Top Ten Christmas Movies (That Aren’t Really Christmas Movies)
Thanksgiving is over: the turkey leftovers are in the fridge, the football games have been watched, and Christmas music is now playing everywhere. Like clockwork, I start thinking about Christmas movies.
I have an unconventional relationship with Christmas movies. I enjoy traditional fare like The Santa Clause (1994) and The Polar Express (2004), yet some of my favorite Christmas movies don’t have Santa as a main character. Some even have a darker, grittier tone. While there’s endless debate about whether Die Hard (1988) counts as a Christmas movie (it does), here’s what I’ve discovered: films don’t have to be “Christmasy” to reflect truths that Scripture teaches about Christmas.
Many Christmas movies focus on Santa and view Christmas through the eyes of a child, which has value. Some of my favorite Christmas movies work differently. They’re cinematic explorations of themes reflecting Scripture and celebrated through Advent: hope, faith, joy, and love. These are not the Hallmark card versions of these themes, but the raw, biblical realities that address the actual struggles and longings of our lives.
My top ten Christmas movies:
- A Christmas Story (1983)
- Batman Returns (1992)
- The Holdovers (2023)
- Shazam! (2019)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Edward Scissorhands (1990)
- The Princess Bride (1987)
- Die Hard (1988)
- Gremlins (1984)
- Scrooged (1988)
Though some feature monsters and one a man with scissors for hands, each offers memorable images that can help us grasp the biblical truths at the heart of Advent.
Since the fifth century, the church has walked through Advent, marking four weeks of preparation before Christmas. This preparation mirrors the voice crying out in the wilderness: Isaiah proclaimed, “Prepare the way of the Lord” (Isaiah 40:3), and centuries later John the Baptist echoed that call (Matthew 3:3), heralding the coming Savior. Advent invites us into that same posture of readiness. These four movements are grounded in Scripture: hope in the promises of Scripture (Isaiah 9:6-7), faith demonstrated through obedient action (Hebrews 11:1-6, Romans 4:17-21), joy proclaimed by the angels (Luke 2:10-11), and the sacrificial love revealed in Christ (John 3:16 and 1 John 4:9-10).
Over the next four weeks, we’ll focus on the four themes of Advent to prepare us for Christmas: hope, faith, joy, and love. Four films from this list will help us explore these movements. Scripture alone reveals these truths, and the films simply provide fresh ways to see what God’s Word already teaches. I’m not asking you to abandon It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) or Elf (2003). I’m inviting you to use these unexpected stories as illustrations of the hope, faith, joy, and love that Scripture proclaims. Whether you’ve seen these movies a hundred times or never at all, watch them while holding God’s Word as your guide. They might challenge you, and they will help you see the depth and beauty of what Scripture teaches about Advent in ways you haven’t before.
Week 1 of Advent: Hope in Brokenness, Week 2 of Advent: Faith When Everything Says Quit, Week 3 of Advent: The Gospel Joy That Can’t Be Contained:, Week 4 of Advent:
The Midkiffs 