Millennial F*** Up Christmas Movies
Jobless, homeless, terminally single, making bad decisions and seeking solace in plants and sometimes animals. Millennials have been the talk of the times. We apparently spend all of mummy and daddy’s pocket money on avacado toast and flat white coffees which means we will never be able to afford a house of our own (apparently). We don’t know how to talk to people so we created online personas through facebook, instagram and now tiktok where we can pretend to be as hip as our gen z counterparts. We swipe our way through relationships that last months online and merely days in person. We can’t afford to have children so we buy plants and adopt cats and dogs and call them our children instead. We can’t keep a job for longer than five minutes so we become “freelancers”.
Despite the negative views that everyone seems to have of the millennial generation however, you cannot deny the fact that Milliennials are the most unique generation that has ever come to pass. We have changed the world in so many ways, by raising awareness of what was wrong with the old world, adapting seemlessly to new technologies, to even inventing new jobs and transforming methods of traditional 9-5 jobs. Despite our accomplishments we are always going to be painted as losers particularly in the writing rooms of Netflix it seems, where new films and TV series focusing on our failings are released every day.
Millenials who fuck up their lives really is it’s own genre on TV but who knew that there was a hybrid that has gained much popularity and success; The Millennial Fuck Up Christmas Movie.
Shitty Millenial boy or girl, (no gender discrimination here), rapidly approaching their expiration date (30, of course.) working from home or having no job at all, no luck with love and still unable to talk boundaries with their parents, have to find themselves, and love all in time for Christmas day.
If you want semi-relatable second hand embarassment, here is the definitive list some of the best of the genre, currently available to stream now and my reviews on the ones that I have seen.
Before we begin however, I need to give an honuorable mention to Bridget Jones’ Diary the OG film which inspired a generation of millennials to grow up and eff up their lives… no, I’m joking but it is one of the films which sparked the genre. Thirty-something bridget Jones lives alone in central london working at a publishing house. She is a little bit over weight and is a chain smoker who occasionally drinks a bit too much. Bridget makes some terrible dating choices, feels inadequate at work but somehow manages to pick herself up and find the man of her dreams. It’s still entertaining to me 20 years after the film was released although a little cliched. Bridget Jones is the perfect example to define the genre, so let’s jump into my list.
One that outlines the genre quite well is Holidate. It follows two twenty-somethings who decide that they will be each other’s date to all major holiday events throughout the year in order to avoid the pressure and stress of finding someone to be with at the holidays. The film takes them through from Christmas one year all the way to the next detailing the ups and downs of their relationship. In the film, the main character who is played by Emma Roberts, it a quintessential bitter millennial working from home and reluctant to get out and date after past failed relationships.
The second film fills me with outrage. It’s called Over Christmas (Über Weihnachten) and it’s about an aspiring musician who works in a call centre in Berlin, he goes home to his German small town over the holidays and is faced with the fact that he failed to out his dreams in Berlin and that his perfect younger brother is now dating his ex girlfriend. This one is wild to me. I’m a big believer in having your own boundaries as an adult and if your family pulled something like this you should be free to politely decline to spend christmas with them and go on your merry way home. OR, at least be able to confront your family about how you do not like the way they have treated you and the lack of consideration by inviting a wench over for the christmas meal. The main character is also unfathomably childish but there are some redeemable moments and the series progresses.
Third up is my personal fave and Season 2 is about to drop today on netflix, Hjem til jul or Home for Christmas. It’s a Norweigan millennial Christmas film. The main character is a nurse who feels pressure to bring home a date on Christmas day so she begins to dip her toes into the world of online dating, speed dating, the sugarbowl… all in a crazy attempt to not feel so alone at the dinner table on Christmas. It’s well acted, the right balance of cringe and heart-warming. Plus the back drop of Norway in the winter is perfectly festive!
Merry Happy Whatever is another series, this time from the U.S. A couple travels to pennsylvania in this classic meet the parents tale. I was not expecting to like this one but actually I was won over by the end of the series. The boyfriend is a struggling musician and the girlfriend is a high achiever from a high achieving family. Actor Dennis Quaid plays the patriarch. A controlling county sheriff. Ashley Tisdale stars as one of the pushy sisters. However, Elizabeth Ho stole the show as the hilarious daughter -in-law, Joy. I loved the dynamic of the in-laws as they come clean about the struggles of being married to a high achieving family who are very set in their own ways and traditions. Unfortunately this show was cancelled after one season so there won’t be a season 2.
Finally, it’s technically a millennial f**k up Christmas fantasy film, The Christmas Prince. I cannot believe this film has become a trilogy! The lead is a young aspiring journalist who gets sent to a fictional european country to cover a story about the coronation of the next King. A young prince who has been out of the public eye. While the film doesn’t explicitly mention that she is a millenial, the film does contain all the troupes of this new genre. Unstable low paying job, two hopeless side sick friends. The only difference is that her parents are not berating her at every turn for being single. Which is rather refreshing despite the poor acting and the crazy low budget. This is a film people love to hate and is a lot more light hearted than some of the other selections.
To my knowledge, all of the films and series listed are available on Netflix but there are a few other films that I haven’t mentioned. What are some of your fave Millennial F*** Up Christmas films and series? Comment below!
Merry Christmas to one and all!
