20 non-traditional Christmas movies to watch this year

20. Happy Christmas

Watch if: You have a love/hate relationship with your in-laws. Or your family.

What it’s about: After a bad breakup, Jenny (Anna Kendrick) moves in with her brother (writer-director Joe Swanberg) and his wife (Melanie Lynskey) just in time for the holidays.

Connection to Christmas: Very strong (see title).

Why it makes for good holiday entertainment: Happy Christmas makes the case that you’re stuck with your family for better or worse, so you might as well try to enjoy them. Jenny is a mess from beginning to end. She has a habit of getting blackout drunk, she’s selfish, and destruction tends to follow her wherever she goes. However, Jenny’s also a fun person to a have around. She’s great with her toddler nephew, and she and her brother genuinely enjoy each other as people.

Most important, she forges an unexpected bond with her sister-in-law, Kelly, who is a writer. Jenny sees Kelly as more than a mother or wife and treats her as such, something Kelly sorely needs. And Jenny encourages Kelly to keep pursuing her career — the two even end up working on an erotic novel together. (Kelly does the writing, Jenny helps shape the story.)

We all have a Jenny in our family — they drive us crazy but we couldn’t imagine life without them. Metaphorically speaking, they pass out drunk with a frozen pizza in the oven, but they also inspire us to pen a sexy bestseller. If that’s not the essence of Christmas with extended family, I don’t know what is.