15 Best Winter Movies Of All Time, Ranked

The cold wind is blowing, snow is beginning to fall from the sky, and jingle bells sound. These are the surefire signs that it's almost, or might already be, the season of winter. While some may consider the cinnamon-flavored baked goods and gift-giving the best part of the season, real cinephiles know the best part is watching movies that just don't hit the same in the summertime. Whether they're movies set during Christmas or ones where the wintertime is simply its aesthetic, there's too many great films set in winter to name.

Fortunately, we're not here to name every single great movie set during the snowiest season, only the 15 we think are the best. Of course, there are several classics that aren't on this list, such as Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" or John Carpenter's "The Thing," but we want to give you a watchlist of winter movies that are simply must-watches for your holiday movie marathons. 

No, this isn't a spin-off of "Captain America: Civil War" following Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff and Jeremy Renner's Clint Barton. 2017's "Wind River" stars the two MCU actors in a crime drama set on the titular Wyoming reservation. Renner plays a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Tracker who, after discovering the frozen-over body of an 18-year-old Native American girl, teams up with an out-of-town FBI agent played by Olsen to solve the murder, uncovering some dark truths about violence against indigenous women. 

Though it's not the coziest watch for the wintertime, its powerful message makes it as vital a watch as Martin Scorsese's own drama examining violence against indigenous people, "Killers of the Flower Moon." Plus, Jeremy Renner has never been better as a grieving father trying to do right by his community by helping bring the teenage girl's killers to justice. Olsen is also a stand-out, obviously, as are supporting cast members like Jon Bernthal and Native American performers like Gil Birmingham and Graham Greene. It's a much different kind of Western film from writer-director Taylor Sheridan, but probably among his finest work as a filmmaker. 

"The Holiday" has a simple premise: Two heartbroken strangers, played by Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, get away for the holidays by exchanging homes, each finding love on opposite sides of the world. Cameron Diaz's Amanda is a film trailer producer living in LA luxury, but takes up the cozy, isolated Surrey residence of Kate Winslet's Iris, a journalist in London. Amanda ends up having a fling with Iris' brother Graham (Jude Law), who she later discovers is a single father of two girls, while Iris enjoys a flirtation with adorable film composer Miles (Jack Black) and finds companionship in Amanda's neighbor Arthur (Eli Wallach), a Golden Age screenwriter.

Although half of the film is set in the sunny locale of southern California, the side of it following Diaz and Law's characters feels as wintery as you'd expect. Sadly, we don't know if there will ever be a sequel to "The Holiday," but if there is, it'd be nice to see these characters decades later and potentially all in one room, like they are for the final scene set during New Year's. 

Many Americans first found out about "Force Majeure" when it received a watered-down, mostly amusing remake in 2020 as "Downhill," casting Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in its starring roles. Because many film fans find the original movie superior, it's worth a watch over the holidays, especially if you're generally unfamiliar with the work of Swedish director Ruben Östlund (who also directed recent Oscar nominee "Triangle of Sadness").

"Force Majeure" centers on married couple Tomas (Johannes Bah Kuhnke) and Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli), whose family trip to the Alps is derailed when an avalanche sees Tomas prioritize his own safety over his wife and children's. Compared to the more darkly comedic take from "Downhill," "Force Majeure" feels like a real examination of a longtime marriage hitting a major turning point, and its drama is anchored by incredible performances from Kuhnke and Kongsli. Again, it's far from the most comforting watch on this list, but we're hard-pressed to find a better film set at a ski resort than this one. 

Bong Joon Ho really had his breakout moment with his bloody, twisted, and hilarious Oscar-winning "Parasite" in 2019, but the director had been responsible for some of the best genre films ever made well before then. That's also true for his most westernized film to that point, 2013's "Snowpiercer," which stars Ho's frequent collaborators Song Kang-ho and Go Ah-sung, as well as English-speaking actors like Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, and Octavia Spencer. It also inspired a spin-off series on TNT that starred Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connelly. 

"Snowpiercer" takes place entirely on a non-stop train circling the globe, carrying the remainder of humanity following a man-made ice age in a failed attempt to stop climate change. Evans plays Curtis, the leader of a revolution against the train's class segregation, resulting in some of the best action sequences ever put to film. Many might consider "Die Hard" to be the action film you should have on the docket for the holiday season, but "Snowpiercer" is the type of film that makes you feel as cold as the characters are on-screen. 

"Coming to America" is maybe not regarded as a great winter movie and instead as a hysterical "fish out of water" story, but it should get more credit for being the former. The 1988 film was directed by John Landis, who also directed another holiday classic from Eddie Murphy, 1983's "Trading Places." However, "Coming to America" was designed as a star vehicle for one of our most talented comedic minds, Murphy, playing African prince Akeem Joffer, who travels to New York City in search of a wife who doesn't desire him for his money or status. 

It's not necessarily a film that utilizes its wintry New York setting as opposed to others, but the mere image of Murphy's Prince Akeem treading through a snowy Jackson Heights is iconic, to say the least. It depicts a more rundown, ramshackle New York than most other winter movies set in the city, which tend to romanticize New York City iconography like Central Park and 30 Rockefeller Center. Speaking of films that romanticize New York during the holidays, our next film stars another "SNL" alum coming to America for a much different reason. 

In 2003, "Elf" became a huge box office hit and a modern holiday classic, to the point where a lot of people are admittedly sick of rewatching it. Those people are Grinches, though, as it's difficult to find a more feel-good holiday classic than this one. Will Ferrell stars as Buddy, an orphaned human who grows up in the North Pole raised by Santa's elves, discovers his true heritage, and heads to New York City to meet his biological father (played by James Caan), a Scrooge-like publishing executive who wants nothing to do with this adult man dressed as an elf. 

This film has pretty much everything you want from a winter movie: its Christmas setting, a quintessential New York love story between Ferrell's Buddy and Zooey Deschanel's grumpy Jovie, and an incredible supporting cast including Mary Steenburgen, Bob Newhart, and Peter Dinklage. Just seeing Buddy and Jovie running around New York City as he's enchanted by even the crappiest cup of coffee is enough to make you wanna pack your bags and fly to the Big Apple for the holidays. 

Parents who've listened to the "Frozen" soundtrack on repeat ever since it came out in 2013 may hate the idea of this film appearing on a list of the best winter movies, but "Frozen" is one of the best Disney movies to be released in the past 20 years. Originally a much darker story, "Frozen" is loosely inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale "The Snow Queen," following Elsa (Idina Menzel), whose powers of freezing everything she touches sends the kingdom of Arendelle into turmoil, making her an outcast while her sister Anna (Kristen Bell) sets off on a journey to find her and bring her home.

Of course, most adults think of "Frozen" as the movie that has "Let It Go" and Olaf the Snowman, but at its heart, there's a compelling story about two sisters who become estranged following family trauma, and was much deserving of its two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. Now that it's been over 10 years since its release, you should give it another chance this winter season, even if you've watched it 100 times before. 

"Winter's Bone" might not be Jennifer Lawrence's career-best performance, but it's arguably the role that set her on a path to becoming one of the greatest actresses of her generation. Releasing in 2010, two years before she reached international stardom with the "X-Men" and "The Hunger Games" franchises, "Winter's Bone" stars Lawrence as Ree, a teenage girl living in the Ozarks searching for her father after he goes missing, jeopardizing her family's ability to keep their home, given his criminal record.

Though not the feel-good movie you may want from a winter movie watchlist, Lawrence proves herself a once-in-a-lifetime talent with her career-making performance. Especially given that Lawrence might be due for her second Oscar with Lynne Ramsey's "Die, My Love," it might be a good idea to watch (or, if you've already seen it, rewatch) the film that gave Lawrence her first-ever Academy Award nomination. (Also, the word "winter" is in the title!)

Though it's the furthest thing from science fiction, Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" takes a lot of inspiration from classic sci-fi movie "The Thing," including its snowstorm setting. Longtime Tarantino collaborator Samuel L. Jackson plays Marquis Warren, a bounty hunter in post-slavery Wyoming who hitches a ride with Kurt Russell's John Ruth, himself transporting wanted felon Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to her hanging. Along with lost sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), they all end up shacked up in a haberdashery with a colorful cast of characters. 

The chilly western setting is an incredible backdrop for what's ultimately a murder mystery, utilizing Tarantino's biting wit, non-linear storytelling, and propensity for graphic violence to make for an underrated flick in the director's repertoire. It's as tense and terrifying as it is unexpectedly funny and thrilling, offering a much different vibe for your winter watchlist than a lot of these other feel-good movies. 

"Anatomy of a Fall" was a recent awards darling, netting several nominations at the 2024 Oscars and winning one for Best Original Screenplay. The film stars Sandra Hüller as Sandra, a writer who is indicted for the supposed homicide of her husband (Samuel Theis), whose body was discovered by their blind son Daniel (Milo Machado-Graner) after falling from the top floor of their home. Most of the film plays out as a courtroom drama, in which Sandra's infidelity and conflicts with her husband prior to his death raise doubt over her involvement in his fall, but the crime scene's setting of wintry Grenoble, France makes it chillier and oddly cozier than most other crime dramas. 

Although the film is a very dark and serious drama, the characters' seasonal fits might inspire you to go shopping for new fleeces and sweaters for the holiday season. The question of whether or not Sandra killed her husband might also inspire some heated debate over Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners, which is certainly a much better argument to be had than engaging in politics with family members.

"Groundhog Day" may not be too appropriate for a holiday watchlist, given that it takes place in early February on the titular holiday. But after watching "A Christmas Carol" or perhaps another Bill Murray film, "Scrooged," you should check out the film in which Murray plays Phil, a curmudgeon news reporter covering Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania's annual Groundhog Day festivities, only to get trapped in a time loop making him repeat the same events again and again, much to his chagrin. 

Of course, "Groundhog Day" makes for a great holiday watch anyway, because of how much of a happy ending it has as Phil inevitably falls for his producer Rita (Andie MacDowell), and begins to change for the better after spending countless loops engaging in his most basest of desires. There's a reason why "Groundhog Day" has become the benchmark for so many time loop films to come after it, even if it left director Harold Ramis and Bill Murray's friendship in shambles up until the former Ghostbuster's passing in 2014.

We couldn't let this list continue without a certified tear-jerker. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is one of those movies where watching it for the first time becomes a core memory for you, no matter how old you are or how experienced in romance you've been. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet star as an odd couple whose devastating break-up prompts them both to go through an experimental procedure to remove each other from their respective memories. Unfortunately, for both of these star-crossed lovers, they end up meeting and falling in love again. 

Don't let your memory of this movie get deleted and think it's just some dry drama about heartbreak. Carrey and Winslet each give some of their best performances, and a film that often gets pegged as devastating also contains so much heart and optimism about the inevitability of true love. Plus, most of it takes place during the winter, and Winslet's Clementine showcases some of the most iconic winter fits in the history of cinema. We wouldn't recommend sleeping in a bed on a beach covered in snow, though. 

Few movies have redefined the way audiences perceive an entire community than "Fargo," the 1996 crime caper from the Coen brothers that was (very loosely) based around a real crime in Minnesota in the late '80s. Most people might be familiar with the FX anthology spin-off series of the same name, but the original film is simply one of the all-time great movies, and arguably the best of the Coens' unparalleled filmography. 

"Fargo" stars Frances McDormand as a police chief investigating a local conspiracy carried out by incompetent criminals involving a dim-witted car salesman (William H. Macy), bumbling kidnappers (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare), and a state trooper who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like many of the Coens' best films as a filmmaking duo, the series of events gets more and more chaotic, and the characters' blatant inability to make things right makes for one of the funniest, albeit darkest, comedies of the 1990s. After this movie, walking around in the winter seasons in heavy jackets and snow caps is bound to invoke a thick Minnesotan accent.

Compared to other films on this list, Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" explores all the seasons of the year, but some of its most iconic and memorable scenes take place in the middle of winter. Louisa May Alcott's story had been adapted to film and TV a countless number of times, but somehow Gerwig's 2019 adaptation redefined the source material and produced a definitive version of a story that was over 150 years old at the time. Saoirse Ronan stars as the tomboyish Jo March, an aspiring writer who lives in 19th century Massachusetts with sisters Amy (Florence Pugh), Meg (Emma Watson), and Beth (Eliza Scanlen), and mother Marmee (Laura Dern), and the film features the occasional appearance from Marmee's sister (Meryl Streep), and a key character in the form of neighbor Laurie (Timothée Chalamet). 

Of all the "Little Women" movie adaptations, few embrace the story's hopefulness and tragedy as equally as Gerwig's, and the director turned what could be a very dry story into something that feels as fresh and modern as any other film she's made. Not only that, it's a funny movie, especially thanks to performances of Pugh, Chalamet, and of course Ronan at the center of it all. If only we all could wake up on Christmas morning to see our father (Bob Odenkirk) come home from the war. 

Sometimes, a new film comes around that makes it hard to believe there was ever a time that film didn't exist. For many, that's Alexander Payne's 2023 film "The Holdovers," a quaint yet poignant Christmas film centered on the unexpected friendship between a cranky classics professor (Paul Giamatti), a grieving lunch lady (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), and a misbehaving student left behind at his boarding school throughout the holiday break, brought to life with a spectacular debut performance from newcomer Dominic Sessa.

Payne and Giamatti's reunion for this marvelous film made for the rare Christmas classic that we truly haven't gotten since "Elf" a whole 20 years before. The film feels so timeless, it might even surprise some to learn it takes place in 1970. While it has a lot in common with films like "Dead Poets Society," "It's a Wonderful Life," and "The Breakfast Club," it's also the kind of film that will likely inspire hundreds of Christmas movies to come for years and years. Hell, it's a film that makes an impromptu field trip to Boston in the middle of December feel like an idyllic vacation.