Cosmopolitan

It’s that time of year again—to get cozy, curl up, and marathon all the Hallmark, Netflix, and Lifetime Christmas movies. While indulging in every single magical small-town holiday romance, you’ll notice the Christmas quotient in those movies is not entirely equal.

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Seriously, some movies one hundred percent revolve around holiday merriment, but then others seem like heartwarming rom-coms with a few Christmas trees and merry scenes thrown in for good measure. Keep this list handy if you’re looking for a good festive flick that falls on either side of the holly and jolly rom-com spectrum—no judgment here.

Note: This is just one woman’s opinion and, yes, you should marathon all the holiday movies you want, no matter what their Christmas quotient is.

12. Holiday in the Wild

Despite the festive title, the Netflix movie has a low Christmas quotient but a super-high (and adorable) baby elephant quotient. A divorcée named Kate (played by Kristin Davis) travels to Zambia after splitting with her husband and inadvertently revisits her career as a vet at an elephant refuge. She first falls in love with the elephants, then ignites a spark with Derek, a loner pilot (Rob Lowe). The “holiday” in the title is present in only a few Christmas scenes, but hey, baby elephants.

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11. Let It Snow

It’s been called Love Actually for teens on Netflix, starring Kiernan Shipka (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Isabela Merced, and Shameik Moore. Much like the holiday classic, the most Christmassy things about Let It Snow are the small-town snowstorm and a Christmas Eve party held at the local diner. The town’s high school seniors figure out friendship and love amid the holiday snowfall.

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10. Ghosting: The Spirit Of Christmas

That’s...a lot of string-up lights.

Freeform

The Bold Type’s Aisha Dee stars in this Freeform holiday flick about Jess, a woman who dies in a car crash right after she goes on the best first date ever with Ben (Kendrick Sampson). After her death, Jess remains on Earth as a ghost and only her best friend Kara (Kimiko Glenn) can see and hear her. This movie definitely has spirit, but it seems a little closer to Ghost than A Christmas Carol.

Premieres December 4 on Freeform

9. Santa Girl

The Netflix flick follows Santa’s daughter Cassie Claus (Jennifer Stone) as she leaves the North Pole and her dad’s (Barry Bostwick) more-corporate-than-expected Christmas enterprise to enroll at college to experience the “real world” for a semester before Christmas (of course). During the holiday, she pledges to take over and marry the creepy Jack Frost’s son (who she’s never met) in a business arrangement. While on campus, Cassie becomes entangled in a love triangle between the sweet Sam (Devon Werkheiser) and the dashing J. R. (Josh Cody), who is secretly Frost’s son.

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8. Same Time, Next Christmas

Not all Christmas movies need to have snow. Childhood sweethearts Olivia (Lea Michele) and Jeff (Charles Michael Davis) met as kids when their families visited the same Hawaiian resort during Christmas. Fast-forward to years later: As adults, Olivia and Jeff meet once again and see if their childhood flame reignites while celebrating Christmas on the beach.

Premieres December 5 on Freeform

7. A Very Vintage Christmas

Lifetime

Tia Mowry-Hardrict stars as Dodie, the owner of an antique store in a quaint, small town. When she finds a box filled with romantic mementos, Dodie sets out to find the owner, and she meets the handsome Edward (Jesse Hutch) along the way, turning the search into her own love story—with the backdrop of Christmas, of course.

Premieres November 27 on Lifetime

6. Write Before Christmas

This heartwarming Hallmark movie is another one that explores intersecting holiday-themed stories just like Love Actually does. Cellist Jessica (played by Torrey DeVito) gets dumped by her boyfriend before Christmas, which prompts her to send holiday cards to the most meaningful people in her life, including an old teacher and a member of a boy band (Drew Seeley). The teacher’s card ends up in the hands of her handsome son (Chad Michael Murray), leading to Torrey and Chad’s One Tree Hill reunion.

Premieres November 29 on Hallmark

5. A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby

The Netflix holiday franchise’s third installment has Queen Amber (Rose McIver) and King Richard (Ben Lamb) of the fictional Aldovia expecting a new addition—and facing a new mystery. The king and queen of the (also fictional) Pegnlia visit to reinstate a 600-year-old truce between the two countries, but the treaty goes missing. The Christmas element? If the treaty isn’t found by midnight on Christmas Eve, the royal baby will be cursed.

Premieres December 5 on Netflix

4. Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses

Abby (Jill Wagner) is an interior designer who loves Christmas. Nick (Matthew Davis) is a big-time businessman who needs his mansion expertly decorated for his company’s gala. In true Hallmark movie fashion, they bond and fall in love as Abby brings holiday cheer into his home. While the movie’s Christmas element is mostly the decoration plot, the love story between Abby and Nick mostly explores how—and if—they fit into each other’s worlds.

Premieres December 2 on Hallmark

3. Christmas in Rome

The first Christmas was celebrated in Rome and that’s just one piece of trivia American tour guide Angela (Lacey Chabert) tells Roman tourists, until she gets fired from the job a few days before Christmas. Soon, she crosses paths with an American businessman (Sam Page), who needs to understand “the heart and soul of Rome” in order to close a major deal. He hires her as his tour guide and, of course, holiday sparks fly. Another piece of trivia: The movie was shot on location in Rome.

Premieres November 30 on Hallmark Channel

2. Mistletoe & Menorahs

This upcoming Lifetime movie doesn’t just have a Christmas quotient—it has a Hanukkah one too. Toy executive Christy (Kelley Jakle) needs to learn all about the Festival of Lights in order to land The Big Account. Jonathan (Degrassi’s Jake Epstein), who is Jewish, wants to turn his apartment into a “winter wonderland” in order to impress his girlfriend’s father. A mutual friend brings Christy and Jonathan together in this romance that includes both holidays.

Premieres December 7 on Lifetime

1. Noelle

Anna Kendrick stars as the title character in this Disney+ Christmas flick about Santa’s two kids: Nick (Bill Hader), who has been groomed to be the next Santa, and Noelle, his sister who just might be better suited for the job. When Nick goes missing before Christmas, Noelle sets off to find him in—of all places—Phoenix, Arizona, a journey reminiscent of Elf. It’s Noelle’s consistent Christmas spirit (and festive wardrobe) that earns this movie the highest Christmas quotient and the top spot on the list.

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If you have Disney+ please go watch the Christmas movie Noelle.... ITS SO GOOD
— lola skumpy (@Sexxayy_Lexxayy) November 13, 2019

Mallory Carra Mallory Carra is a freelance writer & editor based in Los Angeles.

Mallory Carra

Ranking the Top 2019 Christmas Movies by How Christmassy They Are