The following article appeared in the December 10, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
If you’ve already had your fill of “Elf,” “Home Alone” and the many versions of “A Christmas Carol,” Ledger arts critic Lawrence Toppman has a fresh stocking of holiday movie ideas for you — and almost none of them are the usual suspects.
In a recent talk at The Sharon at SouthPark (you can listen to the whole talk on The Charlotte Ledger Podcast), Toppman laid out his ground rules: He has to have actually seen every movie he recommends, and he’s skipping the classics you already trip over on cable. Instead, he’s chasing something else: films that feel human, surprising and genuinely moving — not the ones that seem like they rolled straight off a holiday-movie “assembly line,” as he calls it.
He also takes a broader view of “the holidays,” starting way back in early November and moving all the way through Christmas. His off-the-beaten-path recommendations: