Looking for some Hanukkah movies to celebrate the season? We’ve got you covered for all eight nights.
December 7 marks the first night of Hanukkah, and that means eight days of celebration. After you light the menorah, polish off a few latkes, and put away the dreidel, it’s time to wind down with a movie that celebrates the season.
It wasn’t too difficult to narrow down the list to the best eight because sadly there isn’t a ton to choose from. Calling all screenwriters: There is a definite lack of Hanukkah movies on the market (although it’s been argued that this may be because Hanukkah is not the most important holiday in the Jewish faith), so if you’ve got a great idea, there’s definitely an opening. While you wait for the next great Hanukkah movie to be written, we’ve rounded up eight of our favorites — one for each night of the holiday.
Best Hanukkah Movies and Where to Watch Them
Ira Finkelstein’s Christmas (Amazon Prime)
Any movie starring Elliott Gould is a movie we want to see, and Switchmas is no exception. As the trailer states, Ira J. Finkelstein is obsessed with Christmas. When his family decides to send him to visit his grandparents in Florida over Christmas, Ira is devastated, telling his parents, “Florida is the opposite of Christmas!” So when he meets an equally miserable little boy who is bound for a visit to his cousins in a place called “Christmastown,” the boys decide to switch plane tickets. As expected, each boy realizes that in the end, there’s no place like home.
Eight Crazy Nights (Amazon Prime)
After Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song” became the stuff of SNL legend, it only made sense that the comedian would make a Hanukkah movie. And thus, Eight Crazy Nights was born. In this animated musical film, Davey is the town party boy who gets into trouble with the law one too many times. The judge gives him an ultimatum: either perform community service with the youth basketball league or go to jail. That’s how Davey meets Whitey Duvall, an eccentric, elderly volunteer referee with a heart of gold who is determined to turn Davey into a good guy. The film came out in 2002 and some of the less politically correct content hasn’t exactly aged well, but if you can look past some of the more cringe-worthy scenes, this film has a lot of heart. Even though it’s animated, this is one where we definitely suggest putting the kiddos to bed before watching.
Full-Court Miracle (Disney Plus)
In 2003, The Disney Channel was still gifting us with weekly original movies, and life was good. One of these movies was Full-Court Miracle, and almost 20 years later it’s still a must-watch for Hanukkah. In the film, a star basketball player named Lamont is forced out of the game after a knee injury. In a twist of fate, he meets a young Jewish boy named Alex, who loves basketball and plays for his Yeshiva team. The only problem is that the team is absolutely awful. Alex persuades Lamont to be their coach, and the struggling team’s fortunes start to turn around.
Hitched For The Holidays (Amazon Prime)
Schitt’s Creek’s Emily Hampshire stars alongside ‘90s heartthrob Joey Lawrence in this holiday rom-com that’s as sweet as gelt. Lawrence plays commitment-phobe from a big Italian Catholic family, and Hampshire’s character comes from a close-knit Jewish family and has recently broken off an engagement. Both of them are under a lot of pressure from their families to get into a relationship, so after meeting on a dating website, they hatch a plan to pretend to be each other’s significant others to keep their families off their cases for the holidays. We bet you can guess what happens from here…let’s just say the shammash isn’t the only thing that’s going to melt in the end.
An American Tail (Amazon Prime)
This animated treasure from 1986 still holds up as one of the best family-friendly Hanukkah movies available, even though it’s not exactly a holiday film. It tells the story of an adorable little animated mouse named Fievel Mousekewitz, and his journey to emigrate from Russia to the United States. During their travels, poor little Fievel gets separated from his family and must figure out how to reunite with them. If you’ve never heard of this movie, watch the short trailer and try not to well up, we dare you. When the film was first released it was a hit at the box office and became the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film at the time. 35 years later, we think it’s high time for another Fievel movie to hit theaters!
The Holiday (Amazon Prime)
A Nancy Meyers Christmas movie with a Jewish main character and a dash of Hanukkah? We could watch this one eight nights in a row! In the film, a woman from England and another from California who are both unlucky in love (played by Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz, respectively) decide to switch homes for the holidays. When Winslet’s character hosts a Hanukkah party for her elderly neighbor, her new love interest, played by Jack Black, shows up. He proclaims it “the best Hanukkah party I’ve ever been to,” which we’ll take as a ringing endorsement!
The Night Before (Amazon Prime)
Any movie starring Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Anthony Mackie is bound to be a wild ride, and The Night Before lives up to expectations. In the film, the actors play “three dudes, three bros, three ride-or-die homies” who always spend Christmas Eve together. This year though, Rogen’s character is about to be a father, and the pals realize it might be their last crazy night together. So, of course, they decide to go big, and make it their mission to knock off as many holiday traditions as possible…all while under the influence of a bevy of substances. Needless to say, this one is probably best for adults only.
Mistletoe & Menorahs (Hulu)
As the title implies, this holiday movie is about two people bridging the gap between Christmas and Hanukkah. Christy is an executive at a toy company (…dream job?) who apparently lives under a rock and doesn’t know anything about Hanukkah. When a big new client invites her to a Hanukkah party, Christy enlists her co-worker’s Jewish friend Jonathan to help her learn the holiday traditions. Jonathan, it turns out, also lives under a rock, and is utterly perplexed by how to decorate his apartment for Christmas to impress his girlfriend’s yuletide-obsessed father. Favors are traded and sparks fly! If you’re interested in this one, the full movie is available to stream for free from Lifetime.
