Christmas films are cheesy, mindless and widely loved. Why?
The obviousness is part of the appeal
THE STORY is set in a town called Hope Springs—your first clue as to the film’s schmaltz—which hosts an annual snow-sculpture contest. A local Michelangelo has sculpted a snowman with a chiselled face and rippling muscles. On a whim, a young widow drapes a red scarf over the frozen figure; naturally, magic brings the ice-cold hottie, shivering, to life.
Recently released on Netflix, “Hot Frosty” is a truly absurd Christmas film. No one in Hope Springs seems perturbed by a snow sculpture becoming a fully sentient being; one person simply shrugs: “It’s Christmas.” Nor do viewers seem to mind the movie’s outlandish premise. Subscribers spent nearly 52m hours watching the film in the three weeks after its release; it has been one of the most popular movies on Netflix, enjoying nearly 35 times the demand of an average film in America, according to Parrot Analytics, a data firm.
“Hot Frosty” points to a hot area of entertainment: light-hearted, generally predictable, sometimes terrible Christmas films that people nonetheless love. In 2023 144 of them were released worldwide—seven times more than in 2000.
That was the year when Hallmark’s cable-television network started making festive fare in earnest; in 2024 it is releasing 32 films as part of its annual “Countdown to Christmas” event, in which at least three new films are broadcast every weekend, starting in October. The most-watched film made for cable tv this year was Hallmark’s “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story”, loosely inspired by the relationship of Taylor Swift, a pop star, and Travis Kelce, an American-football player.
A large majority of Hallmark films—over 90%—are romances with punny titles such as “To Have and to Holiday”. Brandon Gray and Daniel Pandolph, two of the hosts of “Deck the Hallmark”, a podcast, have analysed around 1,000 Christmas films and observe that they “typically have some sort of baking scene” and “a big decision that has to be made by Christmas”. Around 80% of them feature a decorating scene involving homes, gingerbread houses and more. Most feature a montage, a hammy film-making technique that is otherwise out of style year-round.
For a long time, Hallmark had the season wrapped up. But Netflix and other streamers are getting in on the festive action, tempted by the low budgets—the films generally cost less than $5m—and high returns. Last year, Hallmark released 40 original Christmas titles, according to Ampere Analysis, a research firm; meanwhile viewers could stream more than 70 on Netflix (a mix of new offerings and back-catalogue fare). The platform is focusing on romance titles at the expense of productions aimed at children or families. Another of this year’s new releases, “Our Little Secret”, has accumulated nearly 95m hours of viewing. Starring Lindsay Lohan, it follows a couple who split up years ago but meet again, unexpectedly, via their new partners.
Who likes such sparkly fluff, and why? Adult Christmas films are mostly watched by women, from millennials upwards. Many are busy preparing presents and food; few have time to sit down and give a film their full attention. The predictable plots, then, are an advantage. “You know what’s going to happen,” Mr Gray says, “and so you can still do the things that you need to do, while also getting into the Christmas spirit.” Mr Pandolph adds that after a couple of glasses of mulled wine, it doesn’t matter that the story is naff: in fact, “your enjoyment of these movies goes up exponentially if you’ve been drinking.”
Russell Hainline, the writer of “Hot Frosty” and other holiday flicks, says that films such as his offer wish-fulfilment. “’Harry Potter’ has wands and ‘Lord of the Rings’ has hobbits. Christmas movies have good people having good things happen to them all the time.” The world would be a nicer place, he suggests, if it “was even a little bit more like a Christmas movie”. It is a cheerful idea. In fact, it sounds like it would be a perfect line in a holiday film.
THE STORY is set in a town called Hope Springs—your first clue as to the film’s schmaltz—which hosts an annual snow-sculpture contest. A local Michelangelo has sculpted a snowman with a chiselled face and rippling muscles. On a whim, a young widow drapes a red scarf over the frozen figure; naturally, magic brings the ice-cold hottie, shivering, to life.
Recently released on Netflix, “Hot Frosty” is a truly absurd Christmas film. No one in Hope Springs seems perturbed by a snow sculpture becoming a fully sentient being; one person simply shrugs: “It’s Christmas.” Nor do viewers seem to mind the movie’s outlandish premise. Subscribers spent nearly 52m hours watching the film in the three weeks after its release; it has been one of the most popular movies on Netflix, enjoying nearly 35 times the demand of an average film in America, according to Parrot Analytics, a data firm.
“Hot Frosty” points to a hot area of entertainment: light-hearted, generally predictable, sometimes terrible Christmas films that people nonetheless love. In 2023 144 of them were released worldwide—seven times more than in 2000.
That was the year when Hallmark’s cable-television network started making festive fare in earnest; in 2024 it is releasing 32 films as part of its annual “Countdown to Christmas” event, in which at least three new films are broadcast every weekend, starting in October. The most-watched film made for cable tv this year was Hallmark’s “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story”, loosely inspired by the relationship of Taylor Swift, a pop star, and Travis Kelce, an American-football player.
A large majority of Hallmark films—over 90%—are romances with punny titles such as “To Have and to Holiday”. Brandon Gray and Daniel Pandolph, two of the hosts of “Deck the Hallmark”, a podcast, have analysed around 1,000 Christmas films and observe that they “typically have some sort of baking scene” and “a big decision that has to be made by Christmas”. Around 80% of them feature a decorating scene involving homes, gingerbread houses and more. Most feature a montage, a hammy film-making technique that is otherwise out of style year-round.
For a long time, Hallmark had the season wrapped up. But Netflix and other streamers are getting in on the festive action, tempted by the low budgets—the films generally cost less than $5m—and high returns. Last year, Hallmark released 40 original Christmas titles, according to Ampere Analysis, a research firm; meanwhile viewers could stream more than 70 on Netflix (a mix of new offerings and back-catalogue fare). The platform is focusing on romance titles at the expense of productions aimed at children or families. Another of this year’s new releases, “Our Little Secret”, has accumulated nearly 95m hours of viewing. Starring Lindsay Lohan, it follows a couple who split up years ago but meet again, unexpectedly, via their new partners.
{{/usCountry}}For a long time, Hallmark had the season wrapped up. But Netflix and other streamers are getting in on the festive action, tempted by the low budgets—the films generally cost less than $5m—and high returns. Last year, Hallmark released 40 original Christmas titles, according to Ampere Analysis, a research firm; meanwhile viewers could stream more than 70 on Netflix (a mix of new offerings and back-catalogue fare). The platform is focusing on romance titles at the expense of productions aimed at children or families. Another of this year’s new releases, “Our Little Secret”, has accumulated nearly 95m hours of viewing. Starring Lindsay Lohan, it follows a couple who split up years ago but meet again, unexpectedly, via their new partners.
{{/usCountry}}Who likes such sparkly fluff, and why? Adult Christmas films are mostly watched by women, from millennials upwards. Many are busy preparing presents and food; few have time to sit down and give a film their full attention. The predictable plots, then, are an advantage. “You know what’s going to happen,” Mr Gray says, “and so you can still do the things that you need to do, while also getting into the Christmas spirit.” Mr Pandolph adds that after a couple of glasses of mulled wine, it doesn’t matter that the story is naff: in fact, “your enjoyment of these movies goes up exponentially if you’ve been drinking.”
Russell Hainline, the writer of “Hot Frosty” and other holiday flicks, says that films such as his offer wish-fulfilment. “’Harry Potter’ has wands and ‘Lord of the Rings’ has hobbits. Christmas movies have good people having good things happen to them all the time.” The world would be a nicer place, he suggests, if it “was even a little bit more like a Christmas movie”. It is a cheerful idea. In fact, it sounds like it would be a perfect line in a holiday film.
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