New Year's Eve is one of the most exciting holidays of the season, and it's a great time to look forward to new things while reflecting on the old. There are many interesting traditions associated with the event, and everyone observes it differently. Movies can be an excellent way to celebrate and relax on the last night of the year.
Whether the characters are having their own New Year's celebration, starting afresh in their lives, or enjoying a beautiful holiday aesthetic, a great movie can make the night even more festive. These options from Disney+ will do the trick!
Holidate (Netflix): 40%
Holidate (2020) is the Netflix Original that fits pretty much any holiday. Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey) are tired of going dateless or with duds for major holidays. They meet one another at a mall by chance, and it doesn't take long before the two strike a deal to become each other's "holidates."
They go with one another to all major seasonal functions and family events, no strings attached. Their first big event is a huge New Year's party, and it's a messy but memorable evening. Viewers will be hooked for the rest of the year that Sloane and Luke go through on-screen.
Midnight At The Magnolia (Netflix): 43%
For those who are looking for another recent rom-com, Midnight at the Magnolia (2020) is a good choice for the dawn of the new year. Radio hosts Jack and Maggie want to get their show nationally syndicated, so they plot a fake relationship and begin with a kiss on New Year's Eve.
Of course, the co-workers begin to question whether or not they have feelings for one another.
New Year's Eve (Hulu With HBO Max Add-on): 45%
Zac Efron's New Year's celebrations didn't end with High School Musical. What better grown-up movie for the holiday than New Year's Eve (2011)? This rom-com is a quasi-sequel to Valentine's Day (2010). Both movies feature legions of popular actors whose characters' lives intertwine in surprising ways. Zac Efron gives Michelle Pfeiffer an unforgettable tour of New York. Josh Duhamel and Sarah Jessica Parker meet just in the nick of time. Jessica Biel has a New Year's baby. Halle Berry is a busy nurse who gets dressed up for a video call with her love interest.
She also takes excellent care of Hilary Swank's character's father at the hospital. There are a few other great threads, including a romance between Katherine Heigl and Bon Jovi. This spectacle of Times Square delight never gets old.
Are We There Yet? (Hulu With STARZ Add-on): 45%
Are We There Yet? (2005) is the hilarious Ice Cube movie that kids in the 2000s loved watching during the holidays. The movie is unique in that it involves a New Year's road trip instead of a Christmas one. Ice Cube is dating a divorced woman and must prove that he is responsible by safely transporting the girlfriend's children to their holiday destination.
The kids are heartbroken to see that their father has moved on and no longer cares for them, so they become closer to Ice Cube, who shares a New Year's kiss with their mother.
Godmothered (Disney+): 69%
Some Disney+ subscribers had no idea that Godmothered would be the platform's next big original movie. Starring Isla Fisher and Jillian Bell, Godmothered is the perfect family movie to watch on New Year's Eve. The action takes place over the holiday season as an aspiring fairy godmother (Bell) must help an exhausted single mother (Fisher) turn her life around. If magic doesn't happen, the fairy godmother school will turn into a training program for tooth fairies.
The movie has clear similarities to Enchanted, which is funny given that Isla Fisher and Amy Adams truly look alike. Though there's no New Year's party or midnight kiss, the film is full of wintry scenery, dancing, laughing, and holiday merriment.
High School Musical (Disney+): 74%
High School Musical (2006) is the perfect Disney Channel movie for ringing in the new year. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens first sing as Troy and Gabriella at a New Year's Eve party while on vacation.
Their karaoke song is aptly named "Start of Something New." The high school acquaintances are surprised to see each other at school after winter break, but their magical New Year's moment is never too far away for either of them.
Cloud 9 (Disney+): 74%
Cloud 9 (2014) is a much later DCOM, but it still has New Year's vibes. The snowy family film stars Dove Cameron and Luke Benward, two snowboarders training at a wintry resort.
Although the movie doesn't center the holiday season, it certainly evokes a seasonal mood. With its January release, Disney stars even offered up their own New Year's resolutions to promote the film.
While You Were Sleeping (Disney+): 79%
While You Were Sleeping is a Sandra Bullock classic that has found its way onto Disney+. Bullock plays a train ticket booth operator in Chicago named Lucy. She saves the life of a man she secretly loves, but things get complicated when Lucy es herself off as the man's girlfriend.
Lucy saved Peter, but she realizes that she loves his brother, Jack. The romantic 1990s gem features both Christmas and New Year's, and it's a wonderful tradition.
The Holiday (Hulu With Live TV): 80%
In The Holiday (2006), an online house swap program gives Amanda and Iris each a chance to get away. Iris flies to Los Angeles to stay at Amanda's home, and Amanda flies to London for a rest at Iris's home.
They each have the chance to find romance while on holiday, and the movie is a favorite Christmas and New Year's tradition for many viewers.
About Time (Netflix): 81%
It's not unusual for movie characters to repeat Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (or Groundhog Day). About Time takes a surprising turn and begins a character's time travel journey with New Year's Eve. Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) learns that the men in his family have the gift of time travel.
By standing in his closet, Tim transports himself back to a New Year's Eve party so that he can kiss Charlotte (Margot Robbie), but he later finds love with Rachel McAdams' character, Mary. There are some awkward and unusual twists in the England-based film (which definitely is not suitable for the whole family), but it creatively launches its plot off of New Year's.
