Netflix’s Cheesy Holiday Romance Pairs Tradition With A Music Twist

Meet Me Next Christmas
is a corny Christmas movie that follows the typical tropes, but the musical elements and central characters make it a fun watch nonetheless. Getting into the Christmas season, Netflix is gearing up a slate of brand-new Christmas rom-coms ready for the holidays. Meet Me Next Christmas has some minor twists on the standard entries that make it stand out. However, it’s not an instant classic, and will likely be a movie audiences only watch once.

When Layla breaks up with her boyfriend just before Christmas, she has to race against the clock to connect with the man of her dreams. With the aid of a concierge, she sets out to get tickets to the fully sold-out Pentatonix Christmas show, but it’s in no way a simple task. Despite all the hurdles, Layla is praying for a Christmas miracle.

Meet Me Next Christmas Is Netflix’s Answer To Hallmark Holiday Movies

Meet Me Next Christmas falls into several of the most common and popular tropes associated with Hallmark Christmas movies, despite the movie coming from Netflix. The plot is thin, the characters are exaggerated stereotypes, and the movie continually bends around the central characters to create a magical love story. But, it doesn’t take itself too seriously and leans into the goofy nature that makes it feel emblematic of a typical Christmas rom-com.

Christina Milian’s Layla is a confident go-getter who has the perfect life — a good career, a boyfriend, and a Christmas tradition where she always attends the New York Christmas show by Pentatonix. However, all at once things start falling apart and Layla is forced to scramble and find ways to make this Christmas count. Despite a recently broken heart, Layla immediately moves on to finding the person she was meant to be with, a chance encounter from a year earlier with the person who could be her soulmate.

But in typical Christmas rom-com fashion, her efforts are constantly hindered by unpredictable and wacky events. There’s dancing, musical numbers, and twists of fate that everyone except the main characters see coming from miles away. But it’s light, fun, and easy to watch. While it certainly isn’t breaking new ground in any capacity, the movie is a feel-good moment that gets us into the holiday spirit.

Pentatonix Could Have Been A Bigger Part Of The Story

The Group Plays Themselves In Meet Me Next Christmas & Get To Sing, Too

While most holiday films that revolve around getting to a big event don’t feature the event in a big way, Meet Me Next Christmas clearly made an effort to include Pentatonix, the a cappella group specializing in Christmas music. The band appear throughout the movie, adding a distinctive additional plot and playing up their celebrity superstar status, which highlights their willingness to be playful and be the butt of the joke.

However, their role in the movie is very limited. They could have had more of an impact on the story, played more music, or simply been included in a slightly more meaningful way, but the fact that they were just barely featured and used comedically feels like a wasted opportunity. Had they been given a bigger part or their role had been reduced further — they could have simply played music at the concert in the show — it would have been better. As it stands, it feels like they are an overlooked extra character.

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Despite this, the moments where Pentatonix does appear are funny and it adds another dimension to the story, albeit a shallow one. But in a movie clearly designed to cater to the holiday market and simply put out a simple love story, Meet Me Next Christmas meets the brief. Nothing stands out to make it special or notable, but it blends in with the rest of the slate as just another quick and simple Christmas movie.

Meet Me Next Christmas will be available to stream on Netflix from November 6. The film is 105 minutes long and not rated.

5/10

A woman, driven by romance, frantically searches New York City for a way into a sold-out Pentatonix Christmas show, believing it may help her meet her ideal partner.

Pros

• The inclusion of Pentatonix makes this movie a unique Christmas movie.
• The love story is fun and well-developed.

Cons

• Pentatonix felt like they were shoehorned into the film.
• Sometimes the cheesiness is too much.
• The plot is predictable from the start.