When watching a Hallmark Christmas movie, the audience needs to suspend their disbelief and go along for the ride, but when the plots drift further and further from reality, it becomes harder to do so. Romantic movies often blur the lines of realism in favor of fantasy and emotional payoff, but Hallmark has made some films that are completely unconcerned with what makes sense in real life. Despite this, these movies end up being fun to watch regardless, if only because they’re just so questionable.
The Hallmark Channel has produced made-for-television movies with family-oriented and romantic plots since its inception. Owned by the greeting card company, Hallmark, which has taken the holidays by storm, the movies often revolve around big events, and Christmas is one of the biggest for the network. After so many years of making Christmas movies their Super Bowl, the channel has delved into new and interesting territory to find original plots for a genre often filled with tropes.
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10 Northpole (2014)
Directed By Douglas Barr
Bailee Madison plays Clementine the Elf in Northpole, a fantastical film about getting everyone on Earth back in the Christmas spirit. Though many Christmas movies are predicated on magic and fantasy, Northpole takes this to the next level. It seems the only people in the world who can solve this are Chelsea (Tiffani Thiessen) and her son Kevin (Max Charles). Putting aside the existence of Santa’s magical city, and the fact that it would collapse if people didn’t believe, the fact that Chelsea and Kevin are chosen out of all others to save Christmas, and Chelsea just so happens to meet her perfect man, doesn’t make a lot of sense.
9 The Santa Stakeout (2021)
Directed By Peter Benson
The romantic leads of The Santa Stakeout are police officers who must go undercover as a married couple to investigate a series of robberies. Why it would be necessary for Tanya (Tamera Mowry-Housley) and Ryan (Paul Campbell) to pose as a couple instead of simply investigating the way normal detectives would is never made clear by the film. Instead, it’s merely a device to get the pair to fall in love for real while falling in love with Christmas at the same time. If this actually happened, not only would it be unbelievably unprofessional, but it would prevent any police work from getting done.
8 A Boyfriend For Christmas (2004)
Directed By Kevin Connor
People ask Santa for a lot of unusual gifts when they’re young, not really expecting to get what they asked for. However, after Holly (Kelli Williams) wishes for a boyfriend when she’s 13, her wish comes true, but only twenty years later, when a man suddenly appears in her life claiming to be the boyfriend she asked for. Santa (Charles Durning) also plays a large role in the film, convincing Holly to give this mystery boyfriend a chance, and managing to use magic to create love. Even if it were possible for Santa to give this kind of gift, it’s unlikely many people would want it.
7 A Wish For Christmas (2016)
Directed By Christie Will Wolf
A Wish For Christmas may not have a single plotline that’s plausible, but it does have a sweet and encouraging message. Sara (Lacey Chabert) has her idea stolen by her boss in a moment of complete unprofessionalism that she could have reasonably sued him for. Instead of taking legal action, she makes a wish to Santa. Her wish is to have the ability to speak her mind and take action when people walk all over her. While this is a lovely sentiment, it does end up getting her in a lot of trouble and doesn’t account for the way people were treating her before she had this ability.
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6 A Christmas To Remember (2016)
Directed By David Weaver
In a classic case of amnesia, Jennifer (Mira Sorvino) loses her memory in a car crash and is nursed back to health by John (Cameron Mathison). Jennifer is a no-nonsense reporter who needs to learn about the spirit of Christmas and John is more than happy to teach her after she has no idea who she is. As romantic as it may seem, a relationship would never work after starting this way, and Jennifer wanting to stay and leave her old life behind after regaining her memories doesn’t make any sense. Though plenty of other Christmas romances have used this plot device, it didn’t work then, and it still doesn’t.
5 Santa Switch (2013)
Directed By Dave Cass
In a premise similar in tone to The Santa Clause, Santa Switch sees Santa (Donovan Scott) deciding to take a vacation for this Christmas season and leave his powers and duties to Dan (Ethan Erickson). Dan has been struggling to make ends meet and show up for his family, so adding the pressure and responsibility of being Santa hardly seems pretty unhelpful. It’s up to Eddie (Sean Astin) to get Dan into shape, but there’s no reason for Dan to be the one to take over for Santa. While he learns about the power of Christmas, he doesn’t learn much about concrete ways to be a better husband and father.
4 A Heavenly Christmas (2016)
Directed By Paul Shapiro
Starring Kristin Davis, known for playing Charlotte on Sex and the City, as Eve, A Heavenly Christmas takes a distinctly religious approach to the traditional Christmas rom-com. The film takes place in the wake of her sudden death when she is brought on to be a Christmas angel and solve the problems of Max (Eric McCormack). Max needs all the help he can get as he has just started caring for his niece, and is down on his luck within his career.
Of course, despite being dead, Eve falls in love with Max anyway and a tragic love story unfolds. In a shocking twist, it turns out that Eve wasn’t dead, merely in a coma, and her task was a means to redeem herself. Not only was Eve put to work in the afterlife, but the angels around her were lying the whole time.
3 The Christmas Card (2006)
Directed By Stephen Bridgewater
One of Hallmark’s most famous films, The Christmas Card, follows Cody (John Newton) when he returns from his tour in Afghanistan to track down an unidentified woman who sent him a Christmas card. Why this woman would want to be found after remaining anonymous, and why Cody would believe that they would have a romantic connection is unclear. Not only that, but it turns out that Faith (Alice Evans), the woman, already has a boyfriend. Naturally, Faith does end up choosing Cody after knowing him for such a short time and turns her life upside down for a man who is essentially a homewrecker.
2 A Christmas Detour (2015)
Directed By Ron Oliver
A Christmas Detour not only takes big liberties with the plausibility of its story, but it also makes both leads unlikable while doing so. Paige (Candace Cameron Bure) and Dylan (Paul Greene) meet unexpectedly when the plane they’re on ends up being rerouted. The pair end up falling in love, but they do so while trying to get Paige back to New York City in time for her wedding to another man. They have known each other only a few days, Paige is already in a deeply committed relationship, and they have little in common. Watching the pair get together is not only confusing but also disheartening.
1 Christmas At The Palace (2018)
Directed By Peter Hewitt
There are many amazing quotes in Hallmark Royal Christmas movies, and Christmas At The Palace is no exception. Katie (Merritt Patterson) is hired by a King, Alexander (Andrew Cooper), to teach his daughter how to ice skate. It would make sense if a royal family already had someone on their payroll, who lived in the country, to do this, but he hires Katie anyway. The country in the fictional San Senova, and where or what this country is remains unclear.
Though she is an outsider in the country and doesn’t always know the social cues of being a royal, Alexander falls in love with her anyway. It’s rarely the case that a king gets to choose his wife, and him putting his country’s happiness on the line for this short romance is another example of Hallmark taking liberties with the plot. Additionally, what Katie wants, and the difficulties of royal life play a small role in her decision to become queen.
