Film

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Other titles called How the Grinch Stole Christmas: the 1966 film.

Ron Howard's live-action Grinch is Jim Carrey unleashed: rubber-faced, manic, gloriously excessive. It's Seuss by way of Tim Burton—darker and weirder than the book, but sincere about redemption. Perfect for families who like their Christmas films with edge and energy.

TMDb rating3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you relish overbuilt sets, rubbery physical comedy and a sour villain whose grumbling is more fun than frightening, especially if you like your festive stories a little bit lopsided.

Skip it if the broad slapstick and heavy prosthetic makeup can feel loud and wearing, and a film that runs on Carrey's mugging may test your patience for sustained exaggeration.

What it asks of you: A brisk hour and three quarters of bustle, with the tone swinging between cartoon mischief and sentimental warmth; you need to be willing to go along with big gestures.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Elf2003

Will Ferrell's earnest, enthusiastic man-child discovering the real meaning of Christmas mirrors the Grinch's journey in reverse. Warm, funny, and genuinely moving without being saccharine.

But The cuteness can curdle fast, and it swings wildly between sophisticated humour and broad slapstick that doesn't always land.

Elf poster

The Nightmare Before Christmas1993

Dark fantasy Christmas with a misfit protagonist learning to embrace his softer side. Visually inventive, genuinely eerie, and has that same Burton-esque sensibility that makes the Grinch work.

But Stop-motion takes patience. Some find it more style than substance, and it's genuinely unsettling—not everyone wants their Christmas dark.

The Nightmare Before Christmas poster

A Christmas Carol2009

Zemeckis's motion-capture Dickens has the same DNA: a bitter loner visited by visions that crack open his heart. Visually spectacular and surprisingly moving beneath the spectacle.

But The CGI hasn't aged well, and the emotional beats feel more mechanical than the Grinch's genuine warmth does.

A Christmas Carol poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Gremlins1984

Both use comedy as a Trojan horse to explore darkness and meanness lurking beneath festive surfaces. Both feature protagonists learning that cruelty has consequences.

A Christmas film that's genuinely dark and violent beneath its suburban facade. Joe Dante's chaos and Jim Carrey's manic energy share the same anarchic DNA—both films weaponise comedy to wrong-foot you.

But It's a horror film dressed as family entertainment. If you want your Christmas uncynical and safe, this will disturb rather than comfort you.

Gremlins poster
More like this (8)

Jingle All the Way1996

Arnold Schwarzenegger as an absent dad learning what Christmas really means. Silly, sincere, and has genuine heart underneath the action-comedy chaos.

But It's dated, earnest to a fault, and the humour is very broad. If you hate Schwarzenegger, this won't convert you.

Jingle All the Way poster

The Santa Clause1994

Tim Allen discovers magic is real and must become Santa. It earns its sentimentality through genuine wonder and charm, with clever comedy that works for both kids and adults.

But The sequels are dreadful, which casts a shadow. The first film alone is dated, and some of the humour is thin.

The Santa Clause poster

Noel2004

Ensemble Christmas story that weaves stranger's lives together with care and wit. It's intelligent, funny, and finds real humanity in people at their most broken.

But It's a hard find and feels very early-2000s indie. The pace is deliberate, and it won't satisfy anyone wanting spectacle or broad laughs.

Noel poster

It's a Wonderful Life1946

Canonical for a reason: a man sees what his absence would have cost his town. The structure is sound, the emotion is earned, and it defines how redemption looks on screen.

But It's black and white, slow, and can feel heavy. Modern audiences sometimes find it sentimental rather than moving.

It's a Wonderful Life poster

Scrooged1988

Bill Murray as a modern Scrooge navigates ghosts and redemption with real melancholy underneath the comedy. It's funny *and* sad, which is harder than it looks.

But Murray's deadpan doesn't work for everyone, and the tone whiplashes between dark and sentimental.

Scrooged poster

The Muppet Christmas Carol1992

Muppets, Dickens, and genuine warmth. Michael Caine as Scrooge grounds the absurdity, and the film's heart is enormous without ever feeling false.

But The Muppets' charm is polarising, and if you're not in the mood for gentleness and puppetry, this will feel very slow.

The Muppet Christmas Carol poster

A Ghost Story2017

Both films believe in transformation through connection. Both suggest that being truly seen by another person can remake you. Both are far more serious about love than their surfaces suggest.

A meditative, haunting film about presence and absence, love and time. It has the same surprising depth and genuine emotion as the Grinch—a movie that sneaks seriousness past your defences through unexpected form.

But It's slow, arty, and deeply melancholic. There's a famous scene of someone eating pie that goes on forever. This is not mainstream entertainment.

A Ghost Story poster

Miracle Mile1989

Both films hinge on a single encounter that changes everything. Both believe in the power of one person's kindness or connection to alter the trajectory of a life. Both are about what Christmas—or any moment—really means when you stop performing and start feeling.

A romance that turns into an apocalyptic thriller. It has the same commitment to emotional stakes that makes the Grinch work—it trusts that you care about these people, and builds everything from that.

But It's tense and bleak. The third act is genuinely upsetting. If you came for comfort, this film will betray that trust completely.

Miracle Mile poster

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One Magic Christmas