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Christmas is almost here, and that means it’s time to break out those classic and nostalgic Black-led holiday flicks.

When it comes to Black Christmas cinema, the Black community takes it very seriously, as there’s literally a debate online almost every year about which Black Christmas movies are the best, which ones aren’t Christmas movies at all, and the movies you have to have seen in order to not have your “Black card” revoked.

The Preacher’s Wife and Friday After Next are definitely Christmas movies.

— Dev Long (@thehiphopfoodie) December 14, 2024

Whether you’re into a heartwarming flick that make you shed some tears or a family-centered comedy that will make the sides of your stomach ace from laughter, TheWrap has it all here for you. Here are many Black-led and/or created Christmas movies to deck your halls to this Christmas season.

“The Preacher’s Wife” “The Preacher’s Wife” (1996)

In the Black home,...

Christmas movies are a dime a dozen — especially when the Holiday season is just around the corner. The priorities of these movies are pretty straightforward. They are either about the togetherness that the season brings for families – a good narrative would use this aspect to either bring estranged ones together or dysfunctional ones closer. Subsequently, there are those movies that take the holiday spirit head-on, and push the viewers, and humans in general, to be at least a little bit kinder to each other. And then there are some that use the ‘saving Christmas’ narrative; the big-ol-grinch trying to mess things up followed up by a redemption of sorts.

“Mr. Santa: A Christmas Extravaganza” wants to be all of them at once. It follows three teenage high schoolers – Aj (Fey Soetan), Logan (Emmet Smith), and Keyara (Shanel Cheatham) who represent the geeks of the grade. The three have been best...

Stars: Eden Duncan-Smith, Danté Crichlow, Astro, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Johnathan Nieves, Michael J. Fox, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Wavyy Jonez, Carlos Arce Jr., Patrice Bell, Khail Bryant, Waliek Crandall, Frank Harts, Allen Holloway | Written by Stefon Bristol, Fredrica Bailey | Directed by Stefon Bristol

See You Yesterday, directed by Stefon Bristol, follows two ambitious technologically and scientific prodigal teenagers C.J. Walker and Sebastian Thomas – played by Eden Duncan-Smith and Danté Crichlow respectively – who manage to create a time machine years after theorising such a scientific achievement. However, what soon starts as smooth sailing slowly broadens out into a dangerous game of trying to alter the past, resulting in damaging consequences that will change the lives of the two and all around them forever.

Of what seems to be just a simplistic and overly eccentric film intended for childlike audiences, soon blossoms into a captivating and socially relevant drama. Producer Spike Lee...

Poly Prep Country Day School’s middle school campus in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, might be a borough away from the Great White Way, but the school’s 360-seat theater, seasoned faculty, and talented student performers give their productions a professional polish. From Tony Award winner Dan Fogler to “The Gospel at Colonus” composer Bob Telson, Poly Prep, a private nursery–12 system, is a known incubator of Broadway talent. This season’s production of “The Wiz” is no exception. “You get to really work, and it’s like you are on Broadway. It feels like the real thing,” said student Olivia Knutsen, 12, who plays the evil witch Evermean. The show, which debuts May 10, will also star middle schooler and accomplished stage actor Khail Bryant. Only 13, Bryant has already played a young Nala in the Broadway production of “The Lion King”; in addition, she is part of the Alvin Ailey youth company...