Stream It or Skip It?

A Merry Little Ex-Mas is a new Netflix Original romantic-comedy looking to warm hearts and bring joy this holiday season. Directed by Steve Carr and written by Holly Hester, this film stars Alicia Silverstone and Oliver Hudson as a separated couple looking to celebrate one last family Christmas with the usual traditions before finalizing their divorce and parting ways. But with lingering feelings, old resentments, and new partners (Jameela Jamil and Pierson Fodé) complicating everything, best-laid plans go awry, culminating in an unforgettable Christmas for all involved.

The Gist: Kate Holden (Alicia Silverstone) graduated from college and moved to Boston with big dreams of working on green architecture and changing the world. But when she met med student, Everett (Oliver Hudson), he swept her off her feet and they fell madly in love before moving to Everett’s New England hometown of Winterlight. There, Everett opened up his own medical practice, while Kate gave up her architecture work to become the town’s handywoman. Now, 20 years later, Kate is at a crossroads in her life. She and Everett have been separated for nine months, and they’re about to finalize their very amicable divorce. Although there still seems to be plenty of love and good feelings between them, Kate resents Everett for missing all sorts of important dates, birthdays, and anniversaries in favor of working, and Everett feels that dedicated environmentalist Kate always cared more about compost piles than making their marriage work.

Stuck wondering for years what “could have been” with the architecture job she left behind in Boston for a life with Everett, Kate hates that she ended up in this small town and does everything she can to prevent her Oxford student daughter, Sienna (Emily Hall), and high school senior son, Gabe (Wilder Hudson), from having the same fate… even if it means going against what they want for their own futures. Desperate for a change, Kate secretly plans to sell their longtime family home, “The Mothership,” with the help of her close friend April (Melissa Joan Hart), after celebrating one last perfect Holden family Christmas there.

Unfortunately, things don’t go according to plan for Kate, as Everett brings his cool, younger girlfriend of one month, Tess Wiley (Jameela Jamil), along for their family festivities, making Kate feel insecure and jealous. Determined to prove that she can be fun and desirable too, Kate welcomes the flirtations of 28-year-old himbo, Chet Moore (Pierson Fodé), a recent transplant from Portsmouth, NH, who “wears a lot of hats” (literally, it’s on his business card). With these new flames hanging around, plus the addition of Sienna’s goofy Harry Potter tour guide, British boyfriend, Nigel, as well as Everett’s loving fathers, Mike (Derek McGrath) and Daryl (Geoffrey Owens), the Holden household becomes a powderkeg of unresolved feelings and family drama poised for explosion just in time for Christmas.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? A Merry Little Ex-Mas is reminiscent of other rom-coms where exes deal with lingering feelings over the holidays, like Christmas Wonderland, An Unexpected Christmas, and Cranberry Christmas.

Performance Worth Watching: While everyone does a great job in this movie, Timothy Innes and Pierson Fodé particularly stand out for their consistently entertaining work as Nigel and Chet, respectively. Their characters truly bewitched me with their quirky, guileless ways.

Memorable Dialogue: Poor Nigel is out here catching strays and doesn’t even seem to mind: “I didn’t sign up for dating some country doctor, and his wife, and whatever the hell Nigel is.” “Yeah, I get it.”

A Holiday Tradition: The Holden family has a slew of annual holiday traditions, including handmaking gifts from recycled and found objects, the “Great Holden Gingerbread Bakeoff,” reading from a scrapbook detailing the story of their family, and exchanging origami birds that they made, complete with inscriptions of things they’re grateful for.

Does The Title Make Any Sense? Sure does! Recent exes celebrate their first holiday season apart, together. A very merry little ex-mas, indeed.

Our Take: A Merry Little Ex-Mas walks an impressive tightrope as it balances silly, unserious humor and moments (not to give too much away, but Chet’s scene with the fire truly did surprise and delight me) with genuine heartfelt moments of love and connection. This movie is a lot of fun, and all of the actors in it do a great job of delivering committed, endearing performances that add a lot of warmth and personality to this tale.

Alicia Silverstone and Oliver Hudson do wonderful work leading the movie as Kate and Everett, in large part thanks to their strong chemistry that adds an added layer of heat and believable long-held affection to every interaction. I also really love some good old-fashioned yearning, and wow, the yearning between their characters was truly top-notch. Their family unit with Sienna, Gabe, Mike, and Daryl (and I guess Nigel too) also added to the overall sense of small-town nostalgia and community that we do so often love to see in a classic Christmas story.

Lastly, something I love about this movie is that even with characters like Tess and Chet stirring up some difficult feelings for Kate and Everett, there is no one “bad guy” or obvious villain. Instead, everyone’s just a flawed human trying their best to live happily. In the process of such a pursuit, of course, people will still hurt each other at times, but in this, it never feels truly intentional or malicious. There’s a lot of love imbued in A Merry Little Ex-Mas, which in turn makes it an easy movie to love, too.

Our Call: A Merry Little Ex-Mas is a well-made, uncomplicated, cozy Christmas movie bolstered by strong performances, good pacing, and a charming overarching playfulness. STREAM IT!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! (At least, that’s what Andy Williams promised.) The holidays are a time to celebrate with family, friends, food, and, let’s not forget, fun things to watch. Whether you’re huddled up with the whole family in your living room or cozying up under the covers with your tablet, let Decider be your guide to all things festive this holiday season.

• Hallmark’s Countdown To Christmas 2025: The network’s annual Countdown to Christmas kicked off Oct. 18, with a brand new, two-month long slate of festive movies, TV shows, and more. New movies will premiere every Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 22, while Friday and Monday nights will be reserved for new episodes of scripted and unscripted holiday series.
• Christmas Movies on Netflix (2025 Edition): ‘Tis the season to enjoy the best Christmas movies that Netflix has to offer.

Maddy Casale is a Chicago-based writer and comedian who covers everything from animated series to Hallmark movies. Follow her on Duolingo @MCasale.