Watching a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie can put anyone in a festive mood. This year, there’s 36 new original movies airing on the network—which means 36 new chances to observe Hallmark’s holiday charm in action. But the more you watch, the more you realize that Hallmark’s Christmas movies follow a strong-as-hell formula. Each film is nearly identical, with small details to differentiate between plots: The lead is always a straight woman looking for love, she’s always over-worked, and her story always ends with rediscovering the true meaning of Christmas (and finding a boyfriend-slash-fiancée-slash-spouse). The network even casts several of the same women to bring these stories to life.
In a way, it’s comforting. No matter what’s going on in December, you’ll always know what you’re getting into with Hallmark Channel Christmas movies—and that’s what makes them so fun. So to enhance your viewing experience, we’ve compiled a guide to the most common tropes you’ll encounter this holiday season. Next time you can’t choose between Mingle All the Way and Marrying Father Christmas, you’ll know what’s up no matter which one you pick.
The title is almost always a pun.
Mingle All the Way. It’s Christmas, Eve. It’s Christmas, Carol!. Fir Crazy. A Carol Christmas. Need we go on?
The leading lady is career-oriented.
The Workaholic Woman is one of Hallmark’s most frequent tropes. She’s a big city career girl who comes home for the holidays to be reminded that when she steps back and slows down, true love awaits. This year there are plenty of career women waiting to be swept off their feet in Hallmark films, like the app developer in Return to Christmas Creek, or the Chicago-based business executive who heads to Memphis in Christmas at Graceland. There’s also a “keenly intelligent market researcher” working overtime to get a promotion in time for the holidays in Christmas Joy and an artist tired of the gallery world in Christmas at Grand Valley.
PHOTO: Hallmark
Joy, the titular over-worked woman of Hallmark’s Christmas Joy.
PHOTO: Hallmark
Country singer Kellie Pickler (left) plays a workaholic returning to her country roots in Christmas at Graceland.
A lot of the time, she’s also a baker.
In the Hallmark Christmas movie universe, there’s nothing quite as charming as a woman who knows her way around an oven. Falling for You, Christmas in Love, and Truly, Madly, Sweetly are just three of many Hallmark Christmas movies where the romantic lead owns a bakery. The bakery might be in financial distress, or it’s a local success story—it all depends on the specific flick. Expect to see lots of delicious gingerbread in them all.
Everyone is Christian…
Christmas is the one and only reason for the Hallmark Channel holiday season, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a mere mention of another holiday or religion. This is a one-stop shop for films with titles like Christmas in Love, A Soldier’s Christmas, A Godwink Christmas, and Return to Christmas Creek. However, Hallmark is embracing the wonders of diversity next year: The channel announced that it will be adding two Hanukkah-themed movies to 2019’s holiday repertoire.
…and usually white, straight, and cis-gendered.
Hallmark Christmas movies are overwhelmingly filled with white, straight actors. Of the 36 new Christmas films being released this year, only five of them feature actors of color in lead roles. They include: Christmas Everlasting, A Majestic Christmas, A Gingerbread Romance, and Focus on Love. Meanwhile, there isn’t a single queer character in a lead role this year. The closest Hallmark has come to featuring a queer person is when a gay couple decorated a tree in a 2016 commercial. Hopefully Santa will bring more diverse casting choices next year.
There’s inspiration from the royal wedding.
It’s not all that surprising that Hallmark would capitalize on the Meghan Markle frenzy with several royalty-inspired films in 2018. If you’re looking for even more royal wedding content, you can’t go wrong with Royal Matchmaker, Royal Hearts, Christmas at the Palace, or Royal New Year’s Eve.
PHOTO: Hallmark
No surprises here: Christmas at the Palace depicts a holiday romance at…a palace.
A family’s land is at stake.
The plots often center around family homes and businesses in jeopardy. In Christmas at Holly Lodge, a property owner must save her land from aggressive real-estate developers. In Northern Lights of Christmas, our ambitious leading lady gives up her longtime career goals when she inherits a reindeer farm that needs a lot of work. In All of My Heart, The Wedding, Hallmark star Lacey Chabert is plagued with financial issues that could cause her to give up her beloved country inn. Will each heroine save her family land? Probably yes, but you’ll have to watch to know for sure.
A knight in shining armor comes to the rescue.
The majority of male characters in Hallmark films hold jobs like a mechanic or handyman, with the occasional artisan in the mix. Careers aside, they’re all handsome and they all save a woman from personal or professional ruin. Whether it be sharing a ride when the leading lady’s in a fender-bender in Welcome to Christmas or setting up an entire store window Christmas display á la My Christmas Dream, these traditionally handsome men always arrive in the knick of time. The trope is taken to the extreme in Once Upon a Christmas Miracle, when a man offers a dying woman a piece of his own liver for a transplant, a gesture that in turn leads to a Christmas miracle.
PHOTO: Hallmark
Chad Michael Murray returns to the small screen as a swoon-worthy lead in Road to Christmas.
PHOTO: Hallmark
Even A Shoe Addict’s Christmas wouldn’t be complete without romantic intrigue.
Most scenes are set to twinkly music.
The scores for Hallmark Christmas movies sound nearly identical, providing a sense of warmth, comfort, and familiarity no matter which one you happen to watch. Hallmark rotates a vast group of composers through its films, yet they all harness that quintessential Hallmark sound: twinkly, festive, and a little cheesy. You can thank composer Lawrence Shragge for the sweet melodies of Christmas at Pemberley Manor, Love on the Slopes, Christmas in Homestead, The Christmas Note, Wedding Bells, The Christmas Secret, The Nine Lives of Christmas and many more.
The plot closely follows Pride and Prejudice.
Jane Austen’s classic novel is an endless source of inspiration for romantic holiday stories. (Not that we’re complaining about more P&P content.) Christmas at Pemberley Manor features a grinch-like billionaire (William Darcy) who comes up against an event planner (Elizabeth Bennett) who’s determined to use his sprawling mansion for a holiday festival. Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe stars Hallmark fave Lacey Chabert as—you guessed it—a career-obsessed woman forced to return home for the holidays, only to go head-to-head with an old nemesis in Pride and Prejudice fashion. Fingers crossed that these films feature a dashing and devious Mr. Wickham as well.
PHOTO: Hallmark
Christmas at Pemberley Manor re-imagines Elizabeth Bennett (right) as a charismatic party planner. William Darcy remains the grumpy owner of a manor.
PHOTO: Hallmark
Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe brings its romantic rivals together to plan a charity event. This time, they’re named Luke (left) and Darcy.
Every character uses the same interior designer.
The decor! A Hallmark Channel leading lady always lives in a spacious, carefully decorated home regardless of profession or location. The houses are all set up like a window display in a furniture store, featuring big, wooden block words spelling out commands like “Dream,” “Eat,” and “Live, Laugh, Love!” What we really want to know is: Where can we get one of the artfully draped blankets on the back of every single couch?
A small town goes all-out for Christmas.
Most cities are known to put on a spectacle come the holiday season, but the fictional towns in Hallmark Channel Christmas movies take it to another level. Welcome to Christmas and A Majestic Christmas are among the films that feature streets bedecked with lights, wreaths, and ribbons in every shot. Decorations play heavily in some plots too: In A Majestic Christmas, the leading lady is tasked with turning the town’s historic playhouse into its annual holiday tableau, all while battling a new theater owner who isn’t in the mood for decorations.
PHOTO: Hallmark
Spoiler alert: It looks like the holiday decorations in A Majestic Christmas come together after all.
A woman lacks Christmas spirit.
Skimping on holiday cheer is a big no-no in Hallmark films; the Christmas spirit must be at an all-time high at all times. When that’s not the case, communities pull together to get the leading lady into the spirit. In the upcoming Memories of Christmas, for example, Noelle (played by Christina Milian) inherits her Christmas-obsessed mother’s house and has to be convinced to keep her mother’s traditions alive. Everyone is very invested in Noelle’s holiday mood and goes to extreme lengths get her in the spirit. There’s a similar set-up in Return to Christmas Creek, where a grumpy app-developer Amelia leaves her big city to return to her hometown—you guessed it—Christmas Creek. At home, she patches up relationships with her childhood best friend and estranged uncle in an effort to rediscover the meaning of Christmas.
Someone gets a new beginning.
The female protagonists in Hallmark Christmas films are often at a crossroads in their lives that lead them find a fresh start. Sometimes that’s the end of a marriage; other times, it’s an unexpected move or lay-off from work. In Hope at Christmas, a recently divorced woman and her daughter spend Christmas in a house she has recently inherited. As luck would have it, she meets a handsome local who wants to make her daughter’s Christmas wishes come true. Then, there’s some unexpected do-overs that only Hallmark could dream up: In Northern Lights of Christmas, a woman starts anew after inheriting an entire reindeer farm. Now that’s a new beginning.
Santa is real—and interferes in the lives of grown women.
Santa is just a jolly old fellow who wants to see everyone happy and deeply in the throes of love. He turns up unexpectedly in several movies to work some romantic magic, or is pulling the strings in the background. In Matchmaker Santa, a baker (another baker!) who is dating a fancy CEO is thrown into compromising situations with her boyfriend’s BFF, who is harboring a secret crush on her. Then, a white-bearded, elderly gentleman appears and encourages the two to hang out, forcing our sweet baker to recognize her feelings for both men. There’s also Marrying Father Christmas, which, judging on title alone means that someone is marrying Santa. (It’s actually about a woman who gets married on Christmas day. Close enough.) Even without an immediate connection Mr. Claus, there’s a proxy force in his place: Take A Shoe Addict’s Christmas, for example, in which a “guardian angel” who looks a lot like Mrs. Claus helps a woman correct her present by traveling to Christmases past.
It’s been a stressful year, but at least you can count on Hallmark, Lifetime, and Netflix to come through with the holiday cheer. After all, what’s more relaxing than watching an overworked woman fall in love with a Christmas tree farmer? So decompress with all of our delightful holiday content right here.
