agmtw logo
search

Your Christmas or Mine 2 (2023)

Your Christmas or Mine 2 (2023)

5.1

A contrived and derivative, but still generally earnest, Christmas romcom

Movie

United Kingdom
English, Spanish
Comedy, Drama, Romance
2023

TLDR

Asa Butterfield has impressively become typecast as a dude who simply cannot read the room.

What it's about

James and Hayley's families spend Christmas together in the Alps, where they're tested by a mixup in accommodations, cultural differences, and miscommunication between the young couple.

The take

It isn't even just because it's a sequel, but every bit of Your Christmas or Mine 2 seems like it was sourced from other films with more personality, resulting in a stew of holiday tropes driven entirely by contrivances and conflicts that should be more easily resolved. And yet there's something that keeps the film far more tolerable than insufferable, as both Asa Butterfield and Cora Kirk compensate for the artificiality of the drama with authentic emotion. There are funny moments throughout and a decent supporting cast (who are given precious little to do), but all this adds up to a film that still feels like it was meant to be played in the background.

What stands out

Butterfield and Kirk remain the best reasons to watch these films. As much as these scripts don't allow the two actors to spread their wings very wide, there's an easygoing quality within Butterfield and Kirk that lets them get away with even the more uninspired moments in this story. As far as romantic couples on screen go, their James and Hayley feel especially like ordinary people—which isn't meant as a backhanded compliment at all, but as a credit to both casting and performance for finding a way to fit within these films' style, rather than force them to be something they're not.

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

More like this in

Anora (2024)

An exciting and heartbreaking fairy tale with a modern, class-centric twist

9.0

My Old Ass (2024)

A pleasant mix of comedy and coming-of-age that may or may not leave you in tears

8.0

Once Were Warriors (1994)

A Maori family survives in an alienating Auckland in this raw, tragic drama

8.0

Silenced (2011)

A brutal and harrowing exposé of the schoolwide abuse case that sparked outrage in Korea

9.0

The Substance (2024)

Demi Moore swaps bodies in this standout chaotic body dysmorphia horror

8.3

Laapataa Ladies (2024)

Two brides are accidentally swapped in this refreshing comedy of errors

8.9

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

A star-studded and riveting legal drama with a blockbuster feel.

8.1

Look Back (2024)

Art connects people through time and space in this short and sweet drama

9.0

The Guilty (2018)

A minimalist, razor-sharp thriller that will have you gasping for air.

9.0

Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005)

Soldiers find and protect a slice of paradise in this surreal, heartfelt war comedy

8.1

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.