Written by Joyelle Ronan
It’s December now, which means you can officially participate in all things Christmas without the world’s judgment. From family movie nights to crying over Love Actually alone, holiday films are an important part of the season. While Hallmark has been the reigning queen of cheesy Christmas flicks, Netflix is coming for the crown. The thing is, most Christmas movies are kind of trash but the kind of trash that’s so bad it’s actually good. They exist in a lawless universe where “Christmas magic” can explain anything and no one is ever afraid of being kidnapped, because they’re always getting into cars with strangers. It’s beautiful and I love it. Here are my top five best/worst Netflix original Christmas films ranked:
The Knight Before Christmas – I would not like to admit how many times I have watched this movie. It makes absolutely no sense how a medieval knight is suddenly teleported to modern day Ohio and the movie never gives an explanation. However, when Vanessa Hudgens hits Sir Cole with her car, I no longer question anything because the answer is probably true love. Surprisingly, this movie has a positive message of “Hey, your prince will come but until then, keep working on your goals.”
The Princess Switch – If you watched The Knight Before Christmas and thought “hm this is good but I wish Vanessa Hudgens was playing two strangers who looked exactly alike and pretended to be each other,” then you’ll love this film. Vanessa #1 is an uptight baker and Vanessa #2 is a spontaneous Princess. This movie is Barbie’s Princess and the Pauper except it’s vaguely Christmasy and no one sings.
A Christmas Prince – A journalist is sent to a foreign country to dig up some dirt on their prince. She lies her way into the palace and you’ll literally never guess what happens next; she and the prince fall in love. She spends most of her time lying to him, but hey you’ll forget all about that by the time you watch the third film. Oh yes, it’s a trilogy. I’d stop after the first one though, they recast the dad and things just get weird.
Christmas Inheritance – A spoiled socialite is sent to a small town with only $100, even though most people could easily survive a few days on that money, she struggles but also falls in love. If you can get past the fact that the main character is an adult and doesn’t know how to separate an egg, this film is pretty cute. The small town is called Snow Falls so you know it’s going to be a very accurate depiction of small-town life and not over-romanticized at all.
Let it Snow- I haven’t seen this movie yet, but for good reason. I haven’t had time to read the book. However, it’s on the list because it looks adorable and has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 80%. That’s good enough for me.
This is not an extensive list, just my top picks. I also recommend taking a quick break from studying for finals, making hot cocoa, and watching one of these or any movie. Treat yourself this Christmas. Happy Holidays!
