Aren't we tired of Christmas rom-coms yet?

Every year, new and old Christmas movies begin to invade our horizon earlier and earlier, much like back-to-school ads in July. By mid-November, almost happy families in need of Santa Claus to solve their communication issues, career women who have lost sight of life's important things, and rough lumberjacks with complicated family histories who hate city life emerge from the shadows, forcefully occupying our streaming services, televisions, and cinemas. And as November comes to an end, the usual social debates kick off: which Christmas movie represents your childhood? When and with whom do you rewatch Love Actually? How has Trading Places aged (spoiler: not well)? Are we ready to admit that the only true Christmas movie to watch every year is Jim Carrey's Grinch, or do we still want to live in denial? In short, the theme is always relevant, no matter what. While children's and family Christmas movies are almost all the same, following more or less the same formula, with some succeeding better than others (this year, for example, Sliding on the Snow beats Best.Christmas.Ever, but just barely), Christmas rom-coms divide the audience: some believe that the perfection of The Holiday, the 2006 film with Jude Law and Cameron Diaz, is irreplaceable, while others are open to something new, even if it involves somewhat absurd but entertaining films like The Princess Switch from 2018.

Issues with Christmas Rom-Coms (Yesterday and Today)

Nostalgic folks will have to face reality. Christmas rom-coms from the past have a lot of problems. Love Actually, for example, has undergone a strong reevaluation in recent years, shifting from a perfect winter film to a tangle of plot holes and fat-shaming. Simply put, the super cast had distracted us. The Gen Z examines the holiday love story on screen with new eyes, without rose-colored glasses, discovering its flaws and ruthlessly highlighting them. Any examples? The scripts are lazy, the characters are not developed, men are always guilty of improper behavior, and women are always ready to accept them willingly in the name of a falsely hopeful happy ending. In short, as spectators, we are ready for a new romantic film model, but perhaps the film industry is not. Or it doesn't even want to try.

A Too Schematic Genre

So, what does the current landscape offer? Various versions, all somewhat constrained by the genre's schematics. The truth is that these movies are (almost) always the same. If they are just Christmas movies, usually a problem that arises at Christmas is solved in a spectacular way with the more or less concealed assistance of some supernatural manifestation of the holiday or Santa Claus himself, more or less disguised. In the process, the protagonists will also resolve something that was stuck in themselves or in their relationship. If the rom-com formula is added to this, two people come into contact, like or dislike each other, some type of initial distrust, conflict, or misunderstanding comes between them, uniting or separating them, and in the end, everything is resolved. Because it's Christmas. And that's it. Whether there's a person swap, time travel, or even an unexpected death (as in Last Christmas), it doesn't matter. We already know what we'll get when we press play.

Non-Traditional Christmas Movies and the Desire for Something New

On one hand, that's why we love them so much - and there's nothing wrong with that; after all, they're the Linus blanket of winter entertainment, something to retreat to and recite by heart with family, warm and revitalizing, like a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream or a brunch with friends - maybe though we've reached a point of general saturation. Is it possible that this sense of familiarity and warmth can only be achieved through dull and repetitive movies? One solution might be to turn to films that are only subtly Christmas-themed and instead explore other genres. This year, an unconventional Christmas proposal comes from John Woo with Silent Night, a thriller where decisive actions simply happen at Christmas, and everyone shoots at everyone. Definitely entertaining. In forums and other online spaces, people have tried to find a kind of alternative Christmas even in films like Batman Returns or Die Hard. If it's the feeling of familiarity you're after, and not necessarily the Christmas tree, then there's The Blues Brothers, a timeless classic so cozy that it could even be considered a holiday film, even though not a single snowflake falls from the sky. And there's Carrie Fisher with a bazooka.