I'm Counting Down The 8 Times Christmas Movies Dared To Show The REAL Struggles Of The Season

Get your tissues ready!

Content warning: death.

As a general rule, holiday movies are meant to be full of feel-good festive cheer, warm family moments, and a glittering, sparkling final scene to keep us happy and content as the credits roll. However, as we all know, Christmas isn’t just about those sappy sentimental moments and seasonal joys. Christmas can also be a time of loneliness, sadness, heartbreak, and loss. These Christmas movie moments certainly reminded us of that.

1. Karen Cries To Joni Mitchell — Love Actually (2003)

StudioCanal

In arguably one of Emma Thompson’s most memorable moments on screen, her Love Actually character, Karen, discovers a necklace bought by her husband but for someone else. In the heartbreaking scene that follows, we see her smile brightly for her children and excuse herself for a few moments of grief before returning happily to the family room.

In that one scene, we see her hurt, her loss, her anger, and her pain, and then her strength — returning to her grinning children as her motherly front returns. She gushes over them in a warm blanket of love and excitement, showing no trace of the pain she’s feeling. It’s a moving and powerful moment for all.

2. Amanda Remembers Her Parents' Divorce — The Holiday (2006)

Columbia Pictures

Played by the stunning and hilarious Cameron Diaz, Amanda Woods is one of the toughest and most hard-working characters in any Christmas movie — working constantly to avoid facing the realities of life. However, when she meets and falls for an emotive and openhearted Englishman, Graham, her icy exterior begins to melt.

In a great, honest scene, she describes to him, for the first time in years, the story of her parents' divorce and the impact it had on her, having never cried since. In a very real moment, she gives her childhood some raw reflection and notes that she’s been repressing it for a long time. Now, she finally trusts someone enough to share it.

3. The Pigeon Lady Explains Why She's Alone — Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)

20th Century Fox

As some sleuths on the internet have concluded, it's very likely that Kevin McAllister is intent on murdering the two burglars who break into his home, instead of simply calling the police. However, he does have a soft spot for the lonely, isolated, and hurt people he meets along the way.

In the second Home Alone film, we see Kevin meeting the initially terrifying Pigeon Lady, and eventually befriending her before finding out why she's living homeless in New York. After suffering from a broken heart and being rejected by someone she loved, she spends her days hiding in crowds and feeding the birds — sharing what little she has with them through the goodness of her heart. Her friendship with Kevin is equally emotional and heartwarming, but shares a very real portrayal of how life can take you to unexpected places without you even realizing.

4. Kris Kringle Is Committed — Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

20th Century Fox

Miracle on 34th Street is a wonderful mixture of an intense legal drama and a wonderfully warm, festive film. It works so well as a standalone Christmas movie. As lovable store Santa, Kris Kringle, explains to the world that he is the real Santa, evil rivals from a competing store decide to set him up, provoking him into raising his cane in an act of violence.

Whilst his newfound family work hard to get him released from his imprisonment, there’s a sad and touching moment where we see Santa Claus himself alone in patients' robes. In a cold, dark cell, he's looking small, and sad, and sick. It’s a heartbreaking scene that is distressing for kid and adult viewers alike, and a true reminder of the vulnerability still around us at Christmas.

5. Kate Remembers Her Father — Gremlins (1984)

Warner Bros.

Whilst there might be some debate over whether Gremlins is a horror movie or a Christmas movie, the plot takes place over the Christmas season, so for this list, I'm counting it all the same. In a small scene away from the intense drama of the Gremlin infestation, lead character Billy takes a breather with love interest Kate to discuss her dislike of the holiday season.

In an emotional scene, Kate describes one Christmas as a child where her father dressed up as Santa and tried to climb down the chimney before slipping and breaking his neck. In the traumatizing story, she goes on to recount the smell that her family started to notice before they eventually found his body, destroying the festive season, and her belief in Santa, for good.

6. The Grinch Gets Bullied — How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Universal Pictures

No one deserves to bullied for being different, and the Grinch is no exception. Whilst the titular movie character is shown throughout to be a Christmas-hating antagonist, in some clever flashbacks we get to see his tragic, traumatic school days and the bullying he had to endure.

After being brutally picked on for his appearance, his intelligence, his attempts to bond with a fellow classmate, and for trying to shave his beard, he was eventually bullied out of the school and into exile alone — where we find him at the start of the story. This is essentially a sad tale of cruel children and the difficulties of being different.

7. The Boy Can’t Hear The Bell — Polar Express (2004)

Warner Bros. Pictures

The Polar Express is one of those Christmas movies you either love or fear with its unnerving animation style yet heartwarming story. As the story follows a young boy beginning to doubt his love for Christmas, he boards a mysterious train on a journey to believing in the season once again.

As any parent will know, it’s a heartbreaking moment when your child stops believing in Santa Claus and that little bit of Christmas magic is lost from within them forever. The Polar Express portrays that feeling perfectly. Told from the boy’s perspective as he stands around looking at all of the fellow children enjoying the magic, he's unable to hear the beautiful bell of Christmas. We can feel his fear, his sadness, and his grief of growing up.

8. The Snowman Melts — The Snowman and The Snowdog (2012)

Channel 4

Unfortunately, the trouble with building your best friend out of snow is that eventually, he will melt and audiences will be heartbroken in response. Whilst the original The Snowman had us sniffling into our tissues at the sight of the puddle of melted snow and scarf, the 2012 sequel The Snowman and The Snowdog had us bawling on a whole new level.

After a new character, Billy, builds his own friends and experiences magical adventures with them both, we get to experience the loss of the Snowman all over again, and watch Billy and the Snowdog mourn their lost friend. Whilst Billy gets to keep the Snowdog as a real living pet, the Snowman must melt away — a temporary friend for the holiday season.

Which Christmas movie do you think had the saddest scene or storyline? Let me know in the comments!