Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey star in “Holidate,” a romantic comedy about two strangers who agree to be each other’s plus-ones for every holiday of the year. The premise sounds clever. The execution doesn’t quite land.
Trailer, via Netflix.
The Pact
Sloane Benson, played by Roberts, is tired of her family pressuring her to settle down. Her mother, Elaine, played by Frances Fisher, is constantly setting her up with new men. At Christmas dinner, Sloane’s younger brother York announces his engagement to Liz, leaving Sloane as the only single adult left in the family.
Jackson, an Australian golfer played by Bracey, is having a bad holiday of his own. He is stuck with Carly, a woman he has no interest in, and her parents. When Jackson leaves a Christmas gathering in frustration after Carly gets angry about not receiving a gift, he runs into Sloane at the mall returning presents. He suggests they make a pact to be Holidates — dates only for holidays — and Sloane agrees.
The idea is simple and funny. Two people who hate the holidays get a free pass to skip the usual drama by pretending to be together. The problem is that the movie spends its entire runtime building toward the inevitable conclusion that they will fall in love anyway.
The Holiday Loop
Sloane and Jackson spend every major holiday together. Valentine’s Day finds Jackson pretending to be Sloane’s boyfriend in front of her ex and his young, beautiful girlfriend. They slowly become friends after spending various holidays together. When Jackson loses a finger on July 4th, he fears he is not good enough for her and tries to set her up with a better date. That leads to a fight at her brother’s wedding on Labor Day, where Sloane’s date, Faarooq, and Jackson’s date, Sloane’s aunt Susan, hook up.
At Halloween, Sloane becomes unwell after unknowingly taking laxatives. Jackson takes care of her until they fall asleep together. They then have sex, and the movie ends with them finally admitting they have real feelings for each other.
The Problem With the Premise
The trouble is that the whole movie is built around a setup that the writers never let pay off. Sloane and Jackson agree to be Holidates because they want to avoid crazy and clingy dates. The joke is that they end up having real feelings for each other anyway. So the pact is meaningless by design. The film’s central question — who is the perfect plus-one — is never answered honestly, because the movie insists that Sloane and Jackson are also each other’s perfect romantic partner.
Every holiday in the movie exists to move the couple closer to the moment they admit they love each other. The result is a film that spends its runtime circling the same point without ever landing on it.
The Cast and the Tone
The cast is capable across the board. Roberts plays Sloane as a workaholic who despises the holidays, while Bracey plays Jackson as a laid-back Australian who is equally miserable. Their chemistry is fine, though it never quite reaches the spark the script promises.
The supporting cast includes Jake Manley as York, Jessica Capshaw as Abby, Alex Moffat as Peter, Cynthy Wu as Liz, Julien Marlon Samani as Luc, Nicola Peltz as Felicity, and Kristin Chenoweth as Aunt Susan. These actors get little to do beyond showing up at the right holiday events.
“Who’s your perfect plus-one?”
That is the tagline for the film, and it sums up the central problem. The movie keeps asking that question, but it never answers it honestly. Sloane and Jackson are supposed to be each other’s perfect plus-one, but the film insists they are also each other’s perfect romantic partner. The tension between those two ideas never gets resolved.
Where It Lands
“Holidate” is a pleasant enough watch for fans of Roberts and Bracey, but it rarely rises above the level of a forgettable Netflix original. The jokes are thin, the pacing is slow, and the payoff is obvious from the first scene. There is no surprise in the destination because the movie has never pretended there could be one.
The film is a minor disappointment.
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