Netflix’s new Christmas movie,Meet Me Next Christmas, has everything that can be expected from a holiday movie, but with one twist, it subtly fixed a tiring trope in Christmas rom-coms. Holiday content has begun on Netflix, and kicking off the season isMeet Me Next Christmas. Directed by Rusty Cundieff,Meet Me Next Christmasstars Christina Milian as Layla, who’s in a stable relationship with her boyfriend, with whom she attends the Pentatonix Christmas Eve concert every year. Unfortunately, Layla finds her boyfriend cheating on her a couple of days before Christmas Eve.
Remembering a deal she made with James (Kofi Siriboe) the year before when they met at the airport about meeting the following year at the Pentatonix concert if they were both single, Layla desperately tries to get a ticket. Layla enlists the help of Teddy (Devale Ellis), who works at a company that aims to get whatever their clients need, but Layla and Teddy end up bonding in their wild quest to get a ticket to the show.WhileMeet Me Next Christmasis predictable, it has one twist that fixes a tiring Christmas rom-com trope.
Meet Me Next Christmas Gave Both Layla & James A Happy Ending
There Were No Broken Hearts At The End Of Meet Me Next Christmas
When Layla meets James at the beginning ofMeet Me Next Christmas, she’s in a committed relationship, but she can’t deny there’s a connection. This is why, when she breaks up with her boyfriend a year later, she is determined to get a ticket to the Pentatonix concert after seeing a photo of James on the event’s website with his ticket.Meet Me Next Christmasis as predictable as any other Christmas movie, so it’s expected that Layla will meet James at the concert only to tell him she has fallen in love with Teddy, and that’s exactly what happens – but with a twist.
Pentatonix’s Meet Me Next Christmas Cameo Explained
Pentatonix is the perfect addition to Netflix’s Meet Me Next Christmas, as they jokingly imitate fame and meddle in the main character’s love life.
The classic (but tiring) trope is that, in this case James, will be heartbrokento hear Layla has fallen in love with someone else but is accepting of it, and maybe the magic of Christmas will make him meet his person at the concert. Luckily,Meet Me Next Christmasfixes this by giving both Layla and James a happy ending without the heartbreak. James attends the Pentatonix concert not because he’s honoring his deal with Layla but because he has a partner now and is attending with her.
James found his person before the next Christmas and didn’t even remember he had a deal with Layla – and even if he did, he was there with his girlfriend. Whilethe ending ofMeet Me Next Christmasis predictable, it’s refreshing to see a holiday rom-com that skips the cliché heartbreak scene in the third act and, instead, gives all its main characters a well-deserved happy ending without any more obstacles.
Meet Me Next Christmas Also Gives A Twist To Rom-Coms’ “Fate” Trope - But There’s A Catch
Meet Me Next Christmas Plays With The Concept Of Fate
Meet Me Next Christmasalso uses a commonly used trope not just in holiday rom-coms but rom-coms in general:fate and people they are “meant to be with”. Layla firmly believes she’s meant to be with James, hence why she’s willing to do whatever she has to do to get that Pentatonix ticket. Layla even sees “signs” of James being her “person” everywhere, such as the Eiffel Tower, as they both dream of spending Christmas in Paris someday. Teddy, on the other hand, doesn’t share those beliefs and has a more realistic, though at times pessimistic, outlook on life.
It can be argued that fate still had a role in the outcome of Meet Me Next Christmas and that Layla was meant to be with Teddy.
Layla eventually learns that it’s not about fate but about creating your own pathand making decisions on your own that make you happy, such as staying with Teddy, thus dropping the “fate” mentality. However, it can be argued that fate still had a role in the outcome ofMeet Me Next Christmasand that she was meant to be with Teddy, who she also met at the airport minutes before she met James. This part ofMeet Me Next Christmasis open to interpretation, but it also brings a subtle but refreshing twist to holiday rom-coms.
Meet Me Next Christmas
A woman, driven by romance, frantically searches New York City for a way into a sold-out Pentatonix Christmas show, believing it may help her meet her ideal partner.
