Netflix and chill your way into a festive mood right before the Christmas holidays

’Tis the season to be jolly! Christmas is around the corner and it is time for carols, trees, presents, and cheer. But this time, thanks to COVID-19, a lot of us will be celebrating from within the confines of our homes — alone or with a few loved ones.

This is also the season for Netflix to drop its holiday-themed lineup of movies and shows that spread the joys of Christmas right to your screens. After all, who doesn’t like a dash of hope and happiness during the holidays?

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While you might be missing meeting Santa at the mall or going carolling, you can still get a slice of the Christmas fun from your homes. Pull out your warm blankets and settle on your couch with a steaming mug of hot chocolate or your favourite Christmas cocktail to binge these shows and movies on Netflix.

Home for Christmas

Norwegian romantic comedy series, Home for Christmas is the story of a nurse in her 30s, who’s family wants her to do what most women in their 30s are expected to do — get into a relationship. As the name suggests, the series is around Johanne’s (the main character) plan to visit home, and her family for Christmas.

Not to engage in the usual awkward conversations, she does what anyone in her situation would (probably) do — lies to them about having a boyfriend and promises to bring him over for Christmas dinner.

In an attempt to live up to her lie, Johanne turns to online dating and other avenues to find a man, but none result in finding a boyfriend she can introduce to her family.

Home for Christmas premiered in December last year, and this is the perfect time to start this show as its season two premieres this Friday.

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Dash & Lily

If you believe in love stories that begin in bookstores, Dash & Lily should be on your watchlist. Based on the series Dash & Lily’s Book of Dates, the show revolves around two teenagers — Dash, who hates Christmas, and Lily, who is eager to find love.

The eight-episode series brings the two together through a series of dares. Dash and Lily challenge each other to do things they have never tried before, to explore places that the other loves and eat each other’s favourite meals, with the help of a book that travels across New York City.

Dash & Lily promises to provide its viewers with Christmas hope in an otherwise hopeless year.

The Princess Switch: Switched Again

High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens is Netflix’s holiday-season favourite. Two years back, Netflix released The Princess Switch, based on Mark Twain’s classic The Prince and the Pauper, where two identical looking women with contrasting backgrounds bump into each other and decide to switch lives.

What follows is a series of hilarious incidents, mixed with romance, some Christmas cheer, and a not-so-unexpected ending.

Following its success, Netflix released a sequel, The Princess Switch: Switched Again. Join baker-tuned-princess Stacey and heiress to Montenaro’s throne Margaret, again played by Vanessa with another exciting switch.

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Sugar Rush

Christmas is perfect for the romantics and the ones with a sweet tooth. It’s the season to indulge in all things sugar and love. And if you are missing out on enjoying a slice at your favourite local bakery, reality show Sugar Rush comes to your rescue.

Hosted by Hunter March, the show features teams fighting it out in a baking competition. Its third season has been released, and promises the best-tasting sweets out there. Gather your family around and devour (virtually) on all things frosty and sugary. If it gets too irresistible, maybe try a recipe or two from the show.

Holidate

Another American romantic-comedy about finding a holiday-date to please the family, Holidate stars Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey. The film revolves around Sloane (Emma) and Jackson (Luke) getting into an agreement to be each other’s holiday-dates (hence, ‘Holidate’) to avoid the yearly confrontations from their families — purely business.

However, things go south when the two end up spending time (holidays) together and feelings get involved. Holidate is your cliched ‘We are friends until one of us falls in love’ movie with a sure-fire happy ending. But hey, what’s a holiday without a guaranteed happy ending?

To be fair, this is only a handful of Netflix’s exhaustive Christmas catalogue.

If you have any favourites we missed out on, let us know and spread more of that Christmas cheer. Happy holidays!