VOD film review: EXmas
Review Overview
Cast
6Consistency
3David Farnor | On 15, Dec 2023
Director: Jonah Feingold
Cast: Leighton Meester, Robbie Amell, Michael Hitchcock, Kathryn Greenwood, Veronika Slowikowska
Certificate: 12
When it comes to picking a film out for seasonal streaming, Amazon will be hoping that one that’s free (with ads) will make Freevee original EXmas the top of people’s watchlists. The film follows Graham (Robbie Amell), an overworked video game programmer whose relationship with Ali (Leighton Meester) broke down a year ago. But with Ali and Graham’s family still secretly fond of each other, they invite her to spend Christmas with them as Graham’s busy with work – so when he surprises them by coming home for the holidays, the exes face an awkward festive fortnight.
It’s a clever enough conceit, just different enough from other holiday film formulae to stand out. But EXmas struggles to come up with enough distinctive characters to make Graham’s family unit a believable one, although Kathryn Greenwood’s embarrassing, overbearing mother and Veronica Slowikowska as Graham’s sister, Mindy, give strong support. The scenarios that unfold once the duo are under the same roof are also often underwhelming – for every enjoyably barbed exchange, there’s a sequence involving laced brownies or a bit with a goat.
Fortunately, our lead couple are a charming enough double-act to paper over some of those cracks. Leighton Meester’s natural comic timing elevates a number of scenes, while Robbie Amell builds on the charisma demonstrated in ARQ and Upload to make his self-centred figure a sympathetic one.
The result is a romantic comedy that’s too uneven to fully win your affection, but has flashes of humour and heart in its tight 93 minutes – you know, in between the adverts.