Need a little extra cheer this holiday season? What’s better than coming together with family and watching Christmas movies? Though it is always special to rewatch the classics every year, it can also be fun to check out some new ones! Here are two brand new family-friendly holiday movies out this year:

8-Bit Christmas

8-Bit Christmas is a new holiday movie that was recently released on November 24 starring well-known actors including Winslow Fegley, Steve Zahn, Neil Patrick Harris, David Cross, and more. The story is centered around young Jake Doyle, played by Winslow Fegley, whose main goal is to get his hands on a Nintendo NES. It is told through the memories of now-adult Jake Doyle, who is played by Neil Patrick Harris, in which he is explaining  to his daughter how much his Nintendo means to him, and what he had to do to get it. Throughout the film, young Jake and his friends come up with various plans to obtain the Nintendo, including a contest through cub scouts in which the person who sells the most wreaths wins a Nintendo NES, and raising money through selling baseball cards. Though many of these plans end up failing comically, Jake does not give up hope. He keeps pushing to make his dream of having his own Nintendo come true. 8-Bit Christmas received a rating of 6.7/10 on IMDB and 79% on Rotten Tomatoes and seems to be a good pick for anyone looking for a good laugh in the Christmas spirit, while also providing nostalgia for adults that may have shared young Jake’s excitement for new gaming systems. It is currently available to watch on HBO Max.

A Boy Called Christmas

A Boy Called Christmas was also released not long ago on November 26t,h starring Henry Lawfull as the main character, Nikolas. The story begins on Christmas Eve in London in which three children, Patrick, Andrea, and Moppet are being taken care of by their Aunt Ruth due to the recent passing of their mother and their father having to suddenly leave for work. Aunt Ruth decides to keep the kids in a jolly mood by telling them a Christmas Santa origin story, which is about a child named Nikolas who also had lost his mother. Following the King’s statement in which he offered a reward for anyone who discovered an object that would restore hope in the kingdom, Nikolas’ father Joel gets an idea. He decides to leave along with some others for Elfhem, a place with an unknown exact location that is thought to be occupied by magical elves. However, rather than take Nikolas with him, Joel decides to leave Nikolas home with his aunt. Some time after his father left, Nikolas finds a map that shows exactly where Elfhem is, so he decides to travel into the North only with himself and his mouse Miika. Through his journey, he is met with many challenges, but keeps going along with the help of a reindeer, Blitzen, that he meets along the way. A Boy Called Christmas received a rating of 6.8/10 on IMDB and 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. This movie looks extremely promising due to its amazing story about the origin of Santa Claus and its potential to provide hope for any children that have recently lost family members themselves just like Nikolas in the movie. It is currently available to watch on Netiflix.