Yes, I have another movie list for you.
I’ve finally recovered from the tears of Last Christmas, and you can read my review of it HERE.
Now, you might think that my only hobby is to sit in my room by myself watching movies to write about them for the approval of random Internet strangers, but that’s not true.
My other hobby is alternating between “I’m a strong independent woman and I don’t need to date to feel whole” and “God I want to walk around downtown looking at christmas decorations and drinking hot chocolate with somebody.”
Now, a couple of these characters seem to really get me on a spiritual level. And I’ve included them in a nice little list, especially for you (please don’t fall in love with me… JK, unless?).
One last thing, dear reader. JUST BECAUSE I LIKE THESE MOVIES DOESN’T MEAN THESE PEOPLE ARE DOING HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP THINGS. But God, do I love the dramatic speech in front of Santa’s elves or Manhattan or something. Keeps a little hope in a cynic’s heart.
NUMBER ONE!
Holidate (2020)— Netflix
Man, Sloane is kind of a not-great person. But I heavily relate to this woman. Sits at the kid table because the couples are all at the big table. Meets a random man in the mall and just roasts him about literally everything he says. Takes said man up on offer to head to a New Years party out of spite to her mother trying to set her up. Now, I won’t say anything else, because I don’t want to spoil it for you. While the events of this movie transpire over an entire year, I’m counting it as a Christmas movie because it starts and ends on Christmas. And it just straight up has Christmas rom-com vibes. These people are messy. 9/10 because I’m just not a fan of Emma Roberts.
NUMBER TWO!
The Spirit of Christmas (2015)— Hulu
Red-head lead girl! It’s more of an Auburn, but it’s not a blonde––which is pretty unique to Christmas movies. No shade blonde ladies! I love y’all! There’s also a beautiful old inn, a sassy realtor as our lead girl, and a freaking ghost man. I love a good ghost story, especially one with background. Jacob/Daniel/Christian—I forgot his name as soon as I saw how fine he is— has a backstory, a goal, and some surprisingly good piano skills. 10/10, my actual favorite christmas movie. I know the last time I recommended a ghost Christmas movie, we all cried (CURSE YOU BUS!), but I promise this is a feel-good movie. Trust me. Watch the movie. Please!
NUMBER THREE!
Christmas Inheritance (2017)— Netflix
I literally forgot the title of this movie—that I watched last year and loved—so I just typed “Christmas movie girl from the 100.”She’s a business woman doing a thing for her toy company—Santa’s daughter?—that is apparently decently profitable despite not being in business the rest of the year? Anyways, again, not a model of a healthy relationship here (she goes into the movie with a fiance––yes, I hate this trope too) but it ends up being pretty cute regardless. I’ll give it an 8/10 for the redemption arc and the attractive lumber-jack looking dude.
NUMBER FOUR!
The Holiday Calendar (2018)— Netflix
Not to be confused with The Christmas Calendar, this film follows Abby, a photographer gifted a magical advent calendar by her grandfather. Abby is played by Kat Graham, aka BONNIE FREAKING BENNETT FROM THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. Abby’s magic calendar is meant to guide her towards a happy ending, by giving her a little toy that symbolizes events that will lead her to what she really needs. 10/10 for having one of the least problematic love stories in this list. And for giving me the ability to pretend Bonnie Bennett gets a nice, normal ending.
NUMBER FIVE!
Christmas Wedding Planner (2017)— Netflix
Another brunette lead girl! She’s not quite as sassy as the other leading ladies here, but the sass factor is upped by PI Connor, who has a few issues with the groom. The two of them team up, sass away, and plan a beautiful Christmas wedding. On healthy relationships (without spoilers) they aren’t awful. A little quick, but still relatively sane. I’d give the movie an 8/10, up from a 7 solely because of the shenanigans from the baker and the chef. If somebody wants to roast each other in a restaurant owned by your best friend, my new Instagram’s DMs are open.
NUMBER SIX!
Married By Christmas, also known as The Engagement Clause (2016)— Hulu
First things first, I think we can all agree that the name change was a great marketing move. I also have to say that “national food conglomerate business woman” is an entirely new rom-com profession to me. Anyways, Carrie’s sister (Katie) gets engaged, and their parents explain that their antiquated deceased grandma’s will states that the company goes to the first man to marry into the family. Carrie, being the powerhouse of the family, doesn’t want all her hard work to go to waste, so she comes up with the absolutely bananas plan to find and marry a man before Katie’s wedding. BTW, Katie can fight me. 8/10 for shenanigans, but a couple points off for acting (and the food company’s interior design).
And there you have it! Six movies to watch between now and Christmas, hopefully at a healthy pace. Not in three days. That would be ridiculous. Haha. Ridiculous.
And of course, we can’t forget the best Christmas movie ever made… Iron Man 3 (2013)-Disney+