The holiday season is in full swing, and Falling for Christmas is a delightfully wild ride. There has never been a more perfect moment for Lindsay Lohan’s triumphant return. This holiday romp delivers this in spades. If you need a delightful story about discovering the true meaning of the holiday season, this story may just fit the bill.
For starters, we all know Netflix is no Hallmark when it comes to holiday content, The Princess Switch franchise possibly notwithstanding. However, at its best, Netflix can deliver perfectly festive and enjoyable stories, no matter how nonsensical they become. If Hallmark has defined stories that lean into holiday chaos, Netflix is working on catching up.
What really brings Falling for Christmas together is Lohan herself. She’s a triumph in her delightfully unhinged Sierra Belmont. Even when she’s not overly sympathetic she’s incredibly lovable. She’s the child of a 1%-er, and she wears it with pride. Yet underneath her bravado and wild outfits, there’s a massive heart of gold that has a lot of love to give. One could hardly ask for a more picturesque Christmas story featuring such a chaotic protagonist.
The romantic story itself is pretty textbook. Girl is with terrible boyfriend, girl gets amnesia, girl ends up with her true love and discovers the true meaning of Christmas. It’s not exactly groundbreaking storytelling. However, there’s a reason that these simple, exaggerated, low-stakes stories are a staple of the holiday season. These stories are just so darn predictable and an unpredictable world, and we need at least a little bit of that now more than ever.
The real villain of the story, of course, is influencer culture. Tad Fairchild (George Young) is a topical villain who’s instantly hatable in the best possible way. He’s the definition of a huxter, always trying to sell someone something, his image in particular. It’s easy to feel smug looking at his character. He’s contasted with a token aw-shucks local boy, Jake (Chord Overstreet) who just loves winter and skiing? The man clearly doesn’t need much to make him happy. I love that for him.
The ending might either satisfy your expectations or infuriate you for being so utterly predictable. Again, though, there’s something to be said for a story that implements a classic formula to the letter. Stories like this are supposed to make viewers walk away feeling good, or at the very least, just a little more relaxed. One can’t help but want the best for Sierra when all is said and done.
Falling for Christmas is exactly what one would expect from a Netflix Christmas entry. What saves this story from complete cheese and utter disaster is Lohan herself. She elevates the performances of everyone around her, and is just so darn endearing playing a character who could otherwise never be taken seriously. There’s a heart she brings that without it, the entire project would have completely fallen apart. Perhaps Lindsay Lohan is this year’s holiday miracle.
Falling for Christmas is available on Netflix.