Skip to main content

3 rom-coms on Netflix you need to watch in December

Can you believe there’s only one month left in 2023? Yet, this isn’t just any month. It’s December, meaning the holiday season is upon us. Christmas and New Year’s are only a few weeks away. Don’t wait to get into the spirit. Now is the time to fire up the best Christmas movies on Netflix and start feeling the holiday cheer.

Romantic comedies tend to play well at Christmas because of their uplifting messages and soul-stirring themes. For December, we selected three of the best romantic comedies on Netflix to watch. Since it’s December, our picks revolve around Christmas and the holidays.

Holidate (2020)

A man and woman sit next to each other at a table.
Steve Dietl / Netflix

Many people love the holidays. With themed parties and countless presents, the holiday season is a time to be with friends and family. Yet, Sloane (American Horror Story’s Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey) despise the holidays. The duo hate awkward social outings and attending family gatherings without a significant other.

After a chance encounter, they to be each other’s “holidate” for every special occasion – New Year’s ,Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, etc. But as we’ve all learned by watching countless romantic comedies, pretending to be a couple always works until someone gets feelings. Then, it gets complicated.

Stream Holidate on Netflix.

A California Christmas (2020)

A California Christmas Trailer Official 2020

Joseph Van Aston (Josh Swickard) was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. As the son of a wealthy real estate mogul, Joseph lives a comfortable lifestyle. With a promotion on the line, Joseph has three weeks to convince Callie Bernet (Lauren Swickard) to sell her Petaluma farm. Upon arrival, Joseph is mistaken for a ranch hand, but accepts the job to get closer to Callie and her family. As it turns out, Joseph gets a little too close as he falls in love with Callie, further complicating his mission.

A California Christmas feels like an elevated Hallmark Christmas movie. It has the same heartwarming themes typically found in Hallmark Christmas films. However, A California Christmas is allowed to push the envelope more in terms of its subject matter because of its PG-13 rating. Don’t worry – A California Christmas is still as charming as ever and the perfect movie to watch on date night.

Stream A California Christmas on Netflix.

The Princess Switch (2018)

Two women stand next to each other and stare.
Netflix

Vanessa Hudgens has become one of Netflix’s most reliable Christmas rom-com stars. Her ascent to Netflix stardom began in 2018 with The Princess Switch. Stacy De Novo (Hudgens) is a hardworking baker from Chicago who is selected to compete in a cooking competition in the Kingdom of Belgravia. Stacy travels with her best friend, Kevin (Nick Sagar), and his daughter, Olivia (Alexa Adeosun).

While in Belgravia, Stacy unexpectedly runs into Lady Margaret Delacourt (also played by Hudgens), who is set to marry Edward Wyndham (Sam Palladio), the Prince of Belgravia. Stacy and Margaret look so similar that they could pass as identical twins. Wanting one last run of freedom, Lady Margaret convinces Stacy to switch lives for the week. While posing as each other, Margaret falls in love with Kevin, while Stacy falls in love with the Prince. It’s The Parent Trap with a holiday rom-com twist.

Stream The Princess Switch on Netflix.

Editors' Recommendations

Dan Girolamo
Dan is a passionate and multitalented content creator with experience in pop culture, entertainment, and sports. Throughout…
3 underrated movies on Paramount+ you need to watch in December
Kaya Scodelario in Crawl.

Paramount+ doesn't always have the great movie selection of its rivals, and it doesn't help when many of its best films are reserved only for the premium tier, Paramount+ with Showtime. That's why our picks for the three underrated movies on Paramount+ you need to watch in December are available on all tiers. It's the only way that seems fair.

This month, our choices include films by director Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter, Sofia Coppola, as well as a rare natural horror film that uses actual creatures instead of inventing some supernatural threat. But if you're looking for more options, check out our round-up of everything new on Paramount+ in December.
Crawl (2019)

Read more
3 great Will Ferrell Christmas movies to watch in December
Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell sing and dance in Spirited.

Will Ferrell has been making audiences laugh since his time on Saturday Night Live in the late 1990s. Ferrell left SNL and provided comedy fans with a string of instant classics in the 2000s, including Old School, Anchorman, Wedding Crashers, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers. Amid that treasure trove of adult comedies, Ferrell found time to cross into holiday comedies and star in three Christmas movies.

The obvious Ferrell-led Christmas movie to watch in December is Elf, where the actor plays a human raised by elves who travels to New York City to meet his biological father. However, two more of Ferrell's Christmas movies should be on your list of things to watch in December. One is a sequel to a 2015 comedy and the other is a musical adaptation of an iconic Christmas story.
Elf (2003)

Read more
5 cheesy Netflix Christmas movies you need to watch right now
A man and a woman look at each other in Falling for Christmas.

Netflix may have some truly great movies, but the vast majority have made-for-TV quality at best, and the cheese factor is extremely high. All of the made-for-Netflix romances tend to play out in the same way, and many of these "Netflix originals" are so similar that they tend to blend together.

It's not as if Netflix is unaware of this. If you type "cheesy movies" into Netflix's search bar, the results will give you most of their holiday romance films. From there, we narrowed the choices down to the five cheesy Netflix movies that you should watch right now. All of these films are preposterously silly, but they're also enjoyable in their own way. In other words, you'll have fun with them.
Holidate (2020)

Read more