The Best Christmas Movies on Hulu

Dear Santa (2020)​

Get out your handkerchiefs for Dana Nachman’s heartwarming documentary about the century-old Operation Santa program from the U.S. Postal Service. It allows people to adopt Dear Santa letters sent to the USPS — and make the authors’ holiday present dreams come true.

​Naughty or nice? Nice.

Rating: 4 Santas out of 5​

Watch it: Dear Santa​​​​

Don’t miss this: The Best Christmas TV Specials to Watch With Your Grandkids

A Nasty Piece of Work (2019)

​Are you a Succession fan? Here’s an uber-competitive tale of infighting. A creepy, controlling boss (Julian Sands, 63, who’s played his share of warlocks) invites his execs and their spouses over for a holiday feast — only for them to discover it’s no night off with the chief. The head honcho sets them against each other, fighting for their place in the corporate pecking order under the mistletoe. ​

Naughty or nice? The clue’s in the title​

Rating: 3 Santas out of 5

​Watch it: A Nasty Piece of Work

Jingle All the Way (1996)​

Devoted dad Arnold Schwarzenegger, 74, gets caught in the spirit of consumerism in this antic family comedy. Desperate to get that must-have Turbo Man action figure for his son, he battles the holiday hordes — and comedian Sinbad, 65 — before learning his lesson about caring, sharing and the meaning of Christmas. Hint: It isn’t neatly wrapped in a box.

Naughty or nice? Naughty​

Rating: 3 Santas out of 5​

Watch it: Jingle All the Way​​​​

New Year, New You (2018)

​A girlfriends’ New Year’s Eve reunion turns deadly, starring Suki Waterhouse, Carly Chaikin and Melissa Bergland. Even before the old pals have time to hatch, and break, their yearly resolutions, their previously unspoken resentments and rivalries turn murderous. Happy New Year? Not bloody likely.​

Naughty or nice? Horror-bly naughty ​

Rating: 4 Santas out of 5​

Watch it: New Year, New You

Pooka! (2018)​

Things are stressful this holiday season for unemployed actor Nyasha Hatendi. In another Hulu original from scaremeister Blumhouse Productions (Paranormal Activity, Get Out, Halloween), the thespian grabs a gig as a mascot-sized version of the season’s must-have plush toy: Pooka. Small print? The fuzzy cutie-pie is based on a furry Celtic spirit, Puca, that pendulums between helping and hindering. In his shaggy costume, the actor’s personality uncontrollably swings between naughty and nice — and the job isn’t worth any paycheck. ​

Naughty or nice? Naughty it is.​

Rating: 3 Santas out of 5​

Watch it: Pooka!​​​

The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)​

Downton Abbey heartthrob Dan Stevens plays scribe Charles Dickens in a festive family film that puts a twist on his original creation, the holiday chestnut A Christmas Carol. The late Christopher Plummer and Jonathan Pryce, 74, add a bit of tinsel to the sparkly proceedings. ​

Naughty or nice? Nice. ​

Rating: 4 Santas out of 5​

Watch it: The Man Who Invented Christmas​​

A Very Brady Christmas (1988)

​Sitcom nostalgia wins the holiday as the lion’s share of the sudsy sitcom cast returns in a comedy about a sprawling blended family overcoming obstacles to get back together under one overdecorated tree. Spike the punch, sit back on the Lay-Z-Boy, gather the grandkids and chuckle at the mustaches and hairstyles of the past with Florence Henderson, Eve Plumb, 63, Barry Williams, 67, Maureen McCormick, 65, and the late actress who played their salty housekeeper, Ann B. Davis.

Naughty or nice? Nicety nice. ​

Rating: 3 Santas out of 5​

Watch it: A Very Brady Christmas

Thelma M. Adams, the former film critic for Us Weekly and the New York Post, is a novelist who writes on film for AARP, The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.