New Year’s Eve Movies Streaming on Netflix, HBO Max, and More

Streaming on: Starz, or available to buy or rent on digital

There will never be another New Year’s Eve film as good as When Harry Met Sally, and my annual New Year’s Eve watch is going to hit extra hard in the wake of director Rob Reiner’s tragic death. This quintessential romantic comedy from writer Nora Ephron and director Rob Reiner still holds up as one of the greats. No one has ever summed up what “Auld Lang Syne”—AKA the New Year’s Eve song—quite so perfectly as Meg Ryan did: “Anyway, it’s about old friends.”

Streaming on: Netflix, Paramount+, Tubi (free with ads), Kanopy (through participating libraries), and available to buy and rent on digital

The New Year’s Eve party scene in Forrest Gump—the feel-good Best Picture winner from director Robert Zemeckis—perfectly captures the empty, isolating feeling of being totally depressed in the middle of a raucous party. As the war-torn Lieutenant Dan, Gary Sinise says it all with his dead-eyes stare, while an oblivious Tom Hanks wishes him a “Happy New Year.” Clearly, Lieutenant Dan doesn’t agree with the sex worker (played by Tiffany Salerno), who exclaims, “Don’t you just love New Year’s? You get to start all over.”

Streaming on: Netflix, and available to buy and rent on digital

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread is a film that’s as refined as its main character. Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Reynolds Woodcock, an obsessive, biting and cruel fashion designer. Vicky Krieps stars as Reynold’s unlucky muse and lover, Alma. Their relationship is far from healthy, but the love is genuine, if twisted. No where is that more on display than in a scene where Alma defiantly attends a New Year’s Eve party, and Reynolds follows her from afar. If you want to ring in 2025 with some toxic co-dependency, this is the New Year’s movie for you. If you’re watching on Netflix, make sure you finish this one before the clock strikes midnight: Phantom Thread is leaving Netflix tonight, and won’t be available to stream tomorrow.

Streaming on: HBO Max, and available to buy and rent on digital

If you’re not in the mood for sentiment this New Year’s Eve, why not ring in the new year with The Substance, aka the outrageous, disgusting, and extremely entertaining body horror flick from French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat? Demi Moore stars as a fictional, aging Hollywood star named Elisabeth Sparkle, who uses an experimental black market drug to create a younger, hotter clone of herself, played by Margaret Qualley. This hot young clone lands a New Year’s Eve hosting gig—but first she needs to figure out how to stop her body from deteriorating. New Year’s Eve Show, tonight, 9pm!

Streaming on: Paramount+, Pluto TV (free with ads), and available to buy or rent on digital

Considered by many to be the greatest sequel of all time, The Godfather Part II is also a perfect New Year’s Eve movie, thanks to the heartbreaking scene where, after the clock strikes midnight at the family’s big New Year’s Eve party, Michael Corleone kisses his brother Fredo on the mouth—the kiss of death—and reveals he knows it was him that betrayed the family and ordered the hit on Michael. “You broke my heart,” Michael tells him. Phew! New Year’s Eve is always emotional, but that’s next level.

Rent (2005) on Pluto TV

Streaming on: Pluto TV (free with ads), Kanopy/Hoopla, (with a participating public library card), and available to buy and rent on digital

If you’re looking for ways to measure, measure your year, then there is no better movie to watch on New Year’s Eve than Rent, the 2005 movie adaption of the hit Broadway musical from composer Jonathan Larson. The movie, which was directed by Chris Columbus, features the original Broadway cast, including Anthony Rapp and Idina Menzel. By the end of the film, you’ll know to measure your year (all 525,600 minutes of it) not in daylights, sunsets, midnights, or cups of coffee, but in love.

Streaming on: Tubi (free with ads), PlutoTV (free with ads), MGM+, Kanopy (with a participating public library card), and available to buy or rent on digital

How about a classic movie to ring in the new year? This 1960 romantic comedy may be nearly 65 years old, but it still holds up as both hilarious and touching. Shirley MacLaine will break your heart as the lovesick elevator girl having an affair with her married boss, and Jack Lemmon will tickle your funny bone as the bumbling insurance salesman who loans out his apartment for said illicit affairs. It all culminates in a New Year’s Eve party, where both Lemmon and MacLaine find the courage to stand-up for themselves—and, as a result, find each other.

Streaming on: Disney+, and available to buy or rent on digital

In this 1995 classic, Sandra Bullock greets her New Year with a rude awakening (pun intended). But before the stranger in a coma, Peter (Peter Gallagher) wakes up and realizes that Lucy (Bullock) has been pretending to be his fiancée, she attends a New Year’s Eve party hosted by his family. Things get even more complicated when Peter’s brother announces to the family that Lucy is pregnant. She’s not, of course. It’s just one of many misunderstandings in this silly but heartwarming romantic comedy. It’s the perfect comfort watch for a cozy New Year’s Eve.

Streaming on: Hulu, Starz, and available to buy and rent on digital

Garry Marshall’s late-career holiday ensemble movies (which also includes 2010’s Valentine’s Day and 2016’s Mother’s Day) were a fairly transparent attempt to recreate the success of Love, Actually. Though they failed in that sense, this movie did succeed in remaining relevant by becoming a default pick for “New Year’s Eve movies” round-ups. This list is no exception. The sprawling cast includes Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Katherine Heigl, and so many more.