The 35 Best New Year's Eve Movies to Ring in 2025
Watch these classics before the ball drops!
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As we get ready to ring in 2025, there are many ways to celebrate a new chapter. What better way to get ideas than by watching the best New Year's movies?
From going out in the city dressed in festive clothes to dancing the night away at a New Year's Eve party, everyone has their own New Year's traditions. One of our favorite ways to spend the night is getting cozy in our pajamas and watching the ball drop right from our couches. With that in mind, we rounded up the best movies you can watch on New Year's Eve that capture all those festive feelings.
Our list includes everything from classic rom-coms like When Harry Met Sally to family-friendly flicks like Happy New Year, Charlie Brown. We even incorporated some musical movies like The Phantom of the Opera and Tick, Tick ... BOOM! And the best part is, you can stream them all from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Max, Apple TV+ or other platforms. After all, it's time to bring in everything brand-new — but it doesn't have to be hard to do so.
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Who would've thought a movie adaptation of one of the most iconic musicals would be on this list? As it turns out, the story of a young soprano becoming the obsession of a masked musical genius comes with all the components that are perfect for a New Year's Eve movie marathon. The songs are memorable, the costumes are incredible, the romance subplot gives the viewer chills and there's a big party held on New Year's Eve — what more could you possibly want?
RELATED: Best Musical Movies of All Time
Holidate (2020)
Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey play two strangers who are both fed up with being single during the holiday season. As a result, they do the next best thing: They pretend to be in a romantic relationship, just so they can avoid having to explain not having real-life partners to friends and family. But like most rom-coms, one problem stands in their way: the fact that their feelings for one another are starting to become just a bit too real.
About a Boy (2002)
When Marcus, a womanizing bachelor, decides to meet girls at single parent meetings, he instead meets a troubled teen looking for companionship. As the twosome develop a bond resembling friendship, they teach each other what it means to live life with responsibility and freedom all at once. If that isn't enough to convince you to watch it, the duo are portrayed by none other than Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult.
Tick, Tick ... BOOM! (2021)
With New Year's Eve comes the want for bigger and better things. This movie adaptation of the semi-autobiographical musical from late playwright Jonathan Larson explores just that, with the premise of Jonathan wanting to write the best musical before he turns 30 years old. But with aging comes the harsh realities of life, as he learns quickly. But this film also brings a little bit of hope to the viewer, with dreams taking whatever shape the audience wants them to look like.
The Holdovers (2023)
When a curmudgeonly prep school teacher has to stay on campus for Christmas break, it's not because of his holiday spirit. It's due to the fact that he has to babysit some teenagers who don't have a place to go for the vacation, leading to a series of misadventures between him, one of his students and a school cafeteria manager.
Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne (2022)
Here's one you haven't watched a million times already, considering it debuted in December 2021. When the Peanuts gang is sad that Grandma can't visit for Christmas, they're determined to throw the best New Year's party ever. This special is only available on Apple TV+ (which also has the 1986 classic Happy New Year. Charlie Brown).
RELATED: How to Watch Happy New Year, Charlie Brown for Free
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Not only is this one of the greatest romantic comedies ever made, it also features one of the most killer New Year's Eve scenes (which we won't spoil, just in case). Watch it and weep.
New Year's Eve (2011)
We couldn't have a list of New Year's movies without including this one ... even if it wasn't a critical hit. If you're looking for something of the guilty-pleasure, awesomely-bad variety, check out this Garry Marshall ensemble comedy in the vein of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. What it lacks in quality, it makes up for in a huge ensemble cast, which has everybody from Robert DeNiro to Bon Jovi to Ludacris.
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
If you want some incredible action scenes with your glass-clinking, try this '70s disaster movie about a luxury cruise ship that gets capsized by a rogue wave on New Year's Eve. The film is anchored (pun kind of intended) by an amazing ensemble cast that includes Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, Red Buttons and Shelley Winters, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance.
Four Rooms (1995)
This one takes place at a hotel on New Year's Eve, and each room the bellhop goes into is home to its own mini-movie-within-a-movie by a different director. The filmmakers include Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, and you can see the seeds of some of their other movies — Rodriguez's movie is a heck of a lot like an R-rated version of Spy Kids!
After the Thin Man (1936)
If you haven't experienced the rapid-fire charm of William Powell and Myrna Loy's Nick and Nora, you're in for a treat. Based on characters by Dashiell Hammett, the pair play a married couple who think they're in for a tiresome New Year's Eve, and wind up solving a mystery in their signature witty style instead.
The Godfather Part II (1972)
Happy New Year to everybody but Fredo! While The Godfather Part II doesn't take place exclusively on New Year's Eve, it does feature one memorable NYE party in Cuba — which includes a New Year's kiss that you never want planted on your face.
Carol (2015)
This Oscar-nominated romantic film starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara follows two women from two completely different worlds who fall in love in the 1950s — and their first kiss happens at New Year's Eve (because there's no better time for a first kiss, obviously).
An American in Paris (1951)
There's New Year's Eve parties, and then there's the magnificent, costumed, black-and-white ball at the end of this movie. But throughout the movie, you get to be treated to Gene Kelly's incredible choreography (which won a special Oscar at the time, in addition to five other Academy Awards). Kelly plays an American torn between two women: a wealthy American and a French dancer (played by Leslie Caron in his first role).
Phantom Thread (2017)
There are a lot of luxe pleasures to watching Phantom Thread: You get to see fancy dresses, stately houses and a New Year's Eve party that'll make you wish you could whisk yourself back to London in the '50s. Just don't let the fact that the rest of the movie is about a tumultuous, often scathing relationship bum you out too much.
Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
This movie, which starts and ends on New Year's, is Renée Zellweger at her most charming, and a testament to starting off each year with a fresh, blank page.
The Apartment (1960)
This movie, from the director of Some Like It Hot, follows a worker at an insurance company who lets the executives use his New York City apartment for their affairs. Romantic entanglements ensue, and drama starts at the company Christmas party that last through New Year's Eve.
Diner (1982)
Director Barry Levinson is known for movies that take place in his hometown of Baltimore, and this is the one that started it all. It takes place in the late-'50s, and it follows a group of friends who are preparing for a New Year's Eve wedding. It starts after Christmas, and the week is packed with antics.
Trading Places (1983)
Who doesn't want to start the new year off with a laugh? This movie spans Thanksgiving to New Year's, so you can watch it constantly the last two months of each year.
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
New Year's could be worse — you could be the only guest at Hollywood has-been Norma Desmond's NYE party, as Joe Gillis realizes he is at the beginning of this movie.
Katarina Avendaño (she/her) is the senior SEO editor for Good Housekeeping, where she writes and edits lifestyle content and contributes to SEO strategy. Before joining GH in 2021, she was the digital editor at New York Family, where she was responsible for the website’s content and strategy. Katarina received her bachelor's degree in communications and Spanish from the University of Washington.
As the entertainment and news associate editor for Good Housekeeping, Adrianna (she/her) writes about everything TV, movies, music and pop culture. She graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in business management. She covers shows like The Rookie, 9-1-1 and Grey's Anatomy, though when she’s not watching the latest show on Netflix, she’s taking martial arts or drinking way too much coffee.
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