Holiday Movie Guide 2024

Beatles ‘64 (on Disney+ Nov. 29)

Legendary documentarians Albert and David Maysles made a you-are-there movie chronicling the Beatles’ 1964 invasion of America. Peter Jackson’s team remastered the footage (as they did in The Beatles: Get Back), Beatles producer George Martin’s son Giles remastered the concert soundtrack, and director David Tedeschi added new interviews with Paul, Ringo and others. There’s 17 minutes of never-seen historic footage, and the old shows have never looked or sounded better.

Unstoppable (in theaters Dec. 1)

Jennifer Lopez, 55, Bobby Cannavale, 54, and Don Cheadle, 60, star in the true story of Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome), born with one leg, who won the national college wrestling championship. 

That Christmas (on Netflix Dec. 4)

Writer Richard Curtis, 68 (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually) presents an adaptation of his children’s book about a blizzard that causes Christmas chaos in the quaint British town of Wellington-on-Sea. Bill Nighy, 74, plays the town lighthouse keeper, and Succession’s Brian Cox, 78, plays Father Christmas. 

The Six Triple Eight (In theaters Dec. 6, on Netflix Dec. 20)

Kerry Washington, Oprah Winfrey, 70, and Sam Waterston, 83, star in the story of the first (and only) Women’s Army Corps unit of color stationed overseas in World War II.  

Nightbitch (in theaters Dec. 6)

A married artist (Amy Adams, 50) tending her towheaded toddler discovers that it’s not just sleep deprivation that’s slowing her roll — she’s actually turning canine. Her sense of smell becomes acute. She begins to grow odd hairs, furry patches and extra nipples on her belly. She goes from feeling powerless as a stay-at-home mom to embracing her inner dog, connecting with the neighborhood pooch pack and finding her power in the world. Brilliant as movie and metaphor.

The Order (in theaters Dec. 6)

Jude Law, 51, plays a rugged, seen-it-all G-man confronting a self-righteous white supremacist rebel leader (Nicholas Hoult) in a war for America’s soul. Based on the real-life violence of the Aryan Nation spinoff The Order and its 1980s bank robberies, bombings and assassination of an outspoken Jewish radio host, the drama is relentless. As antagonists, Law and Hoult are powerful yet restrained in committed performances that propel the film toward its inevitable combustible climax.

Hard Truths (in theaters Dec. 6)

In a film by master director Mike Leigh, 81, the great, Oscar-nominated Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets & Lies), 57, plays one of the angriest characters ever to appear in a movie not set in wartime. A Londoner in a state of chronic pain, grieving her late mother, feeling no connection to her plumber husband and grown son, she pours out her hurt to all — including her patient, warm younger sister (Michelle Austin), a single mother and hairdresser with two grown, successful, even joyous daughters. How did family fate seal who the sisters are — opposites? It’s a brilliantly acted story with laughs and darkness, one that raises profound questions about the human condition.

Elton John: Never Too Late (on Disney+ Dec. 13)

R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, 62, direct a warm documentary that covers half a century in the career of Elton John, 77, with epic footage of his historic 1975 Dodger Stadium show, his 2022 Farewell Yellow Brick Road show, and intimate interviews about his life. 

Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim (in theaters Dec. 13)

If you like Amazon’s prequel The Rings of Power, try the anime, narrated by Éowyn (original LOTR actress Miranda Otto), that takes you back 183 years to the heroic defense of the Two Towers fortress by King Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox).