Michael Urie and Jennifer Coolidge in ‘Single All The Way’ on Netflix. The streamer has several fun … [+]
It can be challenging to navigate the holiday season as a singleton, especially if dealing with a recent breakup. This scenario seems to be the plotline in many romantic comedies, but no one wants to live the real-life version.
One way to escape the holiday blues, or just the stress of it all, is to curl up under a cozy blanket with a cup of hot cocoa and get lost in a movie where every character is guaranteed a happily-ever-after.
Netflix has a surplus of holiday cheer, including a long list of movies. To make this a doable watch list, here are 15 festive films streaming this holiday season.
Single All The Way – Peter (Michael Urie) is sick of his perpetually single status and dreads going home for the holidays solo. He convinces his best friend Nick to tag along and pretend they’re in a relationship. The plan goes awry when his mom (Kathy Najimy) sets him up on a blind date with her handsome trainer. Jennifer Coolidge is also in this one, and it’s just an all-around feel-good flick.
Holidate – Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey) hate the holidays mainly because they’re always single. They meet one Christmas and make a pact to be one another’s date for every festive occasion the following year. At first, the arrangement works well as the two agree this is just a friendship, but they realize there might be more between them.
A Christmas Prince – When an aspiring young journalist is sent abroad to get the story of a lifetime slash scoop on a handsome prince poised to be king, she gets more than just an article. She just might have found her own love story.
Holiday In The Wild – Manhattanite Kate Conrad (Kristin Davis) has booked a second honeymoon with her husband. Their son has left for college, and she hopes this will be a great getaway. When her husband suddenly ends their marriage, Kate decides to go to Africa for a solo safari. During a detour through Zambia, she helps her pilot, Derek Holliston (Rob Lowe), rescue an orphaned baby elephant. They nurse him back to health at a local elephant orphanage, and Kate extends her stay through Christmastime. Sometimes, the most incredible love follows loss.
The Noel Diary – Best-selling author Jake Turner (Justin Hartley) returns home at Christmas to settle his estranged mother’s estate and discovers a diary that may hold secrets to his past and that of Rachel (Barrett Doss), a young woman on a mission of her own. They embark on a journey to confront their pasts and discover an unexpected future.
Christmas With You – When a pop star named Angelina realizes she’s facing career burnout, she escapes to a small town in New York to grant a young fan a wish. What goes around comes around, and her kindness boomerangs back to her unexpectedly when she finds new inspiration that revitalizes her career and a shot at real love.
Love Hard – Nina Dobrev and Jimmy O. Yang star in this rom-com about a girl from Los Angeles who hasn’t had the best luck with love. She gets on a dating app and starts chatting with a guy on the East Coast guy and decides to be adventurous and surprise him for the holidays, only to discover that she’s been catfished.
The Princess Switch – One week before Christmas, Margaret, the Duchess of Montenaro, switches places with Stacy, a Chicago commoner who looks exactly like her. With the assistance of a magical Santa’s helper, Margaret falls in love with Stacy’s handsome co-worker, while Stacy falls in love with Margaret’s fiance, the dashing Prince. This one has two spin-offs with The Princess Switch: Switched Again and The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star.
A California Christmas: City Lights – It’s been a blissful year since Callie and Joseph fell in love, and they’re happier than ever running their dairy farm and winery. Life is a dream until their relationship is challenged with business and family obligations that call him back to the city and threaten to derail their romance.
I Believe In Santa – Tom and Lisa have been dating for five glorious months when she learns he’s obsessed with her least favorite holiday. Can he get her to love Christmas? Maybe seeing the holiday through his eyes will get her into the spirit.
The Holiday Calendar – Things get interesting when a struggling but talented photographer inherits an antique holiday advent calendar, and she discovers that its contents predict the future. Will this magical calendar lead her to true love this holiday season?
The Knight Before Christmas – Love is all about timing. In this story, a medieval English knight is magically transported to the present day, where he falls in love with a high school science teacher who is disillusioned by love.
Operation Christmas Drop – Congressional aide Erica forgoes spending Christmas with her family to travel at her boss’s behest to a beachside Air Force base, where she clashes with Capt. Andrew Jantz, who knows she’s there to find reasons to defund the facility. Sparks fly, and her plans go awry.
Let It Snow – When a snowstorm hits a small Midwestern town on Christmas Eve, a group of high school seniors find their friendships and love lives colliding thanks to a stranded pop star, a stolen keg, a squad of competitive dancers, a mysterious woman covered in tin foil, and an epic party at the local Waffle Town. This film is based on the best-selling book by John Green.
Love Actually – And finally, for those in the mood for an old holiday classic, Love Actually is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The story follows the lives of eight very different couples dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.
As always, happy binge-watching, and may you find love this holiday season (if you haven’t already)!
