’Tis the season to lie in bed and ignore your responsibilities for a few hours at a time. Some people do that by reading, or browsing Twitter, but there’s nothing better than escaping into the world of whatever shows up first on Netflix. That’s what I’ve been doing, at least, and Netflix has offered up some true gems. I decided to rank every Netflix original holiday movie (there are five) and to let you, dear reader, know if they’re worth a watch (or eighteen).
#1: A Christmas Prince (2017)
Amber (Rose McIver) is looking for her big break in journalism. She goes to cover a press conference in the fictional country of Aldovia featuring its crown prince, Prince Richard (Ben Lamb). Unfortunately, it gets canceled. But Amber is tenacious and sneaks into the castle as a governess to Richard’s little sister, Princess Emily (Honor Kneafsey). From there, it’s all horseback riding and snow and scandal.
Here is a low quality meme to show how I felt watching this movie.
It’s a well-crafted movie, and watching it was really fun. It is predictable and full of tropes from the genre, and yet I was fully entertained. A Christmas movie needs to dive wholeheartedly into the camp and cheese of the genre. This movie taps all the drama it can get from its premise, so it has higher stakes than most holiday movies. It also seems to have convinced Netflix to really get into the Christmas movie business, so for that, it gets first place.
#2: The Princess Switch (2018)
In a movie that borrows from Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and Netflix’s own A Christmas Prince, Vanessa Hudgens stars as both the main characters: baker Stacy De Novo and soon to be married Duchess Margaret Delacourt. Margaret wants a taste of normal life, so she asks her newfound lookalike to swap places with her for a few days. It’s a classic story, which is classic for a reason: it is wonderful to watch.
Vanessa Hudgens as Stacy (left) and Vanessa Hudgens as Margaret (right)
It’s hard to explain why I couldn’t stop smiling while I watched this movie. The actors all share great chemistry, and the relationships in it make the film good. There are no love triangles, which would have been very easy in a movie about people switching places, but the writers were wise and didn’t have that happen.
Here is a real screencap I took while watching The Princess Switch
Other than a rather one-dimensional villain who did very little other than commit an anticlimactic act of sabotage (which knocked the film down to second place—The Christmas Prince had more tension), this movie is satisfying start to finish. Extra points for not ending the movie with a wedding between people who barely know each other. However, it lost points when it had two of its characters watch A Christmas Prince in an act of shameless self-promotion, and then had them cry about what a great movie it is. It was so weird. Not cool.
#3: The Holiday Calendar (2018)
You ever feel like your life is going nowhere? That’s how aspiring photographer Abby Sutton (Kat Graham) feels. Stuck in her thankless job, constantly single, and having to listen to her parents complain about the starving artist lifestyle she’s chosen. All that changes when December comes and her Gramps (Ron Cephas Jones) gives her an antique advent calendar that belonged to her grandmother. The gifts from the calendar align with important events that send her life spinning out of control.
If your man does this, he ain’t your man.
The actors all have great chemistry, especially Graham and her co-star Quincy Brown, who plays her travel blogging love interest, Josh. The plot of the movie is pretty straightforward, so it’s hard to say it really stands out compared to its peers. They don’t do many interesting things with the calendar, even though the premise of a magic calendar that helps you follow your dreams is a really cool one. I think that this movie is better in concept than in execution. The actors do well with the material, but the material is just okay.
#4: The Christmas Chronicles (2018)
The Pierces are a perfect family, until its patriarch, Doug (Oliver Hudson), passes away. His son, Teddy (Judah Lewis) turns to crime and steals cars with his friends. The youngest child, Kate (Darby Camp), uses the family video camera to make wishlists for Santa. The kids don’t get along. Kate films Teddy stealing a car and blackmails him into trying to catch Santa on tape. This leads to them meeting Santa (Kurt Russell), crashing his sleigh, and getting into general shenanigans while trying to save Christmas.
If this whole movie had been in the camera’s point of view, it would have gotten first place.
This is the only kids movie on the list because it’s the only one Netflix has made for the holiday season. It isn’t a bad movie—it has a lot of great moments, especially between the young actors. It also has some very strange moments, like Santa starting a prison band and singing the vaguely euphemistic Christmas song “Santa Claus Is Back in Town” (the children are not present for this). It is promising up until the appearance of the elves, which feel like off-brand Minions. The speak their own language, they’re violent, and at one point—in a move that won’t age well—they start flossing in celebration. The movie would have done better to have Mrs. Claus (Goldie Hawn) featured more prominently rather than just as a cameo, as a guide and foil to Santa. Overall, this movie was cute, but not for me. I would have liked it as a kid, so it gets fourth place.
#5: Christmas Inheritance (2017)
This movie takes Ellen Langford (Eliza Taylor), nicknamed the “Party Heiress” by the press, on a trip from her home of New York to her father’s fictional hometown Snow Falls as part of a family tradition. She has to deliver a box of Christmas letters to her dad’s former business partner, but she also has to learn about life from the small town folk. I don’t want to be dramatic, but I have never enjoyed a movie less.
It was BAD.
I come from a small town, and I don’t think you would learn anything much different living there than you would in a city. The movie acts like Ellen has to be around the simple, warm townspeople in order to grow, but she probably would have learned the same thing by getting cut off for a few months and having to make her own money. Aside from the premise being not so great, Ellen and her love interest Jake (Jake Lacy) lack any chemistry that could have saved the movie. Don’t get me wrong, I like bad movies, but this one was so predictable that I didn’t even want to sit through it. Last place, without a doubt.
At the time of writing this, there had been five holiday movies showing up on my recommended list, but by the time you’re reading this, there will be another. That movie is A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding. I assure you, dear reader, it would get first place if it were out.
Do you agree with my ranking? Let me know in the comments what you think!
*All screencaps were taken from Netflix and some were edited into memes by me, because graphic design is my passion.*