The 10 most underrated Christmas movies of all time
Christmas rolls around every year with a stocking full of traditions, from the bone-dry turkey of a gargantuan dinner to the family board game, which often ends in tears. But when the turkey has finally made it down your throat, and you’re too shattered for board games, that’s when the Christmas movies come out in full force. From comedies like Home Alone and Elf to older classics like It’s A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street, the roster of films is always the same.
Indeed, just like every film genre, Christmas movies include a broad spectrum of world cinema, with several classics being obscured from view thanks to the plethora of Hollywood classics. But, look past the likes of The Muppets Christmas Carol and Home Alone, and you may just find a brand-new festive favourite, courtesy of such filmmakers as the great Satoshi Kon or the horror aficionado Michael Dougherty.
In our list of the ten most underrated Christmas movies of all time, we’ve tried to shed light on some festive foreign flicks that have never received the credit they deserve, as well as a number of western releases that critics misjudged. Sure, festive movies are all about fun, vibrant and magical tales, but they’re also about giving you a humble reality check, helping you see the goodness in the commercialised holiday.
So, take a dip into our list of the ten most underrated Christmas movies below and brave the idea of switching your holiday traditions.
The 10 most underrated Christmas movies:
10. Babes in Toyland (Clive Donner, 1986)
This made-for-television film stars a baby face Drew Barrymore, Richard Mulligan, Eileen Brennan and Hollywood heartthrob Keanu Reeves. Clive Donner’s musical festive flick follows Lisa in her travels to Toyland, a magical place that Barnaby is attempting to take control of. Lisa teams up with her new friends to stop him in his conquest.
Babes in Toyland can be filed under the ‘so bad it’s good’ category, as its humour and execution rely mostly on childhood nostalgia to make up for its overall quality. However, the film thrives in some holiday campiness that reads as endearing for a young audience and overflows in innocent sweetness.
9. Nativity! (Debbie Isitt, 2009)
This upbeat musical comedy stars Martin Freeman as a primary school teacher who spins a yard of fibs that Hollywood executives are coming to watch his students’ annual nativity play to upstage his rivals. When the lie gets out of hand, he rushes to resolve it.
Nativity! is a British classic, beloved and watched by audiences every year. With most of the scenes being improvised, the film never lets up on the charm, brilliant comedy and energy, making for an enjoyable watch that hits every time. Debbie Isitt’s film is colourful and adorable, delivering spot-on British humour.
8. Jingle All the Way (Brian Levant, 1996)
The action macho-man Arnold Schwarzenegger switches things up in this underrated yet hilarious family comedy set during the most wonderful time of the year. Schwarzenegger plays a mattress salesman who is caught in a rivalry with a postal worker, with the two battling it out to track down the toy of their separate sons’ dreams.
As some quintessential ’90s comedy, Jingle All the Way is cheesy but in the right way. The film blends a critique of excessive consumerism and materialism, tainting a family-driven holiday with some standard slapstick humour. Its leading man controls his comedic timing well, earning some guilty pleasure laughs along the way.
7. Anna and the Apocalypse (John McPhail, 2017)
John McPhail creates an interesting blend of genres with this Christmas zombie musical that follows an ensemble cast who fight back against a grizzly zombie apocalypse. This Christmas season flick sees a lot of slashing and tearing.
As a hybrid genre film, some parts of Anna and the Apocalypse shine more than others, as the undead clash against the typical festive imagery. The musical aspect makes for some entertaining and creative portrayals of a festive film as well as an apocalyptic one, providing a fitting break in cliché Christmas watches. McPhail’s genre-fused film offers some humour, creativity and ambition under its holiday approach, with thrilling songs and action-packed sequences.
6. Krampus (Michael Dougherty, 2015)
After a young boy is pushed to his limits by his dysfunctional family as they force themselves to gather for the holidays, he loses his Christmas spirit. This invites a sinister and cruel spirit known as Krampus to come down the chimney and punish the family for forgetting what Christmas is really about.
Krampus is a horror comedy that employs seasonal imagery and tones to deliver both its frights and its laughs. The family drama is almost too realistic, creating some embarrassing and entertaining events that interrupt the unsettling horror. Krampus’ approach to terrifying the family is on-brand for the season, making them all the more unnerving as children’s toys are transformed into vicious monsters.
5. Arthur Christmas (Sarah Smith, 2011)
Arthur Christmas is a widely underrated festive cracker that works as both a hilarious comedy and a heartwarming drama, made by the good folk over at Aardman animations. Telling the story of Santa, his descendants and the flock of elves that help them carry out their festive doings, Arthur Christmas follows the son at the bottom of the pile who hopes to one day take over the reins from his father.
With the voice talents of James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy and Michael Palin, Aardman’s film becomes elevated into a vibrant Christmas tale of joy, wonder and unabashed entertainment.
4. A Christmas Tale (Arnaud Desplechin, 2008)
It’s not every day that a Christmas movie is nominated for a Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, but this was the case for Arnaud Desplechin’s comedy-drama, A Christmas Tale. Featuring an impressive ensemble cast that includes Catherine Deneuve, Anne Consigny, and Mathieu Amalric, the simple Christmas classic follows the troubled Vuillard family, who clash at yet another festive reunion.
A dark comedy that picks into themes about relationships and parenthood, A Christmas Tale is a genuinely hilarious, festive French film that perfectly deconstructs the family dynamic’s fragility.
3. The Ref (Ted Demme, 1994)
A curious filmmaker of the late 20th century, Ted Demme made a number of decent films during his tragically short life, working with Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz in 2001 for the movie Blow, among several other successful releases. One of his lesser-known greats was the 1994 movie The Ref, a hilarious crime comedy flick about a cat burglar who is forced to take a bickering, dysfunctional family hostage on Christmas Eve.
With an impressive ensemble cast that includes Denis Leary, Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey, The Ref is a hilarious Christmas comedy that finely runs the line between tragedy and farce.
2. Tokyo Godfathers (Satoshi Kon, 2003)
Japanese filmmaker Satoshi Kon has created some of the finest animated classics of modern cinema, including 1997’s Perfect Blue, 2001s Millennium Actress and 2006s Paprika. But, in 2003, Kon took on the niche genre of Christmas movies, creating Tokyo Godfathers, a spellbinding anime classic that focuses on the voiceless characters of Tokyo, telling the story of a homeless man, a runaway girl and a transgender woman as they search for the parents of an abandoned baby at Christmas.
Refusing to shy away from the tragedy of such characters in his story of festive camaraderie, Kon softens his distinctive surrealism in favour of a contemporary Christmas tale with a magic moral message at its heart.
1. Klaus (Sergio Pablos, 2019)
If you’ve been on Netflix recently, you may have noticed that there is a distinct lack of great Christmas movies. Enter Sergio Pablos’ Klaus. A heartwarming Spanish-animated treat that defies the preconceived limits of its plot to bring a genuinely charming tale of festive cheer to the small screen, Klaus follows a postman, Jesper (Jason Schwartzman), in a faraway, frozen world who convinces the local toymaker, Klaus, (J.K. Simmons) to help him deliver toys to children from around the area.
Brought to life with a spellbinding feat of animation that was shockingly denied an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2020 Academy Awards, Klaus is a modern classic and the unsung gem in Netflix’s roster of Christmas turkeys.
