The Best Family Movies To Watch This Holiday Season
The holidays are a time to slow down, unwind, and create beautiful memories for years to come. For many, watching one’s favorite television show or movie as a family is a tradition that many look forward to, either after a delicious meal or before a gift exchange.
Watching television as a family provides a familiar mix of times past, spectacle (depending on which family members show up!), and joy that can come from putting busy schedules aside and taking up space together intentionally. And, a good holiday movie provides the opportunity for laughter, goodness, warmth, and even a bit of side-eye, depending on who gets to pick the movies for the family.
Nevertheless, one thing’s for sure, and that’s the reality that a fun, or maybe even an introspective movie, can definitely be good for the soul. From classics like The Preacher’s Wife to newer titles like Christmas Everyday and Very Merry Mystery, each selection on this list has been chosen to appeal to differing preferences. So, kick back, relax, grab a plate, and consider this list a gentle nudge to slow down and enjoy the privilege of taking up space with your chosen family and friends.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)
Holiday movies like Jingle Jangle truly epitomize the beauty of the holiday season and appeal to all family members. There’s intergenerational storytelling, exquisite costume design, toys and toymaking, and positive messaging about passing on gifts, literally and figuratively, to the next generation. In Jingle Jangle, a fantastical, magical world filled with toys and whimsy comes to life thanks to the brilliant mind of Jeronicus (Forest Whitaker) and his amazing toy inventions.
Jeronicus’ life begins to take a downward spiral when his mentee, Gustafson (Keegan-Michael Key), steals his ideas and takes the credit for Jeronicus’ inventions. But something magical begins to happen when his granddaughter, Journey (Madalen Mills), comes to visit for the holidays. Not only has Journey inherited her grandfather’s mathematical genius, but she also carries a spirit of hope. This movie is a definite must-watch for families this holiday season, because it depicts so much beauty and joyfulness. Jingle Jangle also shows the benefits of family reconciliation and the positive impact that grandkids can have on their grandparents, and vice versa.
The Preacher’s Wife (1996)
The Preacher’s Wife has become a holiday classic for many Black households. In The Preacher’s Wife, God answers a preacher’s prayer request by sending an angel to Earth in the likeness of a human. With its positive themes of faith, a pastor’s obedience, restoring a marriage, and an Earth angel, it’s a holiday movie that so many have come to love.
It doesn’t hurt that the beloved Whitney Houston plays the preacher’s wife, Denzel Washington plays a handsome angel, and Courtney B. Vance seamlessly steps into the role of Reverend Biggs.
Many give credit to Santa and the “magic” of the holiday season, but this movie also provides representation for Believers that our proper help comes from God and the angelic hosts.
Tidings For The Season (2025)
There’s nothing like a cozy, feel-good holiday movie that truly warms the heart. Adam (B.J. Britt) is a hard-working, ambitious local news anchor who is all about the hard-hitting news. When he meets Robbie (Elijah-Justus Lewis), his biggest fan, he must begin to consider why, as a reporter, he only covers negative news.
Since it’s the holidays, and after discovering that Robbie’s mom, Lucy (Tamera Mowry-Housley), is a hardworking, single mother, Adam begins to have a change of heart. As feelings start to grow between Adam and Lucy, he soon has to choose between ambition and following his heart.
Watch it now on Hallmark Plus.
Very Merry Mystery (2025)
During a Christmas Murder Mystery Party, a holiday-loving hair stylist, Bea King (Ashleigh Murray), partners with her detective boyfriend, Troy (Tristan Mack Wilds), when they realize that the party host, Grace (Kimberly Huie), is missing, leaving a ransom note in her absence. And while the goal was to solve a “murder mystery” game as the party theme, no one actually expected anyone to turn up missing in real life.
When Grace turns up missing, everyone must band together to solve this real mystery. If you love the holiday season and a bit of suspense, you’ll love this humorous, mysterious holiday movie. And, if you love to see beautiful leading casts decked out in ornate and festive attire, this one will definitely be a treat!
The Black Nativity (2013)
Based on Langston Hughes’ Nativity, Kasi Lemmons’ adaptation centers on Langston (Jacob Latimore), an urban teen raised by a single mother (Jennifer Hudson) in Baltimore, who is sent to New York City for the holidays to spend time with his grandparents, whom he barely knows.
Reverend Cornell Cobbs (Forrest Whitaker) and First Lady Aretha Cobbs (Angela Bassett) are non-compromising Christians who live a committed lifestyle that Langston is not quite accustomed to. But, after some hardship, Langston soon learns that walking a straight and narrow path may not be so bad after all.
This film depicts Black church culture and depicts the reality that in many Black communities, both pain and joy are communal. This holiday movie is an excellent watch for teens and young adults, too, because it’s not the typical sanguine, cheery movie about the holidays. On the contrary, it centers themes around growth, tough love, and overcoming hardship.
The Christmas Showdown (2025)
There’s nothing like a heart-warming movie that centers on the spirit of sisterhood, friendship, overcoming past rivalries, and coming together for the greater good. In The Christmas Showdown, both April (Corbin Reid) and Chasity (Amber Stevens West) want to impress the Christmas show producer, Hen (Loretta Devine). But they must choose to overcome their differences to make the Christmas show a success. In this movie, viewers see what can happen when people choose humility over rivalry.
Christmas Everyday (2025)
Fancy Ballantine (Brandy Norwood) is a fashion designer who cares deeply for her mother, Evelyn (Debbi Morgan), who is slowly losing her eyesight. When she hires a handsome handyman, Jaylen (Robert Christopher Riley), to make her mother’s art studio more efficient, Fancy begins to realize that for once, it’s okay for her to do something that truly makes her happy.
Christmas Everyday highlights real topics that many adults struggle with during the holidays, balancing personal aspirations with taking care of others. This holiday movie centers on the reality that many struggle to balance their careers with growing family responsibilities, often including caring for aging parents, managing household responsibilities, and keeping the family together.
Lynnette Nicholas is a NYC-based arts and entertainment journalist, children’s media consultant, on-camera host, and lifestyle writer-editor covering the latest in culture, parenting, travel, books, film & television, faith, and the intersection of parenting and entertainment. Her bylines appear in Essence, Parents, Reader’s Digest, Common Sense Media, HuffPost, Yahoo Entertainment, Parade Media, and more.
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