‘Tis the season for Netflix. Halloween may have just ended, but the popular video streaming service has jumped straight into Christmas with a brand new movie called “The Holiday Calendar.”
The romantic comedy holiday flick stars “The Vampire Diaries” actress, Kat Graham, Ethan Peck, Quincy Brown and “This Is Us” actor, Ron Cephus Jones.
The film is about Abby (Graham), a struggling photographer, inheriting an antique holiday calendar from her late grandmother. As each day of the month of December goes by, a toy comes out of the calendar that seemingly predicts what lies ahead for that day. This catapults Abby into a love triangle between a sexy doctor (Peck) and her friend-zoned pal Josh (Brown), all the while she is trying to find out how to follow her photography dreams.
The Netflix film has not garnered much love from critics.
“While watching the film, it is difficult to ignore the lack of chemistry between any of the characters,” writes Sabrina Broderick of The Daily Nebraskan. “Graham’s acting was one-dimensional and made interactions appear still and ingenuine…Overall, the movie falls short in connecting to the audience through the story and Abby’s struggles to follow her dream of photography. As a holiday film, its main job is to bring people together, but ‘The Holiday Calendar’ fails to evoke any emotion from the viewer.”
While “The Holiday Calendar” has not garnered favorable reviews with critics, it is actually not that bad in terms of a sappy Christmas film.
Rated 6 out of 10 stars on IMDb, viewers had mixed views on it.
Some viewers took to the site to express their dislike for the film.
“The movie is really cringy and it’s so cheesy,” wrote viewer, Abigail Diaz on IMDb. “The acting was really bad and it just seemed too fake, like they were trying way too hard and not in a good way. I don’t recommend it. From the moment it starts you already know it’s one of those typical, Netflix cheesy Christmas movies, and there is absolutely no difference; it’s the same old thing all over again.”
Others took to the site to express approval.
“Absolutely loved it” wrote viewer Caronda Cole on IMDb. “I love watching Christmas movies during the holidays season, but most of them lack diversity. I was happy to see people who look like me represented. I thought the story line was really good and I also felt that the two love interest had great chemistry that was captivating.”
In terns of inclusion that Cole writes of is that our main character is of mixed race, with a Caucasian mother and African American father. Her love interests are also diverse in race as well.
For those wanting an in-depth movie with a hard hitting storyline, this film isn’t for you; but if you’re wanting to launch into the holiday spirit with a feel good movie, definitely check it out!
“The Holiday Calendar” is now streaming and is available for viewing.
