| Director: | Mary Lambert |
| Story: | Todd Calgi Gallicano |
| Producer: | Brad Krevoy |
| Cinematography: | Graham Robbins |
| Editing: | Jeffrey Wolf |
| Music: | Jeff Rona |
| Distributor: | Netflix |
| Runtime: | 81 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Best. Christmas. Ever! is a 2023 American Christmas romantic comedy film directed by Mary Lambert and written by Todd Gallicano and Charles Shyer. The film stars Heather Graham, Brandy Norwood, Matt Cedeño, and Jason Biggs.
Released on Netflix on November 16, 2023, Best. Christmas. Ever! received generally negative reviews from critics.
Charlotte and Rob Sanders, living a modest life in a small apartment, feel overshadowed by the seemingly perfect life of Charlotte's college friend, Jackie Jennings. Jackie's annual Christmas letter, detailing her family's extraordinary achievements, incites envy and skepticism in Charlotte.
Charlotte, feeling her own family is unremarkable, describes her daughter Dora's obsession with Marvel comics, her son Grant's attachment to a stuffed monkey, Rob's impractical dream of house flipping, and her own abandoned inventor dreams. When Grant, misunderstanding his mother's sarcasm, navigates the family to the Jennings' home for Christmas, they find themselves snowed in and forced to stay.
Charlotte suspects Jackie's family, especially after meeting Jackie's fit, Latino husband, Valentino. Her distrust leads her to snoop around their house. Meanwhile, the children, influenced by Beatrix's skepticism, embark on a misguided mission to expose a mall Santa, culminating in a confrontational scene.
Charlotte accuses Jackie and Rob of having a secret affair, based on misinterpreted correspondence. This leads to a revelation of Rob's harmless tradition of sharing Jackie's Christmas letters with their family, kept secret due to Charlotte's known disdain for them.
The film's climax involves an elaborate solar-powered hot air balloon, a tribute to Jackie's late son, Daniel. A series of events results in a Christmas pageant spectacle, where Santa's sleigh is accidentally attached to the balloon.
In the film's epilogue, the Sanders and Jennings families collaborate on a joint Christmas letter. Charlotte boasts about her new invention, while the Jennings promote their non-governmental organization (NGO) through solar-powered hot air balloon travel.
Best. Christmas. Ever. was released by Netflix on November 16, 2023.[1] Best. Christmas. Ever. was a hit on Netflix. It debuted at number 1 on the streaming service and number 2 globally with 22.3 million hours for a total of 16.3 million views. This ranks second in the Global Top 10 behind David Fincher's The Killer.[2]
Variety wrote "Its absurdist lunacy acts as a Trojan Horse containing genuinely meaningful sentiments on forgiveness, happiness and bittersweet sorrows — universalities people tend to reflect on as their year comes to a close".[3]