Should I feel insulted by Just Like a Christmas Movie (2023), or entertained by its attempt at self-deprecating humor?  I say “insulted” because if you find it on Amazon Prime, it will come up as “Waking Up to Christmas.”  That is not the title I found when I plugged it into the International Movie Database (IMDb).  Maybe the makers did not want anyone else to discover it?  So, they gave it a different appellation when they uploaded it to streaming services?  Ultimately, it is your standard holiday romance, and it is aware of this fact.  It is that brand of fourth wall breaking that sort of makes it different.  Kind of.  Regardless, it has nothing to do with the birth of Christ, so how good can it be?

Another person who wants nothing to do with the birth of Christ is ambitious young public relations (PR) executive Emily (Marlie Collins), our heroine of Just Like a Christmas Movie.  We meet her as she is breaking up with her current boyfriend with a hand written note that he reads while sitting in her office.  The awkwardness is quickly forgotten when she learns that she could be up for promotion.  She shares her excitement, Carly (Stephanie Izsak), her Christmas obsessed assistant.  As such, Carly does not understand Emily’s decision to forego any form of the usual seasonal cheer for the beaches of Bali and working on a presentation.  Emily is eager for her getaway and more than annoyed when a winter storm forces her to land in Blue Spruce . . . somewhere.  In talking to the lone airport employee, Holly Kringle (Beth Fotheringham), Emily learns that not only will there be no more flights out until after the New Year, but that her luggage has been left behind in New York.  Making matters worse, her cell phone lacks reception, meaning she cannot connect with Carly in order to correct the missing computer situation.  Indeed, the only person Emily seems able to talk to is Santa (Dave Kenneth MacKinnon), who is as magical as one might expect in such a film.  He decides that Emily needs more Christmas spirit.  Thus, he arranges for her to be electrocuted (as you do), and she wakes up to Chris Kringle (Brad Harder) standing over her.  She is also dressed in different clothing.  As she gathers her wits, Holly offers for Emily to stay with the Kringles.  In case you are wondering, the Santa of our story is not related to them.  The name is just a coincidence.  Chris is not thrilled by Emily rooming at his house because it means he has to sleep on the couch.  It is not the only strange occurrence.  At the Kringles, aside from the riot of holiday decorations, there are candles that relight without needing new flame and hot chocolate on which whipped cream magically appears.  Slowly, Emily realizes that she is in the kind of cinematic material that Carly adores.  When Emily begins to panic, Santa appears to her to tell her that she must recapture her Christmas spirit in order to move on with her life.  Luckily, there is something going on in town tailormade for such quests, as one might expect from such a movie: the oddly named Festivity Fair.  For the Kringles in particular, who have been charged with running the event for decades, it is important that this tradition is maintained.  The person trying to put it to an end is Gwen (Lauren Jackson), Chris’ ex-girlfriend, who wishes to turn it into soulless corporate gathering.  With Emily’s PR experience, she sees an opportunity to at least fake enthusiasm for the season by helping to preserve the fair.  Yet, when she tries to also work on her upcoming presentation, she finds Santa’s dark powers (sorry, not sorry) prevent her from doing any kind of labor outside of that which is seasonally appropriate.  Thus, she decides to write done all the clichéd Christmas activities she can think of and cross them off as she accomplishes them.  Still, not even that seems to be able to get her into the spirit.  Thus, Santa teleports Carly to Blue Spruce.  As Carly gets acclimated to the insanity of being stuck in all her favorite films, she begins to notice a developing attraction between Chris and Emily.  Emily wants nothing to do with him, who has mostly treated her as if she is crazy.  Besides, she shows Carly how easy it is to find a guy at this moment, finding three within the space of five minutes, all of whom compliment Emily’s eyes.  Nonetheless, the collaboration between Chris and Emily has led to them becoming close, which eventually has him complimenting her eyes.  The fact that he uses this tactic is off-putting, and she runs to find Santa and demand that he put an end to the madness.  He says he has granted her wish, it being driven home by handing her a lump of coal.  Undeterred, she goes to leave the following day even though the fair appears to be in jeopardy with town businesses pulling out thanks to Gwen’s bribes.  It is seeing Holly and her husband, Herbie’s (Vance Potter), hard work dashed that prompts her to save the day in the morning.  Chris tries to thank her for her efforts, but she departs for the airport before he is able to do so.  Of course, there is one last encounter with Santa at the airport, who tells her that she does not belong in her current career.  This means that she belongs in Blue Spruce, but she thinks she has ruined her chances.  With one last use of his magic, Santa arranges for Chris to catch up with Emily, and they live happily ever after.

Yes, there is a lot of “magic” in Just Like a Christmas Movie.  I have complained about this idea in other reviews of seasonally appropriate films.  To briefly summarize, the coming of the Messiah is not the Advent of a magical wish granter.  I should also add that Santa is a particularly aggravating figure for a practicing Catholic desiring to celebrate the holiday properly.  We attribute god-like powers to a mythical being.  If I may be so bold, the way we portray “Jolly Ol’ St. Nick” is sacrilege.  There is little resemblance between the Santa of today’s movie and the real-life St. Nicholas on which the red-suited one is supposedly based.  What is further confusing about the movie is that there is a character named Chris Kringle, who is not Santa but still possesses a workshop where he assembles little wooden toys.  As I mentioned in the introduction, this is either an insult to the audience or a knowing wink.  I tend to favor the former because while a cute reference, the film does nothing with it.  Hence, I am not sure what else to say about this movie.  Even though it has a slightly different set-up, it is your standard Christmas romantic comedy that does not speak to the coming of Christ.  I suppose you can say that Emily learns about a form of the Christmas spirit, but it is not the kind that draws one closer to God as He did with us when He was born in the manger.

I guess the final word with Just Like a Christmas Movie is that Emily does not learn about the Christmas spirit.  Because it is not presented in a Christian sense either, the movie can be termed as insulting instead of entertaining.  I mean that in a tongue in cheek manner, but it is completely skippable in any sense.