Stream It Or Skip It?

No Sleep ‘Til Christmas is a made-for-TV holiday rom-com that premiered on Freeform in 2018 before finding a new home on Netflix. The movie stars real-life married couple Odette Annable and Dave Annable as two very different Chicagoans who are unexpectedly brought together by their shared struggles with insomnia. This could be a fun meet-cute if it weren’t for the fact that Odette’s Lizzie is engaged to another man (Charles Michael Davis), all while falling for someone else. Alphonso McAuley, Jess Salgueiro, and a pre-Abbott Elementary Sheryl Lee Ralph round out the cast of this strange film, where the main romance is one you don’t want to root for.

The Gist: Lizzie Hinnel (Odette Annable) is a Chicago event planner who seems to have it all. But lately, Lizzie has been a shell of her usual, detail-oriented self as she suffers from insomnia. Lizzie attempts to finalize wedding plans alongside her handsome surgeon fiancé, Josh (Charles Michael Davis), and his slightly overbearing mother, Mrs. Wright (Sheryl Lee Ralph), but she’s too groggy or cranky to contribute to their discussions. At one point, Lizzie’s sleep schedule gets so warped that she misses a scheduled trip with Mrs. Wright to try on bridalware because she accidentally threatens a (randomly British?) bus driver, ends up in jail, and needs her future mother-in-law to bail her out. So it’s safe to say that Lizzie is a real mess.

Bartender Billy Wilson (Dave Annable) isn’t much of a prize himself. He’s a somewhat directionless bartender who’s in a funk after a decades-long battle with insomnia and a recent breakup with his girlfriend (Brittany Bristow). Billy’s goal is to open his own bar, but he lacks the means to make his dream a reality until one fateful, sleepless night. In an effort to tire himself out, Billy goes for a run at 3 a.m., coincidentally the same time an exhausted Lizzie goes for a drive (while wearing sunglasses, for some reason) to kill some time. Only what she almost kills is a man. Billy. Because she accidentally hits him with her car.

Lizzie drives Billy to the hospital, but instead of going inside, they inexplicably stay put and fall asleep in the car, awakening bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a rare full night’s rest. But after going their separate ways, the insomnia returns, leading Lizzie to hatch a desperate, insane plan to sleep next to Billy as long as it takes to get her work and wedding back on track. Although Billy is, understandably, weirded out by this idea, he agrees when Lizzie offers to help fund the official opening of his bar. Thus begins the story of their questionable relationship… How could it ever go wrong?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: I couldn’t stop thinking about Materialists while watching No Sleep ‘Til Christmas, because in both movies, the female lead inexplicably ditches a seemingly-perfect man in favor of a scruffy guy that she doesn’t seem compatible with long-term.

Performance Worth Watching: Charles Michael Davis plays Josh Wright with so much genuine compassion and sweetness, you almost want to shed a tear as you witness what Lizzie is putting him through over the course of the movie. Justice for Josh!

And even in a smaller role, Sheryl Lee Ralph shines with her terrific talent, line readings, and displays of genuine emotion that make it easy to sympathize more with her supposedly difficult mother-in-law, Mrs. Wright, than you ever do with Lizzie.

Memorable Dialogue: Sheryl Lee Ralph’s perfectly delivered, “I really wish I’d left you in jail,” from Mrs. Wright to Lizzie, genuinely made me cackle.

Sex and Skin: There are a lot of allusions to sex, from joking about “sleeping together” and “quickies,” to Billy waking up to an unwelcome morning erection while next to Lizzie, but you never see any actual sex or skin. Just good ol’ fashioned emotional infidelity.

Our Take: No Sleep ‘Til Christmas has one of the weirdest premises I’ve ever seen in a holiday movie (and trust me, that’s saying something). Why would a woman choose to sleep in a car in an empty parking lot in the middle of the night with a strange man? And then why would she be tempted to leave her lovely, accomplished doctor fiancé for said man? Why would a guy feel safe enough to fall asleep next to a woman who hit him with her car and didn’t even seem very sorry about it? Why would the two of them keep referring to their arrangement with sexual innuendos while talking about it in public?

However, my biggest question of all is perhaps what Billy and Josh even see in Lizzie, because she spends almost the entire movie being negative, passive-aggressive, and selfish. She makes unhinged, poor choices again and again with no regard for how her actions and words will affect others, and it just makes you not want to root for her or watch her story. She and Billy have nothing in common besides insomnia, so it’s just hard to imagine that they could really be happy together, and it’s more unsettling than entertaining as you watch them make bad decisions together in the name of love and slumber.

But hey, it wasn’t all bad! I liked how the movie was clearly filmed on location in Chicago, which makes the world of No Sleep ‘Til Christmas feel a little more lived in. I appreciated the movie’s efforts to depict characters on a spectrum of different races and sexualities. I also thought that supporting characters like Josh, Mrs. Wright, Andy (Alphonso McAuley), Gemma (Jess Salgueiro), Vivian (Tina Jung), and Kristina (Stacey McGunnigle) were all more likable and natural in their limited screentime than Lizzie was in all of hers. Sorry, not sorry, Lizzie.

Our Call: Nothing about No Sleep ‘Til Christmas really makes sense, most of all the budding romance between Lizzie and Billy. It’s not charming; it’s toeing the line with cheating, and it’s just not fun to watch. SKIP 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.

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