Aside from being the biggest greeting card company in America, Hallmark is also known for having their own channel that features feel-good family movies that make people laugh, cry, and enjoy being around their loved ones. The storylines of these films are pretty formulaic, but that adds to the comfort of the experience. Viewers know (for the most part) exactly what they are going to get when they sit down to enjoy a holiday movie or an equally festive and fun non-Christmas film.
Like all other films, Hallmark movies utilize certain tropes in their storylines. Some are cute and relatable — like people bonding over pets and adults moving back to their hometowns — while others feel overdone. Indeed, how many times can a prince, princess, duke, or someone else with a title get away with pretending to be normal until their secret is discovered? Nonetheless, Hallmark is clearly doing something incredible with their films as many people keep tuning in for more.
Here are 10 Hallmark movie tropes we just can't get enough of.
10 The Main Character Returns Home
Perhaps the most popular trope Hallmark uses throughout their movies is the one where a person comes back to their hometown. Whether they have to move back to help the family, need a change of pace, or are simply visiting for a holiday, these characters typically realize they prefer their cute little town to the hustle and bustle lifestyle they have been living.
Many viewers can sympathize with this trope as a certain nostalgia comes over us when we go back to the places we once called home. Hallmark Christmas movies — such as Check Inn to Christmas, Picture a Perfect Christmas, Christmas Everlasting, and many others — make use of this trope the most because of the commonality of returning home for the holidays. However, films like A Country Wedding and Fallen Angel also bring their main characters back home without all the twinkly lights and festivities.
9 Small-Town Events and Festivities
Who doesn't love the festivities and ceremonies that go on in cute little towns? Everyone already seems to know one another, so throwing together an event that brings everyone together for a fun-filled day is a no-brainer. Some of these events include Christmas celebrations, parades through the streets, and seasonal carnivals.
These celebrations remind viewers of the simpler times in life when friends and neighbors would come together to enjoy the day with one another. Movies like Falling for Vermont and Christmas with a Kiss feature the standard carnival, and Mean Girls star Lacey Chabert gets into all the holiday festivities in Hall Out the Holly.
8 Fake it 'Til You Make It
Just about everyone has been caught in a situation where they had to pretend they knew how to do something (or pretend they like someone) for the sake of getting by. In Hallmark films, this quirky little trope is used across a number of genres as it creates many laughs when the person faking a skill humorously fails or two people who pretend to like one another actually end up bonding and falling in love.
In Holiday Date and The Mistletoe Promise, single individuals couple up for the sake of the appearance around their friends and family rather than sharing a mutual interest in one another. However, as we all can suspect, these fake relationships turn very real after some time together.
7 Heart-to-Hearts about Death and Loss
While many critics may think Hallmark movies are all about the warm and fuzzy feelings, there are many films that deal with themes like death, grief, and isolation. These things are discussed among the characters, and the person suffering often ends up in a much better place than where they started. The trope is very relatable and rehumanizes the rather perfect-looking individuals on the screen.
Katherine Heigl stars in the Hallmark original Love Comes Softly as a woman who loses her husband while pregnant, so she and another widower agree to marry for the sake of helping one another as well as their own respective children. The pair understand the suffering and agony the other has gone through, and they eventually become a loving family. Other movies with this trope include The Christmas Ornament, Love Blossoms, and A Bramble House Christmas.
6 Second Time's the Charm with Relationships
Sometimes relationships don't always work out the first time, but Hallmark sure likes to throw old flames back together for a second chance. Often paired with the coming-home trope, the main character sometimes runs into an ex or a childhood crush back in their hometown, and sparks certainly fly. The two are able to reminisce about the past they shared and what they already know about one another.
Love, Again and Autumn Dreams both deal with married couples who rekindle their relationships, though the couple in the latter film is unaware of their still-married status. In a more festive and holiday setting, All Saints Christmas and A Cozy Christmas Inn bring former lovers back together.
5 Best Friends Become Lovers
People always say you should marry your best friend, but sometimes, the two friends who are perfect for one another simply don't see the romantic connection that is so obvious to everyone else. Friends taking that leap and starting a relationship is something too many people can relate to, so it is no surprise that Hallmark fans want to see this trope in action.
The title of From Friend to Fiancé speaks for itself as it stars Jocelyn Hudon as the groom-to-be's best friend who has been in love with him for a long time, and feelings finally surface before it's too late. A Fabled Holiday and A Country Wedding also deal with childhood best friends reuniting and expressing their feelings for one another only to end in a much-deserved happily ever after.
4 Traveling and Finding Romance
While going back to one's hometown and rekindling a spark with someone or falling in love with a local seems to be the standard among Hallmark romances, there are several films that feature characters who need to get away from their lives and locations and travel to find their perfect match.
Grey's Anatomy's Sarah Drew has traded in her blue scrubs for a violin in Christmas in Vienna as she makes her way to Austria to perform. There, she meets another American, and she rediscovers her passion for music as well as love. In Love, Romance, & Chocolate, Hallmark queen Lacey Chabert finds herself also running away to a different country where she meets a very driven and kind baker who makes her believe in love again.
3 Small Towns Are Better than Big Cities
The more you watch the Hallmark Channel, the more you will realize you really want to be the person who names all the fun and quirky small towns just as much as you want to live there yourself. After all, who wouldn't want to live in a town called Cookie Jar?
More often than not, when a character comes back home for the holidays or to take care of some family business, they are coming from a big city. Their friends and family comment on their big life and compare it to that of the people in town. However, perspectives seem to change as the main character prefers the small-town lifestyle to what they have recently had. Hallmark movies like A Country Wedding, Heart of the Holidays, and Christmas Under Wraps show their main character falling in love with the slow pace and friendly atmosphere that comes with living in a small town.
2 Over-the-Top Christmas Decorations
When it comes to decorating a simple living room or whole town for Christmas, no one does it quite like Hallmark. The lights, colors, decorations, and pounds of glitter create a magical moment that people want to experience for themselves.
Northern Lights of Christmas, Christmas in Homestead, and Christmas Land are just a few Hallmark holiday films that feature mesmerizing Christmas displays that make the whole town feel cozy and warm on a cold winter night. Candance Cameron Bure (yet another Hallmark queen) stars in Moonlight and Mistletoe as the daughter of the town's Santa, so she knows all about decorating and making things feel magical for all those who believe.
1 Pets Bringing People Together
If there is one thing that can send a movie over the top of the "cute charts," it is by adding in an adorable animal to the mix. Hallmark already plays on audiences' emotions, so by throwing in a dog, cat, or any other beloved pet into the middle of a budding romance, viewers are completely sold.
A Golden Christmas is the first of three films that features Golden Retrievers helping people come together as couples as well as friends. Shameless actor, Noel Fisher, stars in A Dog Named Christmas as a young man with a learning disability who comes out of his shell after his family begins fostering an older dog named Christmas. Despite his parent's hesitation about the situation, they realize the furry friend has helped them grow.
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