Arthur Christmas
Aardman doing Christmas at scale, and the scale is the joke: a military-grade delivery operation with a…
Festive Factor 95 out of 100: Christmas at its heart.
A little more belief
The best Santa Claus films
Impossible deliveries, sleigh bells and the magic of believing.
- 26 films
- 26–116 minutes
- U to 15 certificates, and Not BBFC rated
Why these belong together
Chosen for the same kind of night.
Christmas films where Santa is the subject rather than a cameo: the job, the sleigh, the man who ends up with it by accident, and a courtroom asked to decide whether he exists at all. Scored on how festive they actually are, with a straight answer on whether the kids can watch.
Make tonight a good one
Find tonight’s film.
Showing all 26 films
Elf
Santa is in it, the sleigh is in it, and the whole plot runs on whether New York still believes. Played entirely straight, which is why it works.
Festive Factor 90 out of 100: Christmas at its heart.
Miracle on 34th Street
The case for Santa, argued in court and argued properly, with a sceptic the film never treats as a fool. The 1947 original is the one to watch.
Festive Factor 90 out of 100: Christmas at its heart.
The Santa Clause
A man takes on the job without meaning to, and the film is very good on how little he wants it. An off-screen death early on is lightly handled but worth knowing about.
Festive Factor 90 out of 100: Christmas at its heart.
Fred Claus
Santa as the favourite son, and his older brother as the grudge. More sibling comedy than sleigh, and warmer than its reputation.
Festive Factor 88 out of 100: Christmas at its heart.
The Polar Express
A film about the exact age at which belief starts to wobble, which is braver than it looks. Some sequences are tense, and the faces unsettle a few small children.
Festive Factor 87 out of 100: Christmas at its heart.
That Christmas
Richard Curtis gives a snowed-in English seaside town the treatment he once gave London in December: a…
Festive Factor 87 out of 100: Christmas at its heart.
The Christmas Chronicles
Kurt Russell's Father Christmas carries this one.
Festive Factor 85 out of 100: Christmas at its heart.
The Santa Clause 2
A sequel that knows its premise is thinner and leans on the silliness instead.
Festive Factor 84 out of 100: Christmas at its heart.
Santa Claus: The Movie
America wrote this off on release and Britain quietly adopted it, which tells you most of what you need to…
Festive Factor 82 out of 100: Christmas at its heart.
Miracle on 34th Street
A careful remake that knows it stands in the shadow of the black-and-white classic and mostly stays out of…
Festive Factor 81 out of 100: Christmas at its heart.
Jingle All the Way
A film about the specific horror of Christmas Eve shopping, which is a better subject than it usually gets…
Festive Factor 74 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
A Boy Called Christmas
An origin story for Father Christmas that takes grief seriously, which is rarer than it should be.
Festive Factor 71 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
Get Santa
A scrappy British caper that spends more time in a prison than a grotto, and is better for it.
Festive Factor 69 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
The third Santa Clause film has the busiest North Pole yet: a pregnant Mrs Claus, in-laws who must be told…
Festive Factor 67 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
Bad Santa
The meanest Christmas film anyone has made with a straight face, and funnier than a plot this bleak should…
Festive Factor 66 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Half a Halloween film wearing a Santa suit, and better for the tension.
Festive Factor 65 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
Noelle
Anna Kendrick carries this, and she is very good at being keen in a way that never curdles.
Festive Factor 63 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
Beethoven's Christmas Adventure
The seventh Beethoven film went straight to DVD, and it shows.
Festive Factor 61 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
Santa's Slay
A slasher with a cracker-joke sense of humour, and it knows exactly how daft it is.
Festive Factor 57 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
Slay Belles
A crowd-funded horror comedy that pits a retired, foul-mouthed Santa against Krampus on Christmas Eve, and…
Festive Factor 55 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
Rare Exports
Deadpan and properly strange, this is the Christmas film for anyone who always suspected the old folklore…
Festive Factor 51 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
Dear Santa
A lovely premise, and the Farrelly brothers nearly know what to do with it.
Festive Factor 50 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
Bad Santa 2
More than a decade on, Thornton puts the suit back on and the film mostly repeats the first one, only louder.
Festive Factor 47 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
Christmas Bloody Christmas
Joe Begos wanted to make a killer-robot film and put it in a Santa suit, and his glee is all over the screen.
Festive Factor 38 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
Father Christmas
Raymond Briggs's Father Christmas is a tired old man who grumbles at the weather, the post and the chimneys…
Festive Factor 28 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.Festive Factor measures Christmas spirit, not film quality or age suitability. How we score →
Santa films come in two kinds. One asks whether he is real, and usually needs a sceptical grown-up, a train or a judge to settle it. The other takes him as given and gets interested in the work: the logistics, the paperwork, the succession, the relative nobody mentions. Both kinds are here.
They are ordered by Festive Factor, so the top of the list is the most Christmassy rather than the most acclaimed. Most of them suit a room with children in it, and the notes say where one needs a grown-up nearby.
Another kind of night?
