The Best Holiday Movies and TV Shows on Free Services

What it's about: A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The Machinist is the story of Trevor Reznik, a lathe-operator who is dying of insomnia. In a machine shop, occupational hazards are bad enough under normal circumstances; yet for Trevor the risks are compounded by fatigue. Trevor has lost the ability to sleep. This is no ordinary insomnia...

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & CBS All Access) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: It's a dreary Christmas 1944 for the American POWs in Stalag 17. For the men in Barracks 4, all sergeants, have to deal with a grave problem - there seems to be a security leak. The Germans always seem to be forewarned about escapes and in the most recent attempt the two men, Manfredi and Johnson, walked straight into a trap and were killed. For some in Barracks 4, especially the loud-mouthed Duke, the leaker is obvious: J.J. Sefton, a wheeler-dealer who doesn't hesitate to trade with the guards and who has acquired goods and privileges that no other prisoner seems to have. Sefton denies giving the Germans any information and makes it quite clear that he has no intention of ever trying to escape. He plans to ride out the war in what little comfort he can arrange, but does it extend to spying for the Germans?

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A chaotic Bridget Jones meets a snobbish lawyer, and he soon enters her world of imperfections.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: One Christmas Eve three people, a middle-aged alcoholic named Gin, a former drag queen Hana and a dependent runaway girl Miyuki, discover an abandoned newborn while looking through the garbage.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle).

What it's about: For Norman and Ethel Thayer, this summer on golden pond is filled with conflict and resolution. When their daughter Chelsea arrives, the family is forced to renew the bonds of love and overcome the generational friction that has existed for years. Norman must find his way through his anger and fear of growing old, while Chelsea struggles to rebuild their relationship. Ethel's consistent support of her "Knight in shining armor" is inspirational in its simplicity. This is a movie to ponder and always keep in your heart.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A myriad of outrageous calamities befall an eccentric English clan with more than a few skeletons in its closets, when its patriarch dies an unexpected death. Soon, every complication imaginable—including the wrong corpse in the coffin, the accidental consumption of hallucinogenic drugs and the disclosure of the deceased's closeted homosexuality—befall the grief-stricken mourners.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime & Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: In 1914, World War I, the bloodiest war ever at that time in human history, was well under way. However on Christmas Eve, numerous sections of the Western Front called an informal, and unauthorized, truce where the various front-line soldiers of the conflict peacefully met each other in No Man's Land to share a precious pause in the carnage with a fleeting brotherhood.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: A sorority house is terrorized by a stranger who makes frightening phone calls and then murders the sorority sisters during Christmas break.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shout Factory TV, Shudder & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A young boy makes a snowman one Christmas Eve, which comes to life at midnight and takes the boy on a magical adventure to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Ameba) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: It's the eve of Christmas in northern Finland and an "archeological" dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. But this particular Santa isn't the one you want coming to town. When all the local children begin mysteriously disappearing, young Pietari and his father Rauno, a reindeer hunter by trade, capture the mythological being and attempt to sell Santa to the misguided leader of the multinational corporation sponsoring the dig. Santa's elves, however, will stop at nothing to free their fearless leader from captivity. What ensues is a wildly humorous nightmare - a fantastically bizarre polemic on modern day morality. RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE is a re-imagining of the most classic of all childhood fantasies, and is a darkly comic gem soon to be required perennial holiday viewing.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: An acclaimed writer, his ex-wife, and their teenaged children come to terms with the complexities of love in all its forms over the course of one tumultuous year.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle, PopcornFlix, Tubi TV & 1 other), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: High school graduation just wouldn’t be complete without an un-chaperoned, uninhibited and unforgettable final holiday. At least that’s what Will, Jay, Simon and Neil think when they book a two-week stay on an exotic Greek island. As their dreams of sun-drenched days and booze-filled nights are left hopelessly unfulfilled, the lads fight their way into the party scene with hilariously humiliating results in this smash hit UK raunchy comedy.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: A couple's marital troubles are put on hold while they host an unhappy reunion of former college pals gathered for the funeral of one of their own, a suicide victim named Alex. As the weekend unfolds, the friends catch up with each other, play the music of their youth, reminisce, smoke marijuana, and pair off with each other.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle), stream on a subscription service (CBS All Access) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Four best friends (Tibby, Lena, Carmen & Bridget) who buy a mysterious pair of pants that fits each of them, despite their differing sizes, and makes whoever wears them feel fabulous. When faced with the prospect of spending their first summer apart, the pals decide they'll swap the pants so that each girl in turn can enjoy the magic.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Five people find themselves in a tomb. The Crypt keeper explains why they are there through a series of frightening stories. Based on the classic comic book.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Tubi TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (Google Play & PlayStation Store).

What it's about: Christmas Eve. On his way to his in-laws with his family, Frank Harrington decides to try a shortcut, for the first time in 20 years. It turns out to be the biggest mistake of his life.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Tribeca Short List) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker, to pay off the mortgage on Mother Peep's shoe and keep it and Little Bo Peep from the clutches of the evil Barnaby. When that fails, they trick Barnaby into marrying Stanley Dum instead of Bo Peep. Enraged, Barnaby unleashes the bogeymen from their caverns to destroy Toyland.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A depressed man moves back in with his parents following a recent heartbreak and finds himself with two women.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a subscription service (Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When their regal matriarch falls ill, the troubled Vuillard family come together for a hesitant Christmastime reunion. Among them is rebellious ne'er-do-well Henri and the uptight Elizabeth. Together under the same roof for the first time in many years, their intricate, long denied resentments and yearnings emerge again.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a subscription service (Tribeca Short List & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: A man who suspects his wife is cheating on him begins having nightmarish visions of an evil presence that he believes inhabits his house.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu, Shudder & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: After an extremely regrettable one night stand, two strangers wake up to find themselves snowed in after sleeping through a blizzard that put all of Manhattan on ice. They're now trapped together in a tiny apartment, forced to get to know each other way more than any one night stand should.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Four young women continue the journey toward adulthood that began with "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." Now three years later, these lifelong friends embark on separate paths for their first year of college and the summer beyond, but remain in touch by sharing their experiences with each other.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: It is New Year's weekend and the friends of Peter gather at his newly inherited country house. Ten years ago, they all acted together in a Cambridge University student comedy troupe, but it's less clear how much they have in common now.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Vudu).

What it's about: Two street-wise Chicago cops have to shake off some rust after returning from a Key West vacation to pursue a drug dealer that nearly killed them in the past.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: Jessica, the daughter of an impoverished apple farmer, still believes in Santa Claus. So when she comes across a reindeer with an injured leg, it makes perfect sense to her to assume that it is Prancer, who had fallen from a Christmas display in town. She hides the reindeer in her barn and feeds it cookies, until she can return it to Santa. Her father finds the reindeer an decides to sell it to the butcher, not for venison chops, but as an advertising display.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: Young filmmakers trying to hawk a movie titled "Bradykillers" about a serial killer who goes after victims Marcia, Jan, and Cindy meet their screen idol, William Shatner. The two young men, who idolize him and in their fantasies have seen him as a shadowy fairy godfather figure, are alarmed at the reality of the middle-aged non-Captain Kirk man that they meet.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: After her widowed father dies, deaf teenager Dot moves in with her godparents, Olivia and Paul Deer. The Deers' daughter, Nina, is openly hostile to Dot, but that does not prevent her from telling her secrets to her silent stepsister, including the fact that she wants to kill her lecherous father.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: In JINGLE BELL ROCKS!, director Mitchell Kezin delves into the minds of some of the world’s most legendary Christmas music fanatics and hits the road to hang with his holiday heroes – including hip hop legend Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons of RUN-D.M.C., The Flaming Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne, filmmaker John Waters, bebopper Bob Dorough, L.A. DJ and musicologist Dr. Demento, and Calypso legend The Mighty Sparrow. In his search for the twelve best, underappreciated Christmas songs ever recorded, Kezin both asks and answers the question, “Why, when Christmas rolls around, are we still stuck cozying up with Bing Crosby under a blanket of snow?”

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: 19-year-old Billy Lynn is brought home for a victory tour after a harrowing Iraq battle. Through flashbacks the film shows what really happened to his squad - contrasting the realities of war with America's perceptions.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 4 others).

What it's about: The first half of this film, set hundreds of years ago, shows how the old man who eventually became Santa Claus was given immortality and chosen to deliver toys to all the children of the world. The second half moves into the modern era, in which Patch, the head elf, strikes out on his own and falls in with an evil toy manufacturer who wants to corner the market and eliminate Santa Claus.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: While conducting a seance during a Halloween party, high-school seniors unlock the demon that remains locked in the crematorium.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a subscription service (Shout Factory TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A toy factory worker, mentally scarred as a child upon learning Santa Claus is not real, suffers a nervous breakdown after being belittled at work, and embarks on a Yuletide killing spree.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime & Shudder), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Vudu).

What it's about: Angel City trooper Jack Deth is sent back in time from 2247 to 1985 L.A. to inhabit the body of his ancestor. Deth's assignment is to find his archenemy, Whistler, who turns people into zombies, before the fiend is able to kill all the ancestors of the future's governing council.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a subscription service (Full Moon) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (Prime Video, Vudu & PlayStation Store).

What it's about: Angela, a corporate climber, gets stuck working late on Christmas Eve and finds herself the target of an unhinged security guard. With no help in sight, the woman must overcome physical and psychological challenges to survive.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a subscription service (Tribeca Short List), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Climbing aboard their mammoth recreational vehicle for a cross-country road trip to the Colorado Rockies, the McNeive family – led by dysfunctional patriarch, Bob – prepares for the adventure of a lifetime. But spending two weeks together in one seriously small space has a way of cramping their style.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: After a breakup with her boyfriend, a young woman moves in with her older brother, his wife, and their 2-year-old son.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle, PopcornFlix & Tubi TV), stream on a subscription service (CBS All Access) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Christmas Eve in New York, and the lonely divorced publisher, Rose Collins, needs a miracle to improve the health of her mother, interned in a hospital with Alzheimers. She feels sorry for another patient and meets his visitor. Meanwhile, Nina Vasquez breaks her engagement with her beloved fiancé Mike due to his suffocating jealousy, but misses him. Mike is stalked by a stranger, bartender Artie Venzuela. The poor Jules arranges to spend Christmas Eve in the hospital, where he spent the best Christmas of his life when he was a teenager. The lives of some of these characters cross with others along the night.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Four friends lose themselves in a carefree South-East Asian holiday. Only three come back. Dave and Alice return home to their young family desperate for answers about Jeremy's mysterious disappearance. When Alice's sister Steph returns not long after, a nasty secret is revealed about the night her boyfriend went missing. But it is only the first of many. Who amongst them knows what happened on that fateful night when they were dancing under a full moon in Cambodia?

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The multi-platinum selling comedian performs his first holiday-themed stand-up special with his friends.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Microsoft).

What it's about: London is a drug laden adventure that centers on a party in a New York loft where a young man is trying to win back his ex-girlfriend.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A Foreign Service Officer in London tries to prevent a terrorist attack set to hit New York, but is forced to go on the run when she is framed for crimes she did not commit.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV, Vudu & IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Microsoft).

What it's about: A classic comedy of mistaken identity and romance set during the holiday season at a ski resort that is owned and operated by a Native American Nation. Shot on location at The Sundance Resort in Utah, this is the first contemporary romantic comedy to feature an almost entirely American Indian cast. The film was featured at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hallmark Movies Now) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: When Santa Claus decides to retire and pass on his magic bag of Christmas surprises to a new Saint Nick, he enlists the aid of a hilarious assortment of characters. A perky teen runaway and hapless taxi driver Ernest P. Worrell must convince a skeptical kiddie-show host to take over the post of Father Christmas.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: A young girl's aunt tells her the tale of a young ice skater and an enchanted reindeer.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: On the gritty streets of LA, the destinies of four people desperate for connection and redemption are about to collide.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Urban Movie Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: On their last night of Thanksgiving break, four old friends, now all college freshmen, realize their small town has more meaning than they ever imagined.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: After her sister and brother-in-law's tragic death, an American woman who is the guardian for her young niece and nephew is invited to a royal European castle for Christmas by her late brother-in-law's father, the Duke of Castlebury. Feeling out of place as a commoner, she is determined to give her family a merry Christmas and surprises herself when she falls for a handsome prince.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).