Festive Cheesy Christmas Movies Reviews

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Which Hallmark-style Christmas films to watch…and which to avoid!

Cheesy Christmas Movies are a holiday staple.

Looking for a film to put on whilst you wrap presents to get you in the Christmas spirit? Look no further than these seasonal suggestions. 

Festive films fill the TV listings in the UK from the 1st of December (if not earlier) and it can be overwhelming to try and watch them all! So I have sifted through the good, the bad and the down right awful to bring you my recommendations for holiday spirit. I haven’t included any “proper” Christmas films-I’m talking Elf, Love Actually, The Santa Clause-just the Hallmark style of Christmas films.

Cheesy Christmas Movie Reviews

My marks are not comparable to normal stars as I have taken into consideration the style of “Hallmark” film that these are so please enjoy my candy canes out of 5. Christmas is the season for cheese and these films are full of it.

Be sure to catch some of these on TV over the festive season!

5 Candy Canes-The best cheesy Christmas movies

Christmas at the Plaza 5/5

An interesting story about The Plaza Hotel in New York and its Christmas traditions. Whilst it is still a fluffy story it is interesting and really makes you want to visit NYC (even if the story is not based on truth). Bonus Point-no one dies!! The only thing that lets it down for me was the central English actress putting on an American accent-why?!

Her magical Christmas 5/5

An editor reignites her passion for Christmas with a series of seasonal experiences all inspired by a collection of beautiful (Hallmark USA of course!) decorations. Totally worth a watch, even if just for the beautiful ornaments!

Baking Christmas 5/5

3 siblings compete for the family bakery and learn a lot along the way. A real focus on the importance of communication within a family-something we could all do with remembering especially at this time of year!

Every Christmas has a story 5/5

A morning presenter accidently says on air that she “hates” Christmas so is sent to a Christmas town with her new producer-a shadow from her past-to get her Christmas spirit back. An unexpected twist and some great acting lead to 5 candy cane rating!

Mrs Miracle 5/5 

One of the more real “film” style films from this Hallmark genre. Think Nanny McPhee but set at Christmas. The naughty twins of a widower find a new hope in Mrs Merkle but is it really their father that is in need of a helping hand? 

Mrs Miracle 2 5/5 

A follow on from Mrs Miracle but set in “Finleys deparment” store in New York. The son of the owner and a stressed fashion marketing employee, who is also caring for her nephew, meet in a series of events and, through the help of Mrs Miracle, sort all the issues in their lives. Just the right amount of sappy emotion and magic. You’ll need tissues by the end! 

The Christmas Express 5/5 

Full of famous faces for a Hallmark film. This film leaves me wanting to take the train across the USA! A host of characters, with their sad backstories and intrigues, board the Christmas train bound for LA including two writers. What story will be written of their time on the train? Very clever twists and turns!

A Little Christmas Charm 5/5 

A jeweller finds a charm bracelet and teams up with an investigative journalist to track down the owner missing her Christmas charm. Beautiful jewellery, well acted and only a smidge of cringe 

4 Candy Canes-Good cheesy Christmas movies

A Christmas Arrangement 4/5

Classic Christmas fun styles around a florist competition. Light hearted fun. Starts little stilted. Full of Christmas cliches. Not to be taken seriously. It does feature dead relatives. Alright. Gets better. Basic. Some characters lack development like poor Joe 

Grounded for Christmas (2019) 4/5

A predictable story about two airplane pilots who end up spending Christmas with her family when their flight is grounded. Obviously the easiest solution is to lie and pretend he is her boyfriend, will it stay fiction for long? Don’t expect plain sailing as this is a bumpy flight.
Feel good Christmas fun with a predictable story line but Christmassy moods. 

Two Turtle Doves 4/5

A scientist (not a writer for once) returns to her hometown 11 months after the grandmother who raised her had died. If she wants to keep the house she grew up she has to complete a Christmas challenge set by her grandmother. Good acting but very sad.

A Yorkshire Christmas 4/5

A Hallmark style Christmas film but set in Yorkshire! Featuring a great British cast, including the main character with a fake American accent. The story is obvious as it goes along but light hearted and fun. A famous singer ends up staying with a widower, mum and young daughter when her flight is diverted… Lovely shots of Yorkshire included!

Christmas in the Highlands 4/5

Highly predictable storyline but with a bit of Americanised view of Scotland thrown in. A perfume sales manager comes to Scotland to buy a perfume recipe and ends up in a web of deception with the attractive, single, perfume loving Lord of the Manor. 

Christmas at Graceland 4/5

A woman who cant say no returns home from working in Europe and ends up looking after a widowers children over the festive period. A cameo from Priscilla, Elvis songs and lots of views of Graceland ensue! 

Pride, Prejudice and Mistletoe 4/5 

A film roughly based on Pride and Prejudice, but whether the story has more links to the story then just the names is another matter. A woman comes back to her home town to organise a charity auction and changes her own life in the process… 

Jinglebelle 4/5

A New York based jingle writer goes back to her hometown to help out with writing a Christmas song for the annual concert. Just to find out her ex boyfriend is co writing the song with her as he is now director of the concert. An obvious story line but the film has a great feel to it!

A Christmas recipe for Romance 4/5 

A manager of a hotel who can’t cook without setting of the fire alarm enters a televised food competition to win prize money to save the family inn. Isn’t it lucky that a disgraced chef has just checked in under a false name? Predictable and cheesy but less so than others and its avoids that awkward feeling quite well which impressed me! But there are dead family members a plenty!! 

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas 4/5

Two rival mayors from a town divided in two compete in a Christmas competition held by a candle company and learn about themselves on the way. Who will emerge victorious? 

Christmas Ever After 4/5

Awkward but fun! A romance writer heads to her favourite Christmas holiday spot to find that the owners son is taking over and modernising it much to her dislike. But will she find a romance of her own?  Throw in a confusing book writing deadline, a coincidence and a dead wife and you have all the makings of a Christmas film! Wide range of casting too! 

Christmas in Evergreen: Tiding of Joy 4/5

The third in a series (I haven’t seen the other two but I don’t think it matters), a writer turns up in the most Christmassy town in Vermont. The story takes a pinch of magic to believe but the town is beautiful and it’s the perfect Christmas fix. You will really wish you are there!! 

The Christmas Club 4/5

Two strangers, a widowed dance teacher and a single business man, meet after helping a woman who lost her money in the street. They keep bumping into each other, and the after ripples of the money too! Great cast and it lacks the awkwardness some Christmas films suffer from! 

Christmas for Heroes 4/5

A Christmas film themed around an American army town so expect to cry. It’s a beautiful story, a little akward and cringe in places but totally worth it. Yet again there are dead parents (previous to the story of the film) so be aware.

A date by Christmas Eve 4/5 

A woman working for a dating app gets gifted with the powers to change naughty people’s behaviour from Mrs Claus after she is wronged at work. But will she make the right decision with her Christmas wishes? 

Amazing Christmas Romance 4/5

An uninspired writer heads back to her hometown for Christmas inspiration where she finds her high school best friend has made a snow maze. Will she find romance? Well the title of the film certainly gives it away… very over done story (with a snow maze twist) but good acting unlike some others. 

A Very Nutty Christmas 4/5

An overworked cookie baker has the Christmas of her life when her nutcracker comes to life! Holiday capers ensue, with a lot of magic and little bit of cringing.

Christmas Unwrapped 4/5

A reporter is given the story of a lifetime as she reports on a Christmas Charity Initiative with Santa Connections. Where do the gifts really come from? A very different storyline to many others which makes a change!

One Fine Christmas 4/5 

People all along one street with their own heartbreaks and lives come back together at Christmas time. It wasn’t my favourite movie but I did like that it didn’t focus on things like a tree lighting/fake Christmas town etc.

A Bramble House Christmas 4/5

A patient leaves his caregiver a gift of a Christmas holiday and money in his will which leaves his family convinced she was up to no good… so off his son goes to intercept her at Bramble House-a cute holiday resort… cue Christmas activities, snow and duplicitous lies. 

Magical Christmas Shoes 4/5

An accountant receives vintage magic shoes every year from her Dutch grandmother (with a back story that doesn’t quite add up) which shape the course of her life just as they did her grandmother before. But when she learns her favourite candy store is closing she vows to save it with her creative streak. 

Christmas Cuisine of Love 4/5

A chef heads back to her mums B&B to help her prepare for the opening of her new bistro which is attended by the who’s who of food critics including the chefs nemsis whom she blames for closing her first business down with a bad review. Of course not everything is quite as it seems. There is a dead parent still but nothing sad happens during the film which makes a change!

Holly and Ivy 4/5

A young wannabe librarian moves into a fixer upper next to a single mother and her two kids-Holly & Ivy. When the mother falls terminally ill the young woman takes it upon herself to take in the two children whilst fixing her house and her career at the same time

The Christmas Lottery 4/5 

Three feuding sisters are called home when their dad wins the Christmas lottery. But things at home aren’t all they seem as their mums health deteriorates and the ticket goes missing… family feuding aswell as bonding ensues. Some great acting but the story is a little frustrating at points!

Staging Christmas 4/5 

A house stager gets the job of a lifetime when she recreates a Christmas look for a previous client who happens to be a widowed father. Expect an obvious story but beautiful Christmassy props and scenes. 

Jingle Bell Bride 4/5 

A stressed wedding planner flies to Alaska to find the rare Jingle Bell flowers for a celebrity client and gets stick in a snow storm so spends the weekend learning to live slow. Will she make it back to the wedding in time? Will this forever change her outlook on life?! 

Christmas Tree Lane 4/5 

A very predictable story but well acted and put together. A business owner on Christmas Tree Lane finds out her Lane of traditional shops are sold and due for demolition. So she bands together with the other shop keepers and a helpful stranger to fight against the development company. But is this stranger hiding something? (Yes, yes he is!) 

Christmas Under the Stars 4/5

A gentle story but done well and acted well-including a turn from Jesse Metcalfe! A financial advisor climbing the career ladder is suddenly fired which sends him crashing to earth. Whilst the Christmas Tree Lot owner across the road needs someone to climb real ladders to help him out as he is getting older. Not to mention that a friend has recently passed and whose daughter and grandson are struggling on their first Christmas without him. Can they band together to fix their hearts? 

A Christmas to Cherish 4/5 

Sequel to a A Gift to Remember. A year on from the events of the previous film and our couple are going strong but things in the community aren’t all going as well. Featuring military children, Christmas houses and (previously) deceased parents but worth a watch! 

Boyfriends of Christmas Past 4/5

Predictable but well done with an excellent diverse cast! Think Christmas Carol but she’s a scrooge to commitment not Christmas! Can the ghosts of her Christmas past help her realise she is totally in love with her best friend before it’s too late?! 

A Christmas Movie Christmas 4/5 

A little strange but a light hearted laugh! Overworked and overlooked Elle makes a wish to Santa and wakes up in a Christmas movie with her sister! Here they find all the troupes of Christmas movies as they try and untangle their Christmas wish. Bonus points for nothing sad happening but it is very silly! 

Double Christmas 4/5 

Two project managers vying for the same promotion have to work together to pull off a work Christmas party at short notice whilst keeping up with family commitments like “little brothers” and Hanukkah! Showing that no matter how we celebrate or what family is the most important thing! Bonus points for no deaths or overt sadness! 

The Christmas Swap 4/5 

Give this film a chance-it starts off a cringey mess like all swap films tend to (think Freaky Friday but Christmas) but it turns into a lovely film with some touching Christmas moments. No sadness or dead parents which is a bonus! 

Nostalgic Christmas 4/5 

A predictable story including frequent lack of communication but lacking the cringe of other Christmas films 
A big city toy buyer heads home to help her dad begrudgingly retire and sell his wooden toy shop. Whilst there she ends up helping the mill manager-which is also being sold begrudgingly-plan all the towns Christmas events. Will her old small hometown draw her back?! 

A Gingerbread Christmas 4/5 

An architect, who can’t play well with others, is tasked to represent her company in a Gingerbread competition to build life-size (IN that you can stand up inside it) Gingerbread House. She teams up with a local (dishy, single father) Baker to get the job done! 

Christmas in Dollywood 4/5 

A party planner returns to her home town to help plan a party in Dollywood after the original planner drops out at the last minute. Can she work with manager to get the event off the ground?! You might just want to visit Dollywood at Christmas after this! 

Christmas Forgiveness 4/5

 A single mother takes her children to see her estranged father for Christmas but can she forgive the changed man he seems to be? Will the local restaurant owner soften her heart? 

Christmas Wonderland 4/5

An aspiring artist stuck working as an art salesmans has to head back to her hometown to look after her niece and nephew in a family emergency. Stepping into her sisters shoes will she bite off more than she can chew keeping up with her own busy job and helping her ex turned teacher plan the schools “snowball”.

Forever Christmas 4/5

 A TV producer enlists a Christmas obsessed but camera shy hunky man to appear in her reality TV show. However it doesn’t actually go as cringey as you think it will! Yes there are dead parents but barely relevant and for once everyone can actually act! 

The Christmas Set Up 4/5 

A predictable but pleasant story with no real cringe but the mothers voice is a little grating. The main couple is gay which makes a change and has an interesting link in the story. Worth a watch if you are in the mood for a sugar coated easy watch that still has story. 

Christmas with the relatives 4/5 

A British film with a great cast and only some cringey aspects. A good story with interest and heart but not too sacrine sweet either. I really liked this film!

A Very Corgi Christmas 4/5 

A predictable story about an overworked single mother who meets a handsome widower. However its missing the cringe factor and mix up plot ideas that often plague Christmas films. A sweet film with a sweet puppy too!

3 Candy Canes-OK cheesy Christmas movies

Baby in a Manger 3/5

A slightly unbelievable story of a child protection officer and a police officer who discover a baby in a manger. The child protection officer falls in love with the baby whilst the police officer has his own emotional issues. Definitly an obvious story but no cringe comedy and it’s cute. Acting and lack of rounded characters let it down slightly.

Christmas on Holly Tree Lane 3/5 

3 childhood friends grow into women who have moved apart but come together again one Christmas when they hit bumps in the road of life. Can they find the answers to all their problems by returning to their childhood homes and turning to each other? Of course they can! Romance included of course! 

A Christmas in Paris 3/5

Warning it is triggering if you loved a lost one especially around Christmas as it deals with loss emotionally. But this a good film with intrigue and fun. It features some Parisian scenery but not much. 

A Merry Christmas Match 3/5

A slightly strange film featuring a beautiful small town and ‘the big city’. Friends of friends meet and fall in love over two weekends (with a few bumps along the way). Nothing much happens but it will get you in the Christmas mood and make you crave hot chocolate! Check out the supporting role of a certain Glee star!

Christmas Wedding Runaway (or Cold feet at Christmas) 3/5

A film centered around characters you don’t know anything about. Maggie runs away from her wedding, confusingly with her sisters help, to her Nanas cabin from her childhood-who conveniently wasn’t at the wedding-over a week she seemingly falls back in love with her ‘childhood’ sweetheart but what is going on between her fiance and sister? Predictable, light hearted and you could easily do something else at the same time. 

A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas or a Christmas Bride 3/5 

A hotel assistant manager goes back to her hometown to organise her sister’s wedding, seemingly on her own. Together with the best man she plans a wedding back at the hotel she grew up in. A great story but has a fair few story holes.

Return to Christmas Creek 3/5

A woman returns to her old family inn, now run by her uncle after a family rift, for the 40th anniversary of a Santa present fly by. Family drama and old wounds all come to the surface in this Christmas drama! 

Christmas in Conway 3/5

Very different to other Christmas movies, this centres around the last Christmas in a sick woman’s life and how those around her cope. It is sad so do be warned. Very good acting however. 

 A Christmas Coincidence 3/5

Two (single) strangers keep meeting through a serious of coincidences or “godwinks” in a story based on reality. Slightly more dramatic then the average Christmas film and it is upsetting in parts.

Last Christmas at Home 3/5

Three sisters return home for one last Christmas in their family home as their parents are selling it. Each has their own lives and secrets. Whose the buyer? Well it’s a highschool ex of course, who’s taken to flipping houses as a career but what will happen?! Some strange special effects are used.

Carole’s Christmas 3/5

A woman’s wish for a different past decision comes true but everything isn’t as she though it would be. Think 13 going 30 but Christmas.

Journey Back To Christmas 3/5 

A woman accidentally travels to the future when a comet occurs. An intriguing story but with some irritating moments (feels a little strung out at points). Expect some damp eyes! 

A Sisterly Christmas 3/5

Two feuding sisters get sent on a holiday to reconnect. Predictable but enjoyable and relatable story. 

Spotlight on Christmas 3/5

An actress jaded by paparazzi returns to her hometown and instantly bumps into an old school friend, now a teacher (familiar!). So of course she offers to stand in as drama teacher! Will romance blossom or will her Hollywood ex win her back? Its not a bad film but expect CRINGE! 

Christmas Miracle of love 3/5 

A confusing and tearjerking story about a couple of lost people who though charity work and “Godwinks” change their lifes completely. But it is based on a real story. 

A Chesnut Family Christmas 3/5 

A cringe inducing story that doesn’t quite go as badly as you think it will! A cook has to host Christmas for her siblings and it turns out she’s been lying for years-about her home, her job and her love life. Will it all come out? Do her siblings also have hidden secrets? 

A Christmas Stray 3/5 

After a stray dog dodges out in the road and causes a businessman to crash his rental car he ends up stuck in a rural American Town. Unable to get to his incredibly important business meeting, perhaps small town life will rub off him?! 

A Christmas Rivalry 3/5 

Two high school rivals fight it out in the challenge to be mayor. Can they put their past behind them as they face off? Very predictable story but missing any real annoying miscommunications that lots of these films suffer from. 

A Nutcracker Christmas 3/5 

A great cast but a sad story as a loss stops a ballerina from finally achieving her key role in the Nutcracker. Can she let go of the past to help her niece find her own dreams? 

A Christmas Contest 3/5 

A busy business woman takes part in a Christmas contest which makes her reevaluate her life. Her competitor? An ex she is clearly not over. A somewhat gentle, predictable and slightly emotional story.

Christmas Everlasting 3/5 

A very sad Christmas film. A corporate lawyer who has been running away from her past finds it catching up with her when her sister dies and she must return to her hometown to unravel the past. 

The Christmas Set Up 3/5

A mom, with a very American accent, tries to set up her city working son with the local Christmas tree delivery man to encourage him back. But maybe the chance to stretch his lawyer wings in a local scandal will be just what he needs.

Christmas in Vienna 3/5

 A violinist visits Vienna to lead an orchestra and spends her days “holidaying”, which is a little unbelievable. Her friend who lives in Vienna looks after her widowed cousins children but has to rope in the violinist to help when the friend suddenly gets a stand at the Vienna Market, will they help reignite her love of music (and love life?). Beautiful filming locations. 

2 Candy Canes-Meh cheesy Christmas movies

My Best Friend’s Christmas 2/5 

Be warned the main actor whispers throughout. A girl goes home for Christmas thinking she will reignite long lost passions with her childhood sweetheart who is also back for Christmas with famous girlfriend in tow. Mishaps and crossed wires ensue when her best friend poses as her boyfriend… whatever could happen next? 

Hometown Christmas 2/5

A recently trained doctor returns to her southern hometown after her mothers death and brings back her mothers nativity traditions. Of course she bumps into her high school ex who’s life hasnt gone quite the way it was meant to. Predictable story ensues. 

Christmas Scavenger Hunt 2/5

A woman heads back to her hometown after many years in “the big city” as her childhood best friend is getting married. Her workaholic partner stays behind before joining her later so shes left to partner up with her highschool sweetheart ex to compete in the towns scavenger hunt. Will she choose her new corporate life or fall back in love with her old life? Some touch and go acting (bar the ex who is the most believable) and a lack of diversity in the cast.

A unicorn for Christmas 2/5

 Wasn’t sure how this was going to go for a while but the acting left me cringing. A girl obsessed with a TV show (I think) about unicorns wishes on a constellation of unicorns then ends up finding a unicorn… all the things you’d expect then happen. The obviously bad guy wants the unicorn for himself, her parents can’t listen and oh so many other painful troupes see this film out. 

Santa Who? 2/5

Santa falls from the sky and suffers from amnesia. Can a grumpy news reporter help him remember who is? Predictable story and lack lustre effects.

Christmas Love Letter 2/5 

A love column writer who has always bent herself to fit her previous partners receives an anonymous Christmas card from an ex encouraging her back to her home town and to sieve through her past. 
A really good story idea but just gone so wrong! Whilst the acting is fine the story is so cringey and there are so many plot holes and loops that you get caught in them rather than lost in the story. Such a shame! 

Christmas Romance Al Dente 2/5 

An irritating busy body tries to set up her cousins restaurant before Christmas. Her cousin who although due to open her new restaurant on Christmas Eve is stuck on her holiday in Greece until after Christmas… annoying story and bad accents. 

A ring for Christmas 2/5 

A spoilt rich kid is threatened to be cut off by her mum when she finds out her sister gets a fund for getting married. So she and her even more spoilt friend hatch a plan for her to return to her hometown (surprise!) and get a ring for Christmas! Pretty cringey and irritating! 

Coming home for Christmas 2/5

A bit of a cringe fest! Feuding sisters (played by real life sisters who are obviously singers-as you’ll see by the end of the film…) try to put their past behind them after their family home is sold. Will the marine whose bought it help them pull everyone back together?

A Pastry Shop Christmas 2/5

A Christmas movie with a Puerto Rican twist. This could of been so good but it just missed the mark. Expect no explanations. 

1 Candy Cane-Skip these cheesy Christmas movies

A Christmas Village 1/5

A PR agent helps a widowed “Christmas Village” owner turn his business around. Flat acting and awkward moments. Strangely there are several English characters/actors 

A Royal Christmas Engagement 1/5

Super cringey with bad acting and no likeable characters. The film starts with the end-not that the story is particularly hard to guess at. Think Prince and the Pauper meets stereotypical small town girl in the big city story.

A Christmas Princess 1/5

A total cringe fest with an awful script. A European Prince of Edgemont (with an Australian accent and an awfully fake English accented mother) fires his celebrity caterer and hires a random Brooklyn Chef to take over! Is it just her food he’s interested in? 

0 Candy Canes-Avoid these cheesy Christmas movies

The town that cancelled Christmas 0/5

Disappointing and the first Christmas movie I have switched off. The version we watched was also awful filming quality so this really didn’t help the flat acting!

What cheesy Christmas movies will you be catching this holiday season? Let me know in the comments!