Watched on: Netflix
Originally aired: November 12, 2025
Directed by: Steve Carr
Starring: Alicia Silverstone, Oliver Hudson, Jameela Jamil
Please see IMDb for full cast and crew info.
Synopsis
A separated couple tries celebrating one last Christmas together with their kids before their divorce. However, the husband's new girlfriend joins the festivities, causing tension and chaos during the holidays.
Review
If you want to watch a movie with manufactured holiday cheer, this is the movie for you. To be fair, the holiday cheer is manufactured as a major plot point of the story as Kate and Everett are separated, and this is their first Christmas together post their conscious uncoupling. Kate is striving to provide the same Christmas experience their children grew up with, in spite of the twist that is Everett's new girlfriend, a secret he kept from Kate in spite of them promising to keep no secrets from each other. Kate isn't innocent here though, as she has a secret of her own.
One of my favorite things about this movie is that Alicia Silverstone gave us a middle-aged mom who looks like an average middle-aged mom. She clearly eats at least some of the delicious foods she makes, and doesn't spend hours running to earn her food and maintain a sleek figure. I appreciate seeing a star from my childhood allowing herself to gain a little weight and not maintain the stick-thin figure society expects from Hollywood.
Some of the manufactured holiday cheer includes a gingerbread house competition, sledding, and helping the whole town when a storm causes the power to go out, because Kate has an obscene number of solar panels on her roof and battery backup to boot. So she's the only one prepared.
Now is this a Christmas movie? Yes, absolutely. It hit enough of the cheesy tropes and had a very heartwarming ending, which we obviously expect from our Christmas movies, right?
Overall I give A Merry Little Ex-Mas 4 out of 5 Santa hats. - Katie
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