Best Christmas films on Prime Video in 2025 – from It's a Wonderful Life to Merry Little Batman

We're now more than a week into December, and there's every chance you've already cycled through many of your favourite Christmas movies as you attempt to get into the festive spirit.

If you're looking for some new recommendations, you might be interested in checking out Prime Video's selection of festive themed films, which includes everything from beloved classic It's A Wonderful Life to the under-the-radar animated gem Merry Little Batman.

With that in mind you, we've assembled a list of 12 options that we reckon are worth your time – encompassing a vast array of films from family favourites to festive slashers, and one inclusion that you might not even have considered a Christmas film of all.

It's worth noting that Prime Video has also started releasing its own original festive films – with Michelle Pfeiffer leading the star-studded cast of new release Oh. What. Fun. – while last year's Christmas blockbuster Red One starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans is also now available on the platform (although we'd recommend probably skipping that one.)

Read on for our picks.

It's a Wonderful Life

A popular choice for the best Christmas film of all time – and simply one of the greatest films ever made full stop – Frank Capra's tremendous festive fable will reduce just about anyone who watches it to tears.

The film stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, a frustrated businessman who is rescued from his suicidal state by a guardian angel, who shows him just how many people his life has touched and just how valued he is, despite his own thwarted ambitions for his life and career.

Although the film was considered something of a bomb on its original release, it gradually built up a devoted following when it began airing regularly on TV and is now rightly regarded as a true masterpiece: a heartwarming Christmas tale about the importance of family, friendship and community that avoids falling into overtly cheesy sentimentality.

Scrooge

Few tales have been adapted for the screen on more occasions than Charles Dickens's yuletide yarn A Christmas Carol – from the landmark 1951 film starring Alasdair Sim to the beloved Muppet version to this year's intriguing new take Christmas Karma – and this version from 1970 is currently streaming on Prime.

A musical version starring Albert Finney in the lead role of Ebenezer Scrooge – with Alec Guinness and Roy Kinnear among the other big names in the cast – its reviews are perhaps fairly middling compared to some of the very best adaptations of this story, but it's still well worth watching if you're looking for another take on the source material.

Love Actually

More than 20 years on from its release back in 2003, Love Actually remains a must-watch for many at this time of the year. With an all-star cast that includes Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth and more, the film follows eight couples from all walks of life in the days leading up to Christmas.

There's heartbreak, blossoming romance and plenty of festive feels – but we'd expect no less from the mind of Richard Curtis, who is otherwise known for Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and the more recent That Christmas.

The Bishop's Wife

Cary Grant and David Niven star in this festive-themed fantasy romcom from 1947, which is adapted from a novel of the same name It sees an angel named Dudley (Grant) visit a bishop (Niven) who is suffering from a number of problems in the run up to Christmas – including both in his family life and trying to find funds to build a new cathedral.

Interestingly, there was a remake of the film in 1996 titled The Preacher's Wife, with Denzel Washington in the role of Dudley and parts for Courtney B Vance and Whitney Houston as the preacher and his wife.

The Holiday

Love Actually is probably still the most beloved star-studded mid-2000s Christmas romcom – but Nancy Meyers's 2006 film can give it a good run for its money, and is now firmly established as a festive favourite.

The film sees Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz star as two women living in England and the US respectively who swap homes for the festive period in a bid to cast aside their relationship woes – only to each find themselves falling for local guys played by Jack Black and Jude Law.

The Amazing Mr Blunden

This film from Lionel Jeffries – which came two years after his classic family favourite The Railway Children – is adapted from a 1969 novel by Antonia Barber (titled The Ghosts) and follows two young children after they move with their mother to a new mansion and soon encounter a series of unusual goings on.

They soon realise that the wealthy benefactor who had allowed them to move to this property – the titular Mr Blunden (Laurence Naismith) – has actually been dead for decades, and afterwards find themselves introduced to two friendly ghost children who enlist them on a mission that requires them to travel back in time. It's a classic Christmas ghost story that's suitable for the whole family.

The Man Who Invented Christmas

As mentioned above, A Christmas Carol has been adapted for the screen on countless occasions, but this film from 2017 is to date the only major release to tell the story of how the classic tale came about. It stars Dan Stevens as Charles Dickens, following the then-struggling novelist as he sets about writing the story while being inspired by Victorian London and his own painful past.

Rather than serving as a no-nonsense biopic, the film also has an element of fantasy to it as Dickens interacts with imagined versions of his new creations, with Christopher Plummer starring as Scrooge and even some appearances from the various ghosts.

Silent Night, Deadly Night

This 1980s slasher is getting a brand new remake this year – so it's a good time to check out the original. Highly controversial upon its release, the film follows a young boy who is scarred by a traumatic encounter that involves a man wearing a Santa costume brutally murdering his parents.

Following that horrifying incident, he is sent to be raised by nuns – including an extremely strict Mother Superior – in an orphanage, and experiences more traumatic experiences around the festive period which ultimately lead him to don a Santa suit and embark on a murderous rampage. If you're looking for something with a little less festive cheer and goodwill than your average Christmas film, this could be the one for you.

Small Things Like These

This great 2024 movie might not automatically seem like a Christmas movie – but it definitely has a claim to belonging to the genre, and not just because of its festive setting.

Based on Claire Keegan's novella of the same name, it's built around a superb performance from Cillian Murphy as Bill Furlong, a kind but taciturn coal merchant in County Wexford who is faced with a tough choice in the run up to Christmas after he encounters a traumatised young girl locked in the coal shed at a local convent.

The film has a Dickensian quality to it, and its focus on themes of redemption, generosity and family – combined with the wintry backdrop – make it undeniably worthy of Christmas film status.

A Christmas Story

A Christmas classic in the US that has never quite managed to become a seasonal staple on this side of the Atlantic, this 1983 film follows Ralphie, a nine-year-old boy who becomes obsessed with the idea of being gifted a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas – and desperately tries to convince his parents that he should get it.

Very different in tone from director Bob Clark's other Christmas movie – the festive slasher Black Christmas – the somewhat episodic narrative includes many images that have become iconic for American viewers, including Ralphie's tongue getting stuck to a frozen flagpole.

Merry Little Batman

This feature-length animation was released to little fanfare in 2023, but is a fun option if you're looking for an alternative to the usual festive fare.

It follows Bruce Wayne's son Damian (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) when he's left home alone on Christmas Eve and takes it upon himself to become 'Little Batman'' in order to protect Gotham City from a bunch of supervillains – including the Joker – who are intent on ruining the Christmas spirit.

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