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Movies set at Christmas that nobody calls Christmas movies

The Die Hard argument, settled by listing everyone else in the same boat. Every film here is set during Christmas, uses it deliberately, and gets filed under action, crime or drama instead. Put one on when the room wants the season without admitting it.

Die Hard
1988 · dir. John McTiernan
🍅 94%8.2action · thriller

High above the city of L.A. a team of terrorists has seized a building, taken hostages, and declared war. One man has manages to escape... An off-duty cop hiding somewhere inside. He's alone, tired... and the only chance anyone has got.

Die Hard 2
1990 · dir. Renny Harlin
🍅 68%7.2action · thriller

One year after his heroics in Los Angeles, John McClane is an off-duty cop who is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. On a snowy Christmas Eve, as he waits for his wife's plane to land at Washington Dulles International Airport, terrorists take over the air traffic control system in a plot to free a South American army general and drug smuggler being flown into the US to face drug charges. It's now up to McClane to take on the terrorists, while coping with an inept airport police chief, an uncooperative anti-terrorist squad, and the life of his wife and everyone else trapped in planes circling overhead.

Lethal Weapon
1987 · dir. Richard Donner
🍅 82%7.6action · thriller · crime

A veteran cop and an unstable detective become partners who must put their differences aside in order to bring down a heroin-smuggling ring run by ex-Special Forces.

Batman Returns
1992 · dir. Tim Burton
🍅 81%7.1action · fantasy

The monstrous Penguin, who dwells in the sewers beneath Gotham, joins up with corrupt mayoral candidate Max Shreck to topple the Batman once and for all. But when Shreck's timid assistant Selina Kyle finds out, and Shreck tries to kill her, she's transformed into the sexy Catwoman. She teams up with the Penguin and Shreck to destroy Batman, but sparks fly unexpectedly when she confronts the caped crusader.

Iron Man 3
2013 · dir. Shane Black
🍅 79%7.1action · adventure · science fiction

When Tony Stark's world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution.

In Bruges
2008 · dir. Martin McDonagh
🍅 84%7.9comedy · drama · crime

Ray and Ken, two hit men, are in Bruges, Belgium, waiting for their next mission. While they are there they have time to think and discuss their previous assignment. When the mission is revealed to Ken, it is not what he expected.

Eastern Promises
2007 · dir. David Cronenberg
🍅 89%7.6thriller · crime · mystery

A Russian teenager living in London dies during childbirth but leaves clues in her diary that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.

Gremlins
1984 · dir. Joe Dante
🍅 86%7.3fantasy · horror · comedy

After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.

Brazil
1985 · dir. Terry Gilliam
🍅 98%7.8comedy · science fiction

Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.

Eyes Wide Shut
1999 · dir. Stanley Kubrick
🍅 77%7.5drama · thriller · mystery

After Dr. Bill Harford's wife, Alice, admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met, Bill becomes obsessed with having a sexual encounter. He discovers an underground sexual group and attends one of their meetings -- and quickly discovers that he is in over his head.

Catch Me If You Can
2002 · dir. Steven Spielberg
🍅 96%8.1drama · crime

A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not only eludes capture, he revels in the pursuit.

Rocky IV
1985 · dir. Sylvester Stallone
🍅 38%6.9drama

Rocky Balboa holds the world heavyweight championship, but a new challenger has stepped forward: Drago, a six-foot-four, 261-pound fighter who has the backing of the Soviet Union. This time, Rocky's training regimen takes him to Siberia, where he prepares for a globally televised match in the heart of Moscow. But nothing can truly prepare him for what he's about to face – a fight to the finish, in which he must defend not only himself, but also the honor of his country!

Shazam!
2019 · dir. David F. Sandberg
🍅 90%7action · comedy · fantasy

A boy is given the ability to become an adult superhero in times of need with a single magic word.

Edward Scissorhands
1990 · dir. Tim Burton
🍅 92%7.8fantasy · drama · romance

A small suburban town receives a visit from a castaway unfinished science experiment named Edward.

Carol
2015 · dir. Todd Haynes
🍅 94%7.3romance · drama

In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.

First Blood
1982 · dir. Ted Kotcheff
🍅 86%7.7action · thriller · drama

When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.

Every title above links to its kindred spirits. Find the one you love, then follow the thread. Or browse the mood behind this shelf: tense, stylish, gritty.