When the leaves have left the trees, the air turns cold and misty, and the temperature stays 50 degrees (or below), there’s only one thing to do. Tuck yourself under a toasty blanket for as long as socially acceptable with a collection of festive holiday movies right by your side.
There’s no shortage of good Christmas films. Classics like Elf or Rudolph: Red Nose Reindeer are perfect comedies and low-stakes dramas to watch with your friends and families. But they’re not the most snug and soul-warming flicks out there. Yes, they’re all about the holiday cheer (which is an element of coziness), but they’re more funny and entertaining than anything.
No, the perfect cozy film has a story that’ll tug at your heartstrings but will also make you ugly laugh.
To ease your quest for the coziest film, we searched far and wide (aka the libraries of most major streaming services) for the best cozy movies the internet has to offer this holiday season. Some are new, some are oldies but goodies; some have absolutely nothing to do with the holidays at all. Regardless, these are the most heartwarming films to watch by yourself (or with friends and family) on the sofa by the crackling fire with a cup of cocoa and a tray of Snickerdoodles. Merry streaming.
The Best Man Holiday (2013)
A rare sequel that’s better than the original, The Best Man Holidayis a must-watch every holiday season (though, we argue it’s a great film to watch all year round). Similar to its predecessor, it follows a group of college friends gathering again, this time for the holidays. But unlike the first film where secrets stayed hidden and buried, everything is out in the open this go-around and past hurts and old resentments threaten the holiday cheer. Watch this for the laughs, the cries, and the fuzzy feels.
John Hughes, the mind behind Ferris Buller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, etc., also did big with this 1990 flick. The classic holiday movie, which made Macaulay Culkin’s scream an iconic staple imitated by kids everywhere, may be more than 30 years old, but you’ll never get tired of it because it has *literally* everything you want from a cozy film. Humor (who else cracks up at Kevin’s weird but also effective traps against the robbers), not-so-serious drama, and a happy ending. When the McCallister family comes back and embraces him, as the snow slowly comes down always, it just puts us to tears.
There are tons of good animated sentimental films to choose from but nothing beats The Polar Express. Sure, the CGI is kind of offputting (it was 2004 people!), but the plot outweighs its eerie animation style. The Polar Express, which follows young Charlie hitching a train ride to see Santa Claus, reminds us of childhood and the innocence we once held over holidays. There’s something nostalgic about watching little kids in their onesies, drinking cocoa, anxious to meet Saint Nick. It makes you think of simpler times, when you used to be that age full of wonder, innocence, and excitement.
A living, breathing (and singing!) snowman? A himbo-esque iceman with a pet reindeer? Orphaned sisters with unquestionable loyalty to one another? And a soundtrack full of singing-in-the-shower bangers? Frozenhas all of that — and more! You’ll laugh (several times, we add!), cry, sing along, and slightly question your sanity for being attracted to Hans when watching this 2013 flick that shattered box office records. You’ll also probably get a movie hangover because the film is just! that! good! Luckily, there’s a sequel, Frozen 2, and it’s nearly as good as the original.
Who’d thought a film about a terminally ill woman jet-setting to Europe for one last hoorah would be one of the coziest films ever? (Lol, not us.) Sure, the movie’s synopsis doesn’t give warm and fuzzy vibes, but thanks to Queen Latifah’s performance as Georgia Byrd, and a witty screenplay, Last Holiday is a charming and sentimental tale about taking control of your own destiny and living life to its fullest. Can’t get cozier than that.
Dare we say it? When Harry Met Sallyis the best film from Nora Ephron’s cozy catalog. In this 1989 film starring rom-com queen Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, we follow the titular Harry and Sally over a decade as they bounce from strangers to friends to enemies (it’s complicated, okay??) and finally lovers. Their arduous journey will give you lots of headaches and prompt you to hurl something at your TV, but it’s a swoon-worthy romance you’ll always root for.
Bridget Jones’s Diary has everything you could possibly want from a feel-good rom-com. The titular Bridget (a winning Renée Zellweger) is a woman who starts a diary to track her career and romantic escapades — and someone you’d totally want to be BFFs with. It takes place, in part, during the holidays, and it features not one but two charming love interests in Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), and it'll refresh your memories ahead of the fourth installment of the romcom franchise, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, coming in 2025.
For instant warm feels, look no further than Always Be My Maybe, a rom-com starring Randall Park and Ali Wong as childhood sweethearts who reconnect as adults and realize the spark is still there. Expect full belly laughs, feel-good montages, and a pretty spicy cameo from Keanu Reeves, playing an exaggerated douchebag version of himself.
One of the buzziest films of 2023, The Holdovers sees Paul Giamatti as a cranky teacher at a New England prep school who is tasked with staying on campus during winter break to supervise the students who have nowhere to go for Christmas. Over the otherwise dreary break, he forms an unlikely bond with a troubled student (Dominic Sessa) and the school’s head cook (Da'Vine Joy Randolph).
We’re talking about the 2019 version with Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen, Timothée Chalamet, Laura Dern and Meryl Streep. Yes, the 1994 version of Little Women is a go-to cozy movie, but that doesn’t mean Greta Gerwig’s take on Louisa May Alcott’s coming-of-age tale should be skipped. There's something inherently cozy about this story of sisters entering womanhood in 1860s Massachusetts, trying to make the best decisions for their lives. The treks through the snow bundled up in oversized knit scarves, ice-skating sessions in the forest lanes and the March sisters snuggled up by the fire. Plus, it gives a completely new perspective to the once annoying little sister known as Amy March. It’s the best.
Wes Anderson has always been the king when it comes to constructing intimate, fantastical worlds. His 2014 film — set in a picturesque 1930s European ski resort — is full of whimsy, plush rooms, the fabulously camp concierge Gustave H. and delicious baked goods (Mendls!).
Films from childhood are the most comforting of all because they remind us of simpler times or how we felt when first laid eyes on them. The fact that The Princess Bride starts as a bedtime story from a grandparent already evokes feelings of being tucked up in bed and read to, but it gets even cozier when you factor in the gorgeous love story, the iconic adversaries and the famous triumphs (“My Name Is Inigo Montoya… prepare to die!”).
It doesn’t matter how old you are when you watch (or rewatch) My Neighbor Totoro. The Hayao Miyazaki Studio Ghibli classic, which follows two young sisters as they explore their new home in the Japanese countryside and befriend playful, cuddly wood spirits, will fill you with the same childlike wonderment every time.
Snow storms — the kind that shut everything down and force you inside until it’s over — mean something a lot different as an adult than they did while we were younger. (No school = fun! Trying to figure out work and other responsibilities while shoveling your way out of your home…less so.) Let It Snow — a cheery YA movie starring Isabela Merced, Shameik Moore, Liv Hewson, Kiernan Shipka, Jacob Batalon, and more — takes place in a small midwestern town that gets snowed in on Christmas Eve, bringing its high school students together in unexpected ways. It will bring you right back to the nostalgic, joyful days seeing piles of snow didn’t make you groan.
Richard Curtis, you’ve gone and done it again. Here we have a film essentially about a time-traveling man (Domhnall Gleeson) who uses his powers to pursue a love interest (Rachel McAdams), but it’s so much more than that. It’s also about the importance of family, second chances and making every day count.
Sometimes the fact that Happiest Season — a queer holiday rom-com following a woman who asks her girlfriend to pretend to be just friends over Christmas because she hasn’t come out to her parents that is co-written and directed by Clea DuVall, and stars Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, and Dan Levy — exists seems too good to be true. Sure, it sounds like it was designed in a lab specifically to become a fave comfort movie for people everywhere, but it is, in fact, a real film, and we must not take that for granted.
The Broken Hearts Gallerydoesn’t reinvent the rom-com — but that’s why it’s the perfect comfort movie. The movie, which was executive produced by Selena Gomez, is about a 20-something gallery assistant who turns people’s trinkets from past relationships into an art display. And it nails the heart-warming genre’s heart-warming formula without being an unpleasant copycat. Although you’ll likely be able to predict what happens, it’s well made, enjoyable to watch and there’s genuine chemistry between the two leads, Dacre Montgomery and Geraldine Viswanathan, who gives a star-making performance.
There’s something about the powerhouse combo of Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci that is so damn comfy, because in any world they inhabit nothing bad could ever happen. In it, Julie Powell (Amy Adams) is a young internet blogger who begins working her way through iconic chef Julia Child's cookbook. Anything with a bubbling stove gets a thumbs up from us.
What is it about period films that make them so damn cozy? In this classic version of Pride and Prejudice, it could be the sweeping English countryside, the flirtatious Regency era dances, or the swoon-worthy romance between Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) and Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) — aka Tom from Succession — in a billowing white shirt.
The best types of friendships are warm and enveloping, like a much-needed hug. That’s exactly what watching Waiting to Exhale feels like. Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Lela Rochon, and Loretta Devine star as four friends navigating relatable issues of life, work, and romance, taking viewers right along with their highs and lows. Plus, the drama plays even better when you watch it with your own BFF.
Fire Island is arguably one of the most smile-inducing films of the past couple years. Penned by star Joel Kim Booster, the summery movie follows a group of queer besties (including Bowen Yang, Matt Rogers, and Margaret Cho), who come together every summer on Fire Island, possibly facing their last season at the getaway. The flick is sweet, funny, has that old-school rom-com feel (but is still modern), and gets major bonus points for being inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It may seem odd watching a summery movie during the holidays, but we promise it hits all the cozy flick criteria.
Paddington 2 is one of the greatest and coziest films of all time — sorry, we don’t make the rules! An all-star cast — Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonneville, Hugh Grant, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent — unite for this heartwarming tale of the beloved bear searching for the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy's 100th birthday — plus all the quintessentially British misadventures that come with it.
Nora Ephron is the undisputed queen of cozy comfort movies, and Sleepless in Seattle is perhaps the movie from her filmography that best embodies that vibe. The Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks two-hander — about a writer who forms an anonymous connection with a widowed father after hearing him on a call-in radio show — is dreamy, moody, romantic, and busting with big feelings. And let’s not forget the endless display of covetable fall and winter fashion.
At first glance, Moonstruck is kind of weird. The Oscar-winning romcom — about Loretta (Cher), an Italian New York widow who falls in love with her new fiancé’s younger brother, Ronny (Nicolas Cage) — features an oddball cast of characters and many unexpected quirks. But it’s also beautifully enthralling and full of life; when the families bicker on screen, you’re transported to your own minor table-side family drama, and isn’t that what the holidays are about?