18 Christmas Films With POC Leads You Need To Add To Your Winter Watchlist This Year

    Why are there so many Christmas films about bakers...?

    The Christmas season brings along so many great films with it — enough to watch about 10 every single day of December. Although the Christmas film genre is oversaturated with content (looking at you Hallmark), there's been a huge lack of diverse representation in the casts of the movies put out until recent years.

    So let's get into this list of amazing POC-led Christmas films — because it feels good to see everyone get a little bit of the Christmas Spirit!

    1. Boxing Day (2021)

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    Warner Bros. UK / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You're aching for a new heartwarming story about family and love during Christmas.

    Notable Leads: Leigh-Anne PinnockAja Naomi King (The Birth Of A Nation, How To Get Away With Murder), and Aml Ameen (I May Destroy You, The Maze Runner)

    In Theatres Now (UK) and streaming on Amazon Prime Video (US)

    2. Last Christmas (2019)

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    Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You need a good pull to the heart strings.

    Notable Leads: Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians, A Simple Favor) and Michelle Yeoh (Shang-Chi, Crazy Rich Asians).

    Available on Netflix (UK), Amazon Prime Video, and AppleTV+ (Everywhere else)

    3. Life-Size 2 (2018)

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    Entertainment Tonight / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You need that little bit of nostalgia with a modern jolly twist.

    Notable Leads: Tyra Banks (Life-Size, America's Next Top Model) and Francia Raisa (Grown-ish, The Secret Life Of The American Teenager).

    Available on Disney+ (Everywhere) and Hulu (US)

    4. The Princess Switch (2018)

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    Netflix / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You need something pure and silly to watch while wrapping gifts and you love The Princess and the Pauper.

    Notable Leads: Vanessa Hudgens (Tick, Tick... Boom!, Bad Boys For Life) and Nick Sagar (Queen Of The South, Shadowhunters

    Available on Netflix everywhere

    5. Baking Spirits Bright (2021)

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    Lifetime / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You love a cheesy Christmas love story with extra cheese.

    Notable Leads: Rekha Sharma (Roswell, New Mexico, Star Trek: Discovery), Dion Johnstone (Sweet Magnolias), and Manoj Sood (Snowpiercer)

    Available on Lifetime and Hulu (US)

    6. This Christmas (2007)

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    Sony Pictures Entertainment / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You need a comedic story about a loving family coming together.

    Notable Leads: Idris Elba (The Harder They Fall, Luther), Regina King (The Harder They Fall, If Beale Street Could Talk), Loretta Devine (Family Reunion, Waiting To Exhale), Sharon Leal (The Good Doctor, Supergirl).

    Available on Amazon Prime Video and AppleTV+ everywhere

    7. Dash and Lily (2020)

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    youtube.com

    Watch This If: You need an extremely cute and heartfelt binge-watch.

    Notable Leads: Midori Francis (Afterlife Of The Party, The Sex Lives Of College Girls), Troy Iwata (What Lies Below), James Saito (Love Hard, Always Be My Maybe), and Jodi Long (Shang-Chi, Sullivan & Son).

    Available on Netflix everywhere

    8. A Sugar And Spice Holiday (2020)

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    Lifetime / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: A childhood friends-to-lovers trope centered around Christmas speaks to you.

    Notable Leads: Jacky Lai (V-Wars, Shadow Hunters), Tzi Ma (Mulan, The Farewell), and Cardi Wong (Are You Afraid Of The Dark, Supergirl).

    Available on Life Movie Club and Amazon Prime Video (US)

    9. Single All The Way (2021)

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    Netflix / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You know how special it is to see a LGBTQ+ love story with a POC love interest and no tragedy.

    Notable Lead: Philemon Chambers

    Available on Netflix everywhere

    10. Enchanted Christmas (2017)

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    Hallmark / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You find joy in the "returning home and coincidentally finding love" trope of Christmas movies.

    Notable Leads: Alexa PenaVega (Spy Kids, Machete Kills) and Carlos PenaVega (Big Time Rush).

    Available on Tubi (US)

    11. Christmas In The Clouds (2001)

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    youtube.com

    Watch This If: You think a slapstick Christmas romcom about an Indigenous family is exactly what you need right now.

    Notable Leads: Mariana Tosca (Superstore), Timothy Vahle, and Sam Vlahos (ER)

    Available on Amazon Prime Video (Everywhere), Tubi, and Pluto TV (US)

    12. Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)

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    Netflix / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You love musicals and math... but mostly musicals.

    Notable Leads: Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele, Keanu), Ricky Martin, Forest Whitaker (Godfather Of Harlem, Black Panther), and Anika Noni Rose (The Princess And The Frog, Dreamgirls

    Available on Netflix everywhere

    13. The Christmas Ring (2020)

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    Hallmark / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You're intrigued by the idea of a Christmas mystery and love story.

    Notable Leads: Nazneen Contractor (Star Trek Into Darkness, Ransom) and David Alpay (Suits, The Vampire Diaries)

    Available on the Hallmark Channel website (US)

    14. Almost Christmas (2016)

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    Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You need a comedic heartwarming story about love and food bringing a family closer together.

    Notable Leads: Gabrielle Union (Bring It On, Think Like A Man), Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon, The Dead Don't Die), Mo'Nique (Precious, Soul Plane), Nicole Ari Parker (Empire, Remember The Titans), Omar Epps (Fatal Affair, Juice)

    Available on Hulu (US), Amazon Prime Video (Everywhere), and VirginTVGO (UK)

    15. Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

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    Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You love classic anime and want to cry at something beautiful.

    Notable Leads: Tôru Emori (Paprika), Yoshiaki Umegaki, Aya Okamoto (Azumi) and the rest of the entire cast of voice actors.

    Available on Netflix (UK) Amazon Prime Video and AppleTV+ (Everywhere)

    16. Last Holiday (2006)

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    Paramount Pictures / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You'd like to watch a bittersweet "good for them" Christmas film.

    Notable Leads: Queen Latifah (The Equalizer, Girls Trip) and LL Cool J (NCIS: Los Angeles, Deep Blue Sea)

    Available on Hulu (US), and Amazon Prime Video (Everywhere)

    17. Nothing Like The Holidays (2008)

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    Overture Films / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You want to laugh at a relatable story of a family during the Christmas season. 

    Notable Leads: Luis Guzmán (We're The Millers, Journey 2), Jay Hernandez (Suicide Squad, Scandal) and Vanessa Ferlito (NCIS: New Orleans, 24)

    Available on AppleTV+ (UK), Amazon Prime Video and Tubi (US)

    18. The Holiday Calendar (2018)

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    Netflix / Via youtube.com

    Watch This If: You'd greatly appreciate a sort of magical and cheesy Christmas love triangle right now.

    Notable Leads: Kat Graham (The Vampire Diaries, All Eyez On Me), Quincy Brown (Star, Dope), and Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us, Luke Cage)

    Available on Netflix everywhere