This year's Netflix holiday movies ranked from worst to best

As a fan of "One Tree Hill," "A Cinderella Story," "Freaky Friday," and even "Agent Carter," it pains me to say this Chad Michael Murray-led holiday rom-com is just bad.

Murray's love interest is played by Britt Robertson, and yet they just don't have chemistry. The plot is nonsensical — three inexperienced male dancers somehow bring in $30,000 for a struggling bar in a tiny town in less than a month — and it doesn't seem as if Murray's or Roberston's characters get a happy ending.

Robertson plays Ashley, who turns down a 25% raise and a three-year contract at her dream job and gives up her New York City apartment to become a choreographer for the male strippers and to date a man she barely knows. Why couldn't Luke (Murray) take his handyman skills to the Big Apple?

Spend your 87 minutes watching two "One Tree Hill" holiday episodes instead.

Christina Milian is one of Netflix's romance queens, and it's easy to see why. She's charming as Layla, our hero, who breaks up with her boyfriend after finding out he's cheating on her and decides to find the man she had a meet-cute with at an airport lounge the year prior.

Yet, that's not what the movie is about. Instead, it's the story of Layla actually falling in love with her personal concierge, Teddy (Devale Ellis).

But … why does she need a personal concierge? And why is the main driving force of this film Layla's desperate need to get tickets to a Pentatonix concert?

Yes, the a cappella sensation Pentatonix plays a huge role in this movie, which unfortunately dates it a bit. There's no denying that the members of Pentatonix are talented (and they're pretty funny in the film), but it's hard to believe anyone cares about them this much in 2024.

Maybe if this movie was made a decade ago when they were at the height of their virality and the a cappella craze led by "Pitch Perfect" and "Glee" was still all the rage, but not now.

I also found it hard to tell whether Layla lived in New York City or was just visiting — I think we're meant to believe she lives in NYC, but she acts like she's never left the suburbs. She unquestioningly trusts a ticket broker who's clearly scamming her, and she doesn't know her way around the city.

This film had its fun (if not a bit misplaced) moments — see: the drag show that happens mid-movie — but the romance ultimately left me a bit bored.

There's a lot happening in "Our Little Secret." Our story begins 10 years after Avery (Lindsay Lohan) and Logan (Ian Harding) have dramatically broken up after a failed proposal from Logan.

They reunite, only to find out that their current significant others, Cameron (Jon Rudnitsky) and Cassie (Katie Baker), are siblings. To avoid any awkwardness, they decide not to tell anyone they're exes — while this doesn't make any sense, it gives ample opportunities for hijinks.

This film lives and dies by its cast, which also includes Kristin Chenoweth and Dan Bucatinsky as Cameron and Cassie's parents and Tim Meadows and Judy Reyes as their family friends; yes, that makes this movie a "Mean Girls" reunion.

Harding and Lohan are both charming in this film, even if their chemistry isn't the strongest we've seen. But Chenoweth is truly off the wall in this film, bringing a "Monster-in-Law" quality to the proceedings.

This is easily the best of Lohan's three Netflix films, and one scene in which she has to act high while reading at a church proves her comedic chops are as strong as ever.

In "Hot Frosty," after Kathy (Lacey Chabert, another holiday-romance queen) is gifted a scarf by her kindly neighbors, she gives it to a strangely jacked snowman.

And wouldn't you know it, the very next day, the juiced-up snowman comes to life and is now a human man named Jack (Dustin Milligan, aka Ted from "Schitt's Creek").

He has the mind of a toddler but somehow speaks perfect English and can learn anything from YouTube except what cancer is. He essentially imprints on Kathy, who's still grieving the loss of her husband.

Does this movie make any sense? Of course not. But under the overwhelming thirstiness for Jack the Hot Snowman, there's a sweet message about learning to paddle your own canoe.

This movie is also elevated by supporting performances from Joe Lo Truglio, Craig Robinson, and Katy Mixon.

Of course, one of Netflix's best holiday films is the one written by the same person who wrote "Love Actually" and features the voice of Logan Roy (Brian Cox) as Santa Claus. Was it even a question?

"That Christmas" owes a lot to "Love Actually," actually, since it has a similar structure of separate yet overlapping stories. One follows a group of parents who have been stranded in a snowbank, another follows Santa as he's caught in a blizzard, and yet another is about a group of kids whose parents cannot get home for Christmas.

The sweet tale features an all-star cast. In addition to Cox, there's Fiona Shaw, Bill Nighy, Jodie Whittaker, and Lolly Adefope.

Plus, it's only 92 minutes, which makes it the perfect runtime for anyone with kids.

"Carry-On" is the exact type of action movie that we love to watch with the whole family during the holidays — it's a little dumb, but highly entertaining.

Taron Egerton (an actual movie star) plays Ethan, a TSA agent who wants nothing more than to become a police officer to support his girlfriend, Nora (Sofia Carson), and their unborn child.

Instead, he gets rejected from the police academy and is forced to work on Christmas Eve — which is when he meets the mysterious Traveler, played by the always-compelling Jason Bateman.

When the Traveler demands Ethan let a suspicious package through security or he'll murder Nora, all hell breaks loose. It's basically "Die Hard" in the airport. Sure, that might already exist as "Die Hard 2," but it doesn't mean it's not exceedingly fun to watch.

If you're part of a family who would rather chug expired egg nog than watch a rom-com, queue up "Carry-On." You won't regret it.