Summary
- Lindsay Lohan stars in Falling For Christmas, a heartwarming holiday film on Netflix with mixed reviews.
- Love Hard features Nina Dobrev in a Christmas catfishing rom-com praised for its humor and predictability.
- Happiest Season is an LGBTQ romance movie challenging heteronormative norms, perfect for the holidays.
One of the special holiday traditions involves curling up on the couch with a warm blanket and a hot beverage to watch the best romantic Christmas movies. While classic Christmas films like The Holiday are a must-watch every season, some fresher options should be explored, like Falling For Christmas starring Lindsay Lohan.
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Other romantic Christmas movies to add to the December watchlist are Love Hard with Nina Dobrev and The Princess Switch starring Vanessa Hudgens. All these and more make up the best Christmas romance movies to watch this holiday season.
8
Falling For Christmas
A Rom-Com Starring Lindsay Lohan
- Release Date: November 10, 2022
- Director: Janeen Damian
- Running Time: 1h 33m
The unique Lindsay Lohan makes her comeback in Falling For Christmas as Sierra. She’s a spoiled woman who gets engaged to her boyfriend, a social media influencer, on their ski trip. However, after a tragic accident, she loses her memory and finds herself dependent on Jake, a caring local man. Long story short, her life changes after that.
Falling For Christmas is one of the more recent Christmas movies, and was released on Netflix in 2022. The reviews of the film are mixed. Some people comment on the too-cheesy moments, and others are impressed with the lighthearted tone, making it perfect to watch over the holiday season.
7
The Family Stone
A Very Chaotic Family Gathers For The Holiday Season
- Release Date: December 16, 2005
- Director: Thomas Bezucha
- Running Time: 1h 43m
The Family Stone centers around a very chaotic gathering over the holiday season. Everett, one of the family’s eldest sons, brings home his edgy girlfriend Meredith with the idea of proposing to her. However, Meredith clashes with the Stone family personality, and a mix of events follows with a lot of comedy, drama, and romance.
The cast of The Family Stone, including Dermot Mulroney, Rachel McAdams, and Sarah Jessica Parker, makes the movie an instant must-watch. According to reviews, many viewers admit this is one of the most rewatchable movies over the holiday season, while others found it too predictable.
6
Holidate
A Single Woman Is Pressured To Meet Someone Over The Holiday Season
- Release Date: October 28, 2020
- Director: John Whitesell
- Running Time: 1h 44m
Streaming on Netflix, Holidate tells the story of a woman who is tired of being pressured by her family to meet someone. She meets another single man dealing with the same situation and decides to make a deal—they’ll be each other’s date over the holiday season. As expected, this is a romantic Christmas movie, so they fall in love.
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What viewers like about the movie is how relatable the storyline is about the social and familial expectations around relationships. The cast includes Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey, and their chemistry makes the movie entertaining regardless of the cheesy dialogue and predictability.
5
Happiest Season
An LGBTQ+ Romance Christmas Movie
- Release Date: November 25, 2020
- Director: Clea DuVall
- Running Time: 1h 42m
The Happiest Season is a modern romantic Christmas movie representing the LGBTQ community. The plot centers around a lesbian couple, a soon-to-be wife and wife. There is just one little issue—one of them hasn’t come out to her family about her sexual orientation, forcing the other one to pretend to be straight.
What was planned to be a pleasant holiday season ends up being a facade. This Christmas movie was released in 2020 and stands out from the typical heteronormative romance movie genre.
4
The Princess Switch
Two Identical Women Switch Lives
- Release Date: November 16, 2018
- Director: Mike Rohl
- Running Time: 1h 41m
The Princess Switch stars Vanessa Hudgens, who plays dual performances as two identical women. One is a skillful baker in Chicago, and the other lives a completely different lifestyle as a duchess from Montenaro. After meeting at a baking competition, a mix of events takes them to switch lives for a couple of days.
This romantic Christmas movie was highly successful, resulting in two sequels, The Princess Switch 2: Switched Again and The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star. The whole series makes for a great marathon to watch over the holiday season.
3
Love Hard
A Woman Gets Catfished At Christmastime
- Release Date: November 5, 2021
- Director: Hernán Jiménez
- Running Time: 1h 44m
Love Hard stars Nina Dobrev as a young woman who always keeps a journal to write down her dating life. On her online dating journey, she matches with the “perfect guy” and decides to fly to his hometown to surprise him over Christmas, only to discover she has been catfished.
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Viewers loved the fresh humor that the main cast brings to the table, while others commented on the movie’s predictability. But aren’t all romantic movies a bit predictable? It is one of the main ingredients of the genre. It’s intended to give feel-good vibes and reduce anxiety. Overall, Love Hard is a great pick over Christmas.
2
Love Actually
A Variety Of Unique Love Stories In One Christmas Movie
- Release Date: November 14, 2003
- Director: Richard Curtis
- Running Time: 2h 15m
Love Actually is set in London and tells the story of various people with different and unique love stories. These range from relationships with partners to infidelities and family struggles that make it hard to focus on love.
The good aspect of Love Actually that excites rom-com fans and has made it an iconic Christmas movie is how effortless it is to watch. It gifts viewers with feel-good vibes and holiday spirit, earning its spot as a Christmas classic and a rating of 7.6/10 on IMDb.
1
The Holiday
A Classic Christmas Story
- Release Date: November 29, 2006
- Director: Nancy Meyers
- Running Time: 2h 16m
The Holiday needs to be the first pick when mentioning the best romantic Christmas movies. The movie stars Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as the two female leads who are looking to escape from their lives during the holidays. One is a businesswoman trying to recover from her recent breakup, and the other is trying to stop thinking about a man who doesn’t love her back.
Both struggling women decide to swap houses, and the healing process starts. This is a great Christmas watch that shows viewers the importance of self-love before anything else.
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