With all the Christmas music on the radio and last-minute rushes to wrap presents, it can be easy to forget that Christmas is not actually a season. Much the same way that "awards season" is is not actually a time period demarcated on a calendar (despite what all of Hollywood believes), Christmas is simply one day of the year, not a months-long chapter. No, the Christmas season is actually a part of a larger winter season (you know, the fourth season in the original bunch of seasons including spring, summer, and fall). And as much fun as it is to celebrate with Santa and the rest of his Yuletide gang, sometimes you just want some non-denominational holiday movies for the winter season. This list is here to provide you with all the wintry wonder without any holiday hubbub.
These movies don't include any Christmas carols or tree-decorating, or any dreidel-spinning or kanara-lighting, for that matter. But they are sure to warm up your cold winter bones with enough joy and spirit to match even the jolliest of elves. So bundle up and settle in to watch these five classic holiday movies that are perfect for the entire family this winter season.
Cold weather is built right into the title with this one! This modern Disney classic features an ice princess sending her entire kingdom into an eternal winter. Sure, it's not really a such good thing for the characters in the movie as they fight to melt the snow. But, you'll be watching from under a warm blanket, so all you have to do is enjoy the beautiful animation and scream/sing along to "Let It Go."
If you're looking to enjoy the winter season without any holiday trappings, why not take a journey to the land where "it's always winter and never Christmas!" With this book-turned-movie-series, you can join the Pevensie siblings as they take a trip through their wardrobe to save the wintry tundra of Narnia. For bonus points, you can get super cozy, grab some cupcakes, and have a full classic lazy Sunday.
This classic 1960 Billy Wilder film is one of the greatest ever made, and for that reason alone it should be on everyone's list. Wilder expertly combines heartfelt melodrama with laugh-out-loud comedy, forming a perfect template for rom-coms in the decades to follow. The Apartment's central couple is made up of two outsiders who've lost most of their holiday spirit, so it's a perfect movie for viewers who have already had their share Christmas spirit this year. And on top of that, the movie is set to winter in mid-century New York, so it's filled with beautiful black and white shots of the city during the most wonderful time of the year.
Anyone who's spent a winter in the midwest will probably warn you that there is nowhere colder to spend the season, and you'll almost definitely believe them after watching this movie. Everything about this dark comedy (that inspired the TV series, which would make an excellent binge for after) screams midwest, from its vast snowy landscape to all the polite niceties that complicate the wood chipper murder at its center.
Who needs Christmas or New Year's, when you can just get ready to celebrate the next biggest winter holiday: Groundhog Day! This movie is filled with snowy scenes so, you're sure to feel some cozy winter vibes. But, Bill Murray plays a curmudgeonly main character who is definitively un-jolly, so there won't be any confusing this one with a movie a about Santa Claus.
