If You’re Only Going to Watch 5 Hallmark Christmas Movies This Year, Make Sure It’s These

Updated on Dec. 12, 2025

'Tis the season to hunker down with princes, small-town hunks and Lacey Chabert. Here are the best of the best Hallmark Christmas movies.

The best Hallmark Christmas movies

Before we continue, it’s important to first do a quick holiday inventory to make sure we’re all on the same page. First, Die Hard most certainly is a Christmas movie. Paul McCartney’s earworm “Wonderful Christmastime” should finally be put out to pasture. And most important: Nothing hits the spot on a chilly night quite like a Hallmark Christmas movie—dare I say the cheesier and more predictable, the better? We’re not aiming for thought-provoking, Emmy-winning content here. We just want a cozy snowy locale, a gorgeous prince, a lesson about togetherness and a kiss under the mistletoe, darn it. And the best Hallmark Christmas movies provide all the above.

I must admit that it took me a minute to come around to the joy of the Hallmark Christmas movie. Not only am I a proud cynic and a bit of a movie snob, but I also still see Lacey Chabert as the whiny teen from Party of Five and not some Yuletide romance queen. Then I began to seek the comfort in the Hallmark formula. And by “comfort,” I mean “genius.” After all, what hardened city girl doesn’t secretly dream of going back to her hometown and finding love with her childhood sweetheart? The plotlines may all be laughably unrealistic, but these emotional journeys take the stress out of the chaos and really do illustrate the true meaning of this festive season.

Now it’s time to play favorites. With more than 300 offerings in the canon, we’ve made the definitive list of the five best Hallmark Christmas movies. (And after checking it twice, we feel compelled to shout out a few honorable mentions that didn’t make the final cut: Round and Round, Three Wise Men and a Baby and The Santa Stakeout.) Our criteria? All these picks feature the familiar stalwarts, such as small towns, princes and plucky heroines. From there, we judged how enjoyable the story is, how much you’ll love the characters (and the locales!) and how warm and fuzzy you’ll feel while watching it.

So whether you’re a newbie readying for your first watch or, ahem, a die-hard fan, you’re going to fall in love within two hours, guaranteed. Just head to Hallmark+ to watch these delightfully romantic holiday movies. Happy viewing!

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One Royal Holiday

Released: 2020

If the best Hallmark Christmas movies prove anything, it’s that even strong, independent women still hope that one day their prince will come. For this crowning achievement in One Royal Holiday, Anna (Laura Osnes) helps a frustrated mother (Victoria Clark) and son (Aaron Tveit) stranded in a blizzard—only to discover that the pair are actually members of the royal family from the fictional European nation of Galwick. Anna invites the pair to stay in her dad’s quaint inn and shows the prince how to open his heart and find himself. You better believe that this mismatched couple soon realize that they’re made for each other. Now that’s how you do Christmas in Connecticut!

You’ll really love: Tveit—now a Tony winner currently co-starring in the hot musical Chess on Broadway—is extra charming as the uptight Prince James. The big highlight? Waltzing with Osnes to “Winter Wonderland” during the Christmas Eve Pyjama Ball. The film, by the way, was shot primarily at The Inn at Woodstock, a bed and breakfast in Putnam, Connecticut.

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Christmas Waltz

Released: 2020

Fear not. We’ve reached the Chabert portion of this best Hallmark Christmas movies list. The adorable Mean Girls actress has appeared in a whopping 40-plus (!) projects since 2010, but this one is a step above the rest. In Christmas Waltz, she plays Avery, a busy New York City lawyer ready for her storybook wedding. A month before the big day, her fiancé wants to put the plans on ice so he can take a job in Boston. Her reaction? Canceling the nuptials altogether, yet going ahead with the couple’s dance lessons. Hey, at least studio owner Roman (Will Kemp) offers to be her dance partner. As the two perfect their moves on the dance floor, they build trust and eventually realize that it takes two to tango.

You’ll really love: Remember how much you obsessed over Baby and Johnny’s amazing chemistry in Dirty Dancing? Christmas Waltz is the PG Hallmark version, with a mesmerizing climactic waltz subbing in for the big lift. In other words, you’ll have the time of your life watching this elegant and compelling romance.

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A Biltmore Christmas

Released: 2023

In this time-travel fantasy, jaded screenwriter Lucy (Bethany Joy Lenz) is hired to script the remake of a classic Christmas movie called His Merry Wife. Great! Except that she struggles with the assignment, mostly due to its original “unrealistic” ending. No wonder her boss sends her to the film’s original location in the gorgeous Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. And now it’s time to suspend your disbelief even more: At the estate, an antique hourglass topples over, and Lucy is transported to 1947 and the set of the original movie—where she promptly meets its lead actor, Jack (Kristoffer Polaha).

The two become close (obviously), but her appearance sets off a chain of events that puts the production in jeopardy. In order to return to the present, she has to set things right. Think of this clever offering as a hot toddy cocktail of It’s a Wonderful Life, Back to the Future and the Hallmark series The Way Home.

You’ll really love: Aside from the oh-so-appealing chemistry between Hallmark movie vets Lenz and Polaha, this entry is a standout for its nifty 1940s-era period details and costumes. And that majestic setting is no soundstage: A Biltmore Christmas was filmed at the real Biltmore Estate.

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Joyeux Noel

Released: 2023

Think spending the holidays in snowy New England is swoon-worthy? Try France. In Joyeux Noel, newspaper copy editor Lea (Jaicy Elliot) and hard-hitting reporter Mark (Brant Daugherty, who wrote the screenplay with his wife, Kim) must hold off on their holiday plans when they’re sent to a delightful French village to uncover the history behind a mysterious painting and journal about a forbidden love. The problem is that Lea wants to handle the assignment by herself, and Mark thinks he’s too good for this “puff piece.” While working on the story, the adversarial colleagues put their differences aside and learn that a looming deadline can be quite the aphrodisiac.

You’ll really love: If you’re looking for holiday escapism with a postcard-like setting, you’ve come to the right movie. When Lea and Mark roam the cute little holiday markets, they’re really on location in Rouen, a city on the River Seine in France. Several fantastic French actors, including Ciara Prioux as a hotelier’s sort-of-con-artist preteen daughter, add to Joyeux Noel‘s ooh-la-la authenticity.

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We Met in December

Released: 2025

Some of the best Hallmark Christmas movies start with a good, old-fashioned meet-cute, and that’s true of this brand-new Hallmark offering. But even though lawyer Annie (Autumn Reeser) and financier Dave (Niall Matter) immediately spark during an unintended layover at a hotel, they fail to get each other’s contact information. (Poor Annie even resorts to an online app to find her guy … only to discover she tracked down a different Dave in finance.) The two spend the rest of the movie trying to reconnect—often with highly amusing results. Along the way, they learn all the right lessons about themselves and the holiday. Does this plot sound vaguely familiar? Sure, but honestly, it’s about time someone put a contemporary spin on the 2001 film Serendipity.

You’ll really love: We Met in December is not only an endearing romance—it’s actually smart and funny. As Annie’s best friend Kate (Kyana Teresa) tells her, “This stuff doesn’t happen, Annie. One time I got stuck in an airport with a high school a capella group, and they sang for 17 hours straight … and you get stuck with Gorgeous Finance Guy!” Best of all, that climactic payoff is well-earned.

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Mara Reinstein

Mara is a contributor for Reader's Digest who specializes in entertainment. She has written for the New York Times, the Ringer, Vulture, Rolling Stone, CNN, Parade, Backstage, Architectural Digest, Esquire and the Hollywood Reporter, and is a longtime film critic. In 2023, Mara was nominated for a National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award ...