Here Are the Best Christmas Rom-Coms Coming Out This Year

7 minute read

The weather outside may be getting frightful, but romantic holiday movies are delightful. Let’s face it, even the bad ones can really hit the spot. This holiday season brings new movies to watch on streaming services like Netflix and Disney+, cable networks like Hallmark and Lifetime, and a few releases you can catch in theaters.

Here are the best Christmas rom-coms coming out this season.

Last Christmas

Picture this: Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding in leading roles, Bridesmaids director Paul Feig at the helm, a story by Emma Thompson and a soundtrack of George Michael music. Last Christmas is the kind of Christmas movie you put on your wishlist for Santa. Clarke plays Kate, an aspiring singer who has recently recovered from an illness and just can’t seem to get her life together. While working as an elf in a London Christmas shop (with Golding’s Crazy Rich Asians co-star, Michelle Yeoh, as her boss), she meets Tom (Golding) and things finally start to go right. But there’s one catch — he keeps disappearing. With romance, mystery, Michael’s “Last Christmas” on repeat and Daenarys singing your favorite carols, you’ll want to get the popcorn ready for this one.

How to watch:

Last Christmas is currently playing in theaters.

Noelle

The North Pole gets an upgrade with an A-List Hollywood cast in Noelle, one of the first original films to drop on Disney’s new streaming service. Noelle (Anna Kendrick) loves Christmas, but her big brother Nick (Bill Hader) isn’t as enthusiastic. When Nick disappears just before it’s his turn to take the reins (and the reindeer) from his father and become Santa, it’s up to Noelle to — you guessed it! — save Christmas. Billy Eichner and Shirley MacLaine also make appearances in this movie from the screenwriter of Miss Congeniality.

How to watch:

Noelle is now available to stream on Disney+.

Let It Snow

Based on the 2008 book by John Green, Lauren Myracle and Maureen Johnson, Let It Snow sees a brutal snowstorm descend on a small Midwestern town, leading to some extreme Christmas Eve shenanigans by a group of high school seniors. A “stranded pop star” and a “mysterious woman covered in tin foil” spur the night’s events, as the teens’ romantic lives begin to collide. Your new holiday friend group includes Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and Shameik Moore (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse).

How to watch:

Let It Snow is now streaming on Netflix.

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Holiday in the Wild

Holiday in the Wild is literally a movie wherein Rob Lowe and Charlotte from Sex and the City fall in love while nursing a baby elephant back to health, so it’s safe to say this one is unmissable. Kristin Davis plays Kate, a New York City mom whose husband unexpectedly leaves her just before a scheduled vacation together. Kate heads to Zambia for a trip on her own, and while there she meets Lowe’s Derek, a pilot with a wealth of knowledge about saving orphaned elephants. Kate and Derek travel together through Christmas, proving that not all holiday films require snow and hot chocolate.

How to watch:

Holiday in the Wild is now streaming on Netflix.

The Knight Before Christmas

Vanessa Hudgens is back and better than ever as the Christmas queen of Netflix. While it’s not the sequel to The Princess Switch we’ve all been waiting for (fear not, the streamer recently announced that one is coming in 2020), The Knight Before Christmas has magic, romance and comedy in a snowy, suburban setting. Hudgens plays Brooke, a cynical science teacher, whose world goes absolutely bonkers when she meets a knight (Josh Whitehouse) who was transported to present-day Ohio by a medieval sorceress. Will Sir Cole fall in love with Brooke and stay in 2019 Ohio, or will he return to his centuries-old kingdom?

How to watch:

Stream The Knight Before Christmas on Netflix starting Nov. 21.

Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses

Chemistry abounds when Abbey (Jill Wagner), an interior designer, is hired to decorate Nick’s (Matthew Davis) mansion. Nick is a cranky businessman who hates Christmas — he describes the town’s Christmas tree lighting as “the annual tradition of shutting down the entire town just to plug in a tree” — but Abbey’s holiday cheer may be starting to grow on him. Davis famously played the villain in Legally Blonde, but trust that he also makes a fine romantic lead.

How to watch:

Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses premiered on Hallmark in November and will air again on Nov. 22 at 10:03 p.m. E.T.

Merry and Bright

Jodie Sweetin (formerly known as Stephanie Tanner on Full House) plays Cate, a candy cane company executive who develops a close bond with Gabe (Andrew Walker), a consultant who is trying to improve the company’s business practices before Christmas. Their romance begins with an awkward misunderstanding (as Cate thinks her mom sent Gabe in as a set-up, before realizing he is really her colleague), but things get merrier from there.

How to watch:

Merry and Bright premiered on Hallmark in November and will air again on Nov. 24 at 10:03 p.m. E.T.

Holiday Rush

Romany Malco (A Million Little Things) stars as a widowed DJ whose affluent life takes a turn just before the holiday season. Rush needs to learn how to handle his four kids before Christmas, while crafting a plan to return to the radio. Co-starring Sonequa Martin-Green, presumably as Rush’s new love interest, Holiday Rush rounds out Netflix’s romantic comedy offerings this season.

How to watch:

Holiday Rush is available to stream on Netflix starting Nov. 28.

Merry Liddle Christmas

"It's A Wonderful Lifetime" Holiday Party
Kelly Rowland attends the "It's A Wonderful Lifetime" Holiday Party at STK Los Angeles on October 22, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.Paul Archuleta—FilmMagic

Singer and former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland makes her television producing debut with Merry Liddle Christmas, which is loosely inspired by a “Christmas catastrophe” from her own life. Rowland plays Jacquie, a tech entrepreneur who is struggling to get her dysfunctional family together for the holidays. Though the chic video she had planned to film on Christmas may not go as planned, Jacquie starts to fall for her neighbor.

How to watch:

Merry Liddle Christmas premieres on Lifetime on Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. E.T.

A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby

Christmas movie lovers remember 2017’s A Christmas Prince, which depicts a journalist (with some questionable ethics) falling in love with the prince of fictional Aldovia, and last year’s sequel in which the pair officially married. Now, the series becomes a trilogy and the duo becomes a trio, as A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby hits Netflix in December. Amber (Rose McIver) is now a queen, and she and her husband, King Richard (Ben Lamb), are expecting their first child. In classic A Christmas Prince fashion, an important document goes missing, threatening the kingdom’s safety — and it’s up to Amber to fix it (before Christmas, of course).

How to watch:

Find A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby on Netflix on Dec. 5.

A Christmas Love Story

A Christmas love story is just what you’ll find in this aptly-titled Hallmark movie. Broadway legend Kristin Chenoweth joins the network’s class of holiday stars playing the role of a youth choir director. While not much information has been revealed about the film’s plot, the teaser trailer makes one thing clear: Chenoweth’s character will very likely fall in love with a man played by Scott Wolf as she prepares for the choir’s Christmas Eve show. The movie has not been marketed as a musical, so we can only pray that the Tony winner blesses our holiday season with any and all Christmas songs.

How to watch:

A Christmas Love Story airs on Hallmark on Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. E.T.

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Write to Rachel E. Greenspan at rachel.greenspan@time.com