Joyelle Ronan
A snowman turning into a hot guy who falls in love with a small-town cafe owner is a perfect plot line for a Hallmark Christmas movie. Except, Hot Frosty (2024) is actually a Netflix original. The concept is so outrageous, it can easily become small talk fodder for the office or something funny to share in the group chat, which likely lead to the trailer being viewed over one million times. Since the release of The Christmas Prince in 2017, Netflix has consistently put out new holiday films each year that have started to form their own Christmas cinematic universe to rival Hallmark. However, can the streaming service compete with the greeting card-turned-media conglomerate, or will the cheesy Christmas genre always be synonymous with Hallmark?
This particular brand of Christmas movies is the perfect antidote to end of the year burnout. Hot Frosty is simple and requires no thought or commitment. I forgot the name of Lacey Chabert’s character before the movie even ended and just kept referring to her as Gretchen Weiner’s (it’s actually Kathy.) There is a true enjoyment that comes from turning off your brain and sinking into the enjoyment of a “bad” movie. What I didn’t anticipate is that I actually thought it was good for what it was. Parts of it were genuinely funny and not in an ironic way. The casting of Craig Robinson and Joe Lo Truglio as the inept sheriffs was a great choice, and while Dustin Milligan’s hot snowman character was kinda creepy, it worked because the film had enough self-awareness. The biggest crime of a low budget film like this is being boring, and it certainly wasn’t.
According to The Wrap, Hot Frosty was the most-watched movie on Netflix for the week of Nov. 11, with 16 million views from Nov. 13 through Nov. 19. In comparison, Hallmark’s Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story had almost 3 million live viewers when it aired on the Hallmark Channel on Nov. 30 and was the the most-watched cable movie of the year, according to Nielsen. This is an official Chiefs movie sanctioned by the team and featuring Travis Kelce’s mom in a cameo. Not to be confused with Christmas in the Spotlight, which is a Lifetime holiday romance inspired by Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s relationship.
A big nuance here is the difference between watching live on cable, something people don’t really do anymore, versus streaming on one of the most well-known platforms. Ten Hallmark movies are streaming on Netflix during the holiday season a year or two after they were released. Which is an interesting partnership considering that Hallmark has a deal with NBC’s Peacock and its own streaming service that charges $8 a month. This year’s 41 new movies are streaming on the service, called Hallmark Plus, along with some of the other 400 holiday films.
It’s also worth noting that not every holiday film that Netflix makes falls into the G or sometimes PG, wholesome Hallmark category. Movies like Holidate (2020) and Love Hard (2021) are rated R and excluded from the universe. What’s why it was surprising to see some of the sexual innuendos in Hot Frosty. After Kathy puts her red scarf on Frosty and he comes to life, he steals a jumpsuit with the name Jack embroidered on it. Jack then proceeds to streak naked though the town square and all the older women in the neighborhood are so down bad for this snowman. Nothing revealing is shown of course,but it felt like Netflix had taken the Hallmark formula and put their own slightly edgier spin on it while still keeping things PG.
Another dividing point between the two is star power. Big names like Linsday Lohan and Vanessa Hudgens have starred in several Netflix Christmas films, likely attracting a larger and maybe even younger audience. Hallmark’s average viewer is in their late 40s to early 50s, which is a different demographic from those who grew up with High School Musical (2006) and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004). Despite several actresses portraying multiple characters, somehow all of the movies fit into the same world. The A Christmas Prince trilogy takes place in a fictional country called Aldovia that is later referenced in several other movies, including Hot Frosty. Also, Netflix’s Falling for Christmas is playing on tv and Kathy says the main character, played by Lohan, looks like a girl she went to high school with, referencing their roles in Mean Girls (2004).
For the last few years, Chabert was the darling of the Hallmark Channel’s Christmas lineup and Hot Frosty is her first jump over to Netflix now that her Hallmark exclusive contract is over. In an interview with Cinema Blend, Chabert was asked about the difference between working with Hallmark and Netflix. She gave a generic answer about heart and Christmas spirit, but did hint at the added element of humor in Hot Frosty. “In this one in particular, we were really able to lean into the comedy, which is something I love and have gotten to do in the past,” Chabert said. She has been starring in Hallmark movies since 2010, and seemingly has no plans to stop since her 40th Hallmark movie was released this year: The Christmas Quest.
Netflix and Hallmark share actresses and sometimes streaming services, so there doesn’t really seem to be much competition between the two. There could be two reasons for this: First, Hallmark has been doing this for a lot longer than Netflix. Their first holiday film The Christmas Secret aired in 2000. They’ve spent over two decades crafting the tropes and cliches of a very specific category of Christmas films, to the point where I’ve seen Hot Frosty referred to as a Hallmark film multiple times. The second reason could be that holiday films aren’t Netflix’s main dish. They’ve produced original films that have been Best Picture nominees at the Oscars. Given the companies’ difference in net worth, Netflix likely doesn’t see Hallmark as a threat. But, as their subscriber growth has slowed this past year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them lean into more of these low budget crowd pleasers. Especially when they garner as much attention as Hot Frosty.
