English TItle: Home for Christmas
Original Title: Hjem til jul
Country: Norway
Language: Norwegian
Year: 2019
Rating: 7.8/10
About two and a half episodes into Home for Christmas I thought to myself, “this is only slightly better than a Hallmark movie, if it wasn’t set in Norway I’d likely stop watching”’ but then surprising even myself I kept watching. Is it much better than a Hallmark movie? I really can’t tell you because I’ve never actually watched a Hallmark movie, the story is very familiar and super sappy, but the fact I watched all six episodes makes me want to believe that it must be better.
Johanne is in her early thirties and single, but everyone around her is getting married and starting a family. Of course, her overbearing but well-meaning family constantly asks when she will have a boyfriend and settle down. So, instead of telling her family to go screw, Johanne decides to lie to her family and tell them that she has a boyfriend and will be bringing him to Christmas dinner, which is less than a month away. Thus begins her madcap search for a partner that is filled with so much stress it probably would have been so much easier just to tell her family the truth.
That’s basically it, in the beginning, it seems like somehow Johanne has managed to attract every complete asshole in Norway and it’s very frustrating to watch, but thankfully there are some better options as the show progresses. There’s also a fun roommate and extra family drama that is very cliche but still watchable. Also, presumably, because Norwegians are far less prudish than Americans, there’s some sex, a lot of swearing, and an overall tone that is much more realistic than any basic cable holiday movie. Plus, it ends with a closing scene focused on togetherness which is something we could do with right now. I guess that’s what I kept watching, it’s scratched a holiday cheese itch, but did it in a way that didn’t make me feel gross enjoying it.
Subs & Dubs: As with a lot of Netflix shows it is available with any of your local subtitles as well as English dubbing. I actually tried giving the English dub a chance with this but it was just so weird.
Season Two?: There is a season two the was released just as I finished writing this. I’ll update the review when I watch it.
Trailer:
Other Than English 