It’s that time of year again! Those who celebrate Christmas are decking the halls, searching for the perfect gifts, and hopefully getting together with loved ones to share in the Christmas festivities. Once the Halloween skeletons are put away and the sugar high has worn off, lots of us take to binge-watching holiday movies as we wrap presents or bake sugary treats. Once November hits, you’d be hard-pressed to turn on the TV and not find a film telling you the importance of keeping the Christmas spirit in your heart.
Alas, the majority of those movies are showcasing white faces and families. When you Google “Christmas movies,” the first page of suggestions is filled with faces and stories that don’t offer much diversity. For Black families, finding a film that reflects our own experiences and traditions can be difficult. But films featuring Black casts and Black directors do exist, and plenty of them. They just don’t seem to get the spotlight they deserve.
So, just to get you started, here are five Christmas films celebrating Black joy that you can stream this month. I emphasize the joy part because when telling Black stories, even the Christmas ones, Hollywood seems to lean more towards trauma and suffering — and let’s try to keep things as light as possible, shall we?
The Preacher’s Wife (1996)
This remake of the 1947 Cary Grant classic The Bishop’s Wife can be categorized as a classic itself. Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, and Courtney B. Vance all bring elegance and charm to this film. Washington plays Dudley, an angel sent to Earth to help Reverend Biggs (Vance) rekindle the romance with his wife, Julia (Houston). But things become a bit complicated when Dudley starts to have feelings for the preacher’s wife. This Christmas tale gives us a lighthearted and comedic Washington, something we don’t get often enough. We’re treated to the soulful voice of the late Houston singing gospel songs that go back to her vocal beginnings and bring many of us right back to Christmas church service. Once the credits roll, you’re left with a warm feeling that everything is gonna be OK.
This Christmas (2007)
The Whitfields are all getting together for the first time in four years. The overall vibe? All six siblings are trying to keep something from their mother, Ma’dear (Loretta Devine). Hollywood veterans Devine and Delroy Lindo anchor an equally talented cast that includes Idris Elba, Regina King, Mekhi Phifer, and Lauren London. This film is a wonderfully realistic representation of Black family gatherings, best expressed by the Soul Train line, which inevitably shows up in the living room once the food has been digested. The film’s title comes from the 1970 R&B classic Christmas tune, This Christmas, by Donny Hathaway. Much like the song, this movie elicits a feeling of extreme Christmas magic and possibility.
The Holiday Calendar (2018)
A young photographer, Abby (Kat Graham), inherits an advent calendar from her grandmother. Simple enough… except this calendar seemingly predicts the future. Every day on the calendar that Abby opens has a clue to life-changing events to come. And what’s a Christmas movie without a surprise love interest? Graham and Quincy Brown are so cute as longtime best friends reunited for the holidays that the audience will find themselves rooting for them to just kiss already! The late Ron Cephas Jones, maybe best known from This Is Us, plays Abby’s loving Gramps, ready to share his wisdom. If you enjoy rom-com hijinks and missed connections, grab your cocoa and settle in because this film delivers.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)
Jeronicus (Forest Whitaker) is an eccentric toymaker who has invented an extraordinary toy far beyond the imagination. But his assistant, Gustafson (Keegan-Michael Key), steals the toy and takes all the fame and accolades for himself. This sends Jeronicus into isolation. He even becomes estranged from his family. Where is the joy, you ask? Jeronicus gets a visit from his STEM-loving granddaughter Journey (Madalen Mills), who sets him up with a good dose of Black Girl Magic. You’ll surely want to revisit the uplifting musical numbers and the breathtaking, joyfully colored world created by writer and director David E. Talbert every holiday season.
Christmas Hotel (2019)
Take all of the Lifetime holiday movie tropes you know and love, toss them in a mixer, dollop dough on a cookie sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 28 minutes. Voila! Now you have a tasty batch of friends-to-enemies-to-lovers Christmas cookies. Erin (Tatyana Ali), a big city hotel manager, returns to her small hometown, Garland Grove, with plans to open a new branch of the chain hotel she works for. Garland Grove is a town that loves Christmas but hates big business. To get the town to accept the new hotel, Erin turns it into an all-year-long Christmas-themed hotel. Erin came into all of this not having time for frivolous holiday spirit, but with the help of her family, friends, and childhood friend-turned-love-interest Connor (Sean Patrick Thomas), she learns the benefits of letting the Christmas joy back into her life. Here is the real concern, though: Is that hotel gonna turn a profit?
Kahmeela Adams-Friedson has been called a “pop culture savant” with particular expertise in all things ’80s, ’90s, and horror film. After producing and hosting several podcasts dedicated to film and telling stories of women and artists of all mediums, she consistently brings delight and discovery to the art of the interview — just ask Gloria Rueben. Kahmeela has designed a career that allows her to create in multiple areas of media. Her opinions on life, film, and literature can be found on many podcasts, in the Pittsburgh City Paper, Pittsburgh Magazine, Looper, and BUST Magazine, just to name a few.
If you fancy yourself a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you can listen to her ReVisiting Sunnydale Podcast, where she and her co-host rewatch the cult classic with more mature eyes.
This article was originally published on scarymommy.com.