REVIEW: ‘Joy To The World’ Is Half-Baked At Best

With the arrival of November, we’ve reached the beginning of holiday movie season. This comes with a barrage of new releases, with some likely to hit that delicious sweet spot of holiday joy, while others will fail to differentiate themselves from the pack. Unfortunately, Joy To The World (2025) is the latter, with a trite been-there-done-that plot and a half-baked romance that lets down the sheer magnetism and charisma Chad Michael Murray oozes from start to finish. 

Joy To The World (2025) focuses on Joy Edwards (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a woman whose cozy homemaker lifestyle is built on a mountain of lies. A bestseller of cookbooks framed around her perfect home and family, the facade Joy has built is quickly ripped away as soon as she stops filming. With her best friend, Max (Chad Michael Murray), masquerading as a chaperone or whatever she needs for her job, the film quickly pivots to her isolated home on Goose Lane, where all that decks its halls is her loneliness and yearning for a family.

Eventually, the lies Joy has been weaving about her life must be challenged, and her publisher arranges for a live TV special to be filmed at Joy’s home. This immediately jumpstarts her panic, and the bulk of the second act shows her attempts to blackmail and cajole the people in her circle into pretending to be her family members so she can perpetuate the lie she has monetized. Doubling down on lies never works well for anyone, so you can imagine how things develop from there.

Joy To The World (2025) is a reminder that a foundation built on lies only leads to sadness.

There are no real surprises in Joy To The World (2025), with its plotline ripped from the familiar stomping grounds of its respective genre. While its predictability lends itself to cozy comfort, the film seems torn between what it wants to focus on. Ultimately, Joy’s dilemma takes center stage, but little dialogue moments are peppered in that touch on the burgeoning romance between her and Max.

In the process of helping Joy out, Max’s unrequited feelings stir, yet the writing never quite goes where it needs to to sell its eventual resolution. Accordingly, the romance subplot is almost noncommittal, wasting the palpable chemistry between Chad Michael Murray and Emmanuelle Chriqui. Had the writing found the balance between Joy’s ultimate hurdle and the film’s romance, the film could have risen to the ranks of holiday comfort viewing. As it stands, this is yet another holiday romance featuring Chad Michael Murray that misses.

This all culminates in the film’s biggest issue. This lack of balance and the plot’s general predictability undermine any impression Joy To The World (2025) could have made. This is not due to a lack of effort from its cast, who make the most of the dialogue given to them and what they generally have to work with. The material never quite matches up with the energy invested by the actors, ultimately, undercutting their best attempts.

A lack of balance in the film’s plot makes it devoid of identity and unmemorable.

It’s no easy feat to make a memorable holiday feature in this day and age, let alone a romantic one. So, aiming for comfort is generally the safest bet, where the film may find its typical holiday-loving audience (hey, it’s me… I’m the target audience).

Yet, there is a talent and skill in taking the safest route; one missed turn or wrong step can lead to a wobbly experience. Unfortunately, for screenwriters Neal H. Dobrofsky and Tippi Dobrofsky, Joy To The World (2025) becomes a testament to how easy it is to cross the line from safe to underwhelming.

It’s generally never a good sign when a film is released on a platform with minimal fanfare, and unfortunately, after seeing Joy To The World (2025), it’s easy to see why. With its half-baked plot and general lack of balance, this holiday romance never rises to the occasion. Less comfort viewing and more background noise, Joy To The World (2025) starts the 2025 holiday movie season on a forgettable note. 

Joy To The World (2025) is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.