Lindsey Lohan's Christmas Comeback - A Viewing Phenomenon

Netflix's Christmas Movie Lineup

Netflix's 2024 original holiday movie lineup is truly diverse. "Meet Me Next Christmas" premiered on November 6, following the story of Layla (Milian), a hopeless romantic, as she races around New York City in search of a holiday concert ticket. Along the way, she becomes smitten with a helpful concierge (Ellis). This romantic comedy earned 18.1 million views in its first five days.

"Hot Frosty" hit the screens on November 13. It tells the story of Kathy (Chabert), who accidentally brings a snowman (Milligan) to life two years after her husband's death. This magical tale helped her rediscover the magic of Christmas and garnered 16 million views in its first week. The film's out-there premise, with a magical snowman coming to life and having various adventures, has sparked a lot of discussions on social media.

"The Merry Gentlemen" debuted on November 20. A professional dancer (Britt Robertson) decides to host an all-male revue in her hometown to save her parents' failing bar and recruits handyman Luke (Murray) to help. This movie had 14.7 million views in its first week.

"Our Little Secret" starring Lindsey Lohan and Ian Harding as exes who discover they're dating siblings and are forced to spend Christmas together premiered on November 27 and drew 32.4 million views in its first five days.

"That Christmas", an animated movie that debuted on December 4, features a cast including Brian Cox ("Succession"), Jodie Whittaker ("Doctor Who") and Bill Nighy ("Love Actually"). It has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 59%.

"Carry-On" released on December 13 and follows a TSA agent (Taron Egerton) who is blackmailed into letting a dangerous package onto a plane in a Christmas-themed thriller.

Social Media Sensation

"Hot Frosty" made waves on social media after its release. Its recognizable cast, including the so-called "Queen of Christmas" Lacey Chabert (who has been featured in dozens of holiday films for the channel), Dustin Milligan ("Schitt's Creek") and Craig Robinson ("The Office"), added to its popularity. The film's premise of a magical snowman coming to life and having various romantic entanglements has been called "unhinged" and "over-the-top cringe" by some, but also "perfect" and something "everybody needs to go watch" by others.

TikTok musician Emhahee's video about the movie, which now has more than 3 million views, perfectly captures the essence of the film. "I just watched the movie Netflix made about the sexy snowman that turns into Ted from 'Schitt's Creek', gets arrested by Daryl from 'The Office' and falls in love with Gretchen Weiners from 'Mean Girls', and I cannot express how worth the hour and a half it was to watch this," said Emhahee. "Art isn't dead."

Rotten Tomatoes Scores

Rotten Tomatoes scores give an interesting perspective on these movies. "Hot Frosty" has an 80% score, among the top of Netflix original movies so far this year. Despite reviews that call it "immensely dumb" and "generically saccharine", it still managed to attract a large audience. "Meet Me Next Christmas" has a 69% score, "The Merry Gentlemen" sits at 44% and "Our Little Secret" has a 37%. "That Christmas", an animated movie, has a 59%.

Holiday-Themed TV Shows and Specials

Netflix is not just focusing on movies. They are also releasing holiday-centric TV shows and one musical special. "A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter" is a holiday special featuring surprise musical guests and performances from Carpenter's holiday EP "Fruitcake". It debuts at 9 p.m. Friday, December 6. Two seasonal baking shows - "Is It Cake? Holiday" (November 28) and "The Great British Baking Show: Holidays" (December 9) - are also releasing on the streamer. Iconic holiday actress Keira Knightley ("Love Actually") stars in thriller series called "Black Doves" set against the backdrop of London at Christmas. The show's first season releases on December 5.

The Hallmark Channel's Rise

The Hallmark Channel has been making its way up the cable charts since holiday films started debuting in October. In the week of November 18, the latest Nielsen data available, a Hallmark holiday original broke into the top 40 cable programs of the week for the first time this season with "Three Wiser Men and a Boy". As of November 24, Hallmark's holiday programming had reached 22.1 million unique viewers, showing the growing popularity of holiday-themed content.