7 Things You Need For the Perfect Holiday Movie

One of the most common ingredients to holiday movies is redemption. There have been roughly 23 direct adaptations of A Christmas Carol, which features the journey of redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge. There have been dozens more inspired by that story.

There have been many incarnations of It’s a Wonderful Life, which tells the harrowing tale of George Bailey’s redemption after falling from grace in the eyes of his career, his town, his wife, and his children.

The need for redemption means that there is major conflict that the character(s) need to overcome. Conflict is the root of all great storytelling, so needless to say, the best holiday movies have redemption stories. Kevin needed redemption in Home Alone after wishing his family away. So did the Grinch, Scott in The Santa Clause, Jack in The Nightmare Before Christmas, Clark in Christmas Vacation, and even Scrooge McDuck in Mickey’s Christmas Carol.