Though movies like Holidate are quite common, their continued popularity has proven that the holiday-themed romantic comedy is a go-to favorite. Released on Netflix in 2020, the film concerns two people who are fed up with being single every holiday season and pretend to be each other’s plus one. Naturally, the arrangement blossoms into a real romance, and audiences were drawn in by the film’s lovable holiday vibes and low-stakes plot. Though not terribly original, Holidate, and movies like it, capture the essence of winter and capture hearts with their beautiful tales of love and romance.
Holiday romantic comedies have been around since the early days of cinema, and some of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time feature strong undercurrents of romance and romantic comedy. The sub-genre was kicked into high gear by blockbuster movies like Love Actually in the early 2000s, and the holiday romantic comedy has become a yearly tradition thanks to the Hallmark Channel. The familiar coziness of Holidate hearkened back to a communal nostalgic past for many viewers, and plenty of films have captured that same energy.
Happiest Season (2020)
Though movies like Holidate generally tell stories about straight couples, 2020’s Happiest Season brought LGBTQ+ love into the mainstream Christmas movie mix. Abby (Kristen Stewart) plans to propose to Harper (Mackenzie Davis) on Christmas, but to her surprise, Harper has yet to come out to her conservative parents. Like Holidate, Happiest Season injects a bit of hilarious awkwardness into the story that makes for a few great laughs, and it contains farce in the vein of the LGBTQ+ classic, The Birdcage. A stellar cast anchors the LGBTQ+ holiday rom-com, and the movie shines because of its compassion for the subject matter.
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Happiest Season is available to stream on Hulu
Serendipity (2001)
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John Cusack has made a career out of starring in heartfelt romantic comedies throughout his career, and a great example came via the 2001 Christmas rom-com Serendipity. On Christmas Eve, Jonathan Trager (Cusack) has a chance encounter with Sara Thomas(Kate Beckinsale) in a department store, and they enjoy one magical evening together which they desperately hope to recreate years later. Unlike Holidate, Serendipity merely uses Christmas as a backdrop for its story about love and fate. However, the overwhelming romance is enough to check all the same boxes as Holidate.
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Serendipity is available to stream on Max
The Holiday (2005)
Nancy Meyers’ The Holiday boasts a wildly original rom-com premise which makes it one of the most unique movies like Holidate. In the film, two women (Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet), one from the United States and one from England, decide to swap homes for the holiday season when their love lives have hit a rocky patch. The Holiday had likable characters while also telling a complex romantic story. Like Holidate, The Holiday explores the idea that love doesn’t always go according to plan, and the Christmas season is used to brilliantly bring the story into focus.
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The Holiday is available to stream on Starz
The Best Man Holiday (2013)
Set 15 years after the uproarious rom-com The Best Man, The Best Man Holiday reunites the group of friends for a Christmastime gathering. Now well into marriage, Lance (Morris Chestnut) and Mia (Monica Calhoun) catch up, reminisce, and celebrate old times with their estranged loved ones. Taye Diggs, Regina Hall, and Terence Howard headline a stellar ensemble as the gang picks old scabs and rekindles flames while spreading the Yuletide cheer. Though much more character-driven than Holidate, both films use the Christmas setting as a chance for great comedy, and turn the classic holiday rom-com on its ear with a bit of humorous cynicism.
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The Best Man Holiday is available to stream on Netflix
The Family Stone (2005)
Though movies like Holidate often show the Christmas season as a time of cheer, the dysfunctional family holiday movie The Family Stone also punctuated the more difficult aspects of the holiday. When successful businessman Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) brings his ultra-conservative girlfriend Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) to meet his liberally-spirited family for the holidays, she quickly becomes a fish out of water. Similar to Holidate, The Family Stone shows how bitterness can turn to love around the holidays, and they both manage to capture the spirit of the season that often brings people together instead of tearing them apart.
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The Family Stone is available to stream on Prime Video and Starz
Scrooged (1988)
Though the romantic aspects of 1988’s Scrooged are only one small part of the story, the Bill Murray Christmas movie vehicle has become a holiday staple. Jaded TV executive Frank Cross (Murray) is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future to teach him to be a better person. Of all the adaptations of A Christmas Carol, Scrooged approached its subject matter with a modern flare that preserved the heart of Dickens’ original ideas. Much like the characters in Holidate, Cross becomes more likable as the movie goes along, and he eventually allows the infectious spirit of the holidays to open his heart.
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Scrooged is available to stream on Hoopla
Love Actually (2003)
Love Actually is easily one of the most beloved holiday romantic comedies of recent decades, and it has become an institution all its own. Written and directed by Richard Curtis, the sweeping ensemble piece follows a group of interwoven strangers whose romantic dalliances revolve around the Christmas holiday. Movies like Holidate typically focus on one relationship, but Love Actually‘s strength was its variety of vignettes that offered something for everyone. The cast of Love Actually was a star-studded affair, and it approached holiday romance with the same modern eye as Holidate.
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Love Actually is available to stream on The Roku Channel
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
Sandra Bullock was a box office titan in the 1990s, and she made her fair share of beloved romantic comedy films including While You Were Sleeping. Near Christmastime, Lucy (Bullock) saves Jack (Bill Pullman) when he falls from the train platform, and when Jack reemerges from a coma, Lucy allows the world to believe that she is his fiancée. Like Holidate, While You Were Sleeping is a story of fake love eventually becoming real love, and Christmas was what brought the couples together. Though Christmas isn’t the central focus, the star-crossed lovers plot has a lot of similarities to Holidate.
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While You Were Sleeping is available to stream on Disney Plus
Roman Holiday (1953)
Though William Wyler’s Roman Holiday has the word “holiday” in the title, it actually has nothing to do with Christmas and is instead a sweeping romantic tale of another sort entirely. Audrey Hepburn stars as Princess Ann, a bored and lonely royal who meets an American journalist (Gregory Peck) who only wants a scoop, but soon develops real feelings. Many movies like Holidate start with their romantic leads far apart, and the joy comes from watching them find each other. Roman Holiday delivered all that and more, and utilized the ultra-romantic movie setting of Rome as the stage for one of cinema’s greatest love stories.
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Roman Holiday is available to stream on Paramount Plus
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Although When Harry Met Sally only culminates with a breathtaking holiday romance, the universally beloved romantic comedy ranks among the all-time greatest examples of the subgenre. Directed by Rob Reiner from a Nora Ephron script, Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) are two platonic friends who fear a relationship together despite the fact that they are perfect for one another. Similar to Holidate, the will-they-won’t-they tension is the heart of When Harry Met Sally, and the payoff is both romantic and hilarious. Watching the relationship blossom was cinematic gold, and Crystal and Ryan’s chemistry was electric.
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When Harry Met Sally is available to buy or rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube, and Vudu
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
