Netflix is leaning fully into festive comfort viewing with A Merry Little Ex-Mas, a new holiday romantic comedy that blends small-town charm, messy family dynamics and second-chance tension. Arriving at the very start of the Christmas streaming window, it taps into one of Netflix’s most reliable traditions: seasonal rom-coms where unresolved feelings collide with twinkling lights and forced holiday cheer. The hook is instantly compelling. A divorced couple agrees to stage one last “perfect” Christmas for their children, only to watch the plan collapse the moment a new partner walks through the door. What follows is a collision of nostalgia, heartbreak and snow-covered slapstick – the kind of festive chaos viewers recognize, dread and secretly enjoy watching unfold.
Since its debut on November 12, 2025, A Merry Little Ex-Mas — directed by Steve Carr and starring Alicia Silverstone and Oliver Hudson — has already found its audience. It shot into the Netflix Global Top 10 Movies and climbed into the upper half of the chart, signaling strong early engagement ahead of the platform’s busiest holiday weekends. This momentum places it among Netflix’s most-watched seasonal releases and shows that the streamer’s formula of nostalgic comfort, light chaos and winter romance still resonates. With its mix of midlife reinvention, co-parenting friction and old feelings that refuse to stay buried, this is a holiday movie engineered to slip effortlessly onto December watchlists year after year.
What A Merry Little Ex-Mas is about
The film follows Kate, played by Alicia Silverstone, a recently divorced mother who is determined to orchestrate one last ideal family Christmas before she sells the beloved Vermont home where her children grew up. Her plan is simple on paper: invite her ex-husband Everett, keep things civil, and give the kids a final, picture-perfect holiday before everything changes. Reality, of course, has other ideas. Everett arrives with his younger, wildly successful new girlfriend, instantly shattering the fragile truce and turning Kate’s carefully staged Christmas into a minefield of awkward introductions, bruised egos and unresolved emotions.
As the festivities unfold in the small town of Winterlight, old patterns resurface and new attractions complicate the already crowded house. The movie plays with classic holiday-rom-com ingredients – mistletoe mishaps, snowbound confessions, and family traditions that no longer fit – while grounding them in very modern questions about divorce, blended families and the stories we tell ourselves about what “home” should look like. Under the jokes and heightened situations, A Merry Little Ex-Mas is about accepting that the life you end up with might be messier than the one you imagined, but no less worth celebrating.
A Merry Little Ex-Mas cast and performances
Alicia Silverstone anchors the film as Kate, bringing a blend of vulnerability, physical comedy and offbeat resilience that recalls her iconic charm from Clueless while reflecting the perspective of a woman who has lived a lot of life since then. She plays Kate as a people-pleaser, a fixer and a quietly eco-conscious handywoman who can repair almost anything in her orbit except her own marriage, and that contradiction gives the film much of its emotional pull.
Oliver Hudson’s Everett is a workaholic doctor whose attempts to move on collide head-on with his lingering connection to Kate and their kids. Hudson leans into Everett’s affable ex-husband energy — decent, flawed, often tone-deaf — creating a character who is easy to get frustrated with but hard to fully dislike. Jameela Jamil injects sharp wit and modern edge as Tess Wiley, whose presence further destabilizes the fragile holiday peace. Pierson Fodé turns on both charm and self-aware comedy as Chet Moore, an attractive complication who helps nudge Kate toward rediscovering her own desirability. Melissa Joan Hart appears as April, adding an extra layer of nostalgia for viewers who remember her from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
The ensemble is rounded out by Linda Kash, Geoffrey Owens, Timothy Innes, Wilder Hudson, Emily Hall and others, all contributing to a lived-in sense of extended family and community. There is even an Easter egg for fans: Silverstone’s real-life son makes a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in a sledding scene, underlining how personal the project became for its lead star.
A Merry Little Ex-Mas – behind the scenes
A Merry Little Ex-Mas is directed by Steve Carr, whose earlier work includes studio comedies like Next Friday, Daddy Day Care and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Here he shifts into a slightly gentler register, still embracing broad comedy but prioritizing character beats and warm, low-stakes tension over nonstop gags. The script comes from Holly Hester, who previously wrote Netflix’s royal rom-com The Royal Treatment, and it carries the same affection for heightened yet emotionally sincere romantic storytelling.
The film is produced by Paula Hart and Melissa Joan Hart through Hartbreak Films, continuing Hart’s long-running collaboration with holiday television. Principal photography took place in Toronto in February and March 2025, with Canadian locations doubling for the fictional town of Winterlight, Vermont. The production leans into cozy, practical design work: snow-blanketed streets, warm wood interiors, crowded kitchens and twinkling lights that reinforce the idea of a home Kate is not quite ready to leave behind. Cinematographer Adam Santelli, editor Craig Herring and composer Jeff Cardoni give the movie a glossy but approachable feel that matches Netflix’s wider Christmas-movie aesthetic.
Early reactions and buzz
Since premiering on Netflix, A Merry Little Ex-Mas has sparked exactly the kind of conversation that tends to surround seasonal comfort viewing — the blend of criticism, affection and cozy indulgence that holiday rom-coms reliably generate. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a critic score in the low-40s alongside a similarly mixed audience rating, with reviewers frequently calling it predictable yet undeniably warm. Many have singled out Alicia Silverstone’s performance as the film’s emotional anchor, praising her ability to elevate even the most formulaic scenes. Several outlets describe it as enjoyably “so bad it’s good,” placing it firmly within the growing category of Christmas titles people watch for both campy entertainment and emotional release.
What stands out is how quickly viewers have embraced that tone. Social chatter highlights the film’s knowing humor, its nostalgia-heavy cast and its unapologetic embrace of festive chaos. Families are already using it as a background movie while decorating or preparing dinner – an early signal of strong rewatch value. And for Netflix, this blend of comfort, messiness and repeat engagement is exactly what helps a mid-budget holiday romance evolve into a yearly seasonal staple.
All the key details about A Merry Little Ex-Mas
- Title: A Merry Little Ex-Mas
- Format: Movie
- Runtime: 91 minutes
- Genre: Christmas romantic comedy
- Country of production: United States
- Original language: English
- Director: Steve Carr
- Writer: Holly Hester
- Producers: Paula Hart, Melissa Joan Hart
- Production company: Hartbreak Films
- Main cast: Alicia Silverstone, Oliver Hudson, Jameela Jamil, Pierson Fodé, Melissa Joan Hart, Linda Kash, Geoffrey Owens, Wilder Hudson, Emily Hall, Timothy Innes
- Filming location: Toronto, Canada
- Platform: Netflix
- Release date: November 12, 2025
Is A Merry Little Ex-Mas based on a true story?
The film is not based on a specific true story or pre-existing novel, and it is not part of an established franchise. A Merry Little Ex-Mas is an original screenplay by Holly Hester, built around themes familiar to many separated or blended families: the desire to preserve traditions, the awkwardness of introducing new partners and the bittersweet truth that holiday perfection rarely survives real life. Its relatability is part of its appeal.
Why A Merry Little Ex-Mas is worth adding to your watchlist
If you gravitate toward Netflix holiday staples like Falling for Christmas, The Noel Diary, The Princess Switch or Holidate, A Merry Little Ex-Mas sits comfortably in that lineup. It offers a nostalgic cast, small-town escapism and just enough emotional friction to give its comedy weight. Silverstone’s performance brings heart, while the script’s focus on co-parenting and reinvention adds a slightly more grown-up edge to the familiar Christmas-rom-com format. It may not rewrite the genre, but it delivers exactly the cozy, lightly messy warmth viewers look for in December.
A Merry Little Ex-Mas release date and where to watch
A Merry Little Ex-Mas was released globally on Netflix on November 12, 2025, launching as one of the first major titles in the streamer’s 2025 Christmas slate. Arriving ahead of Thanksgiving in the United States and major holiday weekends worldwide, it is positioned to benefit from peak seasonal viewing patterns and repeat play throughout December. Watch on Netflix:
