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This article was originally published on December 21, 2017.
It has been updated to include the hottest double feature in theaters this Christmas,BabygirlandNosferatu.
Movies with thathint of yuletide but without all the usual Christmas trappings and lessons.
Below, weve listed 20 of our favorite movies that take place at Christmas but arent technically Christmas movies.
Naturally, they agree to investigate a case involving the disappearance of a friend and a murder.
Was it Dan Duryea?
The creepy henchman at the mansion?
We know its Christmas, thanks to holiday decorations and snow.
We dont even see Montgomery that much, except for an introduction and mirror reflections.
Is it the most Christmassy movie on this list?
No, but itisChristmas-adjacent!
There must have been something in the air the year it came out.
Thats a TCM Christmas marathon right there.
But the ChristmasNew Years setting adds a nice touch of melancholy to the proceedings.
ButThree Days of the Condoris such a perfect film, itll become one of your holiday-adjacent favorites anyway.
It has nothing to do with Christmas, but I still think about it often 40 years later.
The opening scene even has Bobby HelmssJingle Bell Rockplaying over the credits.
Not festive enough for you?
LikeThe Long Kiss Goodnight, this was also written by Shane Black.
It holds up as one of the ultimate cop-buddy movies, with great action scenes and lots of style.
Nothing brings people together during the holidays more than killing someone together.
are over the top.
Like most of the Batman flicks, its got too much going on and too many villains.
But Id argue thatBatman Returnsis the most underrated of the Batman movies.
You likely know the plot already (even Joey onFriendsread it!
(Sorry, I got my holiday movies mixed up there.)
The Long Kiss Goodnight(1996)
Writer Shane Black really, really loves Christmas.
Like a lot of Blacks movies,The Long Kiss Goodnightis outrageous.
Its subversive, funny, serious, and a non-Christmas Christmas classic, all at the same time.
Confidential(1997)
Titanicis an undeniably great movie, but theres an argument to be made thatL.A.
Confidentialshould have won the Best Picture Oscar that year.
Life has completely moved on without him.
Yeah, thats basically the North Pole.
But in actuality, itsShrekco-director Andrew Adamsons adaptation of the first novel in C.S.
Lewiss classic fantasy series.
Theyre aided in their quest by Aslan the lion (a.k.a.
The hit going wrong is only the first bad thing that happens to them.
Theres heavy stuff here but theres also … hope?
Iron Man 3(2013)
Yes,Iron Man 3really is a Christmas-adjacent movie.
Who did the poisoning?
Its unimportant if we want to keep this Christmas romantic-comedy parallel going!
Shortly after they wed, the couple hits a bump in the road at a Christmas party.
A lighthearted conversation with a doctor turns awkward.
Who needs candy canes and hot cocoa when you could have poison mushrooms?
Murnaus 1922 horror classic is a banger about how one bad real-estate deal can destroy an entire city.
You hear each creak of a floorboard.
You see each dust speck floating in the air.
you could practically smell the wood-burning flame.
Ignore the rats, though.In theaters December 25.
Youre Nicole Kidman, the titular baby girl inBabygirl,2024s hottest movie and an unexpected holiday staple.
