A perfect winter kiss full of holiday cheer takes to the screen, and then the credits roll. Hallmark movies are not known for their complex storylines, nor for their heartwarming moments between characters that stick with a person forever. Instead, it’s a waste of 90 minutes whose plot blurs together with all of the other versions in which the big city girl must save a small-town’s holiday spirit with the help of the sexy small-town guy she has a complicated past with. Yet when Hallmark releases an average of four dozen holiday themed movies per winter season, I fall in love with them all over again.

There have been so many classic holiday movies that last generations with their deep cut stories. In the past year, the 2023 movie The Holdovers is finding its way to becoming a classic alongside It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and Love Actually (2003). Though it’s quite possible that The Holdovers is the only Christmas movie in the past decade that could be classified as a drama and shelved as a rewatch. 

Recently, holiday movies have faced backlash for their lack of longevity; rather, the movies are churned out at an alarmingly fast rate to hit the market with the same tale that audiences adore year after year. For most, this pattern begins to raise concerns. What is happening to Hollywood? Why are the holidays turning into cheesy romances no one seems to want to watch a second time? A one-and-done situation has taken over.

Although there is an argument to be made with Hollywood executives that continuously produce the same movies a million times, it can also be said that the United States has placed an unrealistic idolization of the winter holiday spirit. The entire country moves at an alarming speed in the capitalistic work world, offering very few breaks throughout the year. So as the winter holidays roll around, there are just a few days that are nearly guaranteed off for the country: Christmas and New Years Eve.

With the holiday season becoming a time of both emotional and financial stress, it can seem the escape that people can count on is a Hallmark movie. Perhaps not every movie that is released has to be life changing. There is  beauty in lower budget movies, especially in a time that appears to cancel  anything that isn’t expected to make the corporation millions of dollars. As American culture barely slows down for the weeks that are traditionally spent lounging with family and friends while reflecting on the year past, Hallmark movies are an escape away from the chaos. Predictable plots with a guaranteed fairytale ending eases the holiday stress felt by Americans every year. Hallmark deserves a little more respect for knowing how to appeal to a demographic that wants to watch cheesy romances, royal weddings and picture-perfect people falling in love. Entertainment does not need to alter the brain chemistry of every single viewer, and a holiday movie doesn’t always need to become a beloved to millions of people, as long as it affects at least one.

Written by Thea Findlay, Photography: Nadely Abdullah, Social Media: Nakiyah Borsadwala, Styling: Avery Elkins