8 Coziest Winter Movies You’ll Want to Curl Up With Right Now

Winter movies just hit a different level of comfort. It’s already a very cozy time of the year, and when you’re able to settle in, get into some comfy clothing, and enjoy a great film while watching the winter weather from your couch, you reach an ideal state of relaxation.

Maybe it’s because winter slows everything down and sets up for a great backdrop to tell these stories. These are the kinds of films you put on when it’s cold outside, and you want to feel super immersed. Cozy doesn’t always mean happy endings, though—it can also be a bittersweet story. Here are eight cozy winter movies of different genres and tones.

The Holdovers (2023)
Paddington (2014)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Fargo (1996)
Frozen (2013)
Snowpiercer (2013)
Groundhog Day (1993)

The Holdovers (2023)

The Holdovers feels like it wandered in from another era. Set during a snowy 1970s Christmas break at a New England boarding school, the story follows a cranky teacher, a troubled student, and a grieving cafeteria manager who all get stuck on campus together for the holidays.

The film stars Paul Giamatti in one of his most lived-in performances. Directed by Alexander Payne, the film leans into unexpected connections built over a short period of time. By the end, you feel like you spent time with real people.

Paddington (2014)

Paddington shows that the power of kindness can carry an entire movie. The movie follows a polite little bear from Peru who ends up lost in London and gets taken in by a family. Paddington himself, voiced by Ben Whishaw, isn’t clever or sarcastic or edgy. He’s just good, almost painfully so, and the movie never mocks that.

Directed by Paul King, the film uses wintry London as a backdrop for a little bit of slapstick chaos, along with a lot of small but emotional beats.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

The first Chronicles of Narnia movie still feels so magical, even all these years later, thanks in large part to its set and costume design, and CGI that doesn’t feel dated (especially with the battle sequences).

The plot follows four siblings who step through a wardrobe and reach a frozen fantasy world. It’s a classic setup, sure, but the movie treats it with real weight and wonder. The movie does a great job of balancing the childlike awe with darker themes. A winter setting usually makes things cozy, but here it feels a little oppressive.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a standout in Wes Anderson’s filmography. There’s perfect symmetry everywhere you look, and it never gets tiresome. It still remains one of his best and most confident work.

The movie has breakneck pacing, but not to the point that it feels rushed. Ralph Fiennes also delivers one of the best performances of his career, greatly balancing ridiculous humor without missing a beat. Underneath the candy-colored visuals, there are more than a few moments of melancholy here.

Fargo (1996)

Fargo showed us that snow can be both amusing and terrifying at the same time. Directed by the Coen Brothers, the film mixes many elements of crime thriller and dark comedy into something totally its own.

The story centers on a failed kidnapping plot that goes wildly out of control. Despite the murders and all the violence, the movie feels oddly comforting, especially during wintertime. It’s a dark movie, but not too dark, thanks to the well-done satirical elements.

Frozen (2013)

Frozen became a winter classic pretty much overnight, and not just because of its snowy setting. Set in the cold kingdom of Arendelle, it tells the story of two sisters who are pulled apart.

The film flips a lot of old Disney ideas on their head, and subverts tropes in a good way. The villain isn’t obvious from the start, and the big emotional moment comes from the siblings, and not via a love interest. The music is also great, of course.

Snowpiercer (2013)

Snowpiercer isn’t cozy in the typical sense. It’s a very serious sci-fi movie with heavy themes and topics, but if you want to watch something different and impactful, it’s a great choice. Especially during winter.

In the movie, the world has frozen solid, and the last humans survive on a train that never stops moving. Each carriage of the train represents a social class. Guess who lives in the back?

Directed by Bong Joon-ho, the film uses snow as a symbol of absolute death, since outside the train, absolutely nothing survives. Chris Evans plays a reluctant leader in one of his best roles yet, and there’s a lot of attention to detail in terms of how a society on a moving train would actually exist.

Groundhog Day (1993)

Groundhog Day starts as a comedy and quietly turns into a movie with a lot of lessons. A cynical weatherman gets stuck reliving the same winter day over and over again. Although there were time loop movies before it, this was the one that really popularized this sub-genre.

Bill Murray’s shift from sarcasm to despair to genuine care is really well done. The snow-covered town of Punxsutawney also becomes a testing ground for personal growth. What would you do if you had endless time? It’s a perfect winter movie in a lot of ways.