'Dash & Lily': Here are 5 reasons why this quirky Netflix rom-com should be on your Christmas movie list
Spoilers for 'Dash & Lily'
Netflix's new rom-com, 'Dash & Lily', should be your next must-watch for a variety of reasons - we'll get into that in a minute. Before that, a quick summary of the film: the series follows a holiday optimistic 16-year-old Lily, played by the stunning Midori Francis. Following the advice of her brother, Lily leaves a red notebook on her favorite shelf at The Strand. The front cover of the notebook reads, "do you dare?" Dash, played by Austin Abrams, is as cynical and pessimistic as the Grinch when it comes to the holidays. But he does take up Lily's red notebook challenge, starting the sweetest love story we've seen in Christmas movies in a while.
Here are five reasons why you should bingewatch 'Dash & Lily' this holiday season. We'll try to not give too many spoilers away.
Stellar character delivery
For most of the series, Abrams and Francis don't share the screen - the romance unfolds through the red notebook in which they share their dreams, desires and favorite spots in New York among many other things. The actors are impeccable in their character delivery as they manage to keep you engaged even though the majority of the time when one's on-screen, the other has a voice-over role. The chemistry between Dash and Lily is almost too hard to ignore even if you factor in the fact that they communicate through the notebook most of the time. Dash's pessimistic attitude, and Lily's optimistic one classes in the best of ways, with no sourness, rather a willingness to understand each other as individuals. Their chemistry appeals so well to the "opposites attract" motto that everyone uses to justify the start of a romance — but for Dash and Lily, the magical realism leaps out as their romance deepens make emotional intelligence a priority rather than a physical attribution.
Unconventional romance
If you've watched Christmas movies over the years, more specifically Christmas rom-coms, there is almost always a romance right off the bat. The characters - either divorced or newly single - seem to find "the one" just in time for Christmas. We, as the audience, learn of their family dynamics, they are put through an obstacle, there is a predictable climax, and lastly a happy resolution. We're not saying that cheesy rom-coms don't hit the spot during the holiday season, it's kind of meant for that, but the plot is always the same. 'Dash & Lily' on the other hand is an adaptation of Rachel Cohn and David Levithan’s YA novel 'Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares'. It follows the familiarity of the theme of Christmas movies but with a storyline much more engaging than just "searching for the one". It speaks to the cynics as well as the romantics, as the red notebook becomes a form of escape for both the characters — they have more in common than they ever thought they did. The way this romance unfolds isn't conventional, and doesn't attribute physical characteristics to it at all - it rather focuses on personalities, intellectual conversation, and real feelings. It ditches the "oh my god, she's so pretty" attitude, and adapts a plotline that allows both characters to fall in love with how they present themselves on the pages of the red notebook. The series' relatability scale is off the charts.
Amazing secondary roles
While Dash and Lily are the central characters, the secondary characters deliver awesome performances as well. It seems that while Lily has a bigger backstory to fall on, Dash's seems to be raw and painful, which goes perfectly well with his cynical attitude towards the holidays. The secondary characters include Boomer (Dante Brown) known for 'Lethal Weapon' as Dash's pizza-loving best friend, Langston (Troy Iwata) known for 'New Amsterdam' as Lily's older brother, Sofia (Keana Marie) known for 'Huge in France' as Dash's ex-girlfriend, Arthur (James Saito) known for 'Altered Carbon' as Lily’s over-protective grandfather and Mrs Basil E (Jodi Long) known for 'Sullivan & Son' as (our favorite) Lily’s eccentric and theatrical great aunt. These characters play off the main characters very well, influencing their decisions in some cases, other times just supporting their growth. They each have a part to play in the story, which is nice to see as they weren't pushed off as background characters.
Short, sweet and engaging
The series is only about eight half-hour episodes long, so not being able to binge it can't be an excuse. It isn't boring in any sense of the word and probably stands out as more an intelligent scripted series. It is well-thought-out, not predictable and engages the audience well. While each character finds out what's next, you can't help but be excited to find out what's next either. We want to say that this is aimed at teenagers, but we'd be lying if we said adults wouldn't enjoy it. It reaks of sweet fantasy with the backdrop of the Big Apple, what more can you ask for when it screams Christmas almost in every scene. With two characters trying to make each other quit their bubbles and lower the defenses, there is no way you won't get hooked after the first episode.
Enchanting tribute to New York City Christmas
NYC is known to be a magical city, especially during the holidays — from its streets graced with giant Christmas trees and twinkling lights to the comfort of cold weather, hot chocolate, and Christmas carolers. Besides the fact that Dash and Lily gave each other explore their favorite spots in NYC, we get to feel nostalgic about the fact that the holiday season this year will look a lot different due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The crowds, the Santa meet-ups for kids, the ice skating — all of that is most likely not going to happen to make sure social distancing protocols continue to be in place. So, in a way, through the series, we still get to experience a New York Christmas, just on our small screens. Spots such as the Grand Central Station and The Strand might be very familiar to New York natives, as the series almost makes it a property to portray the city at it's best. The way the series captured the city, it makes you want to go there (if you haven't been) and it relays notions of possibility in such a big scary place.
'Dash & Lily' is now available to stream on Netflix.