Every December, like clockwork, streaming platforms drop new batches of cringy Christmas rom-coms- and every December, people swear they can’t get worse. Yet here we are watching a small town barista fall in love with a man named “North Pole Nick.” Are holiday movies getting worse, or have we just hit that time of year when everything looks better in the snow?
New year, new storm of Christmas rom-coms, and somehow they all end up copying each other. Snow? Check. A weirdly single handyman? Check. A city girl who suddenly learns the true meaning of Christmas in two days? Triple check. So at this point, it’s fair to ask if Christmas rom-coms have hit rock bottom because every person in a five-mile radius can guess the ending to your favorite Hallmark movie.
Talking with Kelle Fecher, a Christmas movie connoisseur, she had a few things about the predictability of the movies.
“Today’s rom-coms are predictable… it is obvious from the start what’s going to happen,” which honestly sums up the state of the genre.
Yet for years, we have kept the fun tradition of cuddling up by the fire and watching some cheesy rom-coms. Movies like Holidate, Love Actually, and The Holiday became classics because they were well-written, unique, if you will. But recently something has changed… Instead of well-written classics, we have copy-and-paste prompts of “small town + single guy + Christmas magic.”
The repetition is enough to make your brain start singing the plot like that bad Christmas carol that you always get stuck in your head. Instead of Jingle Bells, it’s that scene we all know where the couple finally kisses right as it starts snowing. The conflict is always the same; there is no creativity or tension in any of the relationships they have. Is it too much to ask for an original idea? Fecher agrees that the problem is all the cliches, saying Christmas rom-coms “absolutely” rely too much on the usual tropes- but she adds that “part of the fun” is getting to guess the end of the story and being correct.
Dare I say production quality has been slacking lately, too? Large streaming platforms want tons of Christmas movies on the clock as soon as Thanksgiving is out, so we end up with rushed movies where the sets look even faker than the acting. Don’t get me started on the scripts full of cheesy lines no one would ever say without getting second-hand embarrassment. Instead of giving us something to remember, they produce only to fill space.
And honestly? Most are sick of it. People want something other than a small town girl who quits her job and flies across the world to “find herself,” but ends up finding a man who looks straight out of a Calvin Klein catalog. We want something real, diverse, and maybe some humor that doesn’t make me want to sink into the couch out of second-hand embarrassment.
In all fairness, some people(including myself occasionally)love a good cheesy Holiday rom-com, because they can still be comforting background movies that give the perfect amount of Christmas spirit. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a predictable story to get you in that Christmas mood. Fecher agrees both eras: new and old, had their own strengths and weaknesses.
“Older movies had some mystery and unpredictability,” while newer ones at least have “better sets and scenery.”
Even if we do enjoy them, it’s clear the genre is stuck in a loop. Christmas rom-coms have definitely hit an all-time low. If studios want their audience to regain interest, they are going to need to write stories that are new, not just create new characters and make a new cringy town name, like “Wintersville.” When asked what would actually make Fecher excited about a new rom-com, she agreed she too wants something new, different or exciting.
“something actually surprising… time travel, a wormhole, a parallel universe- anything that’s not Girl-Meets-Small-Town-Guy-Who-Owns-a-Maple-Syrup-Farm,” and honestly, same. Until then, it looks like we are gonna have to get used to that perfectly timed snowfall kiss.
