20 non-traditional Christmas movies to watch this year

12. Tangerine

Watch if: Christmas Eve is the busiest, most stressful day of your year.

What it’s about: Just out of prison, sex worker Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) goes looking for her pimp/boyfriend, who has apparently been cheating on her. Sin-Dee’s best friend and voice of reason, Alexandra (Mya Taylor), tags along for the ride.

Connection to Christmas: Very strong. Tangerine takes place over the day and night of Christmas Eve, and Alexandra performs “Toyland” at her cabaret show.

Why it makes for good holiday entertainment: Two reasons. 1) Tangerine presents characters who are often absent from Christmas (and non-Christmas narratives). Not only are Sin-Dee and Alexandra trans women of color, they and the supporting characters are all working class — or are aspiring to be working class. Just think about that. Most Christmas stories (including the ones on this list) are about big, white families full of cis people enjoying a week off from work, playing with their mountain of presents, and eating a plethora of rich food. Sin-Dee and Alexandra, on the other hand, are just trying to make enough money to survive, and maybe score a couple donuts. All they want for Christmas is for Chester (James Ransone) to fess up to his infidelity and for people to come and see Alexandra sing.

2) You know how there’s Friendsgiving? Well, consider Tangerine Friendsmas. Johns, pimps and boyfriends come and go frequently, and family is non-existent, but at least Sin-Dee and Alexandra have each other. Their friendship is nowhere near perfect, but it’s the most precious gift either of the women have.