TAGGED AS: , ,

Fanny & Alexander

(Photo by Embassy Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection)

The Best International Christmas Movies

We already know how the McCallisters, the Griswolds, the Browns and Van Pelts are spending their holidays. But how has Christmas been celebrated abroad? We present this list of Fresh international movies – with at least 10 reviews each – all featuring Christmas themes, with offerings from France (Joyeux Noel), Romania (Tuesday, After Christmas), Sweden (Fanny & Alexander), Japan (Tokyo Godfathers), Finland (Rare Exports), and Hong Kong (2046). Read on to see the best international Christmas movies from around the world, all ranked by Tomatometer! Alex Vo

Best Christmas Movies | Worst Christmas Movies
Best and Worst Christmas Horror |
Rotten Christmas Movies We Love | Modern Christmas Classics
#13
Adjusted Score: -1%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In this 30-minute special from Aardman, the world's favourite sheep stars in his very own winter's tale. Shaun's seasonal excitement... [More]
Starring: Justin Fletcher
Directed By: Steve Cox

#12
#12
Adjusted Score: -1%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: After taking a very nasty fall on Christmas Eve, grinchy Jorge blacks out and wakes up one year later, with... [More]
Directed By: Roberto Santucci

#11
#11
Adjusted Score: 74040%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Middle-aged Paul (Mimi Branescu) lives in a pleasant Bucharest apartment with his wife, Adrianna (Mirela Oprisor), and their 9-year-old daughter.... [More]
Directed By: Radu Muntean

#10

Merry Christmas (2005)
Tomatometer icon 74%

#10
Adjusted Score: 77750%
Critics Consensus: The poignant humanity on display in Joyeux Noel makes its sentimentality forgivable.
Synopsis: With the advent of World War I, Europe is thrown into a brutal and vicious chaos as men are forced... [More]
Directed By: Christian Carion

#9

8 Women (2002)
Tomatometer icon 79%

#9
Adjusted Score: 82855%
Critics Consensus: Featuring some of the best French actresses working today, 8 Women is frothy, delirious, over-the-top fun.
Synopsis: At an isolated mansion in the snowy countryside of 1950s France, a family is gathered for the holiday season. But... [More]
Directed By: François Ozon

#8

Inside (2007)
Tomatometer icon 87%

#8
Adjusted Score: 58732%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A scissor-wielding psychopath (Béatrice Dalle) terrorizes a pregnant widow (Alysson Paradis) on Christmas Eve.... [More]

#7

2046 (2004)
Tomatometer icon 87%

#7
Adjusted Score: 90535%
Critics Consensus: Director Wong Kar-Wai has created in 2046 another visually stunning, atmospheric, and melancholy movie about unrequited love and loneliness.
Synopsis: A train in a futuristic landscape takes passengers to a place where they can recapture their memories, a place from... [More]
Directed By: Kar-Wai Wong

#6

A Christmas Tale (2008)
Tomatometer icon 86%

#6
Adjusted Score: 90929%
Critics Consensus: A sharp black comedy about a chaotic family holiday gathering, A Christmas Tale is always involving, thanks to an impressive ensemble cast.
Synopsis: When steely French matriarch Junon (Catherine Deneuve) learns she has leukemia, she asks her children and grandchildren at the family... [More]
Directed By: Arnaud Desplechin

#5

Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
Tomatometer icon 92%

#5
Adjusted Score: 94043%
Critics Consensus: Beautiful and substantive, Tokyo Godfathers adds a moving -- and somewhat unconventional -- entry to the animated Christmas canon.
Synopsis: Middle-aged alcoholic Gin (Toru Emori), teenage runaway Miyuki (Aya Okamoto) and former drag queen Hana (Yoshiaki Umegaki) are a trio... [More]
Directed By: Satoshi Kon

#4
Adjusted Score: 92749%
Critics Consensus: Rare Exports is an unexpectedly delightful crossbreed of deadpan comedy and Christmas horror.
Synopsis: A young boy named Pietari (Onni Tommila) and his friend Juuso (Ilmari Järvenpää) think a secret mountain drilling project near... [More]
Directed By: Jalmari Helander

#3

My Favorite Season (1993)
Tomatometer icon 93%

#3
Adjusted Score: 93526%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: When her health begins to fail, Berthe (Marthe Villalonga), an aging widow, is forced to live with her successful but... [More]
Directed By: André Téchiné

#2

My Night at Maud's (1969)
Tomatometer icon 96%

#2
Adjusted Score: 98798%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Jean-Louis (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is a devout Roman Catholic who subscribes to an austere moral code influenced by the philosophy of... [More]
Directed By: Éric Rohmer

#1

Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Tomatometer icon 100%

#1
Adjusted Score: 104208%
Critics Consensus: Ingmar Bergman conveys the sweep of childhood with a fastidious attention to detail and sumptuous insight into human frailty in Fanny & Alexander, a masterwork that crystalizes many of the directors' preoccupations into a familial epic.
Synopsis: As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny (Pernilla Allwin) and Alexander (Bertil Guve) enjoy a happy life with their... [More]
Directed By: Ingmar Bergman