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Elf poster

Movies that feel likeElf (2003)

When young Buddy falls into Santa's gift sack on Christmas Eve, he's transported back to the North Pole and raised as a toy-making elf by Santa's helpers. But as he grows into adulthood, he can't shake the nagging feeling that he doesn't belong. Buddy vows to visit Manhattan and find his real dad, a workaholic.

If you loved Elf, the closest films we have are Freaky Friday (2003), Enchanted (2007) and The Christmas Chronicles (2018). All three share Elf's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Addams Family Values (1993).

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If Elf hit the spot, these will too

Freaky Friday poster
Freaky Friday
2003 · dir. Mark Waters
🍅 88%★ 6.4comedy · family · fantasyDisney+

Witty where it counts, playful underneath

Mother and daughter bicker over everything -- what Anna wears, whom she likes and what she wants to do when she's older. In turn, Anna detests Tess's fiancé. When a magical fortune cookie switches their personalities, they each get a peek at how the other person feels, thinks and lives.

Enchanted poster
Enchanted
2007 · dir. Kevin Lima
🍅 93%★ 7.1comedy · family · fantasyDisney+

Both land warmth and comfort at once

The difference: Leans harder into romance than Elf does

The beautiful princess Giselle is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn't operate on a "happily ever after" basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid - even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home - she has to wonder: Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

The Christmas Chronicles poster
The Christmas Chronicles
2018 · dir. Clay Kaytis
🍅 67%★ 7comedy · adventure · familyNetflix

Common ground in both: holiday and santa claus

The difference: Easier on the romance than Elf

Siblings Kate and Teddy try to prove Santa Claus is real, but when they accidentally cause his sleigh to crash, they have to save Christmas.

The Santa Clause poster
The Santa Clause
1994 · dir. John Pasquin
🍅 73%★ 6.6fantasy · drama · comedyDisney+

Both are built on the same subject: elves

The difference: Trades the romance of Elf for an angle of its own

On Christmas Eve, divorced dad Scott Calvin and his son discover Santa Claus has fallen off their roof. When Scott takes the reins of the magical sleigh, he finds he is now the new Santa, and must convince a world of disbelievers, including himself.

Nanny McPhee poster
Nanny McPhee
2005 · dir. Kirk Jones
🍅 74%★ 6.6fantasy · comedy · family

Both lean on dream logic more than on comedy

Widower Cedric Brown hires Nanny McPhee to care for his seven rambunctious children, who have chased away all previous nannies. Taunted by Simon and his siblings, Nanny McPhee uses mystical powers to instill discipline. And when the children's great-aunt and benefactor, Lady Adelaide Stitch, threatens to separate the kids, the family pulls together under the guidance of Nanny McPhee.

Matilda poster
Matilda
1996 · dir. Danny DeVito
🍅 89%★ 7comedy · family · fantasy

Witty family in both cases

Matilda Wormwood is an brilliant and intelligent little girl. Unfortunately, her parents, Harry and Zinnia, fail to see that fact. As time passes, she finally starts school and has a kind teacher, loyal friends, and a terrifying, sadistic headmistress. As she becomes fed up with the constant cruelty, she discovers she has a special gift that she just might be able to use to outwit the unruly adults around her.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas poster
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
2000 · dir. Ron Howard
🍅 50%★ 6.4family · comedy · fantasyPeacock

The same preoccupation in both: holiday

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

The Grinch decides to rob Whoville of Christmas - but a dash of kindness from little Cindy Lou Who and her family may be enough to melt his heart...

Bedtime Stories poster
Bedtime Stories
2008 · dir. Adam Shankman
🍅 27%★ 6fantasy · comedy · familyDisney+

Fantasy built on romance, twice over

Skeeter Bronson is a down-on-his-luck guy who's always telling bedtime stories to his niece and nephew. But his life is turned upside down when the fantastical stories he makes up for entertainment inexplicably turn into reality. Can a bewildered Skeeter manage his own unruly fantasies now that the outrageous characters and situations from his mind have morphed into actual people and events?

Addams Family Values poster
Addams Family Values
1993 · dir. Barry Sonnenfeld
🍅 76%★ 6.9comedy · family · fantasyParamount+

Playful comedy, and it commits to that

Siblings Wednesday and Pugsley Addams will stop at nothing to get rid of Pubert, the new baby boy adored by parents Gomez and Morticia. Things go from bad to worse when the new "black widow" nanny, Debbie Jellinsky, launches her plan to add Fester to her collection of dead husbands.

Hocus Pocus poster
Hocus Pocus
1993 · dir. Kenny Ortega
🍅 42%★ 6.9fantasy · comedy · familyDisney+

Family with a pulse of warmth, in both cases

After 300 years of slumber, three sister witches are accidentally resurrected in Salem on Halloween night, and it is up to three kids and their newfound feline friend to put an end to the witches' reign of terror once and for all.

The Flintstones poster
The Flintstones
1994 · dir. Brian Levant
🍅 23%★ 5.1fantasy · comedy · familyNetflix

One thread runs through both: adoption

Modern Stone Age family the Flintstones hit the big screen in this live-action version of the classic cartoon. Fred helps Barney adopt a child. Barney sees an opportunity to repay him when Slate Mining tests its employees to find a new executive. But no good deed goes unpunished.

Evan Almighty poster
Evan Almighty
2007 · dir. Tom Shadyac
🍅 24%★ 5.5fantasy · comedy · family

Cozy fantasy in both cases

God contacts Junior Congressman Evan Baxter and tells him to build an ark in preparation for a great flood.

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The best-reviewed films that share Elf’s defining feeling.