However, this is more of a guideline than an actual rule.

In fact, some Christmas films are far from joyful or cheery and can be downright grim.

Of course, this only makes things worse, and the tension grows even more.

Blended image showing James Stewart as George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life with pine trees in the background.

Custom Image by Collider Staff

As much about Christmas as it isa movie about grief,Stepmomis a beautiful but outright depressing experience.

The movie starsMudit Guptaas Julian, a lonely boy with a birthday on Christmas Eve.

However, the holiday has been effectively ruined following the death of his beloved sister on the same day.

A family greeting each other in The Family Stone

Image via 20th Century Studios

She befriends Julian and helps him get back into the Christmas spirit and feel at peace again.

Yet this one stands as being the saddest of them all.

One has a child with severe mental illness, and another has fallen into a downward spiral of alcoholism.

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Merry Christmas, indeed.

They meet in No Man’s Land to exchange presents, have dinner and enjoy each other’s company.

Watch on Paramount+

NEXT:10 Best Christmas Action Movies, Ranked

Julia Roberts as Isabel Kelly and Susan Sarandon as Jackie Harrison in Stepmom

Image via Sony Pictures Releasing

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The two main characters of ‘the snow sister’, a boy and a girl against a snowy backdrop

Image via Netflix

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A still from Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey looking scared

Image via ABC

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Cast Placeholder Image

Judy Garland and Tom Drake in a promo shot for Meet Me in St. Louis.

Image via MGM

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Mel (Kevin Dillon) standing in a battlefield in ‘A Midnight Clear’

Image via InterStar Releasing

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George Bailey looking at someone in It’s a Wonderful Life

Image via Paramount Pictures

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The Vuillard family standing near a Christmas tree in ‘A Christmas Tale.'

Image via BAC Films

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Benno Furmann, Diane Kruger, and Daniel Bruhl in a scene from Joyeux Noël (2005).

Image via Sony Pictures Classics

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