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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

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#13
#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]
Starring: Leandro Hassum, Elisa Pinheiro, Miguel Rômulo, Louise Cardoso
Directed By: Roberto Santucci

#11
#11
Adjusted Score: 74025%
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]
Starring: Mimi Branescu, Maria Popistasu, Mirela Oprisor, Dragos Bucur
Directed By: Radu Muntean

#10

Merry Christmas (2005)
74%

#10
Adjusted Score: 77664%
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]
Starring: Diane Kruger, Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, Gary Lewis
Directed By: Christian Carion

#9

8 Women (2002)
79%

#9
Adjusted Score: 82819%
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]
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Béart, Fanny Ardant
Directed By: François Ozon

#8

Inside (2007)
88%

#8
Adjusted Score: 62151%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A scissor-wielding psychopath (Béatrice Dalle) terrorizes a pregnant widow (Alysson Paradis) on Christmas Eve.... [More]
Starring: Alysson Paradis, Béatrice Dalle, Nathalie Roussel, François-Régis Marchasson
Directed By: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury

#7

2046 (2004)
87%

#7
Adjusted Score: 90495%
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]
Starring: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Gong Li, Takuya Kimura, Faye Wong
Directed By: Kar-Wai Wong

#6

A Christmas Tale (2008)
86%

#6
Adjusted Score: 90940%
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]
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Mathieu Amalric, Françoise Bertin
Directed By: Arnaud Desplechin

#5

Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
92%

#5
Adjusted Score: 93996%
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]
Starring: Yoshiaki Umegaki, Aya Okamoto, Toru Emori
Directed By: Satoshi Kon

#4
#4
Adjusted Score: 92769%
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]
Starring: Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Ilmari Järvenpää, Peeter Jakobi
Directed By: Jalmari Helander

#3
#3
Adjusted Score: 93491%
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]
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Daniel Auteuil, Marthe Villalonga, Jean-Pierre Bouvier
Directed By: André Téchiné

#2
#2
Adjusted Score: 98742%
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]
Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Françoise Fabian, Antoine Vitez, Marie-Christine Barrault
Directed By: Éric Rohmer

#1
#1
Adjusted Score: 104081%
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]
Starring: Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, Erland Josephson, Gunn Wållgren
Directed By: Ingmar Bergman

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