Netflix's 'Holidate' Review: Rom-com tries hard to be unique but the Emma Roberts film fails
Spoilers for Netflix's 'Holidate'
Sloane (Emma Roberts) turns up to her mother's house on every holiday single. Elsewhere in Chicago, Jackson (Luke Bracey) shows up at his date's house on Christmas with little knowledge about her. Each of these encounters ends awkwardly for them until they meet one fine day and decide to be each others' holidates for the rest of the year.
What is a 'Holidate'? Netflix's new movie 'Holidate' sneaks in a dating hack - two single people get together every holiday and just be each others' plus ones to events. It is a strictly non-sexual arrangement where the only criterion is that you have fun. And fun do Sloane and Jackson have.
But be warned – they are soon to fall in love.
'Holidate' intended to set itself apart from most romantic comedies but ends up trudging down the same path it hoped to avoid. As Sloane and Jackson spend the year among family and friends, moving from one holidate to the other, they begin to develop feelings for each other. Each holidate brings them emotionally closer to each other. Bear in mind that they had decided to not engage in sex which meant this platonic relationship was sooner or later going to get serious.
Once they realize they have feelings for each other – again, like several rom-coms, they spend an annoying amount of time steering clear of each other until they can't and have to confess. Even as it rings similar to several romantic comedies out there, Roberts and Bracey are in a league of their own. The two very good looking actors score high on chemistry throughout the movie, even when they are refusing to give into it. Together, they are charming and funny with genuine laugh out loud moments scattered here and there.
Alas, their chemistry alone cannot save this John Whitesell-directed flick from falling prey to tropes. When screenwriter Tiffany Paulsen wrote the movie, she wanted to set 'Holidate' apart from the meet-cute trope that eats the genre alive. She might have done that but could have focused a bit more on what follows next.
Superficially, 'Holidate' is similar to the 2009 Ryan Gosling and Sandra Bullock-starrer 'The Proposal' which also sees love bloom in the isle of abstinence.
'Holidate' on Netflix aims high but doesn't deliver a unique product. At an hour 44 minutes, the Roberts and Bracey-starrer is a long movie that presumes viewers are interested in this rehash of mush and faux cheer.
'Holidate' is currently streaming on Netflix.