Come holiday season, I am one of the (probably) many females in the world that absolutely loves watching Christmas movies. I even watch the terrible, low-budget ones knowing full well they are going to be awful, just to get in the spirit.
With all the streaming services lately coming out with their own original content, I’ve been intrigued to see the Christmas options that have been released. Among those is Netflix, who has knocked out quite a few original Christmas movies of higher quality.
But one recommendation that might have fallen under your radar (unlike The Princess Switch), is a foreign mini-series by the name of Home for Christmas, or Hjem til jul in its native Norwegian language.
You might be a little turned off by the fact that it’s in a different language, but below is a review that I hope convinces you to give it a shot.
What’s It About
Johanne is our female protagonist and we open scene on her at a family dinner, surrounded by family members that each have a spouse. She, however, is single. Her long-time boyfriend ended things and she, already in her 30s, feels the pressure more than ever to bring a date to their annual Christmas family dinner. In a spur of the moment, she lies to her family and says she will be bringing someone.
We then see Johanne trying to find a boyfriend through speed dating, internet dating, and other means. She dates quite a wide variety of men -- but all of them either so ridiculous, or resulting in nothing. The last episode of the season of course culminates in the Christmas dinner but you’ll just have to see who she brings.
Why I Recommend It
As a female in my 30’s, I can probably relate to the main character more than some. I enjoyed the themes this series explored about the out-dated pressures of getting married at a younger age, the problem with modern dating, and the timeless search for “true love”.
But what was refreshing about this series compared to a lot of other rom-coms or Christmas movies that touch on these same themes, was the light-hearted and refreshingly pragmatic way in which it was portrayed.
We find Johanne in pretty realistic situations and her actions probably aren’t far from our own. I found myself rooting for her as she navigated these different relationships while staying true to herself and block the pressure from her family.
This above is an intro to just season 1, but there is a season 2 as well!
Watch It or Not?
If you’re a fan of Christmas-themed entertainment and are always looking for new things to watch, then I would say watch this, regardless if you find yourself relating to Johanne or not. Like I said, although it revolves around Christmas, it doesn’t have any of the tacky, cheesy Christmas feel.
If you’re not a fan of Christmas movies, themes around modern dating, then I would say skip it.
The language barrier isn’t too big of a deal. With netflix, you can opt to have the movie dubbed so you can listen to the entire thing in English. I opted to leave it in the natural language (so I could get a better feel for their voices and personalities) and read subtitles.
