Friday Night In #1: A Christmas Rom-Com Movie with a Reverse (!) Fake Relationship

Plus, a favorite holiday rom-com book to snuggle up with if you're not in the mood for a movie

Dec 06, 2024

Welcome to the inaugural Friday Night In post!

If you missed Wednesday’s post, I encourage you to go back and read that one because I explain the new format of this newsletter and the new free and paid features coming in 2025.

I’m a homebody by nature and Friday Night In posts, one of the new paid subscirber features, will be all about enjoying your time at home on a cozy night in. Does it have to be a Friday? Of course not. But I thought it made the most sense to give you the recommendations at the start of the weekend so you can deploy at will. :) (In fact, for me, my cozy nights at home won’t be on Fridays for a while because the teen is in marching band and the football team has made the playoffs. So it’s Friday Night Lights here for us for a while longer.)

Most of the time, the recommendation will be a movie, but sometimes it may be a TV show or a book. This week you get a movie AND a book!

A Christmas Rom-Com with a Reverse Fake Relationship Trope

Happiest Season

I’m not sure how I missed Happiest Season when it first came out in 2020. Oh wait, it was 2020, never mind.

What It’s About

Abby (Kristen Stewart) and Harper (Mackenzie Davis) are in love and have been living together for months. Christmas is coming up, and Harper is planning to go home to visit her big family while Abby, whose parents have passed away, stays behind and does pet-sitting. But when Harper gets swept up in the moment one night, she asks Abby to come home and meet her family.

Abby’s excited and is planning on proposing to Harper over the holiday, but on the way to the family’s house, Harper drops a bomb. She’s never told her family she’s gay and is not out to any of them. Plus, her dad is running for mayor so keeping up appearances as the “perfect” family are VERY important. So she’s going to need Abby to pretend that they’re just friends and roommates. Abby is, of course, horrified and hurt, but they’re already almost there and she agrees to go along with it.

Why I’m Recommending It

As a romance writer, I can’t help but do trope-spotting when I’m watching or reading a romance. But in this case, what I found so interesting and clever was how this setup led to the reverse of an often-used rom-com device—the fake relationship trope. Instead of “let’s pretend we’re together!” it was “let’s pretend we’re just friends!” And that played out in a fresh way.

For instance, instead of the only-one-bed trope often used in fake relationship stories, they planned to share one bed in Harper’s room, but Harper’s mom (Mary Steenburgen) was like, “I’m not going to make two grown women share a bed! Abby, you can stay in the basement room.” So it was a forced two-bed trope, lol.

Also, instead of having to perform “togetherness” like they do in a fake relationship story, they had to fight not to show that kind of affection in front of others and then sneak around (with the ever-present threat of being caught) to share a kiss or have a real conversation.

So what ensued ended up being a funny yet heartfelt story with some real weight to it, even when handled with a light rom-com hand. Also, the cast was stellar. Kristen Stewart plays Abby, and even though Stewart tends to always play a version of herself, I like that vibe, lol. Daniel Levy (from Schitt’s Creek) plays Abby’s best friend and offers comic relief throughout. Harper’s family is weird and funny and dysfunctional, but all the characters also have legitimate character arcs, which is hard to pull off with a big cast.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this movie and wanted to spend more time with these characters. I think it juggled the silly with the serious well and still kept that Christmas movie vibe I was looking for.

So, if you’re looking for a fresh take on a Christmas rom-com, check this one out. It’s currently available on Hulu.

Watch the trailer here.

ICYMI: A Holiday Rom-Com Read with a Groundhog Day Vibe

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

If you’re not in the mood to watch a movie this weekend, how about a book with movie-like vibes, specifically Groundhog Day vibes? Plus, this is a backlist book, so you may be able to grab it from the library with no wait!

I am a sucker for a time-loop story and for a Christina Lauren rom-con, so put the two together and then ALSO add Christmas? Well, I’m done.

I read this one back in 2021 and it’s stuck with me. It also made it onto my keeper shelf, which is hallowed ground. :)

About the book (from the back cover):

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.

But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

Jam-packed with yuletide cheer, an unforgettable cast of characters, and Christina Lauren’s trademark hijinks, this swoon-worthy romantic read will make you believe in the power of wishes and the magic of the holidays.

The reason why I’m pairing this one with Happiest Season is because this one also involves a big family, Christmas traditions, and a sweet romance at its core. But more than that, Harper in Happiest Season and Mae in Holidaze both have journeys that are going to require them to learn to stop caring what everyone else thinks and be themselves.

So, if you missed this one the first time around, add it to your holiday stack!

I hope you have a lovely Friday night. I will be bundled up in many layers and hanging out in a high school football stadium. But on Saturday night, I’ll definitely be cozy on my couch with some fuzzy socks and a blanket for my own night in.

What movies have you added to your holiday watchlist? Do you rewatch old favorites or seek out new movies? A combo? (At my house, a rewatch of Christmas Vacation and Home Alone is always a requirement.)