Despite it not even being Halloween yet, Netflix is already giving viewers a taste of what they have to offer this holiday season starting off with Holidate, a raunchy rom-com featuring a predictable plot and man-hungry women everywhere you look. John Whitesell gives viewers a bland story about Sloane (Roberts), a twenty-something single who meets Jackson (Bracey) after the two bump into each other, both returning unwanted Christmas presents at the local mall. Once the two get over a few bumps they form an agreement to be each other's 'Holidates' where they celebrate holidays around the year without the messy relationship behind them. Even though they both agree to a completely platonic, non-sexual relationship it’s obvious that the two don't just stay friends, over the 1hr 43m runtime the pair go through the classic tropes of every rom-com you'll probably ever watch. But as always, the two finally rekindle their love over a cheesy speech in front of complete strangers in the very mall where they met.
Roberts plays Sloane, a twenty-something single living in Chicago, Illinois, and to make Sloane even more relatable to viewers, the writers have turned her friends and family into piles of character mush, incapable on focusing on anything other than men and finding Sloane an unwanted beau. Bracey plays Jackson, the Australian hunk that Sloane inevitably falls in love with and vice versa. Bracey brings a Hemsworth-type charm to his role that makes Jackson slightly more likable compared to nearly every other male lead in a rom-com you see.
One thing that is painfully evident throughout 'Holidate' is how desperate the writers are for the titular phrase to take off in today's society, it's practically spoken in every scene and explanations are plentiful among the various scenes. While Shane Hurlburt's cinematography is practically non-existent, it wasn't exactly going to make the film any more enjoyable for Netflix viewers as they were probably all more focused on the two oddly good-looking leads, but hey, that's Hollywood for you. Anyway, while 'Holidate' lacks many of the classic filmmaking tropes, it makes up for that in the fact that the comedy is surprisingly tolerable, even if most of it is based on the fact Sloane isn't a testosterone obsessed bimbo.
'Holidate' definitely falls into the category of slightly more tolerable rom-coms to come out in recent years, including films like: 'Palm Springs' and 'Destination Wedding'. One of the fantasies 'Holidate' promotes isn't the idea of finding true love, no, it's the idea of a pre-COVID-19 lifestyle, people are packing shops and stores without having to wear a mask and worry about infecting their relatives. So overall, if your a sucker for a cheesy rom-com then 'Holidate' is one to watch, but if you were hoping for something a little less cliche and predictable then you might want to keep scrolling through the plethora of other options Netflix has available for its millions of viewers