Holiday in the Wild’s (2019) status as a Christmas movie is questionable, though a large portion of it does take place during that time of year.  There is also the opening scene to consider, but we will get to that in a moment.  In any case, Netflix lists it in its seasonal movie section, and that is mostly why I chose it.  As usual, it has nothing to do with the reason for the season.  Another factor in my selection is that it appeared to be somewhat different from the other romantic comedies of its ilk.  They all kind of blend together, but I do not recall one being set in Africa.  I have seen castles in Scotland, ski resorts in the Rockies, and small towns in Minnesota, but never one on the African savanna.  Hence, I was willing to put up with some more familiar material to watch a place on film that I have longed to see with my own eyes.  It was an hour and a half um . . . spent.

Holiday in the Wild gives off a Christmas air in the first scene.  However, it is August and Dr. Kate Conrad (Kristin Davis) is gathering her family for early family holiday photographs before her son, Luke Conrad (John Owen Lowe), goes to college.  Drew Conrad (Colin Moss), her husband and Luke’s father, is clearly busy.  The true source of his preoccupation is revealed soon thereafter when, immediately following Luke walking out the door, Drew tells Dr. Conrad that he is moving out.  This comes after she has pondered what to do now that they are empty nesters, and proposing that they take a second honeymoon in Africa.  Not wanting to waste her trip, she decides to go alone.  On her first night at the resort in Zambia, while at dinner, she meets Derek Hollistan (Rob Lowe).  He notices her solo meal in a way she does not find flattering.  Thus, you can imagine her surprise when the next morning he is the one slated to fly her to where she will be going on safari.  Along the way, he notices a downed elephant and decides to land.  It is a mother that has been killed for her trunk and tusks, and nearby is her calf.  Dr. Conrad, by the way, has the letters in front of her name because she is a trained veterinarian, though she had not practiced since she became a mom.  As such, she decides to stick with the young pachyderm as it is transported to a nearby sanctuary.  She is once again amazed to find that Derek works at the sanctuary.  Regardless, she decides to stay to help care for the young elephant, and reconnect with her long-lost profession.  Of course, none of these kinds of films would be complete without some kind of dalliance.  However, it is cut short by two factors.  First, Dr. Conrad is set to leave the next day.  Secondly, they are interrupted by Leslie Van De Mere-Jones (Hayley Owen), a South African who runs the board that keeps the sanctuary operating.  She apparently has a romantic interest in Derek.  Nonetheless, Dr. Conrad decides to forego her return to New York City in favor of staying in Africa and continuing her new work.  Come Christmas time and everyone back in the United States is wondering about her status, not to mention the locals who help care for the animals in the area.  As December 25^th approaches, the sanctuary welcomes a number of visitors, mainly the families of those who have to stay there year-round.  They are all wondering when Dr. Conrad and Derek are going to get together, but they continue to insist that they are just friends.  Still, even Luke, who is sent by Drew to spend the holidays with his mom, can tell that there is something between her and Derek.  Luke does distract Dr. Conrad a little by saying that he is quitting college to become a full-time musician, but that is an argument for another time.  Not long after his departure, Dr. Conrad feels that it is time for her to go home, too.  However, it is not before her and Derek share one more emotionally fraught moment.  A few minutes later, as if on schedule, Leslie walks into his tent and sees a painting of Dr. Conrad on which he has been working.  Finally unwilling to continue whatever it is they have going on, he tells her that he is in love with Dr. Conrad.  With that, she threatens to pull the funding for the sanctuary.  As such, he is not available to fly out Kate the next day, instead going to South Africa to plead for money.  When Dr. Conrad gets to New York, she takes a job at a Manhattan veterinary clinic, but finds that she is missing Africa.  When she is able to get in contact with the sanctuary, she learns from Jonathan (Fezile Mpela), one of the sanctuary’s keepers, that they are in financial trouble.  Not willing to let that stand, Dr. Conrad goes on a fundraising campaign, bringing together hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the sanctuary.  Then, seeing the frivolousness of the Fifth Avenue dog owners, she comes to the conclusion that her place is back in Africa.  As such, she goes back to Zambia and marries Derek.  The final scene is of them saying goodbye to Manu, the baby elephant they found months ago, as it is free to join a wild herd.

Between baby elephants and upper-middle class values, can you say that Holiday in the Wild is a Christmas movie?  Actually, my synopsis probably did not do it justice to the amount of time spent on the holiday.  Yet, the events are not meant to speak to whatever it is Hollywood wants to believe is entailed by the “Christmas spirit.”  I would argue that without Jesus, there is no such thing.  Nevertheless, there is an interesting line in the film that can be used to align with Biblical events.  While Dr. Conrad and Derek are on safari one day, they are talking about their lives and how events have unfolded.  He describes things as happening when the time is right.  There is a generic component to this, similar to the cliché often used when a relationship ends and one of the parties in the break up says that the timing was not right.  Yet, there was something more concrete in Derek’s delivery that reminded me of some of the things said about the birth of Jesus.  A lot of the Scripture passages about this momentous occasion say a lot about the timing of the coming of Our Savior.  Of course, it needed to be presaged by a number of things, like Mary’s fiat in Luke 1:38.  The best verse for what I am describing is found in Galatians 4:4, which reads, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.”  “Fullness of time” is the key phrase here.  There could have been no other moment in time when God sent Our Savior into the world, though there are other sections of the Bible that point to when it occurred.  The same logic works for our own lives.  We tend to be focused on a great deal of exterior distractions that seem important whenever they come up, but are later deemed trivial.  It is important to give them all to God and let Him guide us to when the time is right to make a change.

Alternatively, there is not much I would change about Holiday in the Wild.  It does have a number of the tired tropes, but I appreciate the philosophy just discussed and the setting.  One of these days, when the time is right, I, too, will visit Africa.  In the meantime, we have movies like this one.