As the credits rolled on Netflix’s Falling for Christmas, I felt an overwhelming surge of indifference. We begin with Lindsay Lohan playing a rich woman named Sierra, who is heir to her father’s successful Belmont Summit Ski Resort. After being promoted to “Vice President of Atmosphere”, Sierra realizes she wants to be more than her father’s last name. Sierra, with her irritating and fame-obsessed boyfriend Tad decide to ski in the mountains of her father’s ski lodge. After getting into a ski accident, Sierra wakes up in a struggling family owned ski lodge on the same mountain. The owner, a single father named Jake, runs into amnesiac Sierra while giving a group of patrons a tour. Not realizing who Sierra is, he explains that the Belmont Resort is running the North Star Resort out of business and subsequently out of their homes. Jake and his daughter teach Sierra the importance of the little things. As she starts to fall for Jake, Sierra realizes money and fame aren’t the most important things in life, but instead helping others and feeling fulfilled with what you have.
In her heyday, Lindsay Lohan starred in Mean Girls, the Parent Trap, Life Size, and Freaky Friday. Many people’s excitement about her return to screen was dampened when it turned out to just be another addition to the mass amount of Christmas movies made every year. Falling for Christmas didn’t seem to get its head above the wave of Christmas mush.
These worn out templates aren’t working anymore, and numbers are starting to show it. In 2022, Hallmark’s average viewership was down 20% from 2018. In 2024, Hallmark had another decline in viewership by 20%. Initially, this was due to the fact that Hallmark is a cable channel, and streaming services have greatly decreased the amount of cable watchers. To combat this, Hallmark is creating a streaming platform called Hallmark Plus. But, Hallmark still remains the second most watched cable channel. They have devoted viewers, and with good reason. The ability to watch endless movies with no violence or gore is seen as an escape to many. Hallmark has also expanded their library of movies to include dramas and mysteries.
It is extremely difficult to stand out in a world oversaturated with Hallmark-like movies. The world is tired of seeing the same tropes and cliches. We have the capability to make a Christmas movie about whatever we like. “I think the quality of Christmas movies has really decreased. The most recent beloved Christmas movie I can think of is Elf [2003], and overall the new ones are just so cliche,” says Charlotte Edwards, a freshman at Glenbard South. We are not bound by these tropes, they don’t have to define Christmas time. These generic movies have the opportunity to give the same charming feeling that movies used to.
