Check your local listings for times to catch these films during the holidays and view the where to watch options below.
The Preacher’s Wife (1996)
Hold on, help is on the way! A remake of the 1947 film “The Bishop’s Wife,” “The Preacher’s Wife” starring Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney B. Vance chronicles the holiday season when an angel named Dudley visits earth to help a reverend facing a difficult time in his life as he navigates being a pastor, husband, and counselor to his congregation. But when Dudley arrives, all he wants to help himself to is Julia, the reverend’s wife.
Where to watch: YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV
A Rich Christmas (2021)
It’s the rude awakening for Christmas for me! A new holiday for anyone needing the reminder to be grateful this season! A Rich Christmas centers Bill Bellamy in the leading role as real estate mogul “Marshall Rich,” who decides to teach his spoiled socialite daughter a lesson on the true meaning of Christmas when she finds herself in deep trouble during the holiday season.
Where to watch: BET+
Marry Me for Christmas (2013)
One of my favs!! Starring Malinda Williams, Marci Chandler Jewel is a successful ad executive who is killing the game in New York City focused on her career. With her cousins getting married off and feeling the pressure from her Mom, Marci decides to come home for the holidays and pretend that her employee is her fiancé. But with a house full of Chandler women, a frenemy (that’s low-key her childhood crush) and unexpected twists shake things up and Marci just might have Christmas that turns out to be nothing like she expected — but maybe even better!
Fun fact, “Marry Me for Christmas” is a franchise that includes Marry US for Christmas, A Baby for Christmas, Merry Christmas, Baby, and Chandler Christmas Getaway. And yes – I’ve seen all of them lol. UPtv if you’re watching, I need another movie lol.
Where to watch: UPtv, TUBI, and Stream on UP Faith & Family
Merry Liddle Christmas (2019)
Another Christmas series I need more of! Kelly Rowland plays Jacquie, a successful, type-A single tech entrepreneur whose messy family (that means well) descends on her gleaming new dream home for the holidays with anything but organization. Christmas traditions collide with Jacquie’s idea of holiday celebrations, and family drama ensues as she struggles to keep her house together in time for a glossy video shoot of “the perfect Christmas.” And did I mention Jacquie has a hot neighbor who keeps popping up, he may just be the gift Jacquie forgot to ask Santa for, or a least her sisters certainly think so!
Spoiler alert, Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding, and Merry Liddle Christmas Baby are just as entertaining and filled with beautiful examples of Black Love. You won’t regret watching each film back to back!
Where to watch: Lifetime
This Christmas (2007)
For sure a millennial holiday classic, family matriarch Ma’Dere Whitfield (Loretta Devine) has all of her babies home for Christmas, including her eldest son Quentin who hasn’t been home in four years! But Ma’Dere’s kids are home with full lives of their own that need a bunch of tightening up. From secret marriages to debts to loan sharks, and her teenage son Baby’s (Chris Brown) secret plans to become a singer like her estranged ex-husband, Ma’Dere is in for quite a few surprises this Christmas.
Where to watch: BET, Amazon
Soul Santa (2021)
All y’all need to know is Auntie Tamela is signing original Christmas music! David and Tamela Mann star in Soul Santa, which shows how an unlucky businessman gambles away the mob’s money. With nowhere to go, he’s forced to go on the run and hide out as a shopping mall Santa Claus and live with his ex-wife, a mall employee who finds herself in need of a new Santa for the mall during the holiday season. Together, they discover the true meaning of Christmas and he reflects on his past mistakes as a husband, and father.
Where to watch: BET and BET+
Miracle in Motor City (2021)
Come on Smokey Robinson in a holiday film! Amber Dupont (played by Tia Mowry) bites off more than she can chew when she takes charge of her church’s annual Christmas pageant and promises to deliver a special performance by Motown legend Smokey Robinson. Will Amber pull it off or will she disappoint the Church with an empty promise?
Where to watch: Lifetime
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The Christmas Swap (2016)
One of my favorite TV One holiday films! Christian Keyes is hilarious and Dondre Whitfield is the best father and big brother who sacrificed everything for everyone in his life, including his baby brother (played by Christian Keyes.) After wishing he could have a different life, Gerry Craig (Diondre Whitfield) wakes up with the life he’s always wanted as a high-powered attorney in Los Angeles. His baby brother Ellis (Christian Keyes) on the other hand is back in Louisiana with all the responsibilities Gerry took care of, including their ailing mother. The brothers have a lot to learn about each other, and the power of love and choices if they want to make this switch back into their real lives.
Where to watch: TV One, UPtv
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)
This one had my entire family crying, the best Christmas film of 2020 hands down! A Netflix musical starring Forest Whitaker tells the story of an eccentric toymaker Jeronicus Jangle who once was the greatest toy inventor in the world until he was crossed by his apprentice. Decades after the betrayal and the loss of his wife, Jeronicus finds hope and creative passion he’d buried when his young granddaughter arrives on his doorstep and causes him to rethink his life, and gives him a Christmas he will never forget.
Where to watch: Netflix
Almost Christmas (2016)
If you ask me, “Almost Christmas” is up there on my list with “This Christmas” as a holiday classic. Walter Meyer (played by Danny Glover) spent his life building cars and his family with the love of his life Grace who recently passed. Now that the holiday season is here, he invites daughters Rachel (Gabrielle Union) and Cheryl (Kimberly Elise) and sons Christian (Romany Malco) and Evan (Jessie T. Usher) to his house for their first Christmas after their mothers passing to lift their spirits. But Walter soon realizes that if his bickering children and the rest of the family can spend five days together under the same roof, it will truly be a Christmas miracle.
Where to watch: BET, YouTube
Throwback Holiday (2018)
Santa giving out second chances?! Okay, I see you! In this BET original film, “My Wife and Kids” star Jennifer Freeman plays Jacqueline, a housewife, and Mom living an unfulfilled life in a doomed marriage. After a chance encounter with a former classmate, she rethinks her life’s choices and wishes she could go back to high school for a do-over. Like a Christmas miracle, Jacqueline awakens to find herself as a high school senior again with the ability to change everything.
Where to watch: BET, BET+
The Perfect Holiday (2007)
Because is it Christmas if BET doesn’t play “The Perfect Holiday”? Gabrielle Union stars in this film (which was shot in Jersey. I’m a Jersey girl and remember how huge this was!) as Nancy a divorced mother of three feels especially lonely during the holidays. Sensing her sadness, Nancy’s youngest daughter has a plan to make her mom smile again. She asks Benjamin aka Morris Chestnut, a department-store Santa Claus, to pay Nancy a compliment — a Christmas wish she says she wants from a man. Things get cozy with Nancy and Benjamin! But Santa has a secret, he’s a struggling songwriter who works for her ex-husband. Messy!
Where to watch: BET
Black Nativity (2013)
The most memorable holiday musical I’ve ever seen. Langston ( played by Jacob Latimore), a Baltimore teen raised by a single mother (Jennifer Hudson), travels to the mecca of African-American culture (Harlem) to spend the Christmas holiday with estranged relatives, the Rev. Cornell Cobbs (Forest Whitaker) and his wife, Aretha (Angela Bassett). Langston soon finds that Cobbs has strict rules, and plans to leave. Thankfully, his plans are derailed and with the help of his estranged father, he sets out on a return journey to his mother and finds the value of faith, healing, and family along the way.
Where to watch: Tubi
Friday After Next (2002)
Yes y’all, this is a Christmas movie lol — put some respect on Craig and Day-Day! In this Ice Cube film, it’s Christmas time and a ghetto Santa Claus breaks into their run-down apartment, stealing all their presents, food, and anything else he can find including their rent money! Craig and Day-Day’s only hope to not get evicted before Christmas is to take jobs as security guards at a local mall and see if they can spread some holiday cheer.
Where to watch: HBO Max, YouTube, Apple TV.
Happy Holidays & Happy Watching!
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