Meet Me Next Christmas Review: Warm, Fuzzy and Silly

In this Netflix Christmas rom-com, Layla must do what it takes to get her hands on the tickets for the sold-out Pentatonix Christmas Eve Concert in order to pursue the fairytale romance that she has always wanted with the man of her dreams. However, are the tickets and love that easy to obtain?

The film has a runtime of 104 minutes.

Meet Me Next Christmas Review

Christmas time is thoroughly doomed without our cheesy, oftentimes predictable Christmas films and this year, we come in hot and heavy with Netflix’s newest flick Meet Me Next Christmas which is all about meeting new people and giving miracles a chance. The film is all bright and colourful, perfect to create the perfect mood for the festive season and starts with Layla, who is an extrovert that gives me shivers. She talks to everyone she bumps into, loves to open up to people around her and is what you would expect the protagonist of a Christmas film to be. But, surprisingly, Layla is restrained and even likeable, there’s a sweetness to her extroverted nature that is not just tolerable, but even warm and loveable.

The film focuses on her trying to have her ultimate love story come to life and for that to come true, she must snag the tickets for the Pentatonix Christmas Eve Concert. She takes the help of a concierge who can apparently do that for her and she and Teddy spend the next 35 hours trying their best to do this Herculean task to meet James. Of course, fate has other ideas – as it always seems to have. The film is predictable and convenient, nothing new to wow us in any way. However, despite the rather tried and tested storyline, there’s a genuineness in Devale Ellis and Christina Milian’s performances that makes it difficult to not enjoy it.

Both the actors, along with the members of the Pentatonix band, move this film forward smoothly and although it’s cheesy as all heck, you can’t help but smile at the silly insanity that takes place in every scene. Again, it’s conveniently predictable, but it’s still mushy and warm, making you root for Layla to find her mystery man. I must give Milian kudos for balancing her character’s quirks. More often than not these characters tend to get a bit over-the-top, but she balances it out well. Ellis, too, is genuine and adorable, with a dorkiness that is nothing but charming. Lastly, mystery man James, played by Kofie Sirboe, is thoroughly charming and enigmatic as well.

Now, are there gaps in logic and do the silliness and most unbelievable things happen in this film? Yes, yes and yes. But that’s what Christmas movies are – they are silly, and goofy but still great to enjoy over a cup of cocoa. This Netflix film is quite silly and thoroughly loses some logic, while also being stale. But it’s the performances and the humour that I really enjoyed and there’s a charm in this film, thanks to the performances, that one cannot ignore.

Final Thoughts

Meet Me Next Christmas, on Netflix, is a Christmas film that we have watched too many times before. However, there’s something very warm and sweet about this film that one can’t ignore – whether it be the promise of miracles, the hope of falling in love or the earnest performances, this one is thoroughly watchable if you want something light, enjoyable and forgettable.

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