The Best Movies To Watch During the Eight Nights of Hanukkah – Lifotravel

There are Christmas movies galore on streaming platforms like Hulu and Netflix, but Hanukkah movies are much more challenging to find. If you’re searching for a Hannukah movie to watch with friends and family to celebrate the holiday but having no luck, I rounded up 24 movies that might fit the bill. While not every movie highlights Hanukkah, they all emphasize the Jewish experience in different ways.

1. Eight Crazy Nights (2002)

Kicking off the list is Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights, which is a must-watch during the holiday season. This edgy animated film is about Davey Stone, a man who has lost all his faith in happiness, but when he’s sentenced to some holiday community service, he gains a new perspective. It’s musical, funny, and endearing.

2. Hanukkah (2019)

Most of the movies on this list are wholesome and sweet, but this one is a horror movie! If you’re looking for something different, Hanukkah is crazy and scary. It’s about a group of friends who realize they are being targeted because of their lack of faith, so they try to embrace the holiday as much as possible.

3. Love, Lights, Hanukkah! (2020)

This cheesy TV movie is an easy watch during the Festival of Lights. This quirky film follows a woman who discovers she is Jewish via a DNA test. Through this heritage revelation, she discovers a family she never knew and even finds love.

4. Menorah in the Middle (2022)

A successful woman returns to her hometown to celebrate Hanukkah with her family, but she finds out that her father has suffered a heart attack. Her holiday celebration becomes stressful between this tragic news, her new engagement, and the unknown future of the family business.

5. Mistletoe & Menorahs (2019)

This corny movie is about a woman who needs to learn everything she can about Hannukah to successfully score a new account at her job as a toy executive. In a funny twist, she has to help a friend turn his apartment into a Christmas haven, so you get the best of both holidays in this film.

6. Eight Gifts of Hanukkah (2021)

This TV movie is more Hanukkah-focused, which is what we love during the Festival of Lights! A lonely optometrist begins receiving anonymous presents on each night of Hanukkah, and as she tries to find her secret admirer, she realizes love may have been in front of her the whole time.

7. Double Holiday (2019)

Double Holiday is another classically bad holiday rom-com, but it’s still cute if you’re in the right mood. A Jewish woman is trying to get a job promotion against a Christmas-loving coworker she doesn’t get along with. They teach each other about their holiday traditions and bond in the process until, you guessed it, they fall in love.

8. An American Pickle (2020)

This hilarious movie stars Seth Rogen as a Jewish immigrant who works at a pickle factory. He falls into a pickle vat and is preserved for 100 years until he wakes up in modern NYC. The movie isn’t focused on Hanukkah, but it’s a fun Jewish film with many laughs.

9. Ira Finkelstein’s Christmas (2012)

Also titled All I Want Is Christmas, this adorable film follows a young Jewish boy far more interested in Christmas than Hanukkah. He trades plane tickets with another kid, hoping to get the Christmas of his dreams, but through his adventure, he learns to love Hanukkah and his heritage.

10. The Hebrew Hammer (2003)

The Hebrew Hammer is one of the more eccentric and off-the-beaten-path movies on this list. There are some questionable and poignant politics in the film, so consider that before watching, but this story of a Jewish man foiling Santa Claus’s son’s plan to ruin Hanukkah is very relevant for the season.

11. Hitched for the Holidays (2012)

In Hitched For The Holidays, two single Jewish New Yorkers go on a dating site to try and find a date for their upcoming holiday commitments. They agree to go to each other’s Christmas and Hanukkah events when they meet, but they soon develop feelings.

12. The Night Before (2015)

While this Seth Rogen takes place on Christmas Eve, it also has to do with the main characters’ Hanukkah celebration and has plenty of content that appeals to Christmas and Hanukkah lovers. This hilarious and chaotic movie is a barrel of laughs.

13. Little Fockers (2010)

This film is not as widely loved as Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers, but this holiday family movie still has a lot to love. The Fockers gather to celebrate the holidays together, but Greg and Jack continue to clash, even a decade after Greg joined the family.

14. An American Tail (1986)

This charming and cute movie is perfect for celebrating Hanukkah with little kids. A family of mice is driven out of their homes while celebrating Hanukkah or something meant to represent it and has to find a new life. It’s supposed to be an allegory, with the mice representing Jewish immigrants.

15. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

This classic Jewish tale is a must-watch around the holidays. The musical movie is about a Jewish man trying to keep up his Jewish traditions with his family. It’s a wholesome and moving story that is fun to watch but also touches on some serious issues Jewish immigrants have faced.

16. Crossing Delancey (1988)

Crossing Delancey is about a young Jewish woman in New York City who seems to enchant everyone she meets. While her grandmother is busy matchmaking for her, the young woman finds some romantic interests and becomes confused by her feelings.

17. For Your Consideration (2006)

For Your Consideration is a movie about a movie about Jewish family celebrating the holidays. You might be reading this list because you’re struggling to find any Hannukah-themed movies, and this film highlights how there is a lack of Jewish holiday movies in Hollywood.

18. A Serious Man (2009)

This dramedy is somewhat dark but also wildly funny. A Jewish man (yes, a serious one) is having a hard time and seeks guidance from rabbis in his community. It’s a Coen brothers film, so if you love their style of movies, you’ll enjoy this Hannukah watch.

19. Full-Court Miracle (2003)

A black basketball star suffers a knee injury and can no longer play. However, he finds purpose when he meets and helps a young Jewish boy’s basketball team get better. The two bond and the team improves, but not everyone is thrilled about this new mentorship.

20. A Rugrats Chanukah (1996)

Technically, this is just a TV episode, but it’s a “special” episode and is longer than usual, so I’m including it. It’s the perfect watch for kids, as all the Rugrats kids learn about the history of Hanukkah at a synagogue from grandpa Boris, making it educational and fun.

21. Jack and Jill (2011)

By no means does this movie deserve an Oscar, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a silly and enjoyable Hanukkah movie. Adam Sandler plays a pair of twins, one man and one woman, who don’t get along but manage to reconnect and find peace during the holiday season.

22. The Prince of Egypt (1998)

The Prince of Egypt is not technically a movie about Hanukkah, but it offers a moving and beautiful portrayal of Jewish people’s hardships. If you’ve never seen this movie, be prepared to fall in love because everything, from the music to the illustration to the story, is excellent.

23. Holiday Date (2019)

Holiday Date is about a woman who hires an actor to be her boyfriend at her family’s Christmas but doesn’t realize he is Jewish. Her family is surprised by this, but they all have a quirky and pleasant holiday anyway until the truth of their fake relationship comes out.

24. Hanukkah on Rye (2022)

This is another cheesy romantic holiday movie, and yes, it’s a TV movie. A matchmaker pairs up two Jewish deli owners during the Festival of Lights, but things are not as simple as they seem. They soon discover they are competing with one another, but that doesn’t stop the romance.

Source: (Seventeen).