What Christmas movies are on Sky Cinema and NOW? A complete list (2021)
James R | On 26, Nov 2021
The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear. That’s true this year for Sky customers, with the broadcaster holding the rights once again to everyone’s favourite Will Ferrell comedy, Elf.
Sky Cinema has a whole host of other seasonal treats, though, from It’s a Wonderful Life to Die Hard.
Sky customers can watch the below by paying several extra quid per month on top of a standard Sky TV bundle to get access to Sky Cinema. There’s even a dedicated Sky Cinema Christmas channel every December, which cycles through all of their festive flicks on an endless loop.
Don’t have Sky? You can still stream any of the Sky Cinema titles on-demand through NOW. A NOW Cinema Membership costs £11.99 a month, with no contract and a 7-day free trial.
Here is a full list of the Christmas films available on Sky Cinema and NOW in 2021. For a guide to the best ones, click here.
It’s a Wonderful Life
What would the world be like if you didn’t exist? Frank Capra’s seasonal classic not only tackles the subject of suicide but also manages to find time for topical anti-bankers commentary, angels and heart-warming family sentiment. It’s hard to think of a Christmas movie that’s more human.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Elf
“Oh my God! Santa’s coming! I know him!” Santa’s oversized helper Will Ferrell goes to New York to find his real dad, only to discover he’s a mean old grouch in Jon Favreau’s delightful comedy.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
The Holiday
Iris is in love with a man who is about to marry another woman. Across the globe, Amanda realises the man she lives with has been unfaithful. Two women who have never met and live 6,000 miles apart, find themselves in the exact same place. They meet online at a home exchange website and impulsively switch homes for the holiday. Come for the cast that includes Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz and Jude Law. Stay for the pretty interior decor.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Happiest Season
Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis lead a delightful ensemble cast in this feel-good Christmas comedy about acceptance.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Jingle All the Way
Arnie stars in this unlikely festive comedy about Howard, a haggard salesman who promises his son a Turbo Man toy for Christmas – but is forced to fight every parent and travel all over town to get the toy after he forgets to buy it.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Scrooged
Bill Murray plays a horrible TV executive in Richard Donner’s 80s comedy classic. Visited by spirits, will he learn the error of his ways? Whether the answer surprises you or not, Murray has never been so likeably horrid.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Gremlins
Joe Dante’s seminal horror comedy sees a young boy acquire a new pet, under strict instructions to never get it wet or feed it after midnight.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Loveable Mogwai Gizmo spawns a new batch of mischievously evil Gremlins who take over a cable network in this playful sequel.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Rise of the Guardians
The Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are together at last in this entertaining animated adventure that might be DreamWorks’ most under-appreciated film.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Jim Carrey pulls out all the stops for this take on Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, which manages to be amusing as well as endearing – and boasts one hell of a make-up team.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
The Polar Express
Tom Hanks plays the train conductor of the titular North Pole express in Robert Zemeckis’ 2004 Christmas flick. It’s too heavy on the dead-eyed motion-capture CG, but the music is the real star.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Bad Santa
Billy Bob Thornton is delightfully horrible in this dark, twisted take on the season of goodwill. Moving in uninvited with a home alone boy, will he soften up or stay the alcoholic, womanising loser he already is? For once, all bets are off.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Trading Places
John Landis’ charming Christmas classic sees a con artist and a rich commodities investor effectively swapped as part of a seasonal bet to prove that lowlives and the upper class aren’t that different after all. Watch out for the moment when Dan Aykroyd briefly becomes one of the best on-screen Santas in cinema history.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Sleepless in Seattle
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are on charming form in this endearing rom-com from queen of the genre Nora Ephron, which sees a reporter fall for a voice on the radio, even though they live on opposite sides of America.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid and more strive to gift-wrap the perfect Christmas for the Griswold family.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
The Night Before
Michael Shannon saves Christmas in this shallow male-bonding comedy, which proves enjoyably childish.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
A Boy Called Christmas
This Christmas origins story is a muddled but charmingly warm-hearted adventure.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Get Santa
A starry cast and family-friendly humour make this British comedy an enjoyable – and sometimes unique – yuletide offering.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Last Train to Christmas
Michael Sheen brings first-class gloss to this familiar time-hopping festive drama.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
A Christmas No 1
Two worlds collide when a music manager and a guitarist connect over a Christmas hit they both desperately need
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
8-Bit Christmas
In 1980s Chicago, a 10-year-old boy embarks on an epic quest to get the greatest video game system for Christmas
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Surviving Christmas
There’s Christmas chaos when lonely millionaire Ben Affleck hires a family to spend the holidays with. Comedy with Christina Applegate.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Look Who’s Talking Now
After wise-cracking babies, the third entry in the comedy series finds John Travolta and Kirstie Alley dealing with a pair of mismatched mutts voiced by Danny DeVito and Diane Keaton.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
All I Want for Christmas
Lauren Bacall and Leslie Nielsen – together at last. The par play divorced parents, whose kids try to reunite them for Christmas in this 1991 drama.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Christmas Scenes
Fireplace for Your Home? That’s just the start of NOW’s festive stocking fillers, as kittens playing with baubles and a view out of a wintery window provide you with the all the background wallpaper TV you could need.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
This Christmas
Idris Elba and Delroy Lindo star in this 2007 comedy about The Whitfields, who celebrate their first family Christmas together for four years. And they’re going to do it in the traditional style: with put-downs and punch-ups.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Six-year-old Susan Walker (Mara Wilson) is skeptical of the Christmas myth surrounding Santa Claus, a trait she perhaps learned from her mother, Dorey (Elizabeth Perkins). When tasked with hiring the Santa who will pose with kids at Macy’s, Dorey enlists a man with the curious name of Kris Kringle (Richard Attenborough) who claims to be Santa himself.
12 Men of Christmas
A public-relations executive (Kristin Chenoweth) uses her media savvy to stir excitement in a small Montana town.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
You may have grown up with the remake starring Richard Attenborough, but this 1947 original – about the legal case to save an old man claiming to be Santa from being institutionalised – has oodles more charm. A film about the importance of fantasy as much as festive spirit, it’s enchanting stuff.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Miracle on 34th Street (1973)
Sebastian Cabot takes the lead role in another remake of the film made for CBS.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
Special Christmas film based on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the rest of Looney Tunes gang. Dastardly Daffy Duck owns a superstore called the Lucky Duck, and causes a ruckus when he makes his employees work on Christmas Day.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Christmas Town
When Lauren leaves everything behind in Boston to embark on a new chapter in her life, an unforeseen detour to a charming town leads to a surprising turn in events.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas
Buddy heads to the Big Apple in this festive special based on the much-loved film.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Christmas with the Coopers
John Goodman, Ed Helms and Alan Arkin lead a star-studded ensemble in this festive family comedy about the titular clan’s annual seasonal gathering.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
A Christmas Feast (2019)
Take a seat at the table of a large Italian family on Christmas Eve as they prepare the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes and reminisce about the past.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Tom and Jerry: Santa’s Little Helpers
Merry mayhem ensues until the destructive duo decide to put their differences aside and work as a team in order to save Christmas. Animated short.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Saving Santa
When Santa’s rival hatches a plan to steal his sleigh, elf Bernard must travel back in time to save Christmas. Animated musical with the voice of Martin Freeman.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
A Christmas to Cherish
Plenty of surprises await Darcy and Aiden as they prepare to celebrate their second Christmas together and fight to save the beloved community centre from closure.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
In Search of Santa
Penguin princess Crystal and her sister Lucinda set out on an eventful quest to find Santa and prove he exists once and for all. Animated adventure with Hilary Duff.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
Moomins and the Winter Wonderland
As winter falls, Moomin Valley excitedly prepares for a mysterious guest named ‘Christmas’.
Watch on Sky Cinema or NOW (£11.99 a month)
How the Toys Saved Christmas
A group of enchanted toys come to life to take on a holiday-hating villain who is determined to thwart their delivery and ruin Christmas.