Film

Wrapped Up In Christmas

Name: Wrapped Up In Christmas
Genre: Romance, TV Movie
Released: 2017
Cast: Tatyana Ali, Brendan Fehr, Kim Fields, Cindy Pickett, Mindy Sterling

Romantic comedy
Light-hearted

A mall Santa becomes matchmaker when an eight-year-old asks him to find a boyfriend for her aunt, kicking off a holiday romance between two people who seem perfectly suited but need to discover it themselves. It's a cheerful, low-stakes romantic comedy that settles you into the warmth of December without asking much of your brain.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy the particular comfort of a small-scale Christmas romance, where a child's earnest scheming does the matchmaking and the sentiment comes wrapped in tinsel.

Skip it if you need your romance to have some bite, since the sweetness here is unapologetic and the stakes stay firmly festive from start to finish.

What it asks of you: At ninety-five minutes, it is brisk and light, asking only that you sit back, accept the cheer and let the sweetness build without much effort.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Twelve Dates of Christmas

Amy Smart plays a woman who relives the same twelve days before Christmas, watching different romantic possibilities unfold. Like Wrapped Up, it's got that cosy loop-the-loop structure where Christmas magic is really just people getting a second look at their lives.

But The premise is *Groundhog Day* but for rom-coms, which means you've essentially seen it before, just in tinsel and fairy lights.

A Christmas Kiss2011

Chyler Leigh and David Hasselhoff star in this one about a woman mistaken for a socialite on New Year's Eve who ends up falling for the guy who caused the mix-up. It has that same feel of rom-com chaos with heart, and a genuine warmth between leads.

But The plot hinges on deception that takes far too long to unravel, and the second half loses some of the first act's charm.

The Christmas List1997

Mia Sara and Andrew McCarthy star in a film where Christmas wishes literally matter. It's sweeter and more earnest than modern Hallmark output, with a genuine melancholy running underneath the cheer about what we actually want from life.

But It's from 1997, so the production values and script rhythm feel older in a way that either charms or distances you depending on your tolerance for late-90s TV movie aesthetics.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Wrapped Up In Christmas

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

While You Were Sleeping1995

Both films are about lonely people unexpectedly drawn into another person's family life through Christmas circumstance, and discovering connection through that accidental proximity.

Sandra Bullock plays a lonely transit worker who begins a pretend relationship with a comatose man to get close to his family, and naturally falls for his brother instead. It's a genuine romantic comedy—funny, tender, and with real movie craft behind it. The Christmas setting is peripheral, but the entire film is about the loneliness that Christmas tends to magnify, and how accidentally becoming part of something can change your life.

But It's 29 years old and operates on rom-com logic that hinges on deception in ways modern audiences sometimes find uncomfortable. The gender dynamics are also very 90s.

Holly's Holiday2012

Katee Sackhoff and Dominic Sherwood play neighbors whose kids become friends, forcing the two single parents together. It earns its sweetness and has a genuine spark between the leads that feels less manufactured than most of these films.

But The divorced-parent subplot is handled predictably, and the ex-spouse character exists mainly to be an obstacle rather than a person.

The Proposal2009

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in a sharp, genuinely funny rom-com about a boss who blackmails her assistant into a fake engagement. It's glossy and clever, with banter that actually lands and chemistry that feels earned rather than obligatory.

But It's not Christmas-themed, so if you're watching for that specific comfort, this might feel like a tonal shift away from what you're after.

Love Hard2021

Nina Dobrev plays a woman who falls for someone online, travels across the country to meet him, and realizes he's not who she thought—but his friend might be. It's a sweet deconstruction of rom-com tropes with a lead who actually communicates like a real person.

But The setup relies on the male lead being aggressively himbo-adjacent for most of the runtime, which lands well or lands flat depending on your patience for that flavor of comedy.

The Holiday2006

Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz swap homes for Christmas and find new lives waiting for them. It's got the luxury of a theatrical release with genuine emotional depth, and the supporting cast (Jude Law, Jack Black) elevates everything it touches.

But At 138 minutes, it's significantly longer than a TV movie and moves at a different pace—some find it indulgent rather than luxurious.

Ghosted2023

Both are about people with legitimate reasons to think they're done with dating, accidentally proving themselves wrong through someone else's intervention and their own openness to being surprised.

Adam Scott and Craig Robinson play two strangers who go on a terrible first date and crash into each other's lives repeatedly. The chemistry is genuine and hilarious, the banter is sharp, and it treats both people like they have actual dimensions and flaws. It's an unconventional rom-com that actually works as comedy first.

But It has no Christmas element whatsoever, and the tone is considerably raunchier and more cynical about romance than a Hallmark film would ever allow.

Three Wishes1995

Both use Christmas logistics—a child's request, a chance encounter—to crack open two people's loneliness and force them to let someone in. Both understand that holidays are when that vulnerability either breaks you or heals you.

Joseph Mazzello, Charles Dance and Patrick Swayze in a film about a boy whose Christmas wish lets him spend time with his estranged father. It's unafraid to be genuinely sad—the emotional stakes are real, the dialogue is sometimes beautiful, and it understands that Christmas is hardest for people with broken things in their lives. The romance subplot is secondary to the work of the story, which lets it breathe.

But It's fundamentally a sad film about loss and longing, not a cosy feel-good. Watching it requires sitting with difficult feelings, and some viewers will find that too heavy for the holidays.