Falling For Christmas Review: LiLo is Back for the Holidays

Netflix’s Falling For Christmas proves that with the right talent, especially talent willing to lean into the fun of the genre, holiday movies can be jolly AND good. 

Holiday movies have to be the backbone of Holywood at this point. I mean some networks air upwards of 20 new holiday-themed features every November and December, so if you consider the amount of personnel involved in each production, that has to be a significant money maker for the industry.

The issue then, is that we tend to sacrifice quality for quantity. Often, holiday films are given the bare minimum (let’s talk about the fake snow issue) with both script and scenery. And it’s obvious enough that they can be hard to watch.

Netflix, while hit or miss, tends to sit higher on the quality scale with its foray into the Holiday genre. I’ve seen almost all of the Netflix Holiday films (yes all 3 Princess Switch installations), and Falling For Christmas is one of the sweeter offerings.

The film is formulaic, for sure. Polar opposites come together in the spirit of the holidays and they help each other sort through their past. Bonus points for the elderly man that looks like Santa (is he Santa?) and the insane amount of Green and Red clothing each character wears.

That’s not a criticism at all. It’s basically to be expected that a holiday film is cheesy, with just a hint of Santa thrown in. We know what we’re getting into for the most part, which makes the holiday genre such a comfort watch.

What tends to set these films apart is the talent involved. And there’s no one quite like Lindsay Lohan.

As a product of the 90’s I’m a self-proclaimed Lohan-fan. The girl has range! If she didn’t prove herself as one of the actresses of her generation with The Parent Trap (she had a perfect British accent at 12!) then Mean Girls certainly cemented it.

It’s been a long road back to the silver screen for Lindsay, but it’s exciting to see her warm up her acting chops with what ended up being a really lovely holiday film.

Chord Overstreet, though not the focal point, is a very earnest partner for Lindsay’s amnesia-riddled Sierra. Maybe it’s because he’ll always be Trouty-Mouth high schooler Sam from Glee to me, but it is a little difficult to picture him as a father. Still, he matches Lindsay’s energy well and they make a cute pair.

Falling For Christmas also mixes it up a bit by not making the “original” boyfriend/fiance a villainous role. Tad is a little self-absorbed and daft, but he’s also funny.

And, while it was obvious from the jump that Sierra and Jake would end up together, Tad wasn’t as annoying of a character as I predicted just based on the film’s previews.

The way the trailer was cut, it looked like Tad stayed at the top of the mountain when Sierra fell down and lost her memory. Instead, he also tumbles into the wilderness and ends up on a side quest with Ralph the ice fisherman, humbling the influencer.

Setting aside the love triangle, the amnesia subplot, and even the seasonality, at its core, Falling For Christmas is a family movie.

In the end, it’s about the family ties to the North Star Lodge that sits at the heart of the story, and how difficult it can be to part with the things that tie us to family, past and present. 

Jake’s daughter, Avy, and his mother-in-law, Alejandra are just as important in Sierra’s story as Jake is. And they really become a family unit by the time her memory comes back.

And it was a family affair behind the scenes as well — Linsday’s real-life sister, Aliana has a small role on her sister’s glam team and is singing the power ballad playing over the montage towards the end. The Lohans go big or go home!

The overall idea of Falling For Christmas is solid, and it’s executed well for the most part. There are just a few minor pieces that were out of place.

I’m not sure that the big Christmas Eve party at the end was sold to everybody as a fundraiser, but it was a little out of place narratively to have people just start handing over checks. There had to have been another way for them to weave that in, less awkwardly.

And it felt like there was never a resolution to Sierra’s memory problem. Did her dad saying her name just make everything come back? Or did just some pieces fall into place while others were filled in with the new parts of her identity?

At the end of the day, Falling For Christmas isn’t doing anything groundbreaking for the holiday genre. But it’s a well-produced, sweet story with a charming cast. And if it’s known mostly for being Lindsay Lohan’s vehicle for making her way back on the screen, it’s a winner.

What did you think of Falling For Christmas? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Falling For Christmas is now streaming on Netflix.

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