It’s that time of year again. Decorations are up, advent calendars are opened, and screens are flooded with Christmas movies. From The Grinch to Home Alone, these festive films are enjoyed by millions throughout December. With such colossal demand, it is no wonder streaming giant, Netflix, cashed in on this endeavour. Releasing dozens of movies over the last couple of years, Netflix’s movies are often hit or miss. Commonly featuring tired cliches and stale acting, the platform’s original motion pictures haven’t been received all too well by critics. 

The most recent addition to their holiday collection was Falling for Christmas, released on November 10th this year. Lindsay Lohan returns to the screen as a spoiled hotel heiress, reminding the audience of her undoubtable star quality. The story kicks off by introducing us to Sierra (Lohan), who is struggling with the pressure to get married to her vapid boyfriend and meet the expectations of her hotel mogul father. However, she soon experiences a terrible skiing incident that leaves her with amnesia. Unable to remember any details of her past life, she is taken under the wing of the local inn owner, Jake. Sierra is a typical fish out of water in this situation. She can’t cook or clean and at first seems to be an utter liability to the struggling widower, Jake. But of course, over time, Sierra ditches her diva ways and falls in love with Jake along with his young daughter. 

As Lindsay Lohan’s highly anticipated comeback to the big screen, this movie falls flat. Relying on tired cliches and cheap laughs to further the story; this film adds nothing of substance to Netflix’s already large discography of holiday movies. The main issue I had starts with the characters.  The character development of Sierra is seemingly non-existent; the only real change being her newfound love for comfortable sweaters. The film seems to revolve around Lohan’s sudden change into a slightly better person but doesn’t give the audience a reason to hate her. When Sierra is not particularly offensive in the first place, it is hard to root for her development. The other characters in Falling for Christmas don’t fare much better than the leading male, Jake, who succumbs to the same cliches and archetypes that can be found in nearly every other Christmas film. Netflix seems to only have one viable plot device for males starring in these movies: a dead wife. Jake is no exception, with his absent spouse being mentioned within the first 5 minutes that we are introduced to him.  

The streaming platform seems to have run out of ideas for Christmas movies but continues to profit from the tired-out films it produces by the dozen. As well as being a disaster plot-wise, it failed to do justice to the big names it featured. Lindsay Lohan’s big comeback was certainly not on par with the hits she previously starred in. Falling for Christmas lacks originality and flair, leaving you with a flat film that is a skip this holiday season