Sometimes during the holidays, all you want is to curl up under a blanket with someone you love and watch a classic, heartwarming, wholesome Christmas movie. Other times, you want a Christmas movie that is just as messy as your real life. This is a list for the second group.
These movies have flawed heroes, love triangles, cheating, hookups, lies, and just about any other mess you can get into during the holiday season. If you're looking for a wild good time this Christmas, check out these movies!
'Tangerine'
This fiery 2015 film from Sean Baker (Anora) follows two trans sex workers played by Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor on a sunny LA Christmas Eve. While Alexandra (Taylor) tries to earn a few bucks while passing out flyers for her Christmas musical performance at a bar, Sin-Dee (Rodriguez) is running wild through the neighborhood trying to find the woman her boyfriend and pimp cheated on her with. The two stars are electric, and the action never lets up in this chaotic Christmas classic.
Streaming on Pluto.
'Carol'
Based on the groundbreaking lesbian novel by Patricia Highsmith, Todd Haynes's Carol is still considered one of the best movies ever made. It stars Cate Blanchett as Carol, a soon-to-be-divorced mother who meets a young woman working as a shopgirl (Rooney Mara) and finds an instant attraction. Because of the time period and culture they live in, the two women must keep their relationship a secret and deal with others who try to prevent them from being together.
Streaming on HBO Max.
'Happiest Season'
This lesbian Christmas rom-com divided audiences when it came out, but it definitely has a large number of fans. Mackenzie Davis stars as Harper, a closeted lesbian who brings her girlfriend, Abby (Kristen Stewart), home for Christmas. But there's one twist: Harper's parents think she's straight and think Abby is just a friend. Harper tangles her girlfriend in a wild web of lies, making the holiday messier and messier, all because she's afraid of letting her family know the real her.
Streaming on Hulu.
'Shared Rooms'
A gay twist on Love Actually, this sexy rom-com follows three interconnected stories during the holidays. One is about a married couple and their gay nephew, one is about two friends who are secretly in love, and one is about a casual hookup that turns into something more.
Streaming on Roku
'Single All the Way'
The "fake dating" trope is a great way to throw a little mess into an otherwise pleasant movie, and that's exactly what Single All the Way does! Peter (Michael Urie) is returning home for the holidays, and in order to get his family to stop harping on him to find a boyfriend, he has his best friend Nick (Philemon Chambers) pretend to be his partner.
Streaming on Netflix
'A Keller Christmas Vacation'
This chaotic family Christmas film stars Jonathan Bennett, Brandon Routh, and Eden Sher as three siblings who go on a Danube River cruise, a gift from their parents. As the siblings have gone their separate ways, being confined to one location creates more problems than it solves. Fans of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation will love this one!
Streaming on Hallmark+
'Matt Rogers: Have You Heard of Christmas?'
Actor, comedian, and Las Culturistas host Matt Rogers created one of the best Christmas Specials in recent memory with his attempt to become the new "Pop Prince of Christmas." Rogers sings raunchy, hilarious, and messy-as-hell songs about awkward family reunions, Christmas club hookups, Mrs. Claus, and the hottest Who in Whoville, Martha May Whovier.
Streaming on Paramount+
'The New York Christmas Wedding'
Few questions are messier than "what if?" This sapphic romance explores the ultimate "what if," sending New Yorker Jenny Ortiz (Nia Fairweather) to an alternate timeline as she approaches her Christmas Eve wedding to a man. In the new timeline she wakes up in, she's still engaged to be married, only this time it's to her female best friend from her teenage years.
Streaming on Tubi
'The Bitch Who Stole Christmas'
The messiest queen of all, RuPaul, stars along with a bunch of her Drag Race competitors in this comedy about an intrepid reporter named Olivia St. Lapel (Krysta Rodriguez) who is sent to the tiny Christmas town of Tuckahoe to find some dirty little secrets. Drag queens like Ginger Minj, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Peppermint, Latrice Royale, and Jan Sport also star.
Streaming on YouTube
