Bring on the holiday feel-goods

On Netflix, the latest rom-com, Holidate, stars Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey), who both hate the holidays. They constantly find themselves single, sitting at the kids’ table, or stuck with awkward dates, but when these two strangers meet one horrible Christmas, everything changes.

The story follows Sloane, who’s tired of being set up by her family. While standing in a return line after the Christmas holidays, she meets a handsome stranger, Jackson, a pro-golfer who’s recently had bad experiences with dating.

They are both seeking a companion for New Year’s Eve but neither wants to deal with the baggage or commitment.  Sloane mentions that her aunt has a “holidate” where, for every holiday, she brings a Platonic plus one. This leads her to arrange a pact with Jackson that he will be her “holidate,” and on every holiday he would be her Platonic plus one.

Throughout Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, Sloane and Jackson stick to their plan, but they start to develop more than a friendship along the way. Sure, it is predictable, but that’s the fun of it.

Overall, this movie was an enjoyable watch for this time of year. It was not something that blew me away, some of the jokes were flat and there weren’t really any surprises in the plot. However, if you are looking for a new holiday movie to watch by yourself or with family, this could be the one for you.