35 Funny Christmas Movies That Will Give You a Good Holiday Laugh
Updated: Aug. 23, 2023
Ho-ho-ho? More like "ha-ha-ha" when you're watching these funny Christmas movies that'll give you a good laugh this holiday season.
Festive and funny!
The holidays can be a cherished time of beautiful family moments and long-standing traditions … but they can also be stressful, filled with mayhem and downright hilarious! So get ready to roar this Christmas with some of the best Christmas movies that will make you laugh and shake your belly like a bowl full of jelly. That’s right, we’re rounding up our favorite funny Christmas movies—similar to how we gathered our favorite funny Christmas songs.
Plenty of these funny flicks, which include some classic Christmas movie quotes, are appropriate for all ages—but some are for grown-ups only. For the kiddos, here are our favorite Christmas movies for kids. And if you want a more romantic flick (or perhaps a different kind of laughs), add these Hallmark Christmas movies to your list.
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Home Alone
Released: 1990
Rated: PG
“Keep the change, ya filthy animal!” We can’t talk about funny Christmas movies without mentioning this classic. This snarky, slapstick action-comedy, with the premise of a young boy left behind when his giant family goes away for the holidays and eventually forced to fend off burglars, still manages to delight and capture the spirit of the holiday. Stream Home Alone, a fan-favorite ’90s movie, for genuine holiday laughs.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Released: 1989
Rated: PG-13
Chevy Chase returns as the patriarch of the delightfully dysfunctional Griswold family in this Vacation threequel. The family’s not out on the road but instead adorning their house in excessively tacky holiday decor and terrorizing their neighbors and extended family. You can find Christmas Vacation and lots of other Christmas movies on Amazon Prime.
Elf
Released: 2003
Rated: PG
This 2003 family-friendly Will Ferrell vehicle became an instant classic! Buddy is a human who crawled into Santa’s bag as a baby and was raised as an elf at the North Pole. As an adult, he learns he has a human family and sets out to find them, in New York City, in all his over-the-top elfish glory. Keep up the laughs with these hilarious Christmas jokes, Christmas puns and Christmas memes after streaming Elf.
A Christmas Story
Released: 1983
Rated: PG
A Christmas Story, an irreverent 1983 comedy, has garnered legions of fans who say it’s not Christmas without it. Ralphie is a maladjusted kid living in the 1940s who just can’t stay out of trouble as Christmastime approaches. The only thing on his list is “a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle” (say it with us, diehards). There are plenty of interesting facts about A Christmas Story, but one of the coolest is that there’s a sequel now streaming on HBO Max about adult Ralphie navigating Christmas. Watch the original, then stream the latest sequel.
Spirited
Released: 2022
Rated: PG-13
One of the newest funny Christmas movies on this list gives us a snarky twist on A Christmas Carol—and the pleasure of seeing Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell steal the screen together. You’ll laugh, you’ll sing, you’ll dance—and, of course, feel the Christmas spirit while watching Spirited. We love a good holiday-musical combo!
Claymation Christmas Celebration
Released: N/A
Rated: Not rated
Claymation Christmas Celebration is goofy, but totally worth a watch. Revolving around a London Christmas revue, it cuts to different musical numbers (California Raisins, anyone?). Colorful, quirky and downright hilarious characters provide different takes on Christmas songs you love while two very different “hosts” try to make the night run smoothly.
Christmas with the Kranks
Released: 2004
Rated: PG
Based on the book Skipping Christmas, 2004’s Christmas with the Kranks follows a couple who tries to opt out of all holiday traditions and hubbub after their grown daughter moves out. Suffice to say, things don’t go according to plan! This is one of those funny Christmas movies empty nesters will appreciate.
Love Actually
Released: 2003
Rated: R
Love Actually is the flagship a-bunch-of-people’s-stories-centered-around-a-holiday film, directed by Richard Curtis. Starring Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson and many, many more, it’s become a romantic holiday classic in its own right with its alternately silly, sweet and heartbreaking love stories set around Christmas. Come for the charming British humor, stay for the iconic scene of Hugh Grant busting a move.
The Santa Clause
Released: 1994
Rated: PG
After St. Nick meets an untimely end, a grumpy suburban dad (Tim Allen) unwittingly finds himself contracted to take up the mantle in The Santa Clause. His young son believes in him even when no one else does. Don’t miss the limited series based on the movies, called The Santa Clauses, now streaming on Disney+.
Noelle
Released: 2019
Rated: G
A very early Disney+ original, Noelle stars Anna Kendrick as Santa’s daughter Noelle, who must rush to save Christmas when her slacker brother (Bill Hader) neglects his Santa-succession duties. It’s one of the best movies to put on for the kiddos around the holidays!
The Best Man Holiday
Released: 2013
Rated: R
The Best Man Holiday, a follow-up to 1999’s The Best Man, follows Morris Chestnut, Terrence Howard, Regina Hall, Harold Perrineau and others reuniting for a sweet, funny and emotional Christmas dramedy. A gang of college friends getting together years later, and at Christmastime no less, stirs up all the heartache, drama and laughs you’d expect.
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Released: 2000
Rated: PG
Nothing will top the faithful-to-the-book 1966 animated classic, but there’s a reason Jim Carrey’s 2000 take on the green holiday-hater from the Christmas children’s book has spawned countless memes and made our list of funny Christmas movies. His dry, self-deprecating Grinchy quips provide holiday hilarity for a whole new generation in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Happiest Season
Released: 2020
Rated: PG-13
In Happiest Season, a Christmas movie on Hulu, Kristen Stewart’s Abby is spending the holidays with her girlfriend, Harper, and plans to propose—but then she realizes that Harper isn’t out to her family yet. Dan Levy, Aubrey Plaza and Victor Garber round out the cast. The GLAAD Award–winning film was loosely based on director Clea DuVall’s own experience.
Fred Claus
Released: 2007
Rated: PG
What if Santa Claus had a big brother, and he was Vince Vaughn at maximum goofiness? That’s what you get from the Christmas comedy Fred Claus. Fred lives a decidedly unmagical life until Santa, played by Paul Giamatti, offers him a job (and some much-needed cash) at the North Pole. Needless to say, they have some differences of opinion about how things should be run. (This one’s good for the whole family.)
Scrooged
Released: 1988
Rated: PG-13
A Christmas Carol adaptations are a dime a dozen—it is a popular Christmas book, after all. But only one puts Scrooge in a (semi-)modern metropolis setting and, of course, puts comedy icon Bill Murray in the role, and that’s Scrooged. We think the satire-loving Charles Dickens would approve of adaptations of his work having a funnier bent!
The Night Before
Released: 2015
Rated: R
The Night Before, a madcap holiday comedy, stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie as three buddies who take New York City by storm on Christmas Eve as they try to have the most raucous holiday possible. With an R rating, this one’s definitely just for adults, who will get a big dose of holiday humor.
Jingle All the Way
Released: 1996
Rated: PG
If there’s any holiday custom that deserves to have fun poked at it, it has to be the mad rush to get your hands on the “it” toy. Arnold Schwarzenegger and director Brian Levant do just that in the 1996 flick Jingle All the Way, which delivers on slapstick wackiness.
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Released: 1992
Rated: G
OK, it’s another A Christmas Carol adaptation. But who better to infuse your family-friendly holiday movie night with Christmas cheer and madcap humor than The Muppets? The Muppet Christmas Carol is one of many Christmas movies on Disney+ to enjoy this holiday season.
Anna and the Apocalypse
Released: 2017
Rated: R
A zombie-apocalypse-themed musical set at Christmastime? It’s unique, that’s for sure! Anna and the Apocalypse, a British cult flick, is worth a watch if only to switch things up on your list of funny Christmas movies—when it came out, it was hailed as a mix of Shaun of the Dead and La La Land.
Office Christmas Party
Released: 2016
Rated: R
A cast stacked with big-name comics (Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Vanessa Bayer, Kate McKinnon) and Blades of Glory directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck deliver the laughs in Office Christmas Party, a comedy about an office holiday party that train-wrecks into chaos. This will be one of those funny Christmas movies you watch year after year!
Get Santa
Released: 2014
Rated: PG
Santa’s on the naughty list in Get Santa, a British flick that features Santa on the run from the law. Jim Broadbent (Professor Slughorn in Harry Potter) stars as the jolly Father Christmas who accidentally crashes his sleigh into a shed and gets sent to jail. A father-son duo help him escape and find and reunite all his flying reindeer. Another Harry Potter vet, Warwick Davis (Flitwick), plays a fellow prisoner. And yes, this one’s family-friendly! Here are some kids Christmas movies on Netflix.
Almost Christmas
Released: 2016
Rated: PG-13
Danny Glover plays the patriarch of a large family who tries to get them all together for the first Christmas since the loss of his wife in Almost Christmas. His four adult children, their respective families and his late wife’s sister all show up for the festivities. An unfaithful spouse and Glover’s character’s decision to sell the family home create all the funny family holiday tension you love to laugh at when it’s not your own!
Deck the Halls
Released: 2006
Rated: PG
Another brilliantly spoofable Christmas custom? Those crazy over-the-top holiday lights displays. In Deck the Halls, Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick are suburban dads trying to one-up each other—DeVito decks his house with increasingly obnoxious light displays, and Broderick turns would-be saboteur. Their families get caught up in the increasingly chaotic drama.
Krampus
Released: 2015
Rated: PG-13
Yes, Krampus is, at its core, a holiday horror movie based on the European legend of the anti-Santa that punishes naughty kids. But it’s more darkly comic than you might expect going in and, if it’s your style, delivers on the twisted subversive humor.
A Bad Moms Christmas
Released: 2017
Rated: R
It can sometimes be a trying ordeal to be a mom around the holidays. A Bad Moms Christmas, an addition to the raunchy mom-com series, lets Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn and Mila Kunis get out all their holiday stress—and introduces their own mothers. Moms, add this to your list of funny Christmas movies to stream ASAP.
Arthur Christmas
Released: 2011
Rated: PG
Arthur Christmas, a charming family Christmas cartoon, places the focus on Santa’s youngest son, who just can’t catch a break and must prove himself when a special package goes missing.
Trading Places
Released: 1983
Rated: R
The comedy-gold duo of Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd has cemented Trading Places as one of the funniest movies of all time, and it’s set around the holidays! Aykroyd’s stuffy stockbroker and Murphy’s smooth-talking hustler swap jobs and lifestyles, and we get to sit back and watch the hilarious results. The social commentary and holiday guffaws remain relevant even decades after this film’s release.
The Holiday
Released: 2006
Rated: PG-13
This intercontinental love story provides all the fun, mushy Christmas romance you want. Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz decide to switch homes over the holidays to bounce back from tumultuous romances, and Jack Black and Jude Law complete the star-crossed (or perhaps pond-crossed) couples. The Holiday is a romantic movie at its core, but there are plenty of laughs to go around.
Four Christmases
Released: 2008
Rated: PG-13
Four Christmases shows Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn playing a couple who have an established Christmas routine of traveling as far away as possible to get out of seeing any of their divorced parents. But this year, their flight’s canceled and they have no choice but to endure a quadruple dose of parental holiday hijinks. Nightmarish for them, maybe, but hilarious for us!
Holidate
Released: 2020
Rated: TV-MA
This newer addition to the lineup of funny Christmas movies takes the “opposite-sex friends make a bargain and no romantic feelings are allowed” cliché and puts a decidedly modern, holiday spin on it. Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey decide to be each other’s dates to get through the lovey-dovey holiday season in Holidate. Of course, feelings (and funnies) eventually emerge. This is one to add to your list of Netflix Christmas movies.
8 Women
Released: 2002
Rated: R
Why not throw another murder-themed musical into the mix? 8 Women, a French film, is set around Christmastime in the 1950s French countryside. A wealthy mansion owner is murdered, and there were, you guessed it, eight women in the house at the time. The women—comprising an all-female cast—work to figure out whodunnit … but none of them is without a motive.
Daddy’s Home 2
Released: 2017
Rated: PG-13
Daddy’s Home 2, the sequel to Daddy’s Home, hilariously pairs Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell as opposite, but friendly, co-parents who must navigate the holidays with their blended families. And yes, that includes their own fathers, who come to town for Christmas. Start streaming now for some hilarious holiday mishaps.
Just Friends
Released: 2005
Rated: PG-13
Just Friends stars Ryan Reynolds as a man who unexpectedly goes back to his hometown for the holidays, where he reconnects with his former best friend and crush (Amy Smart). He attempts to woo her, but his efforts go south in hilarious fashion. Start streaming now to see if he’ll get out of the friend zone after all these years.
Ernest Saves Christmas
Released: 1988
Rated: PG
Ernest Saves Christmas is about, well, goofball Ernest saving Christmas. Follow along as he tries to fill Santa’s Christmas boots following the big guy’s retirement, as wacky and zany antics ensue!
Love Hard
Released: 2021
Rated: TV-MA
Love Hard is one of those funny Christmas movies that features a healthy dose of romance. After meeting the seemingly perfect man on a dating app and flying across the country to meet him for the holidays, a woman (Nina Dobrev) realizes, with horror, that she was catfished. However, the real man behind the fake profile (Jimmy O. Yang) agrees to help her pursue the guy she thought she was meeting. It’s a modern rom-com that highlights the misadventures—and small blessings—that come with online dating.
Additional reporting by Kelly Kuehn.
Originally Published: September 13, 2021
