Entertainment

17 Cheesy Christmas Movies On Netflix To Boost Your Holiday Spirits

by Parry Ernsberger
ABC Family/Freeform

Wreath hung? Check. Tree decorated? Check. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire? Do people still do that? Sure, check. No matter where you are with your holiday prep, the season can tend to get a little stressful for us all. And there's no better way to relieve that yuletide strain, than with an incredibly cheesy Christmas movie marathon.

Thankfully, there's no shortage of such movies on Netflix (and that's an understatement). But what is it about Christmas, exactly, that has inspired an endless, ever-growing supply of cinematic holiday cheer? Perhaps it's the promise of a new year, or the romanticism of softly-falling snow. Maybe it's the magic of Christmas spirit, the gentle jangle of jingle bells, or the anticipation of spending time with loved ones. There's the giving and receiving of thanks, the drive to help those less-fortunate, and the joy of experiencing Christmas through the eyes of a child.

On the other hand, it could just be that it's easy to crank-out a low-budget flick when there's an endless supply of Christmas decorations in the prop closet. That, and the fact that ugly Christmas sweaters will never go out of style. No matter the reason, there are more than enough movies to last you from now until December 25 — so get cozy, grab a blanket (and/or a glass of wine), and prepare to hibernate.

Here's 17 of the best cheesy Christmas movies currently on Netflix, guaranteed to bring you some holiday cheer. 'Tis the season, after all.

1. 12 Dates Of Christmas

Amy Smart and Zack Morris — er, Mark-Paul Gosselaar — star in this ABC Family (now Freeform) original about a woman who's forced to repeatedly relive Christmas Eve until she breaks the cycle by finding true love. It's kind of like Groundhog Day, but with way more warm-fuzzies, plus a theme song ("Angels Are Singing") performed by American Idol alum, Jordin Sparks.

2. A Christmas Kiss

An aspiring interior designer, Wendy (Laura Breckenridge), meets and makes out with a stranger, Adam (played by former Roswell heart-throb, Brendan Fehr), on an elevator. She later finds out that Adam is: 1) A very wealthy socialite, and 2) The boyfriend of her Grinch-like boss (Elizabeth Röhm). Later, Wendy and Adam serendipitously reconnect, feelings are felt, and a love-triangle rom-com ensues.

3. A Christmas Prince

The plot of A Christmas Prince — otherwise known as the original holiday film that Netflix recently called out 53 users about marathon-watching every day for the last 18 days — is one that you've likely heard and loved before. A regular girl (Rose McIver) meets a handsome prince (Ben Lamb) in an unlikely scenario, hilarity ensues, love conquers all. It's the movie the internet can't stop talking about, and it's definitely worth a watch (or 18, apparently).

4. A Christmas Star

Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan snuck into this British holiday film about a little girl, Noelle (Erin Galway-Kendrick), who is born under the Christmas Star and believes she can perform miracles. When an evil developer threatens to take over her town, Noelle tries to put her miracle-working skills to the test. Kylie Minogue makes a bonus appearance.

5. A Dogwalker's Christmas Tale

Spoiled rich girl Luce (Lexi Giovagnoli) maxes out her credit card and takes a job walking the dog of her wealthy neighbor (Dina Meyer) so she can afford to buy herself a ruby necklace (which, in real life, would amount to, like, 1,000 dog walks). While at the dog park, she meets Dean (Jonathan Bennett aka Aaron Samuels from Mean Girls), a regular guy, and learns that her wealthy neighbor is planning on turning the park into a spa. Naturally, Luce falls for Dean, which puts her in a predicament: help her new love interest by stopping the spa construction, or piss off her wealthy neighbor, fall from grace, and kiss that ruby necklace goodbye?

6. Christmas In The City

All you need to know is that this Lifetime movie stars Ashanti, who, at one point, fires an in-store Santa and replaces him with shirtless male underwear models surrounded by sexy elves.

7. Marry Me For Christmas

Marci Jewel (Malinda Williams) is a stylish single lady who owns an up-and-coming ad agency in New York. Frustrated by her family's constant nagging about her single lady-status, Marci convinces one of her employees (Brad James) to pose as her fiancé while she's home for the holidays.

8. Merry Kissmas

In yet another elevator meet-cute scenario, Kayla (Karissa Lee Staples), engaged and unhappy, shares a romantic kiss with a stranger (Brant Daugherty) while stuck between floors. Shortly thereafter, things suddenly start to get better with her fiancé (David O'Donnell), and the "stuck between floors" metaphor continues as she struggles to decide between her soon-to-be betrothed and the stranger she can't forget.

9. Christmas Crush

Georgia (Rachel Boston) returns home for her high-school reunion, hopeful that she'll find her forever love with Craig (Jon Prescott), an old crush/the guy she's compared all other guys to for the last decade. After reconnecting with Ben (Jonathan Bennett/Aaron Samuels), an unassuming old friend, Georgia quickly realizes that she may have spent the last 10 years idolizing the wrong guy.

10. All I Want For Christmas

Not to be confused with the 1991 holiday comedy starring Leslie Nielsen as Santa Claus (which, while excellent, is not currently on Netflix), this Hallmark original TV movie is about a little boy (Jimmy "Jax" Pinchak) who enters a corporate-sponsored contest to find his widowed mother (Gail O'Grady) a new husband, unbeknownst to her.

11. Dear Santa

In this Jason Priestly-directed Lifetime original TV movie, another spunky kid (Emma Duke) tries to play matchmaker for her widowed parent (David Haydn-Jones). But instead of depending on a corporate contest, the kid writes to Santa and asks him to bring her widowed father a new wife for Christmas. The letter is found by a shopaholic socialite struggling to grow-up (Amy Acker), who tries to find her own happiness by tracking down the widowed dad.

12. Christmas Wedding Baby

Shortly before Christmas, three sisters reunite at home in small-town Florida to prepare for the wedding of baby sister, Andrea (Kimberely Drummond). Andrea's wealthy fiancé cannot be bothered with the pre-wedding prep, and is absent when their wedding planner introduces his lady to their photographer — who, since it's such a small town, just happens to be Andrea's ex-boyfriend (Sawandi Wilson).

13. An Evergreen Christmas

Aspiring singer Abbie Lee (Charleene Closshey), puts her career on hold after the unexpected death of her father. As the executor of her family's small-town estate, Abbie Lee is forced to decide between saving their once-thriving Christmas tree farm and going back to her big-city life. Naomi Judd plays Honey, the wife of Abbie Lee's grandfather.

14. So This Is Christmas

Angsty teen Ashley (Lexi Ainsworth) keeps getting into trouble. Her parents (Eric Roberts and Vivica A. Fox) grow increasingly concerned, until an encounter with the family's handyman convinces her to volunteer with a group of underprivileged kids putting on a holiday pageant.

15. Small Town Santa

"Superman" Sheriff Dean Cain loses his Christmas spirit, arrests Santa Claus for breaking and entering, then falls in love with Al from Step By Step (Christine Lakin).

16. The Spirit of Christmas

An overworked lawyer (Jen Lilley) is sent to Vermont to broker the sale of a haunted inn. The bad news is that the ghost (Thomas Beaudoin) haunting the inn can't leave until the mystery of his death is solved. The good news is that the ghost is super hot.

17. Christmas Inheritance

Netflix may have another Christmas rom-com classic on their hands when this new original movies is released on December 15. A hard-partying socialite (Eliza Taylor) on the verge of inheriting her father's business is forced to reform her bad-girl ways. It's got your classic City Mouse/Country Mouse struggle, a dramatic love triangle (featuring Jake Lacy, who played Jenny Slate's love interest in Obvious Child), and probably some big lesson-learned at the end about changing, caring, etc.

There ya go. Now get watching!