FAMILY on the sofa, food coma setting in, the annual arguments are raging.
But there’s one thing we can all agree on: the best Christmas films are the ones we already know the words to.
Forget the streaming giants’ flops; Google’s latest trends data proves we are still watching the same five classics we’ve seen a hundred times.
According to Google search rankings for December 2024, the only movies that matter are: Home Alone (1990), Love Actually (2003), Elf (2003), Die Hard (1988), and The Holiday (2006).
These aren’t just films – they’re Christmas crackers that rule the roost for the entire season.
Baby, it’s cold online
Let’s face facts, the last proper Christmas film breakthrough was Will Ferrell’s hilarious Elf. Why?
Back then, films became classics because they were hammered on to terrestrial TV every Christmas Eve, year after year. It was a shared moment.
Now? Streaming channels pump out festive films that disappear quicker than the cranberry sauce. Remember 2021’s Love Hard, anyone?
There’s no big, shared night; just another cheap, made-for-TV sequel you’ll forget by Boxing Day.
At Christmas, we don’t want novelty, we want nostalgia! We crave the familiar faces, the iconic soundtracks and the quotes we grew up with.
Top of the tree
Home Alone is the undisputed king of Christmas, topping the search list again.
Macaulay Culkin is still the only star guaranteed to keep the kids quiet, have the parents chuckling and give millennials that lovely warm feeling of childhood.
Coming in second, Love Actually – the ultimate festive romcom.
Of course it charts high, adults are the ones doing the searching! Packed with A-list talent like Hugh Grant and Keira Knightley, it’s a love letter to London that we feel we own.
Elf, meanwhile, sits happily in the “children’s films that adults secretly love” category. Good clean fun.
The debate that never dies
Every year, social media repeats the same classic film debates: should the Home Alone parents be arrested for gross negligence? Is the Grinch high-key relatable?
But the one argument that will forever cause a family meltdown: is Die Hard a Christmas film?
Is it an action movie set at Christmas, or is John McClane a festive hero? We’ll never get a definitive answer, but the search numbers prove we’ll keep watching the chaos.
Bruce Willis bounces back into the charts partly because some people rewatch it purely to win the family argument!
The newest addition to the charts is The Holiday, featuring Cameron Diaz and the ridiculously handsome Jude Law.
It has surpassed How the Grinch Stole Christmas for the first time. Why the sudden love? Algorithm-driven Christmas escapism. Cosy cottage-core and 2006 Jude Law at his best – it was a hit waiting to happen.
Maybe one day, a new festive favourite will break into the hallowed list and earn a permanent place.
But until then, the classics will keep topping Google searches – because at Christmas, above all, we love a familiar story.