10 Movies You Forgot Were Set At Christmas

2. Prometheus

Prometheus Idris Elba
Fox

Ridley Scott's Prometheus may be many things, but a Christmas movie? You're damn right.

Granted, Scott's Alien prequel is set primarily away from Earth and doesn't make much overt reference to the precise month of its setting, and unless you've seen the film more than a few times, you'll likely have forgotten its brief spicing of Yuletide cheer.

In one of Prometheus' early scenes, Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) walks in on Captain Janek (Idris Elba) as he's decorating a small Christmas tree on top of the titular ship's pool table.

Vickers asks him what he's doing and he retorts, "It's Christmas. We need the holidays to show time is still moving."

There's just one other fleeting Christmas reference a few scenes later, when the crew discovers a structure on the moon LV-223, and Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) says, "It's Christmas, captain, and I want to open my presents."

These moments are so brief and inconsequential that they're easily forgotten, especially given the general lack of Christmas-y iconography throughout the movie as a whole.

That didn't stop HBO trying to argue that it was a Christmas movie in earnest, noting that it's a film about faith, miracles, and wise men following a star. Sure, why not?

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.