Holidate

Holidate
Official release poster
Directed by	John Whitesell
Written by	Tiffany Paulsen
Produced by	McG Mary Viola
Starring	Emma Roberts Luke Bracey
Cinematography	Shane Hurlbut
Edited by	Emma E. Hickox
Music by	Dan the Automator
Production company	Wonderland Sound and Vision
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	October 28, 2020 (2020-10-28)
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Holidate is a 2020 American romantic comedy film directed by John Whitesell, from a screenplay by Tiffany Paulsen. It stars Emma Roberts, Luke Bracey, Jake Manley, Jessica Capshaw, Andrew Bachelor, Frances Fisher, Manish Dayal and Kristin Chenoweth. The film was released on Netflix on October 28, 2020.

Plot

Sloane Benson (Emma Roberts) is a young woman living in Chicago who hates the holidays due to the judgement she receives from her family for being single. Having recently broken up with her boyfriend, her mother Elaine (Frances Fisher) is constantly trying to set her up with a new man, much to Sloane's annoyance. Her younger brother, York (Jake Manley) gets engaged to his girlfriend of three months, Liz (Cynthy Wu), and Sloane is now the only single person left in the family.

Meanwhile in Evanston, Illinois, Jackson (Luke Bracey) is a young Australian golfer stuck spending the holidays with a woman he has no interest in pursuing a serious relationship with and her family. Later in the night, his date becomes angry with him for not getting her a Christmas present, and he leaves in frustration.

After Christmas, the two have a chance encounter when both are returning presents they received. After Sloane tells him about her Aunt Susan (Kristin Chenoweth) who brings a new date for every holiday gathering, which she dubs as a "holidate", Jackson suggests they be each other's so he can avoid attachments and Sloane can avoid pity from her family. Though initially reluctant, she decides to take Jackson up on his offer and the two spend New Year's Eve together. Jackson suggests they'll see each other on Valentine's Day but Sloane declines, believing that the two could find genuine dates by then. However, on Valentine's Day, Sloane runs into her ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend while shopping and Jackson, who happens to be walking by, pretends to be her boyfriend and they leave together. They both agree it is safer to be each other's holidates from now on to avoid any further trouble, and agreeing to stay platonic.

After spending Saint Patrick's Day and Easter together with Sloane's family, the two gradually become genuine friends. On Cinco de Mayo, they end up getting drunk and presumably have sex, though they wake up the next morning with no memory of what happened. While Jackson does not seem to care whether or not they did, Sloane vehemently denies it. They go about their lives, pretending nothing happened. Sloane brings Jackson with her to a lunch with her mother for Mother's Day and when her mother hints at the possibility of the two of them developing into an actual couple they humour her.

By the Fourth of July, Jackson has become quite close with Sloane's family and is good friends with her brother York. While setting off firecrackers, Jackson blows part of his finger off and Sloane is forced to drive him to the hospital to have it reattached. They get high at the hospital and run into Farooq (Manish Dayal), a doctor Sloane's mother tried to set her up with. She flirts with Farooq and Jackson becomes visibly jealous. They return to Jackson's place where they end up touching hands and experience a moment of attraction to one another. Jackson becomes fearful when he and Sloane will become too serious and decides to find a new holidate at the suggestion of his friend, Neil (King Bach). Sloane talks about the moment with her sister Abby (Jessica Capshaw) and she advises her to call him and go with him to York's wedding. Jackson suggests they bring separate dates to the wedding and Sloane reluctantly agrees. While she brings Farooq as her date to her brother's wedding, he attends the wedding with her aunt Susan. However, their dates end up becoming attracted to one another while at the wedding, and the two decide to resume being holidates for Halloween.

While at a Halloween costume party together, Abby kisses Jackson's friend Neil even though she's married. Sloane and Jackson also run into her ex-boyfriend and his heavily pregnant girlfriend. Sloane becomes very upset and is given a drink with what she thinks are antacids by her sister, which makes her sick and forces her to leave. Jackson takes her back to her place and takes care of her until they end up falling asleep and having sex the morning after. Sloane is clearly nervous by the whole thing, believing they made a mistake. Sloane's sister arrives freaking out about kissing Neil and Sloane uses it as an excuse to shove Jackson out, much to his annoyance.

When Thanksgiving comes Jackson shows up and he and Sloane go to Sprouts to buy items for dinner. While there, he tries to talk about what happened but Sloane does not want to discuss it. She reminds him when they first met, he told her he was not attracted to her, and she still believes he is not. He tells her he lied when he said it in order to get her to say yes to his holidate offer, but she still refuses to accept his apology. Jackson leaves angrily. Later in the day, Wally suffers a heart attack. Aunt Susan takes him to the hospital with Sloane and runs into Farooq again. After Sloane encourages her to try to find real love again, Susan confesses to Farooq she has feelings for him, and the two kiss and become a couple.

In the days leading to Christmas, Sloane visits Jackson's place but she is still reluctant to speak to him. When shopping at the mall with her sister, sister-in-law, and nieces, they notice him walking by and her family encourages Sloane to go after him. The mall choir helps her out in getting his attention and hands her a microphone. In front of hundreds of people, she confesses her love for Jackson and the two embrace. The end credits reveal that all of the couples are still together, Wally and Sloane’s mother start dating, as do Neil and Carly (Jackson's date from the beginning of the film).

Cast

• Emma Roberts as Sloane Benson
• Luke Bracey as Jackson
• Andrew Bachelor as Neil
• Jessica Capshaw as Abby
• Manish Dayal as Faarooq
• Alex Moffat as Peter
• Jake Manley as York
• Cynthy Wu as Liz
• Frances Fisher as Elaine
• Kristin Chenoweth as Aunt Susan
• Dan Lauria as Wally
• Carl McDowell as Scruffy Santa
• Nicola Peltz as Felicity
• Julien Marlon as Luc
• Mikaela Hoover as Annie
• Aimee Carrero as Carly
• Meeghan Holaway as Carly's Mom
• Savannah Reina as Daisy
• Billy Slaughter as Barry
• Carlos Lacamara as Carly's Dad

Production

In March 2019, it was announced Emma Roberts had joined the cast of the film, with John Whitesell directing from a screenplay by Tiffany Paulsen. McG and Mary Viola would serve as producers on the film under their Wonderland Sound and Vision banner, while Netflix would distribute. In May 2019, Luke Bracey, Jake Manley, Jessica Capshaw, Andrew Bachelor, Frances Fisher, Manish Dayal and Kristin Chenoweth joined the cast of the film. In June 2019, Alex Moffat joined the cast of the film.

Filming

Principal photography began in May 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Music

The film's original score was composed by Dan the Automator.

Release

Holidate was digitally released by Netflix on October 28, 2020. It was the top-streamed item in its debut weekend. On November 4, Variety reported the film was the 25th-most watched straight-to-streaming title of 2020 up to that point. In January 2021, Netflix reported 68 million households had watched the film.

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 44% based on 57 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Holidate's self-aware approach to rom-com formula is refreshing, but it's offset by a questionable premise and unnecessarily vulgar jokes." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

External links

• Holidate on Netflix
• Holidate at IMDb