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Bad Santa

Bad Santa

He doesn't care if you're naughty or nice.

20036.61h 32m

Overview

You'd better watch out - Santa Claus Willie T. Soke is coming to town, and he doesn't care if you've been naughty or nice. Wille's favorite holiday tradition is to fill his sacks with loot lifted from shopping malls across the country. But this year his plot gets derailed by a wisecracking store detective, a sexy bartender, and a kid who's convinced Willie is the real Santa Claus.

Directed by Terry Zwigoff
Written by John Requa, Glenn Ficarra
Produced by John Cameron, Sarah Aubrey, Bob Weinstein
Box OfficeBudget: $23.0MRevenue: $76.5M

Top Cast

Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton

Willie

Tony Cox

Tony Cox

Marcus

Lauren Graham

Lauren Graham

Sue

Brett Kelly

Brett Kelly

The Kid

Lauren Tom

Lauren Tom

Lois

John Ritter

John Ritter

Bob Chipeska

Bernie Mac

Bernie Mac

Gin

Ajay Naidu

Ajay Naidu

Hindustani Troublemaker

Alex Borstein

Alex Borstein

Milwaukee Mom with Photo

Lorna Scott

Lorna Scott

Milwaukee Mother

Themes & Keywords

elvesholidaydepartment storechristmas partysafedrinklittle peoplechristmashilariousxmas

About Bad Santa

Bad Santa is a drama, comedy, crime film released in 2003 exploring themes of elves, holiday, department store, christmas party, safe, drink. Directed by Terry Zwigoff, it stars Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham. You'd better watch out - Santa Claus Willie T. Soke is coming to town, and he doesn't care if you've been naughty or nice. Wille's favorite holiday tradition is to fill his sacks with loot lifted from shopping malls across the country. But this year his plot gets derailed by a wisecracking store detective, a sexy bartender, and a kid who's convinced Willie is the real Santa Claus.

Movies Similar to Bad Santa

Discover titles like Bad Santa — ranked by similarity and community votes

We found 15 movies similar to Bad Santa

If you enjoyed Bad Santa, you'll love these handpicked recommendations. Each title below shares similar themes, tone, and storytelling style. Our algorithm analyzes genres, keywords, director filmography, and cast connections to find the closest matches. Whether you're looking for the same emotional depth, narrative structure, or visual style, these picks are curated to deliver the best viewing experience for fans of Bad Santa.

Arthur Christmas
30% Match

For hundreds of years, the Claus family has delegated the title "Santa" to a chosen few of its members, which can be passed down upon retirement. Each Christmas, Santa and his vast army of highly trained elves produce gifts and distribute them around the world in a one-night high-tech operation. However, when one of 600 million children to receive a gift from Santa on Christmas Eve is missed, it is deemed ‘acceptable’ to all but one—Arthur Claus, the current Santa’s misfit son deemed ineligible for the title, who executes an unauthorised rookie mission to get the last present halfway around the globe before dawn on Christmas morning.

Elf
27% Match

Elf(2003)

Movie6.7/10

When young Buddy falls into Santa's gift sack on Christmas Eve, he's transported back to the North Pole and raised as a toy-making elf by Santa's helpers. But as he grows into adulthood, he can't shake the nagging feeling that he doesn't belong. Buddy vows to visit Manhattan and find his real dad, a workaholic.

Christmas with the Kranks
25% Match

When their only daughter Blair leaves the family nest, Luther and Nora Krank decide to book an island cruise to beat the yuletide blues and just skip the holidays. But their decision to boycott tradition has the whole neighborhood in an uproar, and when Blair calls on Christmas Eve to announce a surprise visit with her new fiancée, the Kranks have just twelve hours to perform a miracle and pull themselves and their neighbors together to throw the best celebration ever!

Office Christmas Party
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When Carol Vanstone, CEO of the technology company Zenotek, expresses her intention to close the Chicago branch, run by her brother Clay, he and his co-workers organize a Christmas party in an effort to impress a potential client and save their jobs. But the party gets out of control…

Love Actually
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Eight very different couples deal with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London.

Jingle All the Way
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Howard Langston, a salesman for a mattress company, is constantly kept busy at his job, disappointing his son. After he misses his son's karate exposition, Howard vows to make it up to him by buying an action figure of his son's favorite television hero for Christmas. Unfortunately for Howard, it is Christmas Eve, and every store is sold out of Turbo Man. Now, Howard must travel all over town and compete with everybody else to find a Turbo Man action figure.

Miracle on 34th Street
24% Match

Kris Kringle, seemingly the embodiment of Santa Claus, is asked to portray the jolly old fellow at Macy's following his performance in the Thanksgiving Day parade. His portrayal is so complete that many begin to question if he truly is Santa Claus, while others question his sanity.

Jack Frost
23% Match

Jack Frost(1998)

Movie6.0/10

A father, who can't keep his promises, dies in a car accident. One year later, he returns as a snowman, who has the final chance to put things right with his son before he is gone forever.

The Family Stone
23% Match

An uptight, conservative businesswoman accompanies her boyfriend to his eccentric and outgoing family's annual Christmas celebration and finds that she's a fish out of water in their free-spirited way of life.

Christmas Angel
22% Match

Ashley has been on her own all her life. She feels even more alone this Christmas as she searches fruitlessly for a job. The seasonal cheer around her only rubs salt in her wounds as she scrapes by to support herself and her dog, Dash. But her neighbor, Nick, knows exactly what to do. He offers her a job, to be his assistant in the best work-helping others. There's one catch that Ashley must honor though-she can't tell anyone that her new boss is a sort of Secret Santa, helping others anonymously. Through her new job, Ashley meets Will, a writer for a business magazine who uncovers what Ashley is doing, and more importantly, Nick's involvement. As Ashley and Nick help people in need, Ashley tries to protect Nick's secret, and her own heart, while Will must weigh the consequences of what he does.

The Holiday
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Two women, one American and one British, swap homes at Christmastime following bad breakups. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.

Sleepless in Seattle
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After the death of his mother, a young boy calls a radio station in an attempt to set his father up on a date. Across the country, an engaged woman becomes convinced that they belong together, despite their never having met. Will their paths collide despite the odds?