My wife's grandmother was watching one such movie recently during a visit.
CW: Emotional abuse.
spoiler
It is about some HOA president (yes, that's how the movie describes him over and over, as a full time job) that keeps showing his romantic interest in the leading feeemale character by fining her and citing her for insufficient holiday decorations and other such "why don't you smile more 
" abusive shit for the first half of the movie.
The rest is other people in the Black Hole Sun music video worthy town passive-aggressively reminding that feeemale character how the HOA president was looking at her while she scoffs and rejects the abuse... until she doesn't. And that's the happy ending.
Scary shit. It's intersectional: providing what the demographic wants and expects and further normalizing and expanding upon it.
That's so bizarre. I had thought that maybe, though still bad, it was a situation of "oh, she's cute, I'll make up a citation to talk to her."
I mean, it is hallmark, so they need to peddle their bullshit wares, but that's just so blatantly consumerism, and that the message may be taken up by real people is so unsettling.
You're right about the death cult thing. There's no reason, only "respecting the dead" and any questioning of that is an invitation to join the cult in is fully realized form.