Best movies like Christmas in Canaan
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Set in the 1960s, Christmas in Canaan is a drama about a black family and a white family that learn to love each other out of their Christian beliefs.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 629
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: light, atmospheric, sentimental, captivating
Best tv shows and movies like Christmas in Canaan (2009):
Similar in 83%
Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love (2016)
Plot Summary:
An unexpected blizzard threatens the Parton family, while at the same time Dolly's father (and his kids) make sacrifices to raise enough money to finally buy his wife the wedding ring he could never afford to give her. Meanwhile, an important person in little Dolly's life begins to see that her amazing voice and musical gift might just be made for something bigger than rural Tennessee.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: light, captivating, entertaining
Similar in 87%
Silver Bells (2005)
Plot Summary:
Manhattanite Catherine O'Mara (Heche) bonds with a young man who has run away from his father. When the father returns to New York a year later to sell his Christmas trees, he and Catherine cross paths.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 84%
Lily in Winter (1994)
Plot Summary:
Lily Covington, a Manhattan housekeeper, embarks on a trip to the rural Alabama town of her youth. To Lily's surprise, her employer's nine-year-old son Michael stows away for the ride. Together, Lily and Michael realize just how alike and how different their worlds really are. Michael explores a way of life he never knew existed, while Lily discovers some tender truths about the family she left behind.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 151
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, feel good, emotional, realistic
Similar in 77%
A Perfect Day (2006)
Plot Summary:
A family man is warned he has only forty days to live.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: captivating, emotional, sentimental, light, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 77%
Christmas Comes Home to Canaan (2011)
Plot Summary:
When Bobber undergoes experimental surgery to help him walk again, Daniel Burton falls in love with his beautiful rehabilitation doctor and invites her to spend Christmas at the farm.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 495
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, psychological, sentimental, visually appealing
Similar in 84%
Christmas with Tucker (2013)
Plot Summary:
While coming to terms with his dad's recent passing in a tractor accident, 13-year-old George McCray is living with his grandparents on their Kansas farm. George misses his mom, Jill, who has moved to Minnesota to deal with her grief, but there is the promise of their reunion at Christmas. George feels needed on the farm as he helps his grateful grandfather Bo with daily chores and comforts his grandmother Cora. He has also made friends with Mary Ann and became attached to Tucker, the smart and friendly dog the McCrays take in when his troubled owner Frank Thorne lands in jail.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 707
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: captivating, entertaining, feel good
Similar in 83%
The Christmas Gift (2015)
Plot Summary:
Starring Michelle Trachtenberg and Rick Fox, “The Christmas Gift” is about ten-year-old Megan, who upon receiving a Secret Santa gift, is touched by its contents which end up having a huge impact on her life. Now a driven young journalist, Megan can’t shake her desire to thank the person who sent her that heartfelt gift over a decade ago. Determined to prove herself to her editor, she goes on the search for the perfect Christmas story, and in doing so, she finally discovers who her Secret Santa is. Inspired by a true story.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 771
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: light, romantic, feel good, captivating, entertaining
Similar in 79%
A Gingerbread Romance (2018)
Plot Summary:
Successful architect Taylor Scott is poised for a promotion and a move to Paris but before that’s decided, her boss tasks her with creating a life-sized gingerbread house for a holiday competition. She partners with pastry chef Adam Dale, and though their styles are different, they form a deep connection working together.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 936
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: light, funny, feel good, sweet
Similar in 89%
The Sweetest Gift (1998)
Plot Summary:
Two neighboring families in Florida, one black and one white, struggle with the problems of race, poverty, prejudice, and absent fathers, as their children become friends over the course of one summer and fall.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 181
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, feel good, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 86%
One Christmas (1994)
Plot Summary:
TV film that was to be Katherine Hepburn's last performance. Based on Truman Capote's bittersweet tale of a young boy's adventures with the father he's never known in New Orleans in the 1930s.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 751
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 89%
Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2 (2019)
Plot Summary:
As Darcy and Aiden prepare to celebrate their second Christmas together, an unexpected guest and a fight to save the beloved community center unites everyone for an unforgettable holiday.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: light, sincere, feel good, captivating
Similar in 83%
Two Turtle Doves (2019)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Sharon Hayes searches for a beloved family heirloom in a small Christmas town. When she unexpectedly discovers an adorable little girl and her disheartened father, she realizes that Christmas miracles really do happen.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: light, sincere, romantic, captivating
Similar in 85%
The Christmas Tree (1996)
Plot Summary:
A story about a forming friendship between an elderly nun, Sister Anthony, and New York's Rockefeller Center's head gardener Richard Reilly, who wants to fell a tree she's been growing for decades and move it to New York for Christmas display.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 438
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: christmas special
Similar in 77%
Our First Christmas (2008)
Plot Summary:
Cindy and Tom Baer-Neil have been married for nearly a year, each having lost their first spouse. With the holidays just around the corner, Cindy and Tom are determined to make the new family’s first Christmas perfect. But their respective children have different plans.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 597
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: funny, light, feel good, humorous, entertaining
Similar in 77%
Wish For Christmas (2016)
Plot Summary:
When a high school senior finds out from her parents that she must miss the town's winter dance in order to attend church, she successfully wishes their faith away, bringing disastrous consequences to her family and community. To restore their faith, she is led through a series of Christmas adventures that change her heart and those around her.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 961
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: christian film, light, feel good, humorous, entertaining
Similar in 81%
The Three Gifts (2009)
Plot Summary:
Jack Green inherited a southern Californian horse ranch and an all-natural toy factory in the barn. With his wife Cherie, he accepts taking in the three 'holy terrors' from his bossy aunt Rita's orphanage during renovations, until the holidays. Resourceful Mike and his buddies, Henry and Ray, prove handfuls, but Jack proves father-potential. Will the trio find a real home for Christmas?.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 445
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sentimental, light, sincere, touching, feel good
Similar in 83%
The Christmas Shoes (2002)
Plot Summary:
Two separate stories mesh - in the first, a young music teacher, Maggie Andrews, begins dying of a heart condition and her son Nathan tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for her before she dies. In the second, lawyer Robert Layton and his wife Kate are slowly drifting apart and the matter comes to a head during Christmas when Kate takes over for Maggie for the school choir.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, sincere, hilarious, realistic
Similar in 82%
A Dog Named Christmas (2009)
Plot Summary:
A developmentally challenged young man with a penchant for caring for animals in need sets out to convince his family - and their whole rural community - to participate in a local shelter's inaugural "Adopt a Dog for Christmas Program.".
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, sentimental, sincere, captivating, christmas special, humorous, semi serious, realistic, entertaining
Similar in 84%
Miss Christmas (2017)
Plot Summary:
Holly Khun, known to Chicago as “Miss Christmas,” always finds a beautiful tree for the plaza, but this year’s was damaged, and the lighting ceremony is in 10 days. Hoping for a miracle, she combs through fan mail, and finds Joey McNary of Klaus, Wisconsin, has the perfect tree. Off she goes to Klaus, where she meets Joey’s handsome dad Sam.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: light, romantic, feel good, humorous, captivating, emotional
Similar in 80%
Northpole: Open for Christmas (2015)
Plot Summary:
A successful businesswoman, Mackenzie, inherits her beloved aunt's inn, and chooses to restore the hotel to its original grandeur only to sell it right before Christmas. Unbeknownst to Mackenzie, she receives some unexpected help from a team of elves headed by the cheerful Clementine, who helps Mackenzie rediscover the true meaning of Christmas.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: light, feel good, sincere, humorous
Similar in 79%
My Sweet Orange Tree (2012)
Plot Summary:
Zezé is an 8 year old boy who, although a naughty boy, has a good heart. He leads a very modest life, due to the fact that his father has been unemployed for a long time, and has the habit of having long conversations with a sweet orange tree which is in his backyard. Until one day he meets Portuga, a man who begins to help him and soon becomes his best friend.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Brazil
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, atmospheric, captivating, serious, realistic
Similar in 88%
Christmas for a Dollar (2013)
Plot Summary:
America is in the midst of the Depression, and the Kamp family is struggling to get by, especially after Mrs. Kamp's untimely death. Now little Ruthie, with her mother gone and her father overwhelmed by doctor bills resulting from her brother's polio, expects another Christmas without presents or festivities. But when her father brings home one dollar in change and lets the children use it to buy special gifts for each other, the Kamps come to find that money isn't what fills Christmas with joy, love, and miracles.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 686
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, feel good, disturbing, christian film
Similar in 80%
A Christmas Memory (1997)
Plot Summary:
A boy, Buddy, whose parents have split and whose mother is an actress in New York, has been dumped in the south at the small-town home of some older cousins, all of whom are unmarried.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 796
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sentimental, atmospheric, uplifting, touching, feel good, realistic, semi serious, southern gothic
Similar in 89%
Wishin' and Hopin' (2014)
Plot Summary:
Based on the New York Times best-selling novel by award winning author Wally Lamb. A vivid slice of 1960s life, Wishin' and Hopin' is a wise-and-witty holiday tale that celebrates where we've been-and how far we've come. In the small town of Three Rivers, Connecticut, we go straight into the halls of St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parochial School with Felix Funicello, a Catholic school fifth-grader in 1964, whose claim to fame is his cousin Annette Funicello, the famous Mouseketeer and teen movie queen. But grammar and arithmetic move to the back burner this holiday season with the sudden arrivals of substitute teacher Madame Frechette and feisty Russian student Zhenya Kabakova. While Felix learns the meaning of French kissing, cultural misunderstanding, and tableaux vivants, Wishin' and Hopin' barrels toward one outrageous Christmas!.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 794
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, light, sincere, captivating, entertaining, sentimental, touching, realistic
Similar in 79%
The 12 Dogs of Christmas (2005)
Plot Summary:
This holiday tale has all the elements of a classic heartwarmer--cuddly dogs, small town spirit, and even a full-fledged Christmas pageant. Set during the meager years of the Great Depression, 12 DOGS OF CHRISTMAS follows the story of Emma, a 12-year-old who is sent to live in Doverville, a rural town, with her aunt. The town has, like the rest of the nation, fallen on lean times and seem to have lost all interest in celebrating. However, Emma manages to enlist the town's dogs into a colorful holiday pageant that reminds the inhabitants that even the Great Depression cannot ruin the spirit of Christmas.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 996
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: feel good, light, humorous, sentimental, touching
Similar in 86%
Christmas Angel (2012)
Plot Summary:
A young girl tries to prove that the mysterious old lady next door is really an angel, when some of the neighborhood kids’ Christmas wishes. Olivia is not like most fifth graders. She is being raised by Melinda, a single mother who works at a bustling local bakery run by her good friend Daphne, the mother of Olivia's best friend and classmate. Olivia has a heart of gold that shines through in her good intentions and her imagination. During the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, a mysterious lady quietly moves into the house next door. The house has been uninhabited since the owner, Dr. Nathan Davis, left town abruptly. When some of the neighborhood kids Christmas wishes suddenly begin to come true, Olivia is convinced that the towns newcomer is an angel and she is determined to prove it.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, realistic, semi serious, christian film
Similar in 86%
Booky & the Secret Santa (2007)
Plot Summary:
Booky does everything she can to make an enjoyable Christmas, for her family, during the depression as her father is out of work.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 311
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, realistic, sincere, captivating, feel good, serious
Similar in 83%
Chilly Christmas (2012)
Plot Summary:
Eleven-year-old Bobby Cole and his dog Chilly are best friends, living happily in their Southern California beach house. But when Bobby's father Patrick (C. Thomas Howell), a single parent and police detective, accepts a job in New York City, they must find Chilly a new home. In an attempt to show his dad that Chilly can be a city dog, Bobby and his friends teach Chilly the indoor way of life. But Bobby's dad is not convinced, and it's not until Christmas Eve when corrupt dog thief Mr. Quarterman (Tom Arnold) breaks into the family home, that Chilly and Bobby can put their new training to the test! Can they band together to save Christmas -- and Chilly's future with the family?.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 249
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, light, captivating, entertaining, exciting, touching, realistic, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 90%
The Christmas Bunny (2010)
Plot Summary:
The Christmas Bunny tells the story of a lonely foster child (Sophie Bolen) who finds a lost, injured rabbit in the woods on Christmas Eve. The rabbit is nursed back to health by The Bunny Lady (Florence Henderson), who runs a rabbit rescue in an old barn behind her Michigan farmhouse.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 854
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, sincere, captivating, light, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 78%
Sounder (1972)
Plot Summary:
The Morgans, a loving and strong family of Black sharecroppers in Louisiana in 1933, face a serious family crisis when the husband and father, Nathan Lee Morgan, is convicted of a petty crime and sent to a prison camp. After some weeks or months, the wife and mother, Rebecca Morgan, sends the oldest son, who is about 11 years old, to visit his father at the camp. The trip becomes something of an odyssey for the boy. During the journey he stays a little while with a dedicated Black schoolteacher.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, realistic, thought provoking, gothic, social, southern gothic, sincere, uplifting