Rating: πππππ
Premiere Date: December 3, 2025
Description: Taylor disguises as Santa at a resort to fund her daughter’s ski lessons. Working with the charming manager Matthew, she finds holiday cheer and a chance at love amidst challenges.
Chemistry: Alexandra Breckenridge is a talent. She can do the tender moments, but her comedic chops were on display in this one, and she nailed it. It was a little weird watching Ryan Eggold look into Santa’s eyes, but they made a joke of it later, so it’s fine. The ensemble was well put together, and I appreciated Tia Mowry’s character growth. I wasn’t sure if they were going to keep her in the villain role until the bitter end or have her evolve, but sure enough, the Christmas spirit got her, too.
Plot: It’s a bit Mrs. Doubtfire in some spots, but with a Christmas twist and minus the divorce. I did think there were maybe a few too many sub-plotlines, but this only became clear when it was time for them to wrap everything up, and suddenly things from earlier in the movie needed to come back around so they could be fixed. It wasn’t a huge problem, but it could have just been slightly tightened up.
Design: Clearly filmed in actual winter, and the Christmas decorations were top-notch… even better than Hallmark’s best. Kudos to Netflix for this one.
Overall: This is a great movie and one I will be watching again.
Best Enjoyed With: A slice of pie topped with a generous amount of whipped cream, in case your ridiculously detailed mask fails and you need to pretend you’re doing an at-home facial.