It’s December, which means it’s time for holiday shopping, baking, spending time with family, and watching as many cheesy Christmas movies as you can. This year, Netflix has released an impressive quantity of original holiday movies for your viewing pleasure.
The Knight Before Christmas (dir. Monika Mitchell) is reminiscent of Disney’s Enchanted. Brook (Vanessa Hudgens) is having trouble finding her happily ever after when she accidentally hits Sir Cole (Josh Whitehouse), a knight who has somehow travelled to 2019 from the past, with her car. Brooke believes Sir Cole has amnesia while Sir Cole is insistent that he is in fact a knight from the fourteenth century on a quest to find his true love. Brooke takes him in and tries to help him regain his memories. Of course, they fall in love and Brooke gets her literal knight in shining armor. Yes, the movie is just one big cliché but sometimes the holidays are meant for clichés.
Holiday in the Wild (dir. Ernie Barbarash) is a Christmas romcom that takes place in sunny Africa rather than the traditional snowy city or small town. When Kate’s (Kristin Davis) husband tells her he is no longer in love with her, she goes on what was supposed to be their second honeymoon alone to Zambia. When she arrives in Zambia, she meets Derek (Rob Lowe) at the bar where she is eating dinner and tells him her whole life story. The next day, Kate shows up for a chartered flight to her resort and predictably Derek is the pilot. On the way to the resort, they discover a baby elephant whose mother has been killed by poachers and they take the baby to an elephant sanctuary. Kate, being a vet, decides to stay at the sanctuary and take care of the elephant rather than go to the resort where Derek also happens to work. Kate extends her trip again and again, even right through Christmas, and continues to bond with Derek. Eventually, Kate goes back to New York but when she finds out the elephant sanctuary will run out of funding. Kate decides to take on fundraising for the elephants on her own, selling her apartment, and buying a plane ticket back to Zambia to be with the elephants and Derek.
Let It Snow (dir. Luke Snellin) is based on the young adult novel of the same name by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle. This movie follows what happens to a group of teenagers when a snowstorm hits a small town in the Midwest on Christmas Eve. This movie is kind of like the teen version of Love, Actually as it follows various stories and characters leading up to Christmas. Julie Reyes (Isabela Merced) runs into aspiring pop star Stewart Bale (Shameik Moore), who is passing through town, and Julie’s mother is also sick while Julie is considering deferring college; Dorrie (Liv Hewson), who works at the diner Waffle Town, is trying to figure out how to tell the cheerleader she hooked up with she likes her; Addie (Odeya Rush) is worried that her boyfriend is going to dump her; Keon (Jacob Batalon) attempts to throw a party to impress a big time DJ; and Tobin (Mitchell Hope) and the girl he likes Angie (Kiernan Shikpa), AKA Duke, are invited to JP’s (Matthew Noszka) party. In the end, all the characters’ lives collide and they meet up at Keon’s party, dancing the night away and celebrating the season. A lot happens in 93 minutes but it’s good fun and some of the stories will warm your heart and make you smile.
If that’s not enough cheesy holiday movies for you, here are some other ones to check out: The Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby, Klaus, Santa Girl, and The Princess Switch.
These Christmas movies are no work of cinematic genius, but they’re fun to watch and laugh at with your family and friends or even just to have on in the background while you’re doing other holiday activities. Either way, they’re great for cold, snowy days to help you get into the spirit of the season.
