MAKE A ‘WINTER ESCAPE’ WITH HALLMARK – THE TITLES RANKED!
Each month or new season brings with it new things, and one of these is the various blocks of inspired programs that Hallmark debuts. This time of year, as they transition into their Valentine’s Day themes, they have started the year with a bock of premieres under the Winter Escape banner, and like its title suggests, Hallmark often gives us some escape, which is what is inspiring this ranked list today. Nearly all of the 2026 titles have aired, and since I feel 99.9% confident in my Hallmark experience, I’m going to go ahead and put this ranked list together even having one I haven’t seen (yet). So let us begin.
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MAKE A ‘WINTER ESCAPE’ WITH HALLMARK – THE TITLES RANKED! Ranking the #WinterEscape titles through the two years. How many have you seen? Share on XThrough the years, Hallmark has also done different title names for their new movies in the new year’s. Some of the years have been called Winterfest (which usually has lots of snow and winter themes) and others play under the New Year, New Movies banner (which even boasts a theme the network rarely uses which is New Years Eve and the New Year). The former was their block for several years and the latter also ran from 2021 through 2024 according to the official Hallmark website.
This means 2025 marks the first under the Winter Escape banner. While we could talk about all of the titles so long as they fell into the January air date of each new year, we’re keeping these ranked titles to the official Winter Escape banner. Partly because we want to be accurate and partly because it’s easier to only have to remember how well we liked ten movies (over two years) versus multiple additional years. Also, I will say this year did a better job with the escape part of the titling since these fit that definition far better!
So here we are, ready to put this all together and have some fun.
THE WINTER ESCAPE HALLMARK TITLES – ranked
Ranking the titles from least to most favorite; we only pulled titles from 2025 and 2026, which are under the official Winter Escape banner
LOST in PARADISE, 2026
A universal fan favorite (or this is my impression), I didn’t love this one.
Is it all kinds of cute? Of course. But I didn’t always find the stranded trope fun. Of the new ones, I think this one just fell flattest for me (though ironically it isn’t the stranded bit that makes it so) but will admit it was fun to see relative Hallmark newcomer Ian Harding (and star of the Netflix sleeper hit Ripple) again feature in a Hallmark.
MY ARGENTINE HEART, 2025
My least favorite title of 2025! I cannot remember exactly why since I typically like the Julie Gonzalo starrers, but this one wasn’t an all-time favorite. This said, I think it is one that I enjoyed more than I anticipated, and when this happens, well, that’s a good thing. The trope in this one is exes reuniting in order to save a family ranch.
THE PERFECT SETTING, 2025
Airing as the final title in the Hallmark lineup from last year, this is a nice transition title that had Chesapeake Shores alumni Laci J. Mailey in the role of lead playing an aspiring jewelry designer who travels to Belgium. Of course, there is a handsome hero and a contest to enter too.
It not only closes the Winter Escape titles out, but also had a Valentine’s theme which then led into 2025’s Valentine programming.
LOVE on the AMAZON, 2026
This one is further down on the list because I don’t love the Amazon setting, and I don’t think I love Jaicy with her co-star or vice versa. This said, I am glad to see Jaicy again since seeing newcomers feature in these always makes the movie standout.
POLAR OPPOSITES, 2025
In this frequent genre star Rhiannon Fish plays a stowaway trying to get to South America! The movie is, as I remember, a good deal of fun and also features Markian Tarasiuk who is a newer face in the Hallmark family.
LOVE of the IRISH, 2025
Dance drives this one that features Shenae Grimes Beech as a woman who takes her mother to Ireland in the hopes of fulfilling some missing family history. While there she meets a widowed father and his precocious daughter and also becomes a part of their lives when she winds up teaching dance.
To be honest, I don’t remember all of the particulars of this one, but based on my review scribbles, I did quite enjoy this one.
A MELBOURNE MATCH, 2026
Lead star Mallory not only plays the spunky heroine but also EP’s and writes this one. From Australia Janson set this one in her home country and the film also casts Ryan Corr as the hero who I loved in the delightful period drama Ladies in Black.
MISSING the BOAT, 2026
This is a kind of preemptive addition to the list since it debuts tonight, but all signs point to it being a favorite. However, if after I see it, it seems less than this, I will update this ranking to reflect that. It has another Chesapeake Shores alumni in lead role (Emilie Ullerup) playing opposite Kristoffer Polaha in a story about two people who meet while on a cruise along the Italian coast and then must race to the next stop when they miss reboarding!
Catch the premiere of Missing the Boat tonight (January 31st) on Hallmark Channel
CAUGHT by LOVE, 2026
The most unique of the 2026 titles, Rachael Leigh Cook is delightfully fun. This one also pairs her with Luke Macfarlane in a script where they play two resort guests who end up trying to solve a curious jewelry theft case. The script keeps us laughing and overall, this one is just more unique than most.
Stream, at publication, all of these exclusively with Hallmark+; find Missing the Boat streaming next-day only on Hallmark+
Photos: Hallmark Media
Have you seen any of these? Which ones would you still see? How many have you ranked – or how would you rank these Hallmark Winter Escape titles? Do you see any favorite stars in this lineup? Sound off with your comments below.
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MORE to browse
- ‘CAUGHT BY LOVE’: ESCAPE IN A FUN ROMANTIC-COMEDY!
- IAN HARDING (‘RIPPLE’) HALLMARK MOVIES AND WHERE TO WATCH THEM!
- THE WINTER 2026 TV SHOW SEASON: SPINOFFS, REMAKES AND MORE!
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Note: Adding a disclaimer though it kind of makes me sad that I feel like I have to add this because social media is, well, defensive. Same as I have said before (from other lists or rankings), just because these aren’t a favorite doesn’t mean they aren’t still sweet. And I can appreciate what I did like about them while also recognizing that some, for various reasons, didn’t work for me. And this is okay. This list isn’t meant to be anything other than about having fun and asking you to share what your favorites are too!
fun list of movies