Let's face it: Hallmark Christmas movies are uniquely ripe for ridicule — the lovable sort, that is. Vince Vaughn went there in 2022 with his R-rated Hallmark-style film "Christmas with the Campbells," and "Saturday Night Live" has always drawn upon Hallmark's delightful predictability for memorable sketches. But one Hallmark parody movie tops them all. 2021's "A Clüsterfünke Christmas," from SNL alums Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch, is now streaming on Paramount+.
"A Clüsterfünke Christmas" takes all those well-worn Hallmark tropes—a city girl in the wild, a high-stakes real estate deal—and makes the most delicious Christmas pudding out of them. Directed by Emmy nominee Anna Dokoza ("Kevin Can F**k Himself") with a script by Gasteyer and Dratch, the film premiered on Comedy Central in 2021 and won five Leo Awards, including Best Television Movie.
So if you're looking for a well-made, actually funny Hallmark parody movie to go with your Countdown to Christmas, "A Clüsterfünke Christmas" was made for you. Break out the Hallmark Channel wine and prepare for some gut-bustingly funny bits. "Your boyfriend is here for the winter but he's secretly a prince of a small Slavic nation?" Perfection!
Here's the synopsis for "A Clüsterfünke Christmas," now streaming on Paramount+:
Holly (Vella Lovell, "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"), a go-getter real estate executive from New York City heads on assignment to a small town to buy up the quaint Clüsterfünke Inn and transform it into a mega-resort. First order of business? She must convince the inn's spinster owners (Gasteyer and Dratch) to make the sale. But before she can, she meets their nephew Frank (Cheyenne Jackson, "Watchmen"), a hot hunk of smoldering woodsman. Will she go back to her fast-paced city life, stripping the town of its old-school charms? Or will she fall in love with Frank and find the spirit of Christmas? What will she do? What. Will. She. Do.
