Some Christmas movies are just pure classics. A lot of people have their favorite Christmas flicks that they watch every single year to get into the holiday spirit, and the viewing of these movies has become a tradition in and of itself. Classics like It's A Wonderful Life, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Home Alone, or A Christmas Story all come to mind when most people think of movies that are about Christmas. But what about the more covert Christmas movies? There are absolutely some films out there that don't seem like Christmas movies at a first glance.
A lot of these are films that take place over Christmas, but aren't necessarily about the holiday itself. Others use Christmas as a plot point, but the overall message of the movie isn't about the holiday spirit, or whatever other moral lesson often accompanies holiday flicks. Die Hard is the example of this phenomenon that comes to mind for most people, as it's set at Christmas but isn't necessarily about Christmas in the same way that, say, Miracle on 34th Street is. There are plenty of other examples of this, so here are some other movies that are actually (secretly) Christmas films.
Iron Man 3
That's right, Marvel did technically make a Christmas movie! The third entry in the Iron Man series takes place over the holidays, and that fact is made explicit through the winter setting and the various Christmas decorations that adorn the sets in the background. While Christmas isn't the main focus of the story, it serves as a place setting for the movie, making it feel more grounded as the audience is reminded that superheroes celebrate Christmas too (or, Tony Stark does, at least). This isn't out of the ordinary for director Shane Black, as a lot of his movies tend to be set around the holiday season. Marvel has tried a lot of sub-genres, so it's not surprising that they even managed to make something Christmassy (and then did it again, more explicitly, with Hawkeye).
Little Women
Both of the more recent film adaptations of the classic novel (Gillian Armstrong's 1994 version and Greta Gerwig's adaptation from 2019) could definitely be considered Christmas movies. While not all of the story takes place during Christmas, there are numerous Christmas scenes throughout both adaptations (and the original book starts right on Christmas Day), which gives it this very cozy holiday feel overall. The themes of family and love also give the movies that feeling, and there's something about the old-fashioned Christmas scenes that feel so classic and warm, lending themselves perfectly to making these films holiday classics.
The Princess Bride
It would probably surprise a lot of people, even long-time fans, to learn that The Princess Bride could technically be considered a Christmas movie. While the contents of the storybook portion of the movie aren't exactly holiday themed, it's clear that the real-world elements are supposed to be set during Christmastime. There is snow outside and Christmas decorations on the walls of the young boy's room. The titular Princess Bride book is even gifted to the boy by his grandfather as a Christmas present. It seems quite fitting that this kind of whimsical, cozy story is supposed to be set during the holidays.
Eyes Wide Shut
Christmas isn't exactly the first thing that comes to most people's minds when they hear the name Stanley Kubrick, but he did technically direct a Christmas movie. Eyes Wide Shut, the last movie that Kubrick made, is set during Christmas and takes place in New York City - which is a classic setting for Christmas films. While the contents of the story itself aren't related to Christmas, it serves as a contrast to the dark underworld that the characters find themselves entangled with. The warm glow of Christmas lights and snow in the city, especially in the opening scenes of the film, really do give it an unexpected holiday feeling.
Edward Scissorhands
While most people associate Tim Burton, and perhaps even this specific movie, with Halloween, there are really a lot of Christmas elements throughout it. Again, while the whole film doesn't take place over Christmas, some of its most important and emotionally moving sequences take place over the holidays, which just adds an extra element of charm to them. The scene of Winona Ryder's character Kim dancing around in the snow created by Edward's carving of ice sculptures is one such sequence, and it is so memorable because of the contrast it provides to a lot of the other visuals in the film.