REVIEW: ‘A Merry Little Ex-Mas’ Is A Merry Little Frustration

It is the most wonderful time of year over at Netflix, with A Merry Little Ex-Mas kicking things off for the holiday season at the streaming service. From director Steve Carr and writer Holly Hester, this latest holiday romantic comedy stars Alicia Silverstone, Oliver Hudson, Jameela Jamil, Pierson Fode, and Melissa Joan Hart. With its overt holiday aesthetic and joyfully dedicated cast, you would think this film would be a smash success. Alas, A Merry Little Ex-Mas ends up as a merry little frustration with its less-than-inspiring romance.

Opening with a simple animated sequence, we’re introduced to Kate’s (Alicia Silverstone) and Everett’s (Oliver Hudson) life leading up to the start of the film. They met, fell in love, and Kate gave up her potential career in architecture to move with Everett to a small town ripped straight from a holiday postcard. It’s legit gorgeous. Unfortunately, as time passed between the married couple, both developed resentments, leading them to agree on a divorce. A lot of exposition is packed into these opening five minutes, but it works.

Now, all they want is one final Christmas together with their family before things change for good. For Kate, especially, Christmas is one of her favorite times of year, but this year’s Christmas is going to be a challenge. Everett has already moved on with a younger, more successful girlfriend, Tess (Jameela Jamil), which is already making the guy look less than ideal. And, with Everett’s frequent absences from their lives due to work, the children are prioritizing spending more time with him while they have it than with Kate.

A Merry Little Ex-Mas nails the awkward aftermath of “conscious uncoupling.”

A Merry Little Ex-Mas almost has something special, but doesn’t quite know how to put the pieces together. Married couples getting divorced as their kids start leaving the nest isn’t entirely uncommon, and a holiday rom-com focusing on the awkward transitional period like this is actually pretty interesting. There’s navigating the changes in routine, the gradual choosing of sides and, as the film reminds us, the cringeworthy acclimation of new partners.

These moments, when introduced, feel genuine, though it does make you wish Kate and Everett could consult a therapist throughout. However, with Tess and Kate’s new beau, Ched (an ever-delightful Pierson Fode), acting as therapists for both and echoing words of advice that perfectly illustrate how ill-matched these post-divorce relationships are, it’s clear that Kate and Everett are too wrapped in their worldview to see anything else. You can likely guess where Tess and Ched end up.

It is through Kate that changes are made. Whether it is seeing how her hard work pays off, having strangers remind her of how special she is, or the backlash after she drops a major bomb, it is through Kate’s reactions to these things (not so much Everett) that ultimately culminate in her final decisions and how she’ll move forward. The thing is that her final choice at the end of A Merry Little Ex-Mas ultimately falls flat and, instead, sparks major frustration. 

This romance may not deserve its second chance.

Second-chance romances are hard to land. Usually, there are strong reasons why the first attempt should have never led to a second. While you can feel the history between Kate and Everett, the case made for this second-chance romance to succeed doesn’t land. In fact, for a solid two-thirds of A Merry Little Ex-Mas, a stronger case is made for why they shouldn’t get back together. A large part of it has to do with how Everett views Kate.

Putting aside how quickly he tries to move on, key dialogue points (which rightfully cause plot-related conflicts in the film) reveal that most of the value he sees in Kate is from what she can give him. It’s seldom that you hear him talk about what he likes about her as a person. This is a throughline that never truly dissipates, making the predictability of the ending less satisfying. Sure, the epilogue tries to resolve the largest issues between them, but the delivery rings hollow.

This is, in large part, due to Kate. After spending so much time with Kate in A Merry Little Ex-Mas lamenting what she’s given up, along with Silverstone being properly exasperated as this self-described single mom who loves her kids and never stops, it’s difficult not to support her step towards finding her life outside of the small town and her family. Instead, epilogue aside, she never really gets that chance. 

Pierson Fode is the gift that keeps on giving in A Merry Little Ex-Mas.

Still, this mixed romantic holiday bag has some gifts to give. Pierson Fode, who plays Ched, also known as the Man of Many Hats, is the gift that keeps on giving. The on-the-nose delivery of jokes and how game he is to go all in on the ridiculousness of the scenarios thrown at him (sliding on ice or ripping off a pull-away tux when a fire erupts) make him so much fun to watch. Netflix, please keep hiring him.

Speaking of humor, the jokes throughout A Merry Little Ex-Mas don’t always land on the page. Some jokes, like the “conscious uncoupling” one, run far too long. At the same time, Timothy Innes’s character, who is initially written as a hardcore Harry Potter-obsessed fan, almost loses goodwill from the beginning; however, it thankfully paves the way for a successful redemption arc that reveals the character’s hidden maturity and some heartfelt moments between him and Kate.

It’s those heartwarming moments within Kate’s holiday-themed home that really capture the holiday spirit. In general, for anyone hoping for that dash of visual holiday whimsy, A Merry Little Ex-Mas has it in spades. From its aptly named small town to its wintery wonderland vibe (shot in February of Ontario, Canada, and I can confirm that snow is legit), down to the immaculate color-schemed wardrobe throughout, this film knows exactly the kind of visuals its audience will respond to.

At its core, though, A Merry Little Ex-Mas is a film battling with its romance, and one that doesn’t entirely satisfy based on how it builds up Kate’s wants and needs. Maybe, with a bit more time and development between Kate and Everett, the ending would have found more stable ground. Instead, where the film finds its strengths most is not in its romance but in its exploration of the messy post-divorce terrain and the awkwardness that comes with the holidays. As it stands, it’s an uneven, slightly frustrating watch wrapped in holiday trimming. 

A Merry Little Ex-Mas is now streaming exclusively on Netflix.