If you’re dreaming of a steamy Christmas this year, these festive flicks will deck your halls with holiday cheer.
From PG-rated films that throw in some holiday innuendo and all-in-good-fun frolicking to R-rated films that’ll land you straight on the naughty list, we’ve compiled a list of (subjectively) sexy Christmas movies that are worth a watch. Some movies made the list based on spicy social media discourse (the Grinch himself doesn’t exactly ooze sex appeal) and some made the list for more obvious reasons.
While we encourage enjoying any of the following films in a cozy room by the fire, we’ve included a fire meter to gauge the holiday hot factor.
‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ (2000)
You might be thinking “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is the antithesis of sexy, but I assure you, reader, Christine Baranski’s portrayal of the libidinous Martha May has sparked discourse online that is not nearly as PG as the family favorite film. The live-action take on the classic Christmas tale stars Jim Carrey and Baranski as the Grinch and Martha May Whovier. He may be a mean one, cuddly as a cactus and charming as an eel as the song goes, but Martha May could always see past his prickly exterior.
‘Single All The Way’ (2021)
This Netflix original follows Peter, played by Michael Urie, who’s desperate to avoid his family’s side-eye about his single status when he goes home for the holidays. He convinces his best friend Nick, played by Philemon Chambers, to help him pull a fast one and pretend that their platonic relationship is now romantic. When Peter’s mother, played by Kathy Najimy, fixes him up on a blind date with her (extremely) hunky trainer before he’s had a chance to announce his faux relationship, things go sideways. This PG movie has a light simmer, a lot of longing and along with Peter’s family, you might yell at the screen, “Make out, already!” The main hot factor lies in the natural (and potent!) chemistry between Peter and Nick, and despite them often struggling to find the right words, their feelings for one another come through in a sweet and, yes, sexy, way.
‘Hot Frosty’ (2024)
This Netflix original was surely pitched as “Frosty the Snowman” meets “Jack Frost,” and the result is something like “Jacked Snowman.” Lacey Chabert, known for “Mean Girls,” stars as Kathey Barrett, whose “kafé” is in ill repair after her handyman husband died of cancer. Her besties try to cheer up their bereaved friend by gifting her a red scarf. Later, when she passes a snowman sculpting competition, she sees a buff, statuesque snowman and snaps a photo of him wearing her fancy new scarf. Naturally, he comes to life looking just as well, sculpted, as he did in his snowman form, and sexiness unfolds. The film is rated PG, so only a light sizzle for this sweet snowman rom-com.
‘The Merry Gentlemen’ (2024)
This one is for the millennials who spent their formative years pining for “One Tree Hill” star Chad Michael Murray. The Netflix flick follows Broadway dancer Ashley Davis who’s mostly abandoned her hometown for the Big Apple. When she’s passed over for a role, she returns home to find that her parents’ venue, The Rhythm Room, is in trouble. Enter Luke (Murray), the local handyman with a killer bod. Ashley decides to utilize the hunky small-town locals and channel her Broadway chops into producing “The Merry Gentlemen,” a steamy all-male, Christmas-themed revue that will surely raise the funds to save her folks’ venue. This rom-com is also, surprisingly, PG-rated, but sexy nonetheless.
‘A Cowboy Christmas Romance’ (2023)
This flick may have put Lifetime Channel on the naughty list for the first time ever. Starring Jana Kramer and Adam Senn, the movie follows a real estate agent who’s back in her Arizona hometown just before Christmas, hoping to persuade a local cowboy to sell his family’s ranch. As many of us know from bingeing “Yellowstone,” ranchers don’t like when outsiders arrive to threaten their family’s land. As the title suggests, though, their initial conflict evolves into a Christmas entanglement. The TVPG-rated movie is the network’s first to include a steamy scene that alludes to nookie.
‘Happiest Season’ (2020)
Listen, any movie with Kristin Stewart deserves a spot on a sexy movie list. She’s so angsty, she’s always biting her lip and running her hands through her hair. “Happiest Season” is no exception. The PG-13 Hulu original follows Abby, played by Stewart, and Harper, played by Mackenzie Davis, a couple who have been dating for nearly a year. Abby isn’t a huge fan of Christmas since her parents died, so Harper invites her home to meet her family over the holidays. But there’s a catch: Harper hasn’t come out to her family, so the couple has to keep their romance under wraps, much to Abby’s discomfort. This movie is rife with stolen kisses behind closed doors, longing and sexual (and romantic) frustration. The cherry on top of the sundae: Aubrey Plaza proves an unlikely ally for Abby, and a sexy one to boot!
‘The Holiday’ (2006)
Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet star in this PG-13-rated holiday rom-com as two women trying to escape heartbreak over Christmas. Winslet’s character, Iris, swaps places with Diaz’s character, Amanda, sending them to opposite sides of the world where Iris encounters Jack Black’s character Miles, and Amanda encounters Iris’s dreamy brother Graham, played by Jude Law. Naturally, things become very sexy all around, people are falling in love left and right and they all spend New Year’s Eve together surrounded by twinkling garlands, clinking champagne and Aretha Franklin belting “You Send Me.” Adorable, heartwarming, and, yes, sexy.
‘Batman Returns’ (1992)
“Batman Returns” audiences are still arguing over whether the PG-13-rated film is a Christmas movie or not, but for the sake of this sexy Christmas movies list and because the film takes place at Christmastime and includes Christmas in its plot points, it’s earned a spot on this coveted roundup. Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle aka Catwoman cracks her whip and slinks about in spandex throughout this film. The ultimate femme fatale, with lines so suggestive I won’t mention them here, Pfeiffer’s performance opposite Michael Keaton as Batman is oozing with tension and sensuality. She even manages to make scenes with Danny DeVito’s Penguin sultry.
The Best Man Holiday (2013)
The holiday-themed sequel to the acclaimed 1999 film “The Best Man,” this R-rated comedy-drama catches up with a group of college buddies when they reunite after 15 years. With everyone under one roof, it becomes clear that no matter how much time has passed, old flames, new secrets and lingering drama will complicate this group’s merry little Christmas. How did this film score three holiday flames? Morris Chestnut, Taye Diggs, Terrence Howard and Harold Perrineau give a sensual choreographed lip sync performance to New Edition’s “Can You Stand the Rain,” while Melissa De Sousa tosses her panties and drops lines like “Donde esta mistletoe?” This spicy and tender film is also a tear-jerker!
‘Reindeer Games’ (2000)
As far as Christmas movies go, this one is not of the Holly Jolly variety. Ben Affleck and Charlize Theron star in this cross between “The Town” and “Ocean’s 11.” The R-rated film is rife with convicts and seedy motels, a poorly orchestrated casino heist, a convoluted love triangle (maybe even love square?), and then there’s hot chocolate and some very bad men who dress up like Santa (but with guns). So what makes this movie sexy, you ask? Angsty love letters, a steamy dip in the pool and Theron serving up lines like, “When I get back in that room, you better be wearing nothin’ but a candy cane!”
‘Love Actually’ (2003)
This R-rated Christmas movie is probably the most widely debated holiday film in the last couple of decades. Tweets and essays with lines à la “More like Lust Actually!” and “There’s actually no love in Love Actually” have made their rounds annually since the film’s release, but because this is a list for sexy Christmas movies, I’d be remiss to exclude it. The film follows multiple storylines, most very messy (because humans) and includes more angst, longing, sleaze and R-rated scenes than most holiday films. Whether you want to hate-watch it or love-watch it, it’s a sexy holiday movie you shouldn’t miss, if not for the yearly cultural discourse alone.
‘Bad Santa’ (2003)
Whether this R-rated movie is sexy is a matter of taste, but it’s fair to say it’s definitely raunchy! Billy Bob Thornton is a jaded, ill-mannered, booze-addled bad, very bad Santa (until March when he’s the Easter Bunny.) Lauren Graham, known best for “Gilmore Girls,” plays a bartender who’s got a kink for the ol’ Saint Nick and when Thornton strolls into the drinking hole where she works, the two get straight to . . . exchanging presents? But then, in the spirit of Christmas, develop something more.
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