Why Are Christmas Movies So Horny This Year?

It’s the most wonderful—and, arguably, wholesome—time of the year. But it’s also, apparently, the most horniest time, at least if this year’s christmas movies are anything to go by.

First, Netflix dropped The Merry Gentlemen, starring Noughties teen pin-up Chad Michael Murray, which transports us to the world of a struggling small-town music venue that needs to be saved by way of an all-male, Christmas-themed revue. Cue the topless men in fireman hats gyrating to save the venue. Magic Mike with a splash Christmas cheer!

©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection

And there’s Hot Frosty, the story of lonely widow Kathy (played by Mean Girls’ Lacey Chabert) who finds comfort in a handsome (again, initially topless) male stranger, who turns out to be a snowman brought to life. Just like in The Merry Gentlemen, there’s suggestion of a romantic storyline between the two leads, as Jack (credited as Jack Snowman on IMDB and played by Schitt’s Creek star Dustin Milligan) helps Kathy to find love and connection again after the loss of her husband. As far as Christmas movies go, the premise is traditionally feel-good (if a little silly given he’s a snowman) but it’s also overwhelmingly horny particularly when we see Milligan’s Snowman run around town with his rippling abs and guns on show.

Hot Frosty was particularly popular with audiences this year, sitting for a week at the number one movie position on Netflix, suggesting that we are in fact hot for these kind of stories.

©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection

We also have Lindsay Lohan’s latest holiday movie offering, Our Little Secret, during which her character, Avery, finds herself under the same roof as ex-boyfriend Logan for the festive season, after belatedly discovering that their current partners are siblings. There’s considerably less nudity in this one, but it does show undeniable sexual tension in close quarters during Christmas.

All this poses the question: is Christmas sexy? It can be romantic, sure—the season certainly zones in on love of all types—but it seems we’re increasingly gravitating toward horny vibes during the festive season.

©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection

Maybe it just comes down to a new form of wish fulfillment, shifting from rooting for a couple to find love by New Year’s Eve When Harry Met Sally style to also indulging in a little on-screen sexy action – whether it’s seeing a snowman shapeshift into a topless Adonis or watching a show that Magic Mike himself would be proud of, all in service of celebrating the festive season.

Besides, both of these movies in particular hold a wholesome theme at their heart—recapturing intimacy and saving a much-loved local community spot—it just happens that sex is being sold on top this year. Maybe we’re being told that all we want for Christmas this year is to be gifted abs on screen. But for us, a pair of fluffy, cozy slippers would also work just fine to warm us up.

This story originally appeared in Glamour UK.