Movies Black Families Should Watch Every Holiday

Style Magazine Newswire | 12/24/2021, 10:28 a.m.
It’s the holiday season, which means plenty of time spent bonding with family while giving gifts, listening to holiday music, …

It’s the holiday season, which means plenty of time spent bonding with family while giving gifts, listening to holiday music, and of course, watching Christmas movies.

Luckily with streaming, Christmas classics are readily accessible in more ways than ever before, with films old and new ready for binging with just one click.

It just came out in 2020, but Jingle Jangle has quickly cemented itself as a must-watch holiday film. The original new musical broke new ground for the medium, giving audiences a Christmas musical with a Black family at the center of the story. With catchy and heartwarming songs that will have you dancing and singing along, the film comes from the mind of David E. Talbert, who took twenty years to make the movie.

Last Holiday didn’t make a huge splash at the box office when it premiered in 2006, but through syndication and home video, the Queen Latifah film is now a Christmas staple. If you’re unfamiliar (seriously though, why haven’t you watched this yet?) the movie is based on the British film of the same name and follows Georgia (Latifah) who, upon learning that she has a terminal illness, decides to spend her remaining time on a luxury trip to Europe.

Speaking of stacked casts, this 2007 Christmas film also was also a star studded affair. This Christmas features Loretta Devine, Regina King, Idris Elba, Lauren London, Chris Brown, and more as the Whitfield-Moore family, who come together for a family Christmas filled with laughs, revelations, and plenty of heartwarming moments.

The movie was a hit at the box office, opening at number two behind the Disney musical, Enchanted. The title of course references the popular Christmas song, “This Christmas,” which Brown affectionately sings in the movie’s third act. This Christmas is available to rent now on Prime Video.

When listing Black Christmas film classics, it’s impossible not to mention The Preacher’s Wife. The Whitney Houston-led film premiered in 1996 and has left quite the legacy. An adaptation of the 1947 film The Bishop’s Wife, the film stars Courtney B. Vance as Rev. Henry Biggs, with Houston playing the titular role as his wife Julia.

The soundtrack to The Preacher’s Wife is still the best-selling gospel album of all time. The lead single, a cover of the Four Tops hit, “I Believe in You and Me” reached the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time of its release. The Preacher’s Wife is available to rent on Prime Video.