“Falling for Christmas” falls flat

Abby Mills, Design Chief

There is only one thing audiences can rely on during the Christmas season: bad romance movies. With the first fall of snow comes a slew of low-budget romance movies to give the world a little Christmas cheer. Netflix’s hit movie, “Falling for Christmas,” is no different. The feature film follows Sierra Belmont, played by Lindsay Lohan, as she undergoes a traumatic head injury, leaving her with amnesia and falls in love. 

“Falling for Christmas” follows the perfect Christmas romance movie formula: an improbable relationship between a rugged widow and a wealthy heiresswho is already engaged. Although seemingly generic, the basic plot of the movie is bizarre. Our protagonist, Sierra Belmont, wakes up at hospital with no recollection of who she is. Jake Russell, depicted by Chord Overstreet (yes that is his real name), takes pity on Sierra and offers her a place to stay while she regains her memory.

Sadly, the romance is lackluster. Sierra and Jake have no chemistry together, making their interactions full of awkward glances and no passion. This makes it even more unrealistic when, over the course of only four days, Jack and Sierra begin to fall in love with each other. Half way through the film, Sierra says to Jake, “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you before.” Which is funny, given he is one of the only people she has ever remembered meeting. The entire selling point of the movie, the romance, is disappointing to say the least. 

One of the main issues of the film is its acting. Every character on the screen seems almost hyper-aware they are in a movie, constantly over-acting to the point where it distracts the audience. Specifically, the character Tad, portrayed by George Young, is a tad too much. His obnoxious line delivery leaves much to be desired. However, Jake’s daughter, played by Olivia Perez, was an absolute delight. Her presence filled the screen with joy every time she stepped onto the big screen.

“Falling for Christmas” has the perfect setting for a Christmas movie. North Star Lodge, where Sierra stays at is filled to the brim with Christmas decorations. There is not one scene throughout the movie where holiday trinkets do not make an appearance. The fictional town in the movie almost seems magical and sets the tone of the film flawlessly. Other elements allow the film to shine as well, such as the hair and costumes department. It would be criminal not to mention Sierra’s hair, curled flawlessly in effortless ringlets. It looked so perfect it could take movie goers out of their viewing experience. The outfits the characters wear, also, do a great job of immediately telling the audience who they are. This gives a little more life to characters, like Sierra or Jake, whose personalities were nonexistent.

When compared to other Christmas romance movies, from the likes of Lifetime or Hallmark, “Falling for Christmas” shines brightly among the rest. The film is not terrible; it just is not good. Its biggest fault is the dreadful plot but the movie has obvious heart. “Falling for Christmas” would be best watched as background noise when doing something else. Or else you may suddenly want to become amnesiac in order to forget the experience.