Best Christmas Movies From the Vatican Film List (And More!)

The Christmas season is upon us — and as we take the time to reflect on the birth of Jesus and be with family and friends, finding a good film to share and enjoy is always on the priority list. 

From classics to cartoons, faith-based to family-feel-good, there are countless options to consider. We asked four known names, including the trio that brought us Popcorn with the Pope, a book delving into every title on the Vatican’s film list, for their hot takes, and here they are — so pop some corn, grab a blanket, and binge-watch some Pope-approved films this Christmas season with your loved ones!

Of course, It’s a Wonderful Life is high on the list and at the top of many minds during this season. The movie made Pope John Paul II’s list of Vatican-approved content. Although it was a bit of a flop when it first debuted in theaters, the flick highlighting the life of George Bailey and his family is a staple during this season of hope and second chances. Father Michael Ward, co-author of Popcorn with the Pope told the Register: 

“The best Christmas movie on the Vatican film list is obviously It’s a Wonderful Life, which is also one of the best Christmas movies of all time, probably the absolute best. At any rate, however we rank it, Frank Capra’s classic deserves to be watched and rewatched on a regular basis, and new generations should be introduced to it as soon as appropriate.”

His book-writing colleague Andrew Petiprin also recommends the black-and-white Christmas classic, calling it a “masterpiece” and a “profound study of the Catholic virtue of solidarity.” Petriprin also considers the film to be a “portrait of answered prayer,” but he actually ranks one film a bit higher than this more-known movie: Babette's Feast. 

“It’s a beautiful movie about gratitude, and it is particularly appropriate around Christmas. The movie is in Danish, but my own children have seen it and love it, and families can watch it together and have a very special experience,” Petiprin said.

David Baird, who was also an integral part of Popcorn with the Pope, agrees with Petiprin, telling the Register: “For families with older kids, Babette’s Feast is a great watch this time of year. (It’s also hard to go wrong with It’s a Wonderful Life!).”

Venturing off Vatican-approved content, Petiprin offers a few more recommendations.

“A movie I recommend for families that is not on the Vatican film list is George Cukor’s 1938 classic Holiday, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant,” Petriprin said, calling it “a fun love story set at Christmastime. They just don’t make movies like this one anymore!”

For more mature audiences, or one more for “grown-ups and precocious teens,” the author invites readers to watch Metropolitan by Whit Stillman. “It’s about college students during Christmas break, and it’s not only absolutely charming, but also a movie about the subtle victory of sincerity and virtue in an increasingly cynical world. Enjoy!”

Father Ward also offers another film not part of his book on Vatican-recommended films, Paddington 2.

“The film came too late to be included on the Vatican list (its cut-off point was 1995), but I think this second Paddington movie is a sparkling gem. Witty, winsome, wholesome, and so visually impressive that one completely believes in this CGI bear as a real-life character. It’s a must-see for all families — and indeed for all couples and all individuals and all groups of all kinds at all times! A brilliant piece of cinema.”

Speaking of CGI and animation, another Christmas film that has only been on the scene since 2017 still makes a big splash in countless living rooms across the country: The Star. Full of notable celebrity voices like Patricia Heaton, Tracy Morgan and even Oprah — Catholic animator Tim Reckart omitted his own film in his required Christmas viewing, touting The Muppet Christmas Carol as a gem. Baird seconded this endorsement as well, calling it “a happy, upbeat spin on the Dickens’ classic.”

I just plunked myself and my family, including my 5-year-old daughter, in front of the TV this past week to take in Reckart’s The Star and it is an absolute joy to watch. The movie tells the Nativity story all from the perspective of the animals, and as Reckart pointed out to the Register, he was influenced by Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si that came out the same year he was developing the characters. 

“So I was taking a lot of notes from that and trying to figure out, like, what do we learn about man’s relationship to animals through this movie? And there are a lot of little bits in there. Like, for instance, Beau does not have a name until Mary names him. And I thought, there’s something there about Adam and Eve and, you know, we can treat animals as machines that we don’t need. You know, we don’t have to name a donkey if it’s just going around in circles. But once you decide to have a relationship with this animal, you kind of ennoble it and bring it a little bit more into a human sort of place where, now, Beau has a name because someone decided to love him.”

The Star is a crowd-pleaser for all ages, leaving my daughter picking out her stuffed animals to act out the movie, with all lovingly staring at her dolly next to a prayer card of Mary, for quick stand-ins to get in all the parts. And this is the greatest joy about making movies like these, as Reckart described, “My favorite part about making a Christmas movie is that people come back to them year after year. I can’t think of many other movies I could have made that would still be as beloved as The Star is, seven years after it was originally released.”

My daughter is also a big fan of Mickey’s Christmas Carol, another Reckart recommendation, which he said, adding that cartoon and The Muppet Christmas Carol “are both wonderful adaptations that find humor and fun while still packing a strong emotional punch.”

The father of three little ones also threw in a “curveball,” as he called it: 

“Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men, which I have to caveat is definitely not for kids. On its own terms, as a suspenseful science-fiction story, it is an amazing movie, I think the most effective pro-life movie I’ve ever seen, despite not being about abortion,” Reckart explained. 

“In the context of Christmas (and it was originally released in theaters on Christmas Day), I think it can offer us a way to defamiliarize the Nativity story and help us see it from a new angle. This is the story of a world trapped in darkness and a baby who brings light to the darkness. It’s not a warm-and-fuzzy Christmas experience, but I think Christians who have a taste for dark-but-beautiful stories can get a lot out of it during the Christmas season.”