Skip to content
24 October · 62 days to ChristmasThe advent calendar opens 1 December →
A grey paper helmet rests beside a box of glowing lights and a partly decorated fir, with a loaf on the counter and snow outside the window.

Essential Christmas · 2019

The Knight Before Christmas

49/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 49 ↓
UK certificate 1292 min
Comedy · Romance

Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Whitehouse make this worth pressing play.

On Netflix · UK subscription →
Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 10 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas in good measure.

Two paper elves inspect a living-room miniature with a half-decorated fir, helmet, box of lights and a loaf on the kitchen counter.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas is the deadline.15/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for about half.10/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details7 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.11/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: partly.10/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionNiche at Christmas (under 25,000).3/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

77/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Warm in tone. Mild threat. A happy ending.

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

Netflix

Included with a subscription
Open The Knight Before Christmas on Netflix (opens in a new tab)

Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab).

The story

About The Knight Before Christmas

A 14th-century English knight is sent forward in time by a mysterious old woman and lands in a small present-day American town in the weeks before Christmas, where a high-school science teacher who has given up on romance knocks him down with her car. She takes him in while he tries to work out the quest he must finish by Christmas Eve, and as he gets to grips with modern life and the town's festive goodwill, the two fall for each other.

The CineClaus verdict

Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Whitehouse make this worth pressing play.

A knight from medieval England turns up in a present-day American town, and most of the laughs come from him greeting smart speakers and car stereos with complete solemnity. Whitehouse commits to the courtly manners, which does more work than the script.

The romance goes exactly where you expect and the middle sags a little. Viewers already hooked on Netflix's festive romances will enjoy spotting its nods to the royal ones.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

12

Our take: peril is mild and brief, so most primary-age children will be comfortable, though younger ones may drift off once the romance takes over.

Content advice & accessibility
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 12 certificate, and never looser than it.
Subtitles · Audio description
Check your chosen service and edition for supported tracks.
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Head and shoulders photograph of a woman with long straight dark hair, wearing a black top with sheer sleeves and a drop earring, against a warm tan backdrop.Vanessa Hudgensas Brooke
Head and shoulders photograph of a man with curly brown hair and a slight smile, in a white shirt, black tie and dark jacket.Josh Whitehouseas Sir Cole
Close photograph of a smiling woman with dark hair pulled back, wearing a grey tweed jacket, against a pink background.Emmanuelle Chriquias Madison
Harry Jarvisas Sir Geoffrey
Mimi Gianopulosas Alyson
Ella Kenionas Old Crone

Behind the camera

Directed by
Monika Mitchell
Original score
Roger Bellon
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Vanessa Hudgens · Toglenn · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Josh Whitehouse · Segolene Liger · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Emmanuelle Chriqui · Georges Biard · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind The Knight Before Christmas. Choose one to explore.

Select a place to explore.

Find it on the mapOrillia

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

Open larger map ↗ (OpenStreetMap, opens in a new tab)

Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Choose your next scene

Photographs of the real places

There’s more behind the film.
Explore the next place.

Photo credits & location sources

These are photographs of the places, not film stills. Dates vary; photographs do not show current conditions or guarantee access.

Orillia · whats-on-netflix.com (opens in a new tab)

Charleville Castle · Mike Searle · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · wikidata.org (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more The Knight Before Christmas

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

On set

A Christmas film shot at the end of May

Cameras started rolling on 29 May 2019, so the snow, scarves and December cheer were all filmed in the Canadian late spring and early summer, months before the film reached Netflix.

Read the story
On your next watchLook at the trees and the breath on the air for the tricks that sell winter.

Source: whats-on-netflix.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

A tree ornament links it to A Christmas Prince

One Christmas tree ornament nods to Netflix's A Christmas Prince films, part of a run of crossovers that tie the streamer's festive romances into one shared world.

Read the story
On your next watchKeep an eye on the tree decorations in the town scenes.

Source: prod.aws.phillyvoice.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

Same studio as The Princess Switch

Motion Picture Corporation of America made it, the company behind The Princess Switch, and it was that studio's sixth Netflix Original.

Read the story

Source: whats-on-netflix.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

The Christmas in it
Snow on screen. Runs from 1 December to 25 December. The story builds to a Christmas Eve deadline and closes on Christmas Day, with snow, a tree and a community feast along the way.
Releases and certificates
: On streaming. Arrived on Netflix as an original film, with no cinema run.
Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

Good to know

Questions about The Knight Before Christmas

When did The Knight Before Christmas come out?

It arrived on Netflix as an original film on 21 November 2019, with no cinema release.

Where was The Knight Before Christmas filmed?

The present-day scenes were shot in Ontario, Canada, including Orillia, while Charleville Castle in County Offaly, Ireland, stands in for the medieval home.

Who stars in The Knight Before Christmas?

Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Whitehouse lead the cast, with Emmanuelle Chriqui, Harry Jarvis, Mimi Gianopulos and Ella Kenion. Monika Mitchell directed.

More like this

If The Knight Before Christmas is your kind of Christmas…

Find another favourite →

Hot Frosty

2024 · UK certificate Parental Guidance · 92 min

Netflix made a snowman romcom with a straight face and a ripped leading man, and the joke mostly carries it.

Festive Factor 41 out of 100: A different kind of Christmas.
Swipe to browse all three →

Collections, stories & Christmas memories

Elsewhere on CineClaus

More places to find The Knight Before Christmas, and a few good reasons to keep exploring.

In this collection

Best family Christmas films

The Knight Before Christmas is in this collection

Explore the collection

Read a little further

Collection

Feel-good Christmas films for a cosy night in

Explore the collection
Stay for another story.All collections · The Christmas Edit