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.

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.