20 non-traditional Christmas movies to watch this year

1. Carol

Watch if: You enjoy a slow-burn romance. Or if you believe that Cate Blanchett is the Meryl Streep of her generation.

What it’s about: Therese (Rooney Mara), a shopgirl/aspiring photographer, falls hard for Carol (Blanchett), who is older and has a husband and child. Therese and Carol manage to actually make it as a couple despite 1950s societal pressures and Carol’s husband (Kyle Chandler), who has a hard time letting go.

Connection to Christmas: Quite strong. The two meet when Carol buys her daughter a present at the department store where Therese works — Therese is even wearing a Santa hat. Most of the film takes place within a week or so of Christmas.

Why it makes for good holiday entertainment: For one, Carol is visually reminiscent of a Christmas card. However, it’s really a wonderful non-traditional Christmas film because it explores convention and how hard it is to defy. Carol appears to be the quintessential rich ‘50s housewife: she’s beautiful, elegant, fashionable, and has the picture-perfect family. In most ways, she actually is the quintessential rich ‘50s housewife, except for the fact that she’s attracted to women. Carol knows who she is and what she wants, but is petrified to go after it. She could lose her daughter, status and money. She could be ostracized.

Christmas, if nothing else, screams convention. Even if you outright dislike the holiday, chances are you show up and go through the appropriate rituals because, hey, that’s what people do. It’s really hard to resist centuries-old tradition. It’s really hard to resist what society expects of you. At least Carol gives us hope that going against the grain sometimes does actually work out just fine.

Next: Gilmore Girls’ Bracebridge Dinner is holiday episode gold

And that’s 20 non-traditional Christmas movies to enjoy this season.