Ranking Netflix’s newest cheesy Christmas movies: A film critic’s favourites

We’re barely into December, but Netflix’s cheesy Christmas movie season has already been snowing down an array of improbable rom-com shenanigans upon us.

Having offered up Lindsay Lohan, topless magical snowmen and a topless troupe of male dancers led by Chad Michael Murray in 2024, 2025’s roster of talent includes Alicia Silverstone, Minka Kelly and Sex Education and Barbie star Connor Swindells…

And yes, a topless firefighting scene too, obviously.

This year’s slate comprises of A Merry Little Ex-Mas, Champagne Problems, Jingle Bell Heist and My Secret Santa.

But which of these new flicks are worthy of your time, whether for an enjoyably brainless 90-odd minutes of winding down – or even perhaps a repeat slot in your annual festive viewing schedule?

Read on for my thoughts, as they’re released – this is the final ranking now I’ve ‘treated’ myself to all four, and it’s safe to say this reminded me that objective ‘best’ and ‘favourite’ aren’t necessarily the same…

A Merry Little Ex-Mas

This ended up the best of the bunch in my eyes, although it’s not technically my favourite.

It has a different vibe to the lighter, full-on glossy Netflix affairs with its focus on older characters and an established relationship that’s in trouble – I was actually pleasantly surprised from the off as it starts with an animated explainer to catch you up on the protagonist’s life.

Although, lest you think this is particularly serious, this is also the film that has a character strip to his underwear while attempting to fight an indoor fire, as you do.

Starring Alicia Silverstone, Oliver Hudson, Jameela Jamil, Pierson Fodé and Melissa Joan Hart, A Merry Little Ex-Mas follows Kate (Silverstone) and Everett (Hudson) as they attempt to quietly divorce after drifting apart over the years.

However, their plans to enjoy one last family Christmas together with their young adult kids is thrown off course when Everett’s glamorous new girlfriend (Jamil) unexpectedly arrives.

Jamil is simply playing another take on the snooty-but-kooky Brit like her character Tahani in The Good Place, but she does do it pretty well – and is also, thank God, actually British. It’s the same for Kate’s daughter Sienna’s (Emily Hall) boyfriend, a Harry Potter tour guide played with panto levels of broadness by Timothy Innes.

But I must say, while Silverstone and Hudson are impressive gets for this type of Netflix fare – and provide decent performances – it’s Fodé who steals the show as the town’s ‘everyjobber’ Chet.

He also woos older woman Kate with an endearing glee, truly delighting in his role in the same way he did in The Wrong Paris earlier this year.

It’s still not the most original premise, but A Merry Little Ex-Mas does boast a script better than the bare minimum. It’s exploration of family drama is a little bit different to the norm too, without straying into territory too deep, which would – of course – rather defeat its purpose as a Netflix Christmas movie.

My rating: 3/5 cheddars on my Christmas cheeseboard

Jingle Bell Heist

This one does things a little differently too, providing a few twists that many weren’t expecting (don’t worry, I’m staying spoiler-free here).

Part Christmas crime caper in the vein of Home Alone, and part festive rom-com, this one also reminded me of the stress of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Jingle All the Way thanks to its department store setting.

Jingle Bell Heist sees two down-on-their-luck strangers, Sophie (former Disney Channel star Olivia Holt) and ex-jailbird Nick (Sex Education and SAS Rogue Heroes actor Connor Swindells) team up to rob one of London’s most famous department stores, Sterlings (owned by Peter Serafinowicz’s sneering Maxwell Sterling).

Sophie is employed as a low-level floor assistant, mopping up vomit among other things, while Nick installed the shop’s security camera system, for which he was never paid. Their motives are clear: she needs money for her mother’s mounting hospital bills and he wants revenge after being sent down for theft.

Obviously, feelings are caught along the way.

Anyone with a single dad kink will enjoy Nick’s quest to stay in his little girl’s life, while the classic rom-com ‘glow up’ scene is centred around him donning a tux, if a man in black tie does it for you.

Screenwriter Abby McDonald has, blessedly, injected some proper British humour into the film, which is set in London, avoiding us being accosted by the usual American need to romanticise London to a saccharine degree: some scenes are set in a proper old man’s boozer – hooray!

The cringe factor is largely swapped for – dare I say it? – a little bit of coolness, and Holt and Swindells are a nice, sparky pair. I’m not sure it quite goes down as a Christmas classic in my book though.

My rating: 3/5 cheddars on my Christmas cheeseboard

My Secret Santa

You’ve got to appreciate the pun in the title of My Secret Santa, which is both a nod to the gift-giving tradition and a literal explainer of the movie.

Yes, there is a secret Santa, in a storyline ripped lovingly from Mrs Doubtfire and with a bit of an echo of White Christmas in its ski resort setting.

Obviously this isn’t a patch on Robin Williams’ iconic performance, but Alexandra Breckenridge (Netflix royalty thanks to Virgin River’s colossal success) gives it a good go.

She stars as single mother Taylor, who loses her job just ahead of the holidays – and just as her 15-year-old daughter Zoey (Madison MacIsaac) lands a spot in the ski resort’s prestigious – and pricey – snowboard classes.

Desperate to make it work, Taylor disguises herself as an elderly man to play the resort’s Santa Claus, which will bag her an essential 50% off tuition.

Meanwhile, the handsome man she bumped into at a record store (Ryan Eggold, usually seen on Amazon Prime Video in Cross and New Amsterdam) turns out to be the son of the resort’s owner, and the manager (Tia Mowry) starts to be suspicious of their Santa…

Breckenridge and Eggold have by far the easiest chemistry out of any of Netflix’s Christmas couples this year, which helps the film tick along nicely.

It’s also a welcome departure to see Netflix commit a little to the idea that Taylor is actually poor – living in a small flat with Zoey, driving a cruddy van and late on rent. Although Eggold’s Matthew is, of course, some kind of millionaire.

My Secret Santa does end up treading water with their will-the-won’t-they relationship, but it knows to give us the moment we all want with Taylor forced to frantically change in the toilets when both she and ‘Santa’ are invited to the same event.

This film will not change lives but it’s a decent effort – which is more than can be said for Breckenridge’s appalling ‘playing’ of a guitar in the final scene.

My rating: 2.5/5 cheddars on my Christmas cheeseboard

Champagne Problems

Champagne Problems is more of the usual frothy fare when it comes to a Netflix festive rom-com – you get Paris at Christmastime and some fun supporting characters.

It’s the perfect film to watch while ironing, folding laundry or decorating the tree, i.e. not at all taxing on the brain – and while that seems faint praise, would I watch it again? Yes, absolutely.

You see, while I’ve technically ranked this at the bottom, Champagne Problems is probably my personal favourite – which proves exactly why studios and streamers stick so rigidly to rom-com formulas. Hey, I’m just a girl etc.

I was largely mesmerised by leading man Tom Wozniczka (Slow Horses), oozing effortless French charisma as an avid reader wanting to open a bookshop that also serves wine (sign me up immediately, to both him and that).

Minka Kelly (also seen in Netflix’s Ransom Canyon) twinkles just about enough too as business executive Sydney, sent to Paris to acquire a famous champagne brand for her company.

On the one night off she promises her sister she’ll take while there, they enjoy a meet-cute and a… rendezvous (although demurely cut away from so we can watch some fountain statues getting hot and heavy instead).

The next morning it turns out he’s the champagne heir and very sceptical of Sydney’s employer thanks to their cut-throat reputation.

It’s the standard comedy of errors and misunderstandings, and Riley from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Samuel Xavier) even pops up as Sydney’s work nemesis – you just know a serious businessman with that many highlights in his hair is bad news.

Sydney is a bland protagonist, but functions well as a cipher through which any viewer can enjoy the romance they too deserve with a sexy Frenchman.

For our sakes, Champagne Problems happily gorges itself on all the Parisian tropes like copious shots of the Eiffel Tower, enough outdoor lighting to be seen from space and knowing French hotel staff who roll their eyes and laugh at the ‘adorable’ shenanigans of the heroine.

But that’s fine, it’s giving us what we want as well as some unexpected additions – that Die Hard line had no right to go as hard as it did.

My rating: 2.5/5 cheddars on my Christmas cheeseboard

A Merry Little Ex-Mas, Champagne Problems, Jingle Bell Heist and My Secret Santa are all streaming on Netflix now.

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