What’s behind the popularity of holiday rom coms?

It’s the most wonderful time of the year—a season filled with sweet treats, glowing lights, and, for millions of eager viewers, formulaic romantic comedies.

Hallmark Channel, a leading force in the genre, produced 24 new films for its 2025 holiday lineup. Meanwhile, streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu launched similar titles.

Here, Virginia Tech experts Sarah Ovink and Rose Wesche unpack the reasons audiences keep pressing play on these feel-good films:

The draw of predictability

Holiday romantic comedies appeal to people’s fantasies of “ideal relationships, an ideal world, and a happy holiday season,” says Wesche, an associate professor in the human development and family science department.

Wesche points to a 2022 research paper published in The Journal of Popular Television, which examined why audiences love Hallmark Christmas movies.

“The answers fell into three themes: celebrating the season; escaping the troubles of the world and their busy lives; and enjoying a wholesome story with happy endings,” Wesche says.

“In addition to these themes, the repetitive, predictable plots make them comforting to watch, warm and sweet like a cup of hot cocoa on a snowy night.”

Ovink, an associate professor in the sociology department, says the norms and values of mainstream American culture are strongly oriented toward supporting marriage and family, and during the holidays, audiences may be in the mood for films that provide a “cozy, happily-ever-after fix.”

“Families gathering at the holidays may disagree on politics or pecan vs. pumpkin pie, but they can gather around the family TV to enjoy the lighthearted fun of a holiday-themed Hallmark movie,” Ovink says.

“These movies present a snow-globe perfect world where we can vicariously enjoy all the holiday sparkle with none of the mess, and all problems are solved within a 90-minute run time.”

A cozy escape

Along with improving mood, Wesche says Hallmark-style movies may be “just the bit of positivity” individuals need to counteract stress or loneliness.

“In many cases, the plots are far from the average person’s experience, such as a high-powered author being trapped in a Scottish castle at Christmas or a snowman coming to life as a naïve, conventionally hot handyman,” she says.

“Escapism allows people to immerse themselves in an alternate reality, which provides temporary relief from holiday stressors.”

Source: Virginia Tech