5 Best Lacey Chabert Hallmark Christmas Movies, Ranked

In 2026, Lacey Chabert is the reigning queen of the Hallmark Channel. She's starred in 16 Christmas movies and over 40 Hallmark films in total. Her 17th Christmas movie, "Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True" alongside Travis Van Winkle is one of the most anticipated films in Hallmark's 2026 Countdown to Christmas lineup. It will air over Thanksgiving weekend on Saturday, November 28. These impressive accomplishments don't even consider the TV series Chabert has led for the network, either as a host or a main character.

It's possible that the most dedicated Hallmark Channel fans have seen all of the made-for-TV movies that the "Party of Five" star has made for the network. But, even the 16 Christmas-themed movies are a lot for the average viewer searching for holiday cheer while prepping for their own festive gatherings. So, we ranked Chabert's five best Hallmark Christmas movies for you, whether you like a little bit of mystery, are up for a trip to Europe, or just want to watch a sweet rom-com featuring Santa. And, if you love these, fear not. In 2022, Chabert told Vulture that she had no plans to leave the network amid the leadership change that sent Candace Cameron Bure to Great American Family (formerly GAC Family).

Some of Lacey Chabert's Hallmark Christmas movies involve solving mysteries, but none combine the cozy vibe of Christmas with the tension of solving a puzzle quite as well as "Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas," which the "Mean Girls" star made for Hallmark Mystery (formerly Hallmark Movies & Mysteries) in 2020. Chabert plays Sarah, one of five guests who receive mysterious invitations to spend Christmas at an inn. All of the guests have strong reasons to believe someone in their lives sent them the getaway. When Sarah learns her boss didn't set up her trip, she begins unraveling the mystery with the help of the inn's owner, Ben (Stephen Huszar).

The invitations reconnect former lovers, help a father and daughter bond, and help a widower mourn his late wife. You'll be wondering who sent the invites and why until the last few minutes of the movie, which is a mark of any good mystery and a refreshing change from the Hallmark movies that focus primarily on romance. "Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas" is part of a franchise of standalone films based on the Christmas song "Time for Me to Come Home," written by Blake Shelton and his mom, Dorothy Shackleford. Shelton is an executive producer of all six films in the franchise to date.

Hallmark's biggest leading ladies sometimes get to film their Christmas movies abroad, as Lacey Chabert can attest to. She filmed 2024's "The Christmas Quest" in Iceland and some scenes in 2023's "A Merry Scottish Christmas" in Scotland. Chabert's best Christmas movie set in Europe, 2021's "Christmas at Castle Hart," was filmed entirely on location in different parts of Ireland.

Chabert plays Brooke Bennett, a waiter at a successful catering company who gets fired along with her sister, Margot (Ali Hardiman). The sisters decide to go to Ireland to find their relatives. They cross paths with an aristocratic family in need of event planners to put on a Christmas gala, and Brooke assumes the identity of her former boss in order to get the gig. She must navigate planning the gala with maintaining the lie her sister started as she's also falling in love with Aiden Hart (Stuart Townsend), a member of the aristocratic family who has been helping her with the event.

The plot of "Christmas at Castle Hart" is fun, easy to follow, and easy to invest in, which makes it stand out from most of Chabert's other Christmas movies, especially the other European-themed ones. Margot is a worthy sidekick and comic foil who is incredibly loyal. Townsend and Chabert have strong chemistry, and the distinctly Irish details, like a stepdancing sequence, give the film a unique flair.

"Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up" is the second film in a franchise centered on the neighbors of Evergreen Lane, who take celebrating holidays and the decorations that are required to celebrate properly very seriously. The first installment, "Haul Out the Holly," is very good, but by the second film, Lacey Chabert's Emily Melrose is fully invested in the festivities, traditions, and rules she initially pushed against. New neighbors, the Jolly Johnsons, who are famous for their holiday cheer, move onto the lane and try to upstage the residents of Evergreen Lane and change traditions. Emily joins the charge against the Johnsons until she realizes it's gotten out of hand and she reminds her friends of the reason they all love Christmas.

"Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up" is full of even more romantic moments between Emily and Jared (Wes Brown). Because they're in a fully committed relationship by then, it's no longer an enemies-to-lovers situation. Plus, it's fun to watch Brown, who is accustomed to playing a cool heartthrob, channel a character who's more of a handsome geek. One of the reasons that the Evergreen Lane movies are so successful is the absolutely star-studded cast that includes Ellen Travolta, "Freakier Friday" star Stephen Tobolowsky, and "Happy's Place" star Melissa Peterman. The plot is pretty straightforward, but the characters make it easy to stay invested.

"Christmas Waltz," one of Lacey Chabert's most memorable Hallmark Christmas movies, was released in 2020. She plays Avery, a bride-to-be who calls off her engagement but is persuaded to keep the dancing lessons she booked to prepare for her wedding dance with her ex. As she's trying to heal, she also starts to fall in love with her instructor, Roman (Will Kemp). Some elements of the plot are predictable (Avery's ex eventually complicates her life), but it's special to watch Avery fall in love with dance, even though there's an actual romance involved, too.

"Christmas Waltz" won a Leo Award for best musical score in a television movie in 2021. The music is easy to get lost in, but Chabert and Kemp's chemistry is the heart of the film. Chabert's Christmas movies usually lean heavily on comedy, so it's refreshing to follow a story that focuses so much on heart, whether that means following a passion or finding love after heartbreak.

"She's Making a List" is one of Lacey Chabert's most high-concept Hallmark Christmas movies. It's also her best, especially if you decide to believe in Santa for an hour and a half. She plays Isabel, a Naughty-or-Nice inspector who works for the company Santa has outsourced to decide if kids on the bubble should receive presents or coal for Christmas. While on-site and in disguise to investigate Charlie (Cadence Compton), a young girl whose mother recently died, she keeps running into Charlie's father Jason (Andrew Walker), and eventually they fall in love. They also discover that the company Isabel works for has a flawed system for deciding if kids are naughty or nice and doesn't consider personal circumstances enough.

Chabert and Walker have great chemistry, but chemistry alone usually can't carry a film. Compton's performance as a bitter, wounded young girl struggling with her mother's death supports them well, as does Louriza Tronco's performance as Isabel's loyal assistant, Heidi. The concept is fresh, and actually presents moral questions about how businesses are run today. Outside of the limits of a made-for-TV movie and with a slightly bigger budget, "She's Making a List" could've become a modern Christmas classic.