EXmas Review: Leighton Meester and Robbie Amell lead this Christmas movie about two feuding exes vying for the family’s attention. Along with Meester and Amell, the film also stars Michael Hitchcock, Kathryn Greenwood, Veronika Slowikowska, Steven Huy, Thomas Cadrot, Donna Benedicto and others. The movie is directed by Jonah Feingold, produced by BuzzFeed Studios and has a runtime of around 93 minutes.
EXmas Plot
When Graham comes home for Christmas, he is shocked to find his ex-fiancée Ali already celebrating the holidays with his family. Having ended their relationship on a sudden and uncomfortable note. Graham refuses to accept her stay at the house, more so when he discovers how well she fits into his family. The exes then decide to battle it out and see who wins more favours with the family in a bid to stay through the holiday while the other leaves. This results in funny and sometimes teachable moments for both Graham and Ali.
– EXmas Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
EXmas Review
Christmas is definitely the time when most creators decide to come up with the weirdest, campiest and cringiest movies and EXmas definitely falls in that category and somehow also doesn’t. Amell and Meester, who do turn out to be an exceptionally good-looking pair in the movie, are exes who, for some reason, think that they can show each other down in front of Graham’s parents so that the “loser” has to leave the house. The concept, while amusing, is such a foreign thought to me.
Graham and his parents are established to have a good relationship… why should he have to leave his own house just because she is now here? Is this some American thing that globalisation is yet to throw at our faces because this seems extremely odd? I feel like the entire movie would’ve been sorted had everyone probably had a conversation with each other, starting with Graham’s parents asking him whether he is surely skipping Christmas, but I digress.
The concept of the movie itself is a big no for me. As the two characters battle against each other for some reason, random things start to happen that are portrayed to be humorous, but they just aren’t. And I know you might think that I am nagging a bit too much with a Christmas movie but, to be very honest, except for one or two weak smiles, nothing in this movie made me laugh in any way. I think it might be because everything that they do is just so cliched, and the odd family situation doesn’t help.
There’s just not much to cling to any of the characters, all of whom seem just to be conveniently there to push the narrative forward. Graham and Ali have no depth; their issues are the same cliched ones that we see almost all Christmas movie characters have, and they also get solved magically quickly. I am sure make-up sex is great, but there has to be something more there than that. The ending is similarly boring, and there’s nothing to cling on to. I didn’t understand the point of the scene with the sister because they are absolutely not in the same situation, but I guess we will just “haha” our way out of it.
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EXmas is that movie that you watch to have a good time without paying too much attention and expecting nothing out of it and then move on to something else right after. You can also put it on in the background and do something for the Christmas vibes, but the unnecessary plot points, especially with Thomas Cadrot and Donna Benedicto’s characters, are not something you need to spend your attention towards.
As I mentioned previously, leads Leighton Meester and Robbie Amell look gorgeous, and so does the movie. It’s shot well and looks good, things sparkle, and the colours are very vivid, so that general atmosphere is actually great. Amell and Meester do a fine job with whatever little character that they are given to work with. Other characters are there for some reason but don’t really add anything to the story. However, Michael Hitchcock and Kathryn Greenwood are fun to watch.
EXmas Review: Final Thoughts
Honestly, EXmas isn’t a movie that is trying to be thoughtful in any way. But its main problem is that it’s not entertaining. It’s thoroughly boring and predictable and will make you want to watch The Princess Switch for some reason, and that, in itself, is a crime!
EXmas will stream on Amazon Freevee on November 17, 2023.
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