As the temperature cools, holiday drinks dominate every coffee shop’s menu, and Target plays music from Michael Bublé’s Christmas album, we know it’s time for one thing: winter rom-coms!
My favorite winter movie, The Holiday, is a film that consistently flies under the radar but delivers everything that people could want from a Christmas movie. Released in 2006, The Holiday has a star-studded cast, featuring Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Jack Black.
The movie follows two completely different romantic stories: one between Diaz and Law’s characters, Amanda and Graham, and the other between Winslet and Black’s characters, Iris and Miles. While the ways they fall in love could not be more different, the ways they find their happy endings are what make the movie so special. It shows the audience that love doesn’t have one “right” way to form and grow, as it can blossom from many different shapes and experiences.
The way the plot of the movie progresses and flows is the perfect example of how relationships work in real life; they can be slow, confusing, and exhilarating. The Holiday is the quintessential balance of comfort and escape, which ultimately feels extremely human. The film explores numerous themes while maintaining a light-hearted, romantic-comedy vibe. It has something for everyone!
While I wish I could sit here and explain the whole plot of this wonderful movie, this article will be free from major plot spoilers, so that everyone can read on. Here are the two reasons why The Holiday should be on your winter movie watch list this year.
Reason one: Relatable Leading women
In the film’s beginning, both leading women, Amanda and Iris, are going through heartbreak, the kind that feels unfair, isolating, and unfortunately, very real. Amanda, a successful movie trailer producer in Los Angeles, discovers her long-term boyfriend has been cheating on her and immediately kicks him out. Iris, a London journalist, is stuck in an emotional loop with her charming but manipulative ex, Jasper, who cheated on her but still keeps her close until he announces his engagement to someone else at their office holiday party.
Iris and Amanda, in fits of rage and sadness, find a house-swapping website online and decide to switch houses with each other for two weeks over Christmas to get a change of scenery.
It’s not often that a movie so perfectly captures the realism of dating in the first twenty minutes of the movie, but The Holiday does. From their interactions with their exes, the film accurately showcases these frustrating situations that many women endure, yet we often feel alone when they happen. The movie shows how Iris and Amanda take initiative to make themselves feel better about their situations, not portraying them as “hopeless.” It doesn’t matter how successful or old you are; love always finds a way to either make or break you, and can change the trajectory of your life.
As their stories unfold, both women go on journeys to rediscover their self-worth.
Iris meets Arthur Abbott in LA, a retired Hollywood screenwriter. He tells her, “Iris, in the movies we have the leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are the leading lady. But, for some reason, you’re behaving like the best friend.”
Amanda may be a successful workaholic, but she also struggles with a lack of self-confidence in relationships. In fact, when she first meets Graham, she tells him she is “bad in bed.” This is a textbook example of the type of things men will sometimes say to women as off-the-cuff remarks, and shows how Amanda clings to the pain of her past, as many of us do.
Through their journeys, the movie beautifully reveals how learning to love yourself can often be the first step forward to finding the love you deserve.
Reason two: Unexpectedly warm and nuanced male leads
What makes The Holiday stand out from other rom-coms is that its male love interests, Graham and Miles, are not the stereotyped main characters whose entire personalities center around being the “attractive, perfect man.” The two are both shockingly complex characters, which helps bring a more realistic aspect to the film.
Graham, at first, seems like the typical charming British stranger who is perfect for a one-night stand. However, throughout the movie, we peel back his many layers, which you would never expect upon first meeting him. Without giving away major spoilers, the plot twists involving Graham and Amanda’s story reveal how he is vulnerable, empathetic, and human.
Unlike Graham, Miles is not single when we first meet him in the movie, and the start of his relationship with Iris is much slower. They begin as strangers and form a deep connection through this newfound friendship. He brings humor, supportiveness, and genuine kindness into Iris’s life, which is exactly what she needs after being manipulated by her ex-boyfriend for years.
Instead of romanticizing drama for conflict, The Holiday depicts what healthy affection looks like. The film doesn’t shy away from honest conversations. The male characters not only help the female characters grow, but also mature through their relationships.
Iris tells Miles, “I understand feeling as small and as insignificant as humanly possible. And how it can actually ache in places you didn’t know you had inside you. You still go to bed every night, going over every detail and wondering what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood.” The mutual understanding the romantic leads have for each other fosters the desire for a healthy, communicative relationship, which is a refreshing deviation from the genre.
The Holiday subtly argues that good men exist and that the right relationship feels like coming home, not losing yourself.
The Holiday isn’t just another rom-com to toss into seasonal rotation; it captures what so many of us feel during the winter months. The desire for comfort, joy, connection, and a little bit of magic! This film reminds us that Love Actually is all around. Wait, wrong movie.
Love takes so many different forms, whether it’s romantic, platonic, or the type we discover inside ourselves. So, as the days get colder, make space on your watchlist for this life-changing movie; it isn’t just worth watching; it’s worth revisiting every winter!