Netflix
Rating: 🎄
Description: Craving a change of pace, a work-hard-play-hard city girl swaps lives with her homebody sister at Christmastime — only to unwrap a whole new kind of mess.
Overall Review: I really tried to give this one the benefit of the doubt.
The Christmas Switch is a Swedish Christmas movie, and I recognize that not every country approaches holiday entertainment the way we do in the United States. Different cultures have different storytelling traditions, different senses of humor, and different ideas about what makes a good Christmas movie.
So initially, I wondered whether I was being unfair. Maybe this was just a case of a movie that didn’t fit my American expectations of holiday entertainment. But the longer I thought about it, the more I thought, nope. I just didn’t think it was a good movie.
Eventually, I did what I try not to do when reviewing Christmas movies. I skipped ahead.
Now, I’m certainly willing to entertain the possibility that I’m missing something culturally. If any Swedish readers want to weigh in and tell me this is exactly what a typical Swedish Christmas movie looks like, I’m genuinely interested. Perhaps there’s a whole tradition of holiday filmmaking that I simply don’t understand.
But I have to believe Swedish audiences appreciate coherent storytelling, too. And that’s where this movie lost me. I’m perfectly happy to watch something that doesn’t follow the standard Hallmark formula. In fact, some of my favorite Christmas movies are the ones that do something different. But being unconventional and being poorly executed are not the same thing.
There’s also something American viewers should know before pressing play: this is not your typical Hallmark-style Christmas movie. It includes stronger language and adult themes that you generally won’t encounter in the cozy, family-friendly holiday romances we’re accustomed to seeing on American television.
That’s not inherently a criticism. A Christmas movie doesn’t have to be wholesome to be good. But if you’re expecting a charming little holiday romance with some mistletoe, a misunderstanding, and a kiss in the snow, you might be in for a surprise.
If this is a beloved Swedish Christmas tradition, I’d legitimately love to hear why. Otherwise, I’m switching to something else.
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