A Definitive Ranking of 2021 Christmas Romcoms

If you love a Christmas Rom-com, this is the article for you. For the past 3 years I’ve shared my reviews and overall ranking of Hallmark and Hallmark-like Christmas movies in an annual newsletter sent to clients and friends. This year the Christmas spirit (and encouragement from said friends) moved me to expand the audience list — happy reading to all!

Before we jump into the ranker, a few updates on the 2021 landscape:

1. Although Netflix started releasing Christmas movies earlier this year (Nov), they haven’t really stepped up their production game. Oddly enough, the 4 movies I watched make up both the top and bottom of my list — truly a hit or miss year for them.
2. Hallmark continues to reign supreme in the Christmas content game, not only starting their 24/7 Holiday movie season earlier this year (Oct 29th, pre- Halloween!), but also upping their production from 1x new movie per week to 3x new movies per week (new airings Fri/Sat/Sun nights). Will they ever lose their SOV leadership position? Doubtful.
3. Lifetime, always the dark horse of the Christmas movie race, remains in last place. There have been some older Hallmark Christmas movies popping up on this network, but it seems that syndication is becoming par for the course with many of Netflix’s Christmas movies coming from the Lifetime archives as well.

Without further ado, please see this year’s ranking below categorized into 3 buckets: (1) Best of the bunch, (2) Mediocre, needs wine to watch and/or just don’t watch, (3) Do not watch.

Best of the bunch:

• Single All the Way: Peter (Michael Urie), lover of plants and the only single one in his family, convinces his best friend and roommate to come home with him for Christmas and pretend to be his boyfriend. Before he can announce the fake relationship, his mom announces she’s set him up on a blind date. Throw in a quirky Aunt played by the incredible Jennifer Coolidge and you’ve got a feel good flick the whole family will enjoy!
• Love Hard: Or as most people refer to it “The Christmas Catfish movie” follows a girl (Nina Dobrev of Vampire Diaries fame) as she travels to her online crush’s hometown for Christmas only to realize she’s been cat-fished. She stays when Josh (Jimmy O. Yang of Silicon Valley fame) promises to set her up with the guy she thought she was meeting. Antics ensue and love prevails.

Mediocre, needs wine to watch and/or just don’t watch:

• Gingerbread Miracle: Have you ever made a wish on a gingerbread cookie and had it come true? No? Well, let me tell you about a little bakery owned by Luis Casillas where a personalized gingerbread cookie could change your life. In this whimsical film, Luis’s nephew teams up with his high school sweetheart to find the perfect buyer for his Uncle’s bakery, but who could possibly carry on this tradition? You’ll have to watch to find out.
• A Sweet Christmas Romance: Another bakery film! This time, the bakery owner is looking to give her bakery away to whomever can best replicate her 12 cookies of Christmas. Food stylist meets pastry chef. Cinnamon and sugar are in the air.
• Boyfriends of Christmas Past: I almost didn’t watch this — do we really need another Christmas Carol spinoff? The answer is… no, we probably don’t need this, but it did exceed my expectations. It’s a classic, “Oh, I am in love with my best friend” tale but the acting is better than a lot of other Hallmark movies. Bonus for any Ginny and Georgia fans out there, the main guy is none other than the lovable Joe, also of Maid and Degrassi fame (real name Raymond Ablack). I credit the above par acting to his performance.
• If I Only Had Christmas: Full disclosure this isn’t a new one but it hasn’t made it to the list yet so I’m including. Small town publicist teams up with a cynical business owner to help a charity in need during Christmas. Hidden identity? Yes. Small town girl FTW? You know it. Great movie? Will leave that to you to decide. Oh, features Candace Cameron Bure (“burr-ray” for those of you wondering…)
• Eight Gifts of Christmas: An anonymous suitor sends optometrist Sara a gift for each night of Hanukkah. How someone has so many “suitors” lined up she can’t figure out who is sending her gifts is beyond me. I would say good for her, but it demonstrates a lack of common sense that I find offensive. Also, duh it’s her best friend. Left me wanting latkes so ‘mediocre’ it is!
• Next Stop, Christmas: A time travel story featuring both Lea Thompson and Christopher Lloyd (fitting), where girl boards a train, travels back ten years and commences on a journey to fix her future life. Another spoiler (although with Hallmark is anything really a surprise?): She also realizes she’s in love with her best friend. Really just put this in the mediocre category because it features Chris Lloyd.

Do not watch (these are the movies that give Hallmark — and this year Netflix — a bad rap):

• Princess Switch 3: Although I have to say this one didn’t seem to be as bad as the second installment (the accents hit you harder the first time around), it’s still pretty horrendous. For those unfamiliar, Vanessa Hudgens plays lookalike characters who end up impersonating one another — films 2 and 3 feature her in 3 different roles. The only positive outcome was this made me look up a recipe for a candy cane martini (cheers Martha.)
• A Castle for Christmas: A Netflix original, featuring Brooke Shields… I have to say I had pretty high hopes for this movie but it was honestly one of the most cringe-worthy movies ever. The dog is the only cute part but he isn’t in it enough to warrant a viewing. So, so, so bad. Almost as bad as Holly Star, my “do not watch” from 2019. Do yourself a favor and just lookup the description. I cannot make this up.

Happy viewing to all, and to all a good night!