Two strangers meet and want to be the other’s plus one to parties in a non-romantic way. However, through their journey, they start to develop feelings of love.
Creation
Holidate is a Netflix Original movie released in 2020, featuring Emma Roberts, Luke Bracey, and Kristin Chenoweth. The screenplay is written by Tiffany Paulsen, best known for About Fate and Turkey Drop, and directed by John Whitesell, best known for Calendar Girl and See Spot Run.
Tone
Although Holidate is a messy and convoluted movie, this is overshadowed by its feelgood and playful nature. It appeals to people’s feelings and senses, and keeps the viewer engaged and interested. With its intriguing subplot and good acting, it keeps you entangled until the very end.
Story
Sloane the main character is tired of being single for the holidays because of the judgment she gets from her family each year. She had recently broken up with her boyfriend and her mother keeps trying to set her up with men. Sloane is annoyed with what her mother is doing, and to make matters worse on Christmas her brother got engaged to his fiancé, which leaves Sloane to be the only single person left in the family.
On the other hand, Jackson, her love interest is an Australian golfer. He is stuck in a relationship with a woman who he has no interest in at all. His girlfriend at the time becomes angry at him for not getting her a Christmas present. So, he leaves her and that leads to their breakup.
After Christmas, Sloane and Jackson meet each other for the first time standing in line to return gifts from the holiday and eventually converse to where they bring up holiday events and think it would be a good idea to be each other’s plus one. Eventually through time they start to fall in love and their platonic relationship turns into true feelings.
Eventually Thanksgiving comes along, and Jackson reveals how he actually feels about their relationship. He admits that he wants to separate from Sloane, they don’t contact each other until the upcoming days of Christmas. Sloane and Jackson are both shopping at the same mall at the same time and choose to settle their differences and embrace once more.
If you paid attention to the end credits you will notice that all of the couples in the movie, including Sloane and Jackson, are still together. Sloane and Jackson ended up travelling to Australia for their holiday vacation.
Final Opinion
At the end of the day if you are looking for an immersive and interesting movie, this may be the choice for you. However, at times it does get a little repetitive and old. A great alternative is the T.V. show which shares the same name as the movie and follows a similar plot.
