The holidays have officially come to Netflix, and the 2024 Christmas lineup might be the best yet, with stars like Lindsey Lohan and One Tree Hill’s Chad Michael Murray gracing the streaming service with their talents. The festivities kicked off at the start of November with the Christina Milian-led Meet Me Next Christmas.
Even though I’m a fan of Milian and her movies, I was skeptical when I first read up about her latest holiday flick. Thankfully, I decided to give it a chance, and I’m happy I did beca
Meet Me Next Christmas Sounded Farfetched Even for Holiday Movie Standards
In the simplest of terms, Meet Me Next Christmas is about a woman who spends thirty-two hours running around New York City in the hopes of acquiring a ticket to a sold-out Pentatonix Christmas Eve concert. She's doing so to reconnect with a man she met at the airport the year before. She enlists the help of Teddy (Devale Ellis), a private concierge who, unbeknownst to her at the time, is at risk of losing his job to aid in her search, and because this is a Christmas rom-com, the two start falling for each other.
On the surface, Meet Me Next Christmas sounded like a fairly realistic premise, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around the Pentatonix being the sold-out show the entire movie hinged on. The a cappella group doesn’t feel big enough to be the hottest ticket in New York City, especially not when decade-long shows like the Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes exist. Maybe I’m too old, but I also don’t correlate Pentatonix with the Christmas season — that’s an honor that belongs to Mariah Carey.
Now, as a connoisseur of made-for-tv Christmas movies, I’ve made peace with the fact that the plots don’t always make sense, but for some reason, the Pentatonix thing really bugged me. At the time, I felt like it would have been more believable if the writers had created a fictional group for Layla to see rather than centering it on the a cappela group. However, after watching the film and seeing how the writers wove the Pentatonix members into the plot, I can see why they went in the direction they did.
But It Actually Worked And Made The Holiday Film Even Better
Even with my reservations, I gave Meet Me Next Christmas a chance, and while I won’t be declaring the best Christmas movie of 2024, it was a fun romp that was made better by the inclusion of the hit a cappella group.
I was surprised to see that the Pentatonix were more than just a set piece, but where characters themselves with their own arc. Not only were they following Layla’s quest for tickets through social media, but they also ended up rooting for her. Had the writers gone with a more well-known musical group or show, like Carey or the Rockettes, I don’t think that genuine concern would have been as believable.
However, it was really Milian and Ellis's chemistry that elevated Meet Me Next Christmas from a mediocre streaming holiday movie to one I can see myself watching year after year. Their banter as Layla and Teddy was palpable from the moment the two met, and the fact that another man was potentially waiting in the wings for Layla really upped the stakes of the romance.
As with all holiday rom-coms, the film ends with a romantic grand gesture that nearly gets derailed when Layla is refused access backstage, where she knows Teddy is. Thankfully, it all works out, and the two get to join the Pentatonix on stage for a slow dance as the credits begin to roll.
Meet Me Next Christmas might not be the best Netflix Christmas movie streaming right now, but its the perfect one to ease yourself into the holiday season. You can stream the film with a Netflix subscription now.
