Hollywood loves its Christmas movies. I feel like I’ve reviewed about a dozen this year alone, featuring everything from ancient genies to magical turtle doves to vengeance-driven mute killers.
And in something of an unexpected twist, a couple of them even feature the birth of Christ.
That makes 2023 something of an outlier. You’d think the original Christmas story would be more popular for moviemakers. I mean, it has a lot of raw material to work with: evil kings. Political intrigue. A family on the run. Cute animals. But while the entertainment industry fills our stockings with plenty of cinematic Christmas gifts (co-mingled with coal) come December, most steer clear of the Nativity story.
That said, moviemakers haven’t completely avoided the subject. And while families in the mood for a Nativity movie don’t have a lot to choose from, the pickings are surprisingly diverse.
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at seven movies, shows and specials about the original Christmas story that offer a little something for everyone.
We’ll start with The Nativity Story from 2006.
Made just a couple of years after The Passion of the Christ, The Nativity Story tried to feel as real and as reverent as Mel Gibson’s R-rated record-breaker. While it didn’t have quite the box-office success that The Passion had (The Nativity Story earned $46.4 million worldwide), it still might be one of the most realistic depictions of the original Christmas story ever captured on film. Starring a young Oscar Isaac as Joseph and Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary (she’d been nominated for an Oscar for her work in Whale Rider a few years before), The Nativity Story gives viewers a sense of what it might be like for a scared, pregnant teen to find a safe place to give birth in a most hostile land. Oh, and her baby just would happen to be the Son of God. (The Nativity Story is available on YouTube and Amazon Prime Video for free with a premium subscription.)
But maybe you’re looking for an older treatment of the Nativity story. Much older. And shorter. For those, I give you The Star of Bethlehem, a 15-minute silent film from 1912, making it practically as old as King Herod. This is apparently merely a fragment of the original film, which allegedly had a 106-minute running time. If you watch it, you’ll see that the movie shows its age. The special effects aren’t exactly up to the standards of today’s CGI. And a Plugged In reviewer back in the day might wonder why the film spent quite so much time at Herod’s debaucherous party. Still, as a historical piece, the film might be worth a look. In fact, we’ll just include it below.
For those who like a little more singing and dancing with their Nativity story, check out the oddly charming Journey to Bethlehem.
In my review, I characterized it as the original Christmas Story meets High School Musical, and that won’t be for everyone’s tastes. But for me, it worked. The story is really that of two great romances: that of Joseph and Mary, and that of God for His creation. (The movie is still out in select theaters, but you can also rent it on a number of streaming platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon and Google Play, for $9.99.)
Want a little less singing and a few more animated animals? You might want to check out 2017’s The Star. While the movie is a comedy, Adam Holz tells us that it’s a respectful one. “This film tells an imaginative and sweet version of Jesus’ birth—from the point of view of animals—while remaining faithful to the biblical narrative,” he writes. Oh, and one cannot overlook the voice talents that participated in the production: Zachary Levi and Gina Rodriguez voice Joseph and Mary, respectively, while Christopher Plummer, Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, Patricia Heaton, Mariah Carey and many others lend a hand. (You can watch this feature for free on Prime Video.)
Boaz the Donkey (voiced by Steven Yeun) is the animal star of The Star. But he’s far from the only donkey to take center stage in Christmas films. I’d be remiss to not mention two shorter Nativity stories that feature them.
First, there’s Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, a 1977 creation of Rankin/Bass Productions, the same studio that made Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Nestor shares some similarities with our friend Rudolph: He’s ridiculed for his long ears and shunned by all those snooty Romans. But Mary and Joseph take a different view of the beast of burden. And it shouldn’t be a spoiler to say that Nestor’s long ears come in mighty handy before the first Christmas is over. (You can watch it on Amazon Prime, but only if you have the AMC+ extension.)
Just one year later, Disney released The Small One, a 26-minute short featuring another cute little donkey (named, as you might’ve guessed, Small One). He’s old and weak, so he can’t carry loads like the other donkeys can. And he and his young caretaker go through some tough times together. But when a kindly man asks if the donkey’s for sale—he needs a gentle beast to carry his wife into Bethlehem—the story takes a nice turn. (This short is available on Disney+ for free.)
We’ve already read about some unusual takes on the Nativity story. But let me give you one final film that deserves a mention—even though it takes place not in ancient Judea, but contemporary America. The movie is Black Nativity, and it focuses on Langston, a struggling young man who’s forced to spend Christmas with his strict preacher grandfather, Cornell Cobbs and his caring wife, Aretha. Langston is hurting and lost. He’s being pulled toward a dangerous path. It seems like it might take a miracle for him to find his way back—and you know what? He finds it. Starring Oscar winners Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson alongside Angela Bassett, Tyrese Gibson and Mary J. Blige, Black Nativity is a beautiful powerhouse of a film. (It’s available at Hulu and fuboTV and Sling TV for free, and you can rent it through other streamers for around $4.)
So if you’re kicking back this Christmas, and you’ve seen It’s a Wonderful Life one too many times, are done with various iterations of A Christmas Carol and looking for something that talks about the real reason for the season, these seven movies and short films just might fit the manger.
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