If you are looking for a cheesy, festive movie to watch, “Holidate” is perfect for you. The film has been trending on Netflix’s top charts and features Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey.
In the movie, Roberts’ character Sloane is left as the only single child in the family after her younger brother gets engaged at Christmas. Her mother is dying to set her up and send her off with a husband but frowns upon Sloane’s smoking habits and stubbornness when reaching out to guys. Sloane meets Bracey’s character Jackson at the mall when returning large pajama pants from a relative. Jackson is also making a return of pants from a psychotic ex-girlfriend’s family.
The two bond over their desire to have someone to be with on the holidays with no strings attached – aka a “holidate.” They decide to try this out on New Year’s Eve and carry on with it for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, and so on. Inevitably, the two start to develop feelings for each other, and the question of whether to start seeing each other apart from on holidays arises. Without spoiling too much of the plotline, I can assure you all that I quickly became attached to Sloane and Jackson’s relationship.
The movie was somewhat mediocre, but I am a sucker for cheesy romantic comedies. “Holidate” was crass, had dry humor, and was a breath of fresh air from your typical rom-com. I appreciated how the love story did not fit the stereotype of a girl pining after a guy and how Sloane was utterly transparent and did not try to hide any side of her from Jackson. Sloane did not conform to be the person everyone else wanted her to be and instead embraced her edgier personality.
The other characters of “Holidate” were well-casted, as Jessica Capshaw, Kristin Chenoweth, Jake Manley, King Bach, and others were featured. Ryan Gosling even made a cameo as Sloane joked to Jackson about Ryan Gosling coming in and sweeping her off her feet.
Overall, I would rate “Holidate” as a 6.5 out of 10. If you’re looking for an excellent quality holiday movie, I would steer clear of this one, but it is a good option to put on with friends for a chill movie night.