Holidays are fun, but the weather outside can be quite frightful: cold winds, dreary skies, and snow (sometimes) in December. At times like these, watching a winter movie is a great way to stay warm and cozy.

We've compiled a list of some of the best winter movies to watch no matter what mood you're in, including monster movies, disaster movies, and ridiculous dramas. These movies will have you reaching for the blankets as you curl up by the fireplace (or at least the space heater). Some of them will make you think, “It could be worse.”

If you despise winter with all your heart, The Weather Man is for you. Nicolas Cage plays David Spritz, a frustrated but successful Chicago meteorologist. Despite his career success, he can only focus on what he has lost: his family. David tries to get more involved in his daughter's life. He even tries to reconnect with his ex-wife. But his wife has met someone, his father has a fatal illness, and his son has begun to develop a strange relationship with his teacher.

Nicolas Cage is perfect as a man who loses track of what he wants out of life and is betrayed by the very things he thinks he wants. But there is something fascinating about this film, even though it is the opposite of a hopeful holiday movie.

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Fans of disaster movies will love this winter apocalypse. Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is a paleoclimatologist who predicts future weather catastrophes. Unfortunately, his predictions have been largely ignored by the United Nations. But much sooner than he thought, his predictions come true and the world faces an abrupt plunge into the next ice age. The only hope is to head south, where the climate will remain warm.

Unfortunately, a massive superstorm is headed for the entire northeast, and Jack's son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) is attending an academic decathlon event. Jack's son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) is participating in an academic decathlon event. Snowy and scientifically inaccurate, but still enjoyable, this film will at least make you thankful you're not dealing with that winter.

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Snow seems like a place to hide secrets, and that's exactly what “Wind River” attempts to do. Wildlife officer Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) discovers a frozen corpse in the Wyoming snow on a nearby Native American reservation. When an autopsy reveals that a young woman, Natalie, has been raped, inexperienced but determined FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) is sent to investigate. Soon they navigate a tight-knit community with dark secrets, where outsiders are rarely welcome.

Although fictional, this haunting film sheds light on the often uninvestigated crimes of violence against Native American women. Olsen and Renner give excellent performances as they expose the brutal reality of what happened to Natalie on a cold winter night.

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If you've ever wondered what goes on at one of the coldest points on earth, check out John Carpenter's “The Thing.” Set in the desolate, snowy polar desert of Antarctica, the film confuses American researchers when a Norwegian helicopter flying overhead shoots and kills a seemingly innocent sled dog running through the snow. After the helicopter crashes, they take the dog and head to the Norwegian base to find out what happened, only to find that everyone there is either dead or gone.

Back at the base, they realize that an alien creature is lurking among them. Everyone is a potential enemy, pitting all the men against each other and making the cold, isolated area all the more frightening. Look for well-known faces to shine in this exciting thriller, including Kurt Russell, Keith David, and Wilford Brimley.

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In 2010's “Anna and the Snow Queen,” you can't build a snowman. Skiing has never looked so terrifying as it does in this film about all the mistakes that can happen on a ski slope: three friends head out to the mountains after closing and sneak into the chairlift for a night ski. Unfortunately, they are stranded high off the ground, and worse, no one knows they are there because they got on unbeknownst to anyone else.

Their night gets even worse when one of them tries to call for help, but lands in the snow and breaks his leg. A pack of hungry wolves joins them, and their chaotic night seems to never end. If you've ever thought about skiing after hours, this film will make you think twice.

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Carpooling with fellow college students returning home for the vacations seems like a good idea. In this film starring Emily Blunt as a young woman who is assigned to ride along in the car of a stranger (Ashton Holmes), tension mounts as it is immediately apparent that the two will not mesh, but even worse, a car accident sends them both into a snowbank. There, she realizes that the driver is harboring some dark secret.

Trapped between the unreliable driver and the deathly cold outside, she fights for survival in order to save her life and find a way to get home safely.

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If you're familiar with the effects of climate change, “Last Winter” will be both disturbing and captivating. An oil company crew is building an ice road to explore a new drilling site in the Arctic. Ed Pollack (Ron Perlman) leads the team and James Hoffman (James LeGros) is the environmental scientist monitoring the work. When a team member is found dead in the snow, Hoffman begins to suspect that deadly gases are being released from the thawing permafrost and tries to stop the work.

Cut off from the outside world, the situation gradually worsens as hallucinations haunt the entire team. Hoffman begins to suspect that something ancient under the snow and ice is attacking them. Don't leave the film until the last scene.

Watch on AMC Plus (via Prime Video)