There are so many Holiday movies that we keep repeating year after year, but what if we opened ourselves up to some new ones this year? It’s a good year to cuddle your pillow and enjoy some Christmas movies that are worth talking about! Let’s be real, you’ll probably be texting about them more than talking. I see you.

Carol Of the Bells, Click to watch now

• Synopsis: A young man with a troubled past seeks out his biological mother. His world is turned upside down upon discovering that she is developmentally disabled. Unable to work through this new discovery on his own, the man’s wife takes matters into her own hands forcing her husband to face the truth and heal the past.
• Notable: Inclusion films cast RJ Mitte in the leading role, the Breaking Bad actor with cerebral palsy.

Happy Christmas, Click to watch now

• Synopsis: After a break up, Jenny moves in with writer Kelly, her filmmaker husband, and their child. Despite a rocky start, Jenny’s influence helps Kelly realize that an evolution in her life, career and relationship is necessary for her happiness.
• Notable: This is actually the first movie where I fell in love with Anna Kendrick. I already loved Melanie Lynskey, but their chemistry is wonderful.

Parker’s Anchor, Click to watch now

• Synopsis: Grieving a great loss, Krystal Parker finds peace in reuniting with her childhood best friend. She builds strength in stepping out into the world and with the support of a small-town community, she finds love when she opens herself to new possibilities.
• Notable: This movie spans several holidays and handles the serious subject of infertility and loss, yet it handles it with grace and wins audiences with laugh-out-loud dialogue

Tangerine, Click to watch now

• Synopsis: A hooker tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart.
• Notable: ““Merry Christmas Eve, Bitch!” Sean Baker’s iPhone-shot “Tangerine” is one of the most exhilarating buddy Christmas comedies ever made. You may not expect the story of two transgender sex workers on a madcap hunt through Hollywood to find a cheating pimp on Christmas Eve to be a perfect holiday film, but the heart at the center of “Tangerine” is so strong and universal that it’s impossible to deny.” – IndieWire

Uncle Nick, Click to watch now

• Synopsis: Nothing ruins Christmas like family.
• Notable: “Adding R-rated laughs to a holiday setting has been a staple of studio films ever since Bill Murray was visited by three ghosts (and maybe before then). So why can’t indies get in on the game? Brian Posehn plays the lecherous Uncle Nick, boozing his way through Christmas at the house of his yuppie brother (Beau Ballinger) and sister-in-law (Paget Brewster). Co-starring Missi Pyle and Scott Adsit, and executive produced (no, really) by Oscar-winning documentarian Erroll Morris, Uncle Nick is for the folks that want some crass comedy for Christmas.” – SAG INDE

The Man In The Trunk, Click to watch now

• Synopsis: A late night knock at the door from an absent friend brings the question – “I need you to come with me, but I can’t tell you where we’re going or what we’re going to do.” How far would you go to help those you care about?
• Notable: THIS IS A THRILLER! This goes in the DIE HARD category of being a Christmas movie in many ways, but the genre has expanded to include action, thriller, and horror. This mysterious character driven thriller is a nice way to split up all the other types of Christmas movies where no one gets stabbed.

Carol, Click to watch now

• Synopsis: An aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman in 1950s New York.
• Notable: Cate Blanchett + Rooney Mara = Chemistry

All Is Bright, Click to watch now

• Synopsis: While out on parole, Dennis reluctantly takes a job selling Christmas trees with his old buddy Rene in order to make enough money to buy his estranged daughter the piano she’s always wanted.
• Notable: “The life of an NYC Christmas tree seller was covered in similar fashion in Charles Poekel’s Christmas, Again, but All Is Bright(from Junebug director Phil Morrison) gives that environment a little bit of a buddy-comedy twist. Paul Giamatti plays an ex-con who reunites with with his old criming pal (Paul Rudd) in hopes to stay on the straight-and-narrow during the holiday season by hawking some evergreens. And be honest, wouldn’t you watch that pair of Pauls sell just about anything?” -SAG INDIE

Madness, Farewell, Click to watch now

• Synopsis: A fledgling comedian is determined to commit suicide. Unable to pull the trigger herself, she hires a hit man to do the dirty work for her. But when she arrives for her date with death, she finds the appointment has been double booked. A very dark Christmas Story.
• Notable: Dark comedy, suicide support, a wild wild world of existential exploration, what is love, does it matter, what is life, why do we choose it… So much to talk about with a friend right after. A Christmas much-watch for great conversation. Also, Brandon Keener (He’s Just Not That Into You, Parker’s Anchor, Mass Effect 3) is a national treasure.