I am getting down to the last of the Netflix Christmas movies, and among the holdouts on my “For You” list is My Secret Santa (2025).  It is, of course, a romantic comedy with the twinkling lights and decorated trees in the background.  I did come to a realization while watching this one: if they are going to be formulaic, then go ahead and play up the goofiness.  It hits all the expected beats, has some cute material, but it is as silly as they come.  While it presented plenty of eye-rolling moments, the fact that it leaned into the comedy made this entry a little more palatable.

Speaking of palatable, we are first introduced to our protagonist in My Secret Santa, Taylor Jacobson (Alexandra Breckenridge), in a cookie factory.  They are making treats shaped like Santa Claus, but she is suspicious of their quality.  Instead of being welcomed, her complaint is followed with her firing.  She pleas for continued employment, citing the fact that she is a single mother and it is close to Christmas, but they go ignored.  It does not get better when she returns home in her ancient van.  Unable to be as stealthy as she hoped, her landlord, Doralee (Diana Maria Riva), stops Taylor in the hall looking for late rent.  Taylor placates Doralee for the moment, but the money troubles continue when Taylor enters her apartment.  Zoey Jacobson (Madison MacIsaac), Taylor’s teenaged, snowboard enthusiast daughter, has gotten into the snowboarding school of her dreams at the nearby Sun Peak ski resort.  Taylor is happy for her daughter until she sees how much it is going to cost.  Though she tries to hide it, Zoey can tell her mom is not sure how to pay for the camp.  Taylor’s initial choice is to sell some of her record collection at a music store in town.  The clerk does not want to give her what she thinks they are worth until Matthew Layne (Ryan Eggold) intervenes.  Though she does not know it initially, he is the son of Robert Layne (Barry Levy), the owner of Sun Peak.  He has been away from the area living an irresponsible and lavish lifestyle, but he is familiar enough with the local music scene to recognize Taylor.  As a young woman, she had been a part of a moderately successful punk band called the Screaming Kittens.  Cool, right?  In any case, his recognition got her fifty extra dollars.  He is also interested in further interaction.  While she is grateful, and flattered, she declines his invitation for a hot cocoa.  This is a Christmas movie, after all.  Nonetheless, this leaves her still in search of work.  When she hears that employees of Sun Peak get half off of ski lessons, including the snowboard school, she decides to try her luck.  As she is in the lobby making her inquiries, Matthew is in his father’s office looking for money.  Because of his son’s wayward ways, Robert is not keen on anymore handouts.  What Robert is willing to do is give Matthew a position.  The job Robert has in mind for Matthew is general manager at the resort, a title coveted by the current assistant manager, Natasha Burton (Tia Mowry).  Natasha is shocked by the nepotism, but for the moment her main concern is finding a new Santa for the resort’s holiday festivities.  In the lobby, Taylor is finding no openings, but she does overhear Natasha lamenting the Santa situation.  In the moment, Taylor decides she is going to be Jolly Ol’ St. Nick.  She is, obviously, a woman, so she goes to her brother, Eric Jacobson (William C. Vaughn), and his partner, Connor (Nathan Kay), who do make-up and prosthetics for horror films.  They create a Santa suit for her, complete with the requisite rotundness, and she gets the role.  Yet, her first few times meeting with children asking for gifts does not go well.  They have extravagant wishes, and she gives mom advice on their impracticality.  The result is that attendance drops and Natasha suggests they fire their new Santa.  The matter is left to Matthew, who takes Taylor (in her costume and make-up) to discuss what is happening.  As they talk, he cannot help but feel like she is familiar somehow, and then relates how he has strong feelings for her.  She manages to stay in character, but later, while talking to Zoey on the slopes, her daughter notices a thing between her mom and Matthew.  With Zoey’s encouragement, Taylor finally agrees to go out with Matthew.  Their night is going well as they listen to a local band, with him playing a few songs on stage, until she is called upon to perform.  This is something for which she is not prepared, and the more they try to get her to sit in for a set or two, the more she resists.  It is a tense moment, but she realizes that she is letting past trauma keep her from leading a fulfilling life.  With that, she apologizes to Matthew and accepts an invitation to a fancy Christmas reception in a few days.  Meanwhile, Natasha has been envious of the success the new Santa has garnered for Matthew, and tries to find dirt on the newcomer.  The name that Taylor gave for her employment was “Hugh Mann,” which became even more suspicious when she provided her own social security number.  Making matters worse, Matthew informs Taylor that Santa will need to be present for the upcoming event.  Instead of admitting the truth, she tries to be both people at once, relying on Connor and Eric for costume changes whenever she can get away.  It is Natasha who takes notice of this odd behavior, but Matthew who discovers the problem in the bathroom.  Then, as Natasha is about to reveal that the Santa is a fraud, word comes that Zoey has been hurt on the slopes.  Taylor immediately rushes to her daughter, and it is her voice that gives away her gender.  I could not understand the shock, but that is what everyone is when she removes the prosthetics.  It takes some more apologizing with Matthew to get him to come around, and some guitar playing.  We close on Christmas with everyone at Taylor’s apartment.

The traditional end to My Secret Santa does not do justice to the movie’s goofiness, nor did that come through in my synopsis.  Situations like changing in and out of the Santa costume is one example, though it has to be seen to be appreciated.  It is also not original, but the same can be said for all of these movies.  Another aspect of this story that is often repeated in its cinematic cousins is the single parent trope.  Typically, this is a dad with a child, whose wife had tragically passed away in the unseen past and is still haunting the spouse.  Taylor mostly fits this mold, but in her case the dad had left her to pursue his own music career.  In any case, it is the most serious aspect of the film, and the one on which I am going to focus my Catholic energies.  What Faith, which is (as usual) completely absent from the story, would tell her is that she needs to give her sense of loss to God.  It is a conclusion she comes to at one point (sans God), saying that she needs to let go of the pain.  This is true, but Christians have a more distinct way of putting this: we say to leave it at the foot of the Cross.  It is on the Cross that Jesus died for our sins, the purpose for which He was born on Christmas.  My apologies for that last addendum.  While the film might not care, I had to slip in something about the true reason for the season.  At any rate, as I have journeyed deeper into my relationship with God, I have come to the conclusion that the euphemism of “letting go” of our issues is incomplete.  And yes, allowing a past hurt to continue to haunt you can be a sin.  It can rob you of the joy that God wants of you, which is somewhat true of Taylor in that it initially prevents her from having a relationship with Matthew.  This is not to say that God’s will is for them to be together.  However, to even cut yourself from the possibility is not living a fulfilling life, whatever that pursuit might be.  Leaving your past at the foot of the Cross gives your hurt a direction and goal, and it is something God wants of all of us.

What I want is to be done for a while reviewing movies like My Secret Santa.  There were some cute moments in it, like when they get a little girl with a stutter to sing “Jingle Bells.”  Otherwise, it is more of the same, and thus safely avoided.