12 Movies for the 12 Days of Christmas, From The Polar Express to Frozen

The twelve days of Christmas run from Christmas Day to 5 January, and our film for each day is: The Polar Express, Santa Claus: The Movie, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, In Bruges, Bad Santa, Elf, Ocean’s 11 (1960), The Muppet Christmas Carol, Die Hard, Gremlins and Frozen. In the UK, The Muppet Christmas Carol and Frozen stream on Disney+, Gremlins is on Sky and NOW Cinema, and all twelve can be rented or bought digitally.

Christmas doesn’t stop at midnight on the 25th. The traditional twelve days carry on until Twelfth Night on 5 January, which gives you nearly two weeks of sofa time between the turkey and the return to work. Here is one film for each day, mixing family classics with a few darker picks for after the children have gone to bed.

Day 1 (25 December): The Polar Express (2004)

Start with some Christmas Eve magic that spills over into the big day. Robert Zemeckis’s The Polar Express, adapted from Chris Van Allsburg’s picture book, follows a boy who boards a mysterious train to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. Tom Hanks plays several roles, including the conductor, through performance-capture animation.

The faces can look a little uncanny, but the train journey, the snowy landscapes and the moment the boy hears the sleigh bell make it a gentle, glowing start to the twelve days.

Day 2 (26 December): Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)

Boxing Day calls for something cosy and a bit silly. Santa Claus: The Movie, produced by the Salkinds of Superman fame, tells Santa’s origin story before sending one of his elves, Patch (Dudley Moore), off to New York, where a greedy toy tycoon played by John Lithgow tries to take over Christmas.

It is pure mid-1980s family entertainment, with big sets, flying reindeer and a villain you love to boo. Lithgow’s scenery-chewing turn is reason enough to watch.

Day 3 (27 December): National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

By the 27th, the relatives may be starting to wear thin, which makes it the perfect day for the Griswolds. Written by John Hughes, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation sees Chevy Chase’s Clark try to give his family the perfect old-fashioned Christmas, with predictably disastrous results: a tree too big for the house, 25,000 fairy lights and a cousin who turns up uninvited in a camper van.

It is the definitive comedy about Christmas going wrong, and it is a reassuring reminder that your own family gathering probably went better than Clark’s.

Day 4 (28 December): Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

Technically a Thanksgiving film, John Hughes’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles is about trying to get home for the holidays, which makes it fit right in. Steve Martin plays an uptight advertising executive stuck with John Candy’s chatty, accident-prone shower-curtain-ring salesman as every possible form of transport fails them.

It is very funny, but the ending is what makes it a holiday staple: one of the warmest, most quietly moving finales in any comedy.

Day 5 (29 December): In Bruges (2008)

Once the sugar wears off, it is time for something with a bit more bite. Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges sends two Irish hitmen, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, to hide out in the medieval Belgian city in the run-up to Christmas, while their boss, Ralph Fiennes, decides what to do with them.

It is pitch-black, very funny and surprisingly sad, and the snowy, fairy-tale streets make it feel festive despite everything. McDonagh won the BAFTA for his original screenplay.

Day 6 (30 December): Bad Santa (2003)

The opposite of a Hallmark film, Terry Zwigoff’s Bad Santa stars Billy Bob Thornton as a drunk, foul-mouthed safecracker who works as a shopping-centre Santa every December so he can rob the store on Christmas Eve. Then a lonely, odd little boy decides he’s the real thing.

It is crude and definitely not one for the children, but there is a real heart buried under the bad behaviour, which is why it has become a cult favourite.

Day 7 (31 December): Ocean’s 11 (1960)

New Year’s Eve deserves some style, and nobody had more of it than the Rat Pack. In Lewis Milestone’s original Ocean’s 11, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and friends plan to rob five Las Vegas casinos at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve.

It is more laid-back than Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 remake, but the cool, the music and the famous twist ending make it ideal viewing before the countdown.

Day 8 (1 January): Elf (2003)

Start the new year with pure joy. Jon Favreau’s Elf stars Will Ferrell as Buddy, a human raised by Santa’s elves at the North Pole who travels to New York to find his real father, a grumpy publisher played by James Caan, with Zooey Deschanel as the department-store worker who catches his eye.

Ferrell’s total commitment to Buddy’s innocence makes it one of the most rewatchable Christmas comedies of all, and it is a perfect hangover cure.

Day 9 (2 January): The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

For many British families, The Muppet Christmas Carol is the definitive version of Dickens. Michael Caine plays Ebenezer Scrooge completely straight, surrounded by Kermit as Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy as his wife and Gonzo as Charles Dickens himself, narrating with Rizzo the Rat.

Paul Williams’ songs are lovely, and on Disney+ UK you can watch an extended version that restores the cut song When Love Is Gone. It is a perfect one for the last few days before school starts again.

Day 10 (3 January): Die Hard (1988)

Is it a Christmas film? It is set at a Christmas Eve office party, it has Christmas music all over the soundtrack, and it ends with snow (well, paper) falling from the sky. John McTiernan’s Die Hard stars Bruce Willis as New York cop John McClane, who has to take on Alan Rickman’s elegant thief Hans Gruber and his gang inside a Los Angeles skyscraper.

It is still the template for the modern action film, and Rickman’s villain is one of the all-time greats. Save it for when the new year is starting to feel like hard work.

Day 11 (4 January): Gremlins (1984)

Produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Joe Dante, Gremlins begins with a dad buying the strangest Christmas present imaginable: Gizmo, a furry creature that comes with three rules. Don’t expose him to bright light, don’t get him wet, and never feed him after midnight.

Of course, the rules get broken, and a snowy small town is overrun on Christmas Eve. It is a gleeful mix of horror and comedy, and UK viewers can stream it on Sky and NOW Cinema.

Day 12 (5 January): Frozen (2013)

Finish on Twelfth Night with Disney’s Frozen, directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Princess Anna sets out to find her sister Elsa, whose icy powers have plunged their kingdom into an endless winter, with help from an ice harvester, his reindeer and a talkative snowman called Olaf.

It won the Oscars for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for Let It Go, and its story of a long winter giving way to warmth is a lovely way to close the season. It is streaming on Disney+ in the UK.

The Bottom Line on the 12 Days of Christmas

Mixing family favourites with a few grown-up picks keeps the twelve days from feeling like a sugar overload. If you only have time for three, make them The Muppet Christmas Carol for the whole family, Elf for New Year’s Day and In Bruges for a darker evening once the children are in bed.

Sources: JustWatch UK (streaming availability, checked 4 October 2026); JustWatch UK: Frozen; JustWatch UK: Gremlins; Disney+ UK; Academy Awards database; BAFTA Film Awards.

Frequently Asked Questions

📸 Follow us on Instagram for daily film, TV & gaming news: @filmoriauk