Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Family-friendly holiday romance is bland and predictable.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
A Lot Like Christmas
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Jessica (Maggie Lawson) runs the family Christmas tree farm in a small town in New York. A romantic and philosophical conflict arises in A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS when a big box chain garden supply store opens down the road from the farm. The store offers discount Christmas trees, siphoning business from the farm. Clay (Christopher Russell) is the slick Manhattan marketing pro sent by corporate to boost sales, a move that comes at the expense of Jessica's farm. In a matter of days, it looks like Jessica and the family will have to sell the farm. Clay, who has become romantically interested in Jessica, is torn.
Is It Any Good?
Good and bad are relative terms as applied to the annual churn that produces more or less the same Christmas movie over and over again to a seemingly limitless viewing audience for the material. A Lot Like Christmas is no better nor worse than the usual version of this kind of movie and is not to be confused with the 2019 It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, nor Looks Like Christmas, nor even Love You Like Christmas. The enjoyability all boils down to how much implausibility an audience will accept as weighed against how attractive and compelling the lead actors are. The ones here are fine. Overall this movie is nothing special, but it's fine for background noise while baking cookies or tree trimming.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the interchangeable plot-points that this kind of movie almost always features. How well do you think the failing family Christmas tree farm business serves as the necessary conflict issue?
Many romantic movies pit the values of two people against each other as conflicts to overcome in the quest of love. How well does the script set corporate values against small-town values? Does the conflict seem real or contrived here?
The movie addresses the larger issue of big box stores offering lower prices that can drive out mom-and-pop entrepreneurs that have long served their communities. Do you think a movie is a good venue for showcasing that issue? Why or why not?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : December 5, 2021
- Cast : Maggie Lawson , Christopher Russell , Matt Visser
- Director : Stacey N. Harding
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Director(s) , Female Movie Actor(s) , Asian Movie Writer(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Romance
- Topics : Holidays ( Christmas )
- Run time : 86 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : December 15, 2025
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