The 40 Best Hallmark Holiday Movies of All Time (and Where to Watch Them)

Chyler Leigh and Paul Campbell star as Sloan and Jake, coworkers at a department store competing for the same promotion by attempting to bring in more customers via window displays. Cameron Mathison plays her boyfriend who just doesn’t get her the same way Jake does (and around whom she puts on a facade as to who she really is). Plus Sloan and Jake bond while locked in overnight at the store — who doesn’t love that trope?

It’s a classic fake fiancé story: Bonnie Somerville’s Hillary hires Jordan Bridges’ David to pose as her beau after her real one breaks up with her. Her family (Shelley Long and Sam McMurray as her parents, Haylie Duff as her sister) falls in love with him, they fall in love with each other, and it becomes all too real.

Magic realism, the holidays, and potential for new romance? Sign us up! Lindsey (Bridget Regan) may not be able to find her new love interest (Victor Webster‘s Scott) in the titular item, but it sure comes in handy at just the moment.

There’s something about magical realism, the holidays, and a hometown visit that results in a sweet story, as is the case for a struggling actress (Sarah Lancaster), whose encounter with a Santa leads to some mysterious dreams. Add in her ex-boyfriend (Andrew Francis), her old friend (Brendan Penny) who is clearly going to be more, and a supportive friend (Anna Van Hooft) for an all-around great movie.

For something a bit different: video game designers (Mallory Jansen and Tyler Hynes), both up for the same promotion, team up to create a romantic scavenger app around the city (done via an app). Of course they fall in love while completing the activities themselves! (Bonus: Both get promotions.)

Jennifer (Brooke Burns) finds love when her uncle, Ralph (Henry Winkler), brings a man he met on a flight home for Christmas (Warren Christie’s Morgan). Not only do opposites attract, but the film also includes Jennifer running to the airport to stop Morgan from leaving (and confessing her feelings over the PA).

Who doesn’t love a feel-good, family movie about the magic of Christmas? Bailee Madison stars as an elf, Clementine, Robert Wagner and Jill St. John as Santa and Mrs. Claus, and Tiffani Thiessen as a mother who needs to rediscover the love of the holiday (and be charmed by her son’s teacher, played by Josh Hopkins).

Fixing a sleigh together for the small town’s Christmas parade brings Erin Cahill and David Alpay‘s characters back together. What makes it fun: the magic around said sleigh.

It’s the typical reporter (Katrina Law) falls for a member (Jordan Belfi) of the politician’s family she’s looking to write an exposé on for a big bonus at work. She accidentally spends the holidays with the family, and things, predictably, get messy. It also stars Tom Lenk, Patricia Richardson, and Robert Curtis Brown.

What’s been seen time and time again: a character getting stuck in a small town, missing something for work, around the holidays. How this film flips that: Bonnie Somerville‘s exec doesn’t want to leave and happily stays as long as she can, because she’s fallen for a father (Brennan Elliott), his daughter, and the town.

The impressive ice sculptures themselves would be enough to earn this film a spot on a list! And then you add in the sweet romance between aspiring chef Callie (Rachel Boston) and David (David Alpay), who met as kids (and remember each other!) as she teaches him about ice sculpting for a competition as well as fully developed supporting characters, and you have something worthy of a blue ribbon.

Listen, we love the meet cute in this one even more than we normally would because it means that Tory (Stacey Farber), after letting Jay (Daren Kagensoff) have the last box of Hanukkah candles, follows him into the bar where she not only surprisingly finds herself a job right after she’s lost hers but also meets his grandfather (Marc Summers, a real highlight). Plus, Tory and Jay’s misunderstanding (there almost always has to be one) is cleared up quickly enough that it’s not annoying.

No, this movie isn’t on the list because of the One Tree Hill reunion (though we love it). Torrey DeVitto’s Jessica sends Christmas cards to people who have had a meaningful impact on her life — including a music teacher, whose son (Chad Michael Murray’s Luke) opens it since she’s away. There’s a fake (but totally real) kiss while he’s dressed as Santa. What’s not to love?

Sure, the plot is designed to lead to that classic separation — Maggie (Brooke Nevin) sets out to reawaken the Christmas spirit in Mitch (Robin Dunne) with Secret Santa gifts, only to end up writing about just that for an assignment — but thanks to the characters and actors’ portrayals, we don’t mind!

It’s the typical “you help me and I’ll help you” story. Annie (Kimberley Sustad) wants to save her family’s café, and William (Paul Campbell) needs a lawyer. Not only are Sustad and Campbell wonderful together, but they also wrote the script!

While producing a popular annual Christmas special, Maggie (Jessy Schram) travels with the star’s son, Danny (Chad Michael Murray), to bring his brothers home for the occasion. There are the typical holiday festivities, a surprise family reunion, and heartwarming stories.

Don’t you just love holiday movies that have fun with their angel characters? Such is the case here, with Harold (Sergio Di Zio), who could come across as an overly invested new coworker for Corrine (Jessalyn Gilsig) and her childhood friend (Graham Abbey), but, of course, there’s a sweet twist.

Hallmark gives a Pleasantville twist to one of its films, with Lyndsy Fonseca‘s Addy turning everything black and white (and erasing Christmas) with a wish. Remembering the holiday is what brings color back, to her hometown and its residents (including love interest Hunter, played by Michael Rady), but it’ll take a bit more than that to change her.

It’s fake dating — only they broke up! A man (Tyler Hynes) never told his family he and his girlfriend (Bethany Joy Lenz) broke up … and so when she happens to be at the same airport (for a work trip) as he is, his sister assumes she’s there to spend the holidays with them. Keeping up the ruse — she needs a place to stay after a mix-up at the hotel — leads to feelings coming back.

Sometimes it just takes a holiday miracle — or a snowstorm, trapping four people (Krystal Joy Brown, Tina Lafford, Juan Riedinger, and Richard Harmon) in a diner — to begin to truly understand another person (or yourself). It’s one of those Hallmark movies where the focus isn’t on romance but rather family — including a heartwarming twist involving Phylicia Rashad.

Just as Lindsay’s (Eloise Mumford) trying to decide whether to marry her longtime boyfriend Jason (Michael Stahl-David) or take an amazing job and move away, she gets the opportunity to see what her life would be like three years in the future if she chose the latter. Helping her along the way are William Shatner (as a mysterious, magical messenger) and Christopher Lloyd (as her grandfather).

The fake dating trope is popular for a reason, and this 2023 film, starring Humberly González and Ali Liebert, has everything we love about it and more. From the involvement of their parents to it becoming clearer and clearer with each event they attend together that they’re only fooling themselves and each other when it comes to their very real feelings to the grand gesture to bring them together, it all makes for a very entertaining movie.

A case of mistaken identity and a single mother (Bethany Joy Lenz) in need of a job after being fired (for being late because she helped a woman in a medical emergency) while facing eviction and a custody battle with her ex-husband (Greyston Holt) leads to love with the grandson (John Reardon) of the woman she helped and family she never knew she had.

Strangers Heather (Aimee Teegarden) and Chris (Brett Dalton) fall in love after he donates half his liver. He, of course, ends up spending the holidays with her family. What makes it more miraculous? It’s based on a true story!

After moving home while waiting for her husband, a soldier, to recover overseas, Gretchen (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and her son befriend Melissa (Leah Gibson), their new neighbor (eventually), and help her look for a sibling she never knew she had. There’s a twist and a family reunion just in time for the holidays.

Willa (Autumn Reeser) and Finn (David Haydn-Jones) meet at a bed & breakfast for the holidays, only she doesn’t know he sought her out because he thinks the nurse is a gold-digger who stole his family’s money from his dying father. Add in her adorable son, who is a fan of Finn’s books and survived a serious illness, and it’s a heartwarming tale.

A travel writer (Bridget Regan’s Emory) and a single father (Travis Van Winkle’s Scott), his daughter, and his mom (Teryl Rothery) end up booked in the same cabin for the holidays. They help her check Christmas activities off her list, and Emory and Scott, of course, fall in love. Bonus: a fun montage set to music leads into the two getting together.

Cats, Brandon Routh (as a firefighter), and Kimberley Sustad (as a veterinary student) — need we say more? Orange tabby Ambrose adopts Routh’s Zachary, and eventually Sustad’s Marilee and her cat end up living with them. Who knew that a fact about mountain lions could lead into the big kiss at the end of a Hallmark movie?

A family (Robert Buckley, Treat Williams, Sharon Lawrence, Jonathan Bennett) reunites for the holidays to recreate the extravagantly decorated Christmas house while dealing with their own personal problems: Mike (Buckley) reconnects with an ex (Ana Ayora), Brandon and his husband (Brad Harder) wait to hear about adoption, and the parents (Williams and Lawrence) plan to sell the family home.

Aiden (Andrew Walker) bets his friends he can convince a woman to marry him, and that woman happens to be Jessie (Arielle Kebbel), who has ended three engagements. It seems to work… until he falls for her and she hears about the bet, of course.

It’s a fun house swap story with three different, equally compelling love stories: Emily (Faith Ford) and the brother (Gil Bellows’ Ray) of the man with whom she switched, Charles (Tom Cavanagh), as she goes to Boston to visit her daughter; Emily’s best friend Faith (Gabrielle Miller) and Charles as he works on a novel and she critiques it; and Emily’s daughter Heather (Emma Lahana), out of town with her boyfriend (Andrew Francis).

Bethany Joy Lenz and Kristoffer Polaha star as a screenwriter and the star of the movie she’s updating who only meet when she travels back in time thanks to an hourglass. And while she may have to return to the present day in the end, that doesn’t mean their romance is over… Bonus: Star Trek‘s Jonathan Frakes plays an employee at the Biltmore Estate (where they filmed!) who knows more than he lets on.

You wouldn’t think a train would be the best place for quite the production to reunite exes (Dermot Mulroney, Kimberly Williams-Paisley), but that’s exactly what a movie director (Danny Glover) does. It’s theatrical at times, as well as heartwarming, and it also stars Joan Cusack.

There’s more than one twist on A Christmas Carol in this film when it comes to the Scrooge (Ian Harding’s Peter) the Ghosts are supposed to be helping this year. Not only do we learn quite a bit about Christmas Present (Kim Matula) and watch a love story unfold on Peter’s journey, but Lori Tan Chinn and Reginald VelJohnson are also so much fun as Past and Future.

Equally as heartwarming and compelling are Mark (Sean Faris) and Maggie’s (Eloise Mumford) romance and him and his brothers (Daniel Eric Gold and Dana Watkins) caring for their niece, Holly (Josie Gallina), following her mother’s death. The latter also makes for some humorous moments (like cooking the turkey).

Krissy Kringle (Hilarie Burton Morgan), due to her name, accidentally ends up with Santa’s “Naughty or Nice” book and uses it to her advantage when it comes to her boyfriend (Matt Dallas), former colleagues, and neighbors. But as she learns, there are two sides to people (and the book). Plus, it’s fun watching her and new coworker Marco (Gabriel Tigerman) together, especially since the movie doesn’t try to make them anything but friends. (Bonus: One Tree Hill reunion with Danneel Ackles!)

With three of Hallmark’s leading me in one film, there were high expectations for this one — and it delivered! Paul Campbell (who co-wrote it with Kimberley Sustad, who made a cameo), Tyler Hynes, and Andrew Walker play three brothers who end up watching a baby left at the fire station for a few days leading up to Christmas. Their romances are secondary; the focus (and it’s done so well!) is on the brothers’ relationships with each other and their mother (Margaret Colin).

With Broadway stars, a fun plot, and a great ensemble, this one’s pure entertainment (and musical!). Anna (Laura Osnes) and her father end up sheltering a royal family (Victoria Clark and Aaron Tveit) during a blizzard. Soon, they don’t want to leave, Anna and the prince fall in love, and there’s a great side romance between the town’s mayor (Krystal Joy Brown) and prince’s best friend (Bradley Rose).

In Hallmark’s first movie with a leading LGBTQ+ couple, Sam (Jonathan Bennett) turns to his sister’s neighbor Jason (George Krissa) to help look after her kids in the days leading up to Christmas (and not burn anything again). It is so much fun and easily one of Hallmark’s best, even with it following a similar format to other holiday rom-coms — the meet-cute, the attraction, the misunderstanding, the get-together and kiss only happening at the end.

One of Hallmark’s few Thanksgiving films, this one follows Emily (Autumn Reeser), who coordinates the holiday’s parade every year in Chicago, as she clashes with new consultant Henry (Antonio Cupo) — about the event and relationships. But don’t worry: by the end of the movie, she’ll have her best day ever.