The best Christmas films to watch this holiday season on NOW

For over 20 years Elf, starring Will Ferrell as the loveable Buddy, has been a festive favourite and cult classic. When Buddy decides it’s time to travel to New York City to find his real father, he leaves behind Santa and all his helpers at the North Pole in order to learn the truth about his past. A genuinely funny and heartwarming tale.

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It may be showing its age with some of its plot choices, but for all intents and purposes Love Actually will get anyone in the Christmas spirit, as it follows the lives of eight polarising couples set in quaint, little England, who are all dealing with a variety of struggles in their complicated love lives during the countdown to Christmas.

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Paul Giamatti is a teacher tasked with looking after boarding school pupils whose parents aren’t forthcoming to collect them for the holidays. With just days to go, only Angus (Dominic Sessa) remains, meaning the two of them, along with the bereaved cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), are about to spend Christmas Day together.

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It may be 40 years old, but Joe Dante’s horror-comedy about mischievous monsters that become malevolent when they’re fed after midnight is a stone cold classic. After befriending a cutesy and seemingly harmless Mogwai named Gizmo, Billy (Zach Galligan) fails to follow the mystical rules that keep them that way.

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Chevy Chase is run-of-the-mill American father Clark Griswold, as he makes prepares for an epic Christmas for his family. But with everything meticulously planned, it appears to go catastrophically wrong, in this slapstick family comedy. From the moment festivities begin, Clark begins to experience one holiday disaster after another.

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Aardman’s festive venture into stop-motion movies sees Arthur (voiced by James McAvoy) set out on a mammoth mission with Grandsanta (Bill Nighy), when a misplaced gift for a little girl has to be waiting for her by the time she wakes up. In his two-hour window, Arthur must get it delivered in order to save the child’s Christmas.

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“Saint Nicholas is not coming this year. Instead, a much darker, ancient spirit… His name is Krampus,” declares Max’s (Emjay Anthony) grandmother, when his annoying relatives are snowed in one Christmas. Events turn truly horrifying after her teased grandson accidentally summons a festive demon to the family home.

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This beautifully quaint and slow-paced feature is a breath of fresh air compared to the frenetic nature of children’s cartoons of today. The story centres around Moomintroll (Bill Skarsgard), who decides to stay away for the winter instead of hibernating, only to find things are far different than they had ever imagined.

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A Christmas comedy that sees one workaholic dad, Bernard (Paapa Essiedu), lose his family and job thanks to his self-absorbed existence. But one day, after rubbing an antique jewellery box, out comes a genie, Flora (Melissa McCarthy), dedicated to turning his life around. But can she help him win his family over before Christmas?

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The opposite of your typically fluffy, feel-good Christmas movie, John Woo directs this ultra-violent payback story set during the holidays. When Brian Godlock’s (Joel Kinnaman) child is caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting, he vows to hunt them all down the following Christmas Eve, in search of bloody, murderous revenge.

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Tom Hanks features in this whimsy adventure about a boy who finds himself invited aboard the Polar Express one Christmas Eve, as he journeys to the North Pole while learning a lot about himself along the way. It’s an animated extravaganza about friendship, being brave, and learning about the true spirit of Christmas.

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When a hard-wired CEO named Carol (Jennifer Anniston) threatens to shut down her brother Clay’s (TJ Miller) Chicago branch, he sets out to organise the party of all parties, as a way to impress a big client and boost morale for his employees. But things quickly begin to spiral way out of control with the crazy plans he's concocted. 

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Telling an origin story of how Father Christmas came to be is a bit of a different spin than your usual festive fodder. The film is set around a young boy named Nikolas (Henry Lawfull), his comedically vocal pet mouse and one incredibly loyal reindeer, as they embark on an epic quest to discover the mythical town of Elfhelm.

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Tony Towers (Michael Sheen) is something of a local celebrity, known around town for his popular nightclub. One Christmas, he’s travelling with his much younger fiancée Sue (Nathalie Emmanuel), aboard the 3:17 train to a Nottingham family reunion. But the journey becomes unnerving when he moves between carriages.

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Santa’s (Paul Giamatti) resentful, older brother Fred (Vince Vaughn) is asked to come home to the North Pole to pull his weight in the lead up to Christmas, but for a price of course. As soon as the cynical, money-grabbing sibling arrives, he ends up causing more chaos and disruption to toy production than anyone thought possible.

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The annoying little critters return in this sequel that ramps up the insanity levels to maximum, when the cheeky gremlins take over an entire media skyscraper in the middle of New York City. Billy (Galligan) returns alongside Kate (Phoebe Cates), as they attempt to put a stop to the outrageous antics before they ruin everything.

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Brian Conway (Kelsey Grammer) is a successful businessman that finds himself the victim of a car accident on the eve of Christmas. In a bizarre twist of fate, Santa (Mitch Poulos) offers him a dozen opportunities to relive the day over again, in order to mend the fractured family relationships in his miserable life.

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When a sorority house is stalked over the Christmas break, they take it upon themselves to fight back. Not only are they now putting themselves in the killer's line of sight, they're simultaneously determined to unmask him and, in the process, expose the campus killer‘s connection to an underground conspiracy.

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The follow-up to the crude comedy starring Billy Bob Thornton as a Christmastime thief moonlighting as a store Santa is arguably more outrageous than its predecessor. This time, instead of knocking off a department store, Willie (Thornton), his mum Sunny (Kathy Bates), and a returning Marcus (Tony Cox) plan to do-over a charity.

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Bridget (Renée Zellweger) feels decidedly average. She isn’t happy about many things in her life (including being single), so decides to 'better' herself in the year ahead and to journal her days in a very honest fashion. However, things take an unexpected turn when both Hugh Grant and Colin Firth begin to vie for her affections.

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