20 non-traditional Christmas movies to watch this year

15. Elle

Watch if: You’re craving a story led by an anti-heroine.

What it’s about: After being sexually assaulted, Michèle (Isabelle Huppert) tries to track down her rapist. She also juggles an ex-husband, a lover (who is married to her best friend and business partner), an underemployed, irresponsible son, an emotionally fragile mother, a convict father and disgruntled employees.

Connection to Christmas: Strong. Decorations are everywhere and Michèle hosts an extremely awkward Christmas party for her family, friends, and neighbors.

Why it makes for good holiday entertainment: Like In Bruges, Elle stresses that the world doesn’t stop turning just because it’s Christmas. But I also think Elle works as (fiercely) non-traditional holiday fare because it shows how disparate parts of our lives often collide over Christmas dinner.

This is how Michèle experiences the holiday, and then some. Her lover flirts with her while his wife is in the other room. Her mother announces that she’s marrying her much-younger boyfriend moments before suffering a severe stroke. Her ex-husband flaunts his new relationship with a much-younger woman in Michèle’s face. One of her neighbors misreads the secular room and asks to watch the Pope’s mass on TV. Her son, his volatile girlfriend and the baby he believes is his (but obviously isn’t) are also along for the ride. And the epically disastrous occasion is also where Michèle first senses something is amiss with her other neighbor, the handsome, shy Patrick (Laurent Lafitte).

Bottom line: Dec. 25 can feel like a slow-motion train wreck. Elle knows it and fully embraces it.