Is Best. Christmas. Ever! Really THAT Bad?

Every new holiday season brings a new slate of Christmas movies. A few of them—such as this year’s Silent Night and Christmess—get theatrical releases. But the vast majority—like Best. Christmas. Ever!—head straight to TV through streaming, cable, or video. With such a blizzard of new content, most new movies get overlooked while only a few stand out for being great.

But every once in while a film comes along that stands out because of how bad it is. Or rather, how bad people say it is. And sometimes the people are right. Some movies are downright awful. But other times they just follow the mob and pile on the hate because it’s the thing to do.

Netflix’s Best. Christmas. Ever! is one of these movies. Do a quick web search and you’ll get the impression that Best. Christmas. Ever! is a holiday version of Battlefield Earth. And that’s not even from user comments, tweets, or reviews on IMDb. That’s from professional movie critics.

Some critics went full-on Grinch and hated Best. Christmas. Ever! with every ounce of their being. As if the movie broke into their home and stole their tree.

“An awful, mercifully short, film that offers zero Christmas cheer.”

— The Guardian

And:

“Too cheerless and convoluted to make the nice list.”

— The Daily Beast

But it wasn’t all unbridled vitriol. Some critics took a softer approach akin to the old “It’s not you, it’s me” rejection. They even agreed to be friends.

“Resembles a television holiday special more than a feature film.”

— The New York Times

And even kinder:

“Serviceable… it will satisfy those hungry for new sentimental holiday movies.”

— Screen Rant

And some even offered a silver lining:

“Slightly better than your typical Hallmark/Netflix holiday movie.”

— Movieweb

But then… finally… some critics were even brave enough to out and out LIKE Best. Christmas. Ever! Whether they’ll still have jobs in the New Year, is still yet to be seen. But for now, we commend them for their courage. And their holiday spirit.

“Delightfully kooky and commendable entry in the streamer’s Holiday Cinematic Universe… filled with charm and sweetness.”

— Variety

So that begs the question: Is Best. Christmas. Ever! really that Bad? Is it the worst Christmas movie ever made? Is it the holiday equivalent of Battlefield Earth? Or is it more like It’s a Wonderful Life, which was not received too warmly by contemporary critics but grew to become a Christmas classic?

What is Best. Christmas. Ever! About?

Gather ’round children and listen to a tale of old. Long ago, before you were able to share (and exaggerate and lie about) the fabulousness of your life on Facebook and Instagram, you had to use paper.

And “paper” isn’t the name of a some old, defunct website or long-forgotten app.

We’re talking about real paper.

You also had to use envelopes.

And postage stamps.

And within those envelopes, written on that paper, was The Family Christmas Letter. It was a summary of the family’s year — good and bad (but mostly good) — because you weren’t able to update 700 friends and family every time you got a fancy design in your latte foam.

And long distance fees were a bitch.

The Family Christmas Letter eventually became the Family Christmas Email. It roughly covered the same ground but had the option of including more photos. And it reached a slightly wider, albeit still selective, audience.

The Family Christmas Email then slowly faded into obscurity as it was replaced by Facebook and Insta posts.

But not in Best. Christmas. Ever! Not if Jackie (Brandy Norwood) has anything to say about it. She’s keeping the family Christmas letter alive and well. (Granted, it helps that she has a wonderful life.)

However, Charlotte (Heather Graham) can’t stand receiving her old college friend’s family Christmas letter. She’s convinced that most of it is a lie — like that time she said that she’s friends with Mariah Carey and she got Mimi to perform at their graduation . (Also, because she thinks her own life is not so wonderful.)

A few days before Christmas, Charlotte and family head to her sister’s new house for the holidays. However her son, aspiring ninja Grant, has sneakily entered Jackie’s address into the car’s GPS instead of his aunt’s.

Charlotte, husband Rob (Jason Biggs), and the kids eventually arrive at a McMansion straight from a Hallmark Christmas card. The ninja’s ploy is quickly exposed, but Jackie invites them in and insists they spend the night.

And when 6 feet of snow dumps overnight, the invitation turns into a week.

We learn that Jackie and Rob dated briefly in college before he and Charlotte got together, and were in a No Doubt cover band. Kind of.

“It was not a cover band.”

“It was called Total Certainty… that sounded exactly like No Doubt.”

Even though Jackie’s now married to Valentino (Matt Cedeño), a ripped Latino hunk who owns a karate dojo, jealousies arise. Tensions mount, of course, but we all know the old friends are going to open up to each other — and to themselves.

The kids have a fun little subplot of their own, as Jackie’s precocious daughter Beatrix enlists Wyatt to help her investigation into the existence of Santa Claus.

Is Best. Christmas. Ever! the worst Christmas movie ever?

No.

Not by a long shot.

Is it the best Christmas movie ever? No, obviously not. But there’s some stiff competition in that department.

But Best. Christmas. Ever! is a good Christmas movie. Despite what IMDb trolls would have you believe, the acting isn’t terrible. It’s certainly no worse than the majority of holiday films out there.

(And just for the record, anyone who hates a movie in which Brandy’s infectious smile gets so much screen time, must have a heart 2 sizes too small.)

One professional critic took umbrage with Heather Graham’s character breaking the fourth wall at the start of the movie. They were upset that she — nor anyone else — did it again. As if there’s some rule that if you break the fourth wall once, you must break again X number of times before the final credits role.

Sure, the movie has its shortcomings. It could have benefited by being longer. An extra 10 minutes could have given us more on the relationship between Charlotte and Jackie. But they’re easy enough to overlook and enjoy for the movie for what it is — a heartwarming, family-friendly Christmas comedy with sprinkles of romance.

For more Christmas movies streaming on other platforms, check out the links below!

And most of all, have a Merry Christmas! 🎄