Netflix subscribers have entered into the Christmas spirit, propelling holiday romance Hot Frosty to the top of the global chart with 16 million views.
Starring Mean Girls’ Lacey Chabert, it sees a young widow magically bring a handsome snowman (Dustin Milligan) to life, eventually falling for his naivete and charms.
But the path of true love may well turn to slush once her new beau melts…
The film first landed on Netflix on November 13, initially securing a perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes before dropping down to a still impressive 82% – that’s even higher than the highly anticipated Gladiator 2.
And in its first five days on the platform, Hot Frosty was watched a whopping 16 million times, which equates to over 24 million hours of viewing time.
These huge figures mean it has debuted at number one on Netflix’s global most-watched chart for the week of November 11-17.
The holiday romance has also secured the top spot in the UK chart, as well as in several other countries including Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
It’s safe to say the Netflix original is a success, and it’s received praise from critics and subscribers alike.
On Rotten Tomatoes, TheWrap’s William Bibbiani wrote: ‘It’s cheap and it’s silly and it has a laughable premise that some people will mistake for terribleness. But it’s also winking and whimsical. It knows what it’s doing and it’s doing it on purpose. Somehow it actually kind of works.’
Jack King, reviewing for GQ, said: ‘Amid its galaxy-brained silliness is a genuinely beautiful message about the human experience, and how we never forget the people we loved. Christmas is for little else.’
Over on X, viewers have also been showering the romance film with compliments.
@theficusplant wrote: ‘Hot Frosty is 10/10 perfect no notes movie of the year’, while @officialhambly said: ‘Hot Frosty is an absolutely insane movie and I loved every second of it and would watch it again’.
Nevertheless, not everyone is impressed.
Hot Frosty has received a rather disappointing 57% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, with one reviewer going so far as to call it ‘the worst movie ever’.
But for those who can look past the silliness, the Christmas romance has proved to be a winner.
Elsewhere on Netflix last week, another holiday movie has secured a spot in the top 10.
Meet Me Next Christmas sees hopeless romantic Layla race across New York City to find a ticket to a sold-out Christmas concert, which leads to her connecting with the man of her dreams.
The film was watched 11.8 million times last week, earning it a spot at number two on Netflix’s global chart.
Hot Frosty is available to stream on Netflix.
Netflix hit watched 16,000,000 times in 5 days after global top 10 revealed