A search for the word "christmas" on the film site IMDB, gives a result of over 200 films from this year.

This is a figure that has doubled since 2016 and quadrupled since 2011, according to the BBC's compilation.

Film critic Caroline Hainer says that tradition and nostalgia are the elements behind the success of the Christmas film.

- It can evoke memories of ancient Christmases.

But also even more complex - it can awaken our old dream, perhaps since childhood, of a perfect Christmas.

Pandemieffekt

Hainer believes that the Christmas movie boom could also be an effect of the pandemic.

- Christmas movies are usually quite cheap and easy to record.

A studio is required - you do not have to be in place anywhere.

So that's why you can spit out quite a few now, she says.

- There is also a positive predictability in these films.

They always follow the same pattern.

That should not be underestimated, especially not in troubled times, she says.

Why are so many new Christmas movies made if you want security?

Can't you just watch the classics?

- This string of pearls of new Christmas films can actually be seen as a new season of a TV series.

They are so very easy to look after each other.

It's like a complete episode because they follow the same dramaturgical arc, says Caroline Hainer.

The trend: Romcoms about LGBTQ people

Despite the fact that the genre seems single-track, there is a certain renewal.

In recent years, there have been several Christmas romcoms that revolve around LGBTQ people, in a genre that is otherwise dominated by heterosexuals.

This year comes the Canadian film Single all the way, about Peter who feels pressured to find a boyfriend before Christmas.

Same old theme, but more inclusive.

- You never shake the formula itself.

The main character's problems can be the same for a person regardless of gender or ethnicity.

And then you have done so that you not only throw in a quoted person, but you make sure that it still moves in an environment that is credible.

And you can do that without losing the plot, which is the same in 99% of the films, says film critic Caroline Hainer.