The Best Christmas Movies on Max, from ‘Elf’ to ‘A Christmas Story’ to ‘Edward Scissorhands’ and More

The owner may be a real Grinch, but Max has some pretty magical presents to offer subscribers this holiday season.

Every year sees new Christmas movies pumped out to meet the insatiable demand of the Yuletide-obsessed. But the holidays are more often a time when people revisit the classics from their childhood or someone else’s, and it’s no surprise that Max and its deep film library — thanks to Warner Bros. Discovery’s Turner Classic Movie collection — has pound for pound the most seasonal mainstays of any streamer.

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The riches of the platform include Golden Age of Hollywood favorites like “The Shop Around the Corner.” Lesser known than James Stewart ‘s other Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the Budapest-set film about two warring coworkers who fall in love as pen pals is a real holiday treat with gorgeous, spiky chemistry between Stewart and his costar Margaret Sullavan. Also streaming on Max is the delightful feminist farce “Christmas in Connecticut,” which casts Barbara Stanwyck as an independent journalist posing as a homemaker for the holidays. Or try sweet rom-com “Holiday Affair,” which casts notorious onscreen villain Robert Mitchum wildly against type as a romantic hero.

A bit more modern with your taste? Max still has you covered. From the ’80s, you can enjoy the nostalgic childhood antics of “A Christmas Carol” or the raunchier family fun of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” The ’90s offers two offbeat gothic selections from Tim Burton: “Edward Scissorhands” and “Batman Returns.” And for some 21st-century Max selections, you can spend Christmas in Hogwarts with the first “Harry Potter” movie, enjoy an actually good family animated Christmas comedy with “Arthur Christmas,” or delight in all-time classic “Elf.”

With Christmas fast approaching, IndieWire has looked at the holiday films this season to keep you streaming this December, when you might be putting other great selections on the back-burner. For this guide, we considered both films that are explicitly Christmas-themed, and ones set at Christmas time or that have iconic Christmas moments.

Here are the 10 best Christmas-themed movies currently streaming on Max. Entries are unranked and listed in chronological order of release date.

With editorial contributions by Alison Foreman.

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