Every holiday season, you can find a ton of new, usually low-budget, Christmas romantic comedies on Netflix. While the streaming giant that gave us three “The Princess Switch” movies hasn’t exactly made prestigious Christmas cinema, sometimes you need a lighthearted rom-com to get you in the holiday spirit. These may not be holiday classics like “Love Actually” or “The Holiday,” but some are more than worth your time.
4. “Hot Frosty”
“Hot Frosty” is sending the internet into a spiral because of its ridiculous premise. It follows a widow named Kathy (Lacey Chabert) who falls for Jack (Dustin Milligan), a snowman who is magically turned into a real-life hunk. While the absurdity is funny, if you already know what the film is about when watching it, “Hot Frosty” loses its novelty pretty quickly. After the initial shock of seeing Jack turn into a man, the rest of the film is much tamer and does not live up to the promise of its crazy premise.
While “Hot Frosty” tries to show a romantic fantasy of a himbo doing your chores, it falls flat because Jack acts like an actual child. When Kathy shares that her husband died of cancer, Jack innocently asks “What’s cancer?” like a 6-year-old would. Kathy’s relationship with Jack feels so maternal since he was literally born yesterday. He relies on her because he has no knowledge of the world, while Kathy benefits from him doing manual labor around her house. Ultimately, the film’s goofy concept is not enough to save it from the bottom of this list.
3. “Our Little Secret”
In “Our Little Secret,” Lindsay Lohan stars as Avery, a successful workaholic spending her first Christmas with her partner Cameron’s (Jon Rudnitsky) family. However, impressing his mother becomes even more difficult when it turns out Cameron’s sister Cassie (Katie Baker) is dating her ex-boyfriend Logan (Ian Harding). After an awkward reunion, Avery and Logan decide to hide their past relationship from everyone, while realizing that they may still have feelings for each other.
Despite having the tried and true trope of exes to lovers, “Our Little Secret” falls flat. Instead of focusing on the main couple and giving us some entertaining angst, the film prioritizes wacky hijinks that do not land comedically. The only upside is Kristin Chenoweth, who is funny and charming as always as Cameron and Cassie’s uptight wine mom.
2. “The Merry Gentlemen”
“The Merry Gentlemen” is if “Magic Mike” met the Hallmark Channel. It is about a dancer named Ashley (Britt Robertson), who goes back to her hometown after being fired from her Broadway show for being too old. There, she helps the bar her parents own by directing a male dance showcase, featuring local handyman, Luke (Chad Michael Murray).
For a film about male strippers, “The Merry Gentlemen” is surprisingly wholesome and gives exactly what you expect from a holiday rom-com. While Ashley and Luke’s romance is a little bland, the chemistry and dance numbers make up for it. The best part of the film is undoubtedly the dances by Luke and the other recruited performers. If you are watching just to see Murray perform a holiday-themed striptease, you will not be disappointed, even if everything else in the film is lackluster.
1. “Meet Me Next Christmas”
“Meet Me Next Christmas” follows Layla (Christina Milian), a woman from Poughkeepsie who works at a non-profit helping kids get into historically Black colleges and universities. On her way to a Pentatonix concert with her boyfriend on Christmas Eve, Layla meets the handsome James (Kofi Siriboe) at an airport lounge, and they immediately hit it off. James tells her that if she happens to be single in a year, they should meet again at the same concert next year. After Layla catches her boyfriend cheating on her three days before Christmas, she is left scrambling to find tickets for the acapella group’s sold-out concert, in hopes of reconnecting with James. However, the real love story of “Meet Me Next Christmas” is between Layla and Teddy (Devale Ellis), the sweet concierge she hires to help her get last-minute tickets.
While the film is incredibly stereotypical, with its hijinks and Pentatonix-filled soundtrack, “Meet Me Next Christmas” has just enough holiday silliness to be fun but not completely mind-numbing. Ellis is a swoon-worthy leading man, which helps distract from the unoriginal dialogue. If you had a Pentatonix phase in 2013, you will be happy to know that the group’s involvement with the film goes beyond a simple cameo. The members of the a capella group all have considerable amounts of dialogue, playing fictional versions of themselves who are heavily invested in Layla and Teddy’s love story. While the singers’ acting skills are questionable, I could not help but be entertained by the goofiness of all their scenes. At one point, Layla and Teddy bond over both being fans of the group and do the rhythmic clap for “White Winter Hymnal” together. It’s all incredibly silly, but if there’s any time for Pentatonix, it’s the holidays.
Contact Ella Sabrina Malabanan at [email protected].
