There is something magical about Christmastime that acts as the perfect backdrop for falling in love. Perhaps that is why romance and holiday cheer come together in the narratives of so many seasonal films.
Whether it is through an abundance of advertisements about what gift to give that special someone or the overwhelming number of holiday love stories on the Hallmark channel each year, media drives us to believe that Christmas is all about romance.
As many festive movies feature familiar romance tropes like friends to lovers and second-chance romance, something about the holiday season just makes relationships that much more sentimental.
Regardless of your status — whether as a hopeless romantic or holiday scrooge — here are three romantic comedies to watch this Christmas season:
Written and directed by romantic comedy auteur Richard Curtis, “Love Actually” intertwines the lives of 10 couples in London during the month leading up to Christmas.
The film opens up at the Heathrow Airport arrivals gate, where friends and families welcome their loved ones home for the holidays. The reunions depict a love that is all around during the festive season.
The individual stories of each person falling in and out of love begin to unravel immediately as the stresses of Christmas set in.
In “Love Actually,” you get the typical office Christmas party and elementary school nativity scenes, but these holiday events pale in comparison to the variety of love stories throughout the film.
With a woman who falls in love with her boss, a workplace romance, a young boy in the throes of his first crush and more, the representation of love is endless in this cinematic display that shows Christmas means even more when you have someone to share it with.
Ten college friends reunite at Christmastime years after graduation in this hilarious film about forgotten love and old rivalries.
This film separates itself from other holiday stories about love and friendship by being realistic. Rather than promote an idealized version of adulthood, “The Best Man Holiday” chooses to focus on the hardships that bring us even closer together during the Christmas season.
While featuring a struggling writer, a sick mother and one woman’s trouble with financial instability, the film still manages to encapsulate the perfect mix of comedy and drama.
With standout performances from Taye Diggs, Regina Hall and Morris Chestnut, “The Best Man Holiday” is guaranteed to make audiences laugh, cry and love a little harder this holiday season.
Sweet romance stumbles into the lives of two lovelorn women in this complex, yet funny Christmas film.
Englishwoman Iris agrees to swap homes with Californian Amanda when the two find themselves heartbroken and alone for the holidays in this trans-Atlantic adventure.
Lo and behold, the two women find themselves in the arms of local men who offer the ladies a sense of joy and romance they’d thought was long gone.
Acclaimed actors Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz star alongside Jude Law and Jack Black in this Christmas wonderland of accidental love made to melt hearts each and every season.
