sporting a brand-new pair of festive pajamas on the couch and settling in for a Christmas film marathon. Year after year, cult classics like “Home Alone,” “Elf” and “It’s A Wonderful Life” fill our TV screens with Christmas cheer, but as the winter season rolls around, so does a flurry of new holiday features to enjoy. Here are four of this season’s top family-friendly Christmas films to enjoy on streaming platforms and in theaters leading up to the 25th of December.
The Snow Sister
Rating: TV-PG
“The Snow Sister” is a story about unexpected healing and cultivating unlikely friendships. As his 11th birthday approaches on Christmas Eve, Julien spends the holidays with Hedvig, an energetic and bubbly Christmas lover. Releasing on Netflix Nov. 29, this Norwegian film with English subtitles combines drama, fantasy and adventure based on the book written by Maja Lunde and Lisa Aisato.
The Boy & the Octopus
Rating: TV-G
Directed by Taika Waititi comes another Disney+ holiday short about a young boy who forms a friendship with a small octopus after returning home from his seaside vacation. With the promise of a new friendship, he helps the small creature become acquainted with his new life on land during the Christmas season.
That Christmas
Rating: PG
Based on a children’s book, “That Christmas” is a feature-length animated movie written by Richard Curtis, the author of the original tale published in 2020. The plot consists of an unconventional Christmas taking place in the seaside town of Wellington. Curtis has also been credited with writing and producing hit films like “Notting Hill” and “Love Actually,” the latter being another seasonal classic revisited by many this time of year. This PG film is family-friendly, though its version of the true Christmas story does veer from the Biblical account.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Rating: PG
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is a joy-filled comedy about the Herdman family, a group of six troublemaking children who forcibly take the leads in their town church’s holiday pageant, without any prior knowledge of the Christmas story. Since the Lionsgate film hit the box office on November 8, the movie has scored a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and has grossed more than $30 million dollars worldwide according to IMDb.
Hagen is an arts and culture writer for the Liberty Champion.