As the year slowly creeps toward the end, I like to mix in some different movies into my holiday watches. Aside from Christmas, I try to rope in a few New Year's Eve movies to keep the whole month festive.

There's something about the new year that makes you so hopeful. It's a chance to start over and for things to be different. There's also a ton of pressure to smooch someone, which can work in any genre.

And I find that the best New Year's Eve movies dig into that theme as well, and also flip that trope to be foreboding....

It's one of the perfect holidays to capture on film, which is why I want to break down my ten favorites you need ot check out this year.

Let's dive in.

1. When Harry Met Sally (1989)

  • Director: Rob Reiner
  • Writer: Nora Ephron
  • Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby

The undisputed heavyweight champion of New Year’s Eve movies. It's so beautiful and loving and funny and emotional and just wonderful all around. While the film spans several years, it culminates in a midnight confession that defines the holiday for generations of moviegoers. This is what love feels like.

2. The Apartment (1960)

  • Director: Billy Wilder
  • Writer: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond
  • Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray

This Billy Wilder masterpiece balances cynicism with soul as we peel back the layers of dating in New York City. It feels so modern and yet so vintage. It’s a bittersweet corporate satire that ends at a New Year’s Eve party where the famous line "Shut up and deal" serves as the ultimate romantic gesture.

3. The Godfather Part II (1974)

  • Director: Francis Ford Coppola
  • Writer: Francis Ford Coppola, Mario Puzo
  • Cast: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, John Cazale

Not all New Year’s kisses are romantic. Some of them are shared between brothers and are a sign of betrayal. This sequel features the most chilling holiday moment in history as Michael Corleone delivers the "kiss of death" to Fredo during a raucous celebration in Havana. It changes the whole movie after.

4. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

  • Director: Sharon Maguire
  • Writer: Richard Curtis, Andrew Davies, Helen Fielding
  • Cast: Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant

The film starts and ends on New Year’s, which perfectly captures the spirit of resolutions and fresh starts. This is a movie about a woman trying to find the right guy to start over with, and all the pratfalls that go along with it.

5. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

  • Director: Ronald Neame
  • Writer: Stirling Silliphant, Wendell Mayes
  • Cast: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons

If you think your party is going poorly, just remember it could be worse: your luxury ocean liner could capsize at the stroke of midnight in the middle of the ocean. This is the gold standard of 1970s disaster cinema, and such a weirdly funny movie. It takes surviving to see the new year to a new level.

6. About Time (2013)

  • Director: Richard Curtis
  • Writer: Richard Curtis
  • Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy

This is a heartwarming story about a man who discovers he can travel in time and uses it to deepen his relationships. It is a total tearjerker and one of those movies I love telling people about. The film’s inciting incident—and one of its most touching scenes—takes place at a New Year’s Eve party where a missed connection changes everything about how he feels about time and his life.

7. Phantom Thread (2017)

  • Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
  • Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson
  • Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville

If you want a visually stunning and atmospheric evening, this period drama features a chaotic, balloon-filled New Year’s Eve gala in 1950s London that highlights the tension between the two leads. Since the movie is about fabulous things, the whole thing feels elegant and perfect for your NYE festivities.

8. Ocean's 11 (1960)

  • Director: Lewis Milestone
  • Writer: Harry Brown, Charles Lederer
  • Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Angie Dickinson

Look, the new Soderbergh one is a better movie, but I love that this one has the "Rat Pack" in a heist film is explicitly set against the backdrop of a New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas. It’s effortless, cool, and much more focused on the holiday vibes than the modern remake, and I wish they used that element in the remake.

9. While You Were Sleeping (1995)

  • Director: Jon Turteltaub
  • Writer: Daniel G. Sullivan, Frederic Lebow
  • Cast: Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher

This is such a cozy, "comfort food" movie that follows a lonely transit worker who is mistaken for a man's fiancée. The pivotal thematic scene occurs on New Year’s Eve, emphasizing the importance of family and belonging as she is welcomed among people she barely knows and finally has a place where she belongs.

10. Strange Days (1995)

  • Director: Kathryn Bigelow
  • Writer: James Cameron, Jay Cocks
  • Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore

If you want a darker, sci-fi alternative to all of these movies, this cyberpunk thriller takes place during the final 48 hours of 1999. It’s a visceral, high-energy look at the Y2K anxiety that gripped the world at the end of the millennium and has some insane visuals.

Summing It All Up 

These are my top ten New Year's Eve movies. They make me laugh, they make me cry, they make me happy, and I think they rock.

But I bet there are movies I forgot that you want to add to this list.

Let us know what you think in the comments.

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